London-based startup Goodnotes, known for its notetaking services, has extended its reach by acquiring South Korean startup Dropthebit, the creator of Traw, a tool for meeting and video summaries. This acquisition enables Goodnotes to expand its offerings beyond the educational realm and create productivity tools targeting professionals. With Traw’s innovative technology integration, Goodnotes aims to revolutionize how teams collaborate and communicate by streamlining the meeting and video summaries process. This strategic acquisition is anticipated to strengthen the company’s global presence and attract a broader range of users, including businesses looking to improve their productivity and efficiency.

Following the acquisition, Dropthebit’s three co-founders will become part of the Goodnotes team, and Traw’s services will be discontinued in February. Current customers will be given the option to export their data before the closure. Integrating Dropthebit’s expertise and technology is expected to significantly improve Goodnotes’ digital note-taking capabilities, paving the way for a more seamless user experience. Goodnotes is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for Traw’s existing customers, including providing help and support for exporting data before the platform is shut down.

Dropthebit background and innovations

Established in 2020, Dropthebit initially concentrated on developing a whiteboard solution before focusing on meeting summarization and launching an AI-driven tool for summarizing and organizing YouTube videos in 2022. In just a short period, the company has successfully created a platform that enables users to extract critical insights and information from hours of online content quickly and efficiently. Dropthebit’s innovative solution has quickly gained recognition as a powerful tool in time management and knowledge acquisition within the growing educational and professional communities.

Goodnotes founder Steven Chan believes this progress complements the company’s existing products, which started as an iPad app in 2011 and now offer digital notebook-like solutions for students. In an interview, Chan emphasized the importance of seamless integration between physical and digital note-taking for enhancing students’ learning experiences. He also discussed how Goodnotes’ commitment to improving its software has been a significant factor in developing new features to better cater to the needs and preferences of instructors and students alike.

Incorporating Traw’s technology will allow Goodnotes to provide a “paperless digital notebook” for professionals. Currently, Goodnotes has over 24 million monthly active users, and this acquisition will enable the company to explore the transcription market and develop support for YouTube and in-house company videos.

Featured Image Credit: Ketut Subiyanto; Pexels

The post Goodnotes acquires Dropthebit, expands offerings appeared first on ReadWrite.

The SaxaVord spaceport in the Shetland Islands is the first establishment in Western Europe to obtain a license for vertical rocket launches. Following a three-year evaluation, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority granted the license, permitting 30 launches per year beginning in 2024. The spaceport’s strategic location in the Shetland Islands offers a unique vantage point for accessing polar and sun-synchronous orbits, making it highly attractive to satellite launch companies and their clients. SaxaVord’s development is poised to propel the UK into the competitive space industry, creating opportunities for economic growth, critical infrastructure advancements, and enhanced national security.

The spaceport is located on the Scottish island of Unst. It provides a clear, unhindered pathway to polar and sun-synchronous orbits, rendering it a suitable and secure location for sending payloads into space. This strategic position offers numerous advantages for satellite launches, potentially bolstering the United Kingdom’s ability to access and utilize space technologies. Furthermore, establishing the spaceport on Unst will contribute significantly to the local economy, creating jobs and promoting STEM research in the region.

Investments and partnerships

Private investors have put nearly £30 million into the spaceport’s development. This substantial investment signifies the growing interest and confidence in the space industry’s potential. The funds will be utilized to construct essential infrastructure and facilities, paving the way for commercial space travel and satellite launches at the spaceport.

Companies like Rocket Factory Augsburg, Lockheed Martin, Skyrora, and HyImpulse are already lining up to launch from the site. These companies recognize the strategic importance of the Shetland Space Centre, as it provides unique access to Polar and sun-synchronous orbits. The facility’s comprehensive services and advantageous location make it an attractive choice for satellite launches and other space missions.

A historic milestone

Similarly, SaxaVord co-owner Frank Strang referred to it as a “historic” milestone for the UK. Scottish Innovation Minister Richard Lochhead praised the license as a “new era for apace in Scotland.” This groundbreaking achievement marks the beginning of a new era for the nation’s space endeavors, propelling the UK into the forefront of the global space industry. The successful launch instills a sense of pride and innovation among the citizens and promises numerous opportunities for growth and collaboration in the rapidly expanding sector.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Edvin Richardson; Pexels

The post SaxaVord spaceport secures license for rocket launches appeared first on ReadWrite.

With 20.8% of all retail transactions occurring online in 2023, technological advancements are the driving force behind how customers shop. In today’s dynamic landscape, everything is rapidly evolving, from how we browse through our favorite stores to how we purchase something, and Augmented Reality is one of them.

Since customer preferences are ever-changing, businesses seek new ways to captivate their audience. Integrating augmented reality (AR) into ecommerce experiences is just one of these ways.

Related: Evolution of Ecommerce – A Glimpse of Its Past, Present, and Future

Augmented Reality in Ecommerce

Augmented reality is an innovative technology that helps sync digital elements with the real world, providing an immersive experience for customers. Leveraging AR is proving to be a game changer for several businesses, transforming the way their customers interact with their products and services.

Augmented reality first gained prominence through entertainment apps like Pokémon Go and is now slowly progressing onto the e-commerce stage. According to industry experts and market analysts, AR will soon become a cornerstone of e-commerce success. A Statista forecast survey reveals that by 2025, around one-third of shoppers in the United States will have used AI-powered technologies when buying products online.

So, if you’re ready to hop on board the AR hype train, let’s review some of its benefits to your business.

Better customer engagement

A lot of businesses hesitate to incorporate AR technology into their business strategies. Mostly, they think it’s just a gimmick or a fad that will die soon. But I can assure you it’s not and will not fade away soon. According to a Deloitte report, by 2025, roughly 4.3 billion global consumers will use AR technology frequently.

Harnessing the power of AR will allow you to engage your customers better and attract other potential customers as well. A survey conducted by Retail Perceptions revealed that 71% of customers would be more willing to frequent retailers that offer augmented reality experiences. This engagement isn’t just temporary; it translates directly into conversions and long-term brand loyalty.

By creating immersive shopping experiences to captivate their audience, brands can leverage AR to bring interactivity and engagement to their campaigns that couldn’t have been done previously using traditional marketing methods.

Personalized shopping experience

‘Personalization’ is the buzzword on everyone’s lips these days. Customers want their shopping experience to feel unique and tailored to their needs. AR helps elevate a mundane and generic shopping experience to a personalized one for every customer.

Augmented reality can do this by curating product recommendations based on individual preferences, behaviors, and shopping habits. McKinsey research shows that 71 percent of customers expect brands to deliver personalized shopping experiences, and not only that, but 76 percent of them actually get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

This makes AR more of a necessity than it was before. And it’s a win-win situation for both the business and the customers. By seamlessly merging the digital and physical realms, AR offers a unique opportunity to create bespoke shopping journeys that resonate with customers.

Related: How Augmented Reality (AR) Continues to Transform Customer Experience?

Improved product visualization

AR actually addresses a common pain point that many online shoppers face – visualizing how the product would fit you or look on you. The frustration of buying a product only to find it doesn’t quite fit or look as good on you as you thought it would is an all-too-common scenario. Time suggests that people return almost 40% of what they buy online due to sizing issues.

Being able to visualize how you would look like in a particular dress or wearing a shade of lipstick that looks really good can save a lot of time and money for both customers and retailers alike. AR helps turn their imagination into reality by enabling customers to visualize products in their real-world environments before purchasing.

Shopify’s research indicates that retailers who add 3D and AR content to their stores experience an impressive 94% increase in conversion rates. A lot of it has to do with customers being assured of what they’re buying. AR can significantly reduce the uncertainty associated with online purchases.

Success Stories of Brands Leveraging Augmented Reality

Augmented reality isn’t exactly new on the market, and several brands have recognized its transformative potential and used it to curate immersive experiences for their customers. Let’s look at some prominent ones.

NikeFit

Nike has recognized a vital pain point their customers face: the inability always to purchase the correct size when buying shoes online. According to them, three out of five people are probably wearing the wrong shoe size. To address this concern, they’ve developed NikeFit – a mobile app made using AR technology that scans customers’ feet to determine their correct shoe size. Using this, customers can ensure they purchase the right size and don’t face any hassles when exchanging or returning the shoes.

L’Oreal Virtual Makeup and Hair Color Try-On

A common issue many women experience when purchasing makeup products or hair colors is that they look great in ads or other women, but they don’t end up looking as good on them as they thought. L’Oreal has come up with an intelligent solution for this with the help of AR technology. They have created a virtual try-on experience for all their products on their website and app. So now customers can see how a shade of lipstick or a particular hair color will look on them before purchasing it. This proved to be a really effective strategy, with L’Oreal’s ecommerce sales increasing by a massive 49% following the unveiling of the technology.

IKEA Place

Home furnishings giant IKEA didn’t fall behind in the race to adopt AR for continued success. The launch of their innovative app, IKEA Place, ushered in a new era of visualization for home decor. Imagine having the ability to see how the rustic armchair fits in your living room.

Picture-checking if the stylish coffee table goes well with your current interior design. The app turns these visualizations into reality. It uses augmented reality technology to achieve this. The app lets users place 3D models of IKEA’s products virtually in their living spaces. This is done using the camera on their smartphones. The 3D models are true-to-scale representations of the actual products.

This helps customers make a buying decision and decide whether to go through with the purchase or not.

Implementing Augmented Reality in Your Ecommerce Strategy

According to Mobile Marketer, 52% of online retailers are not yet ready to integrate AR technology into their shopping experiences. Venturing into a new realm of technology, especially one that can be as overwhelming as AR, is indeed daunting. But its benefits to your business will ultimately be worth it.

So, before you embark on your AR integration journey, it’s imperative to keep a few things in mind.

Understand your target audience

All your efforts and money will go in vain if you don’t understand your target audience’s preferences and technological familiarity. Different age groups have varying degrees of comfort with technology. For instance, Millennials and Gen Z, having grown up in the digital age, are more likely to embrace AR experiences compared to their predecessors.

Choose the right AR technology

The AR technology you decide to adopt depends on the outcomes you hope to achieve. If you’re considering using AR to offer product information, you can choose marker-based AR. This method requires scanning markers to display digital content. In contrast, markerless AR identifies real-world surfaces and objects, which is particularly useful for creating virtual try-on opportunities.

Collaborate with AR developers

While the idea of integrating AR into your e-commerce platform is exciting, it is also something that requires expert consultation and effort. Collaborating with AR development experts can ensure a smooth implementation of AR technology into your ecommerce venture. Their expertise can mitigate technical challenges, ensuring optimal user experiences and seamless interactions.

Innovative content creation

Creating innovative and compelling content is the heart of any successful augmented reality campaign. AR’s potential for immersive experiences demands a strategic approach to content creation that resonates with your target audience. So you need to ensure that you create content that targets common difficulties your customers face and provides a prompt solution for them with the help of AR.

Related: Why You Should Use Augmented Reality in Your Business App

Challenges to Overcome When Integrating AR Technology

Integrating AR into your business’ ecommerce strategy is promising but comes with its fair share of challenges.

The problem of assuring a smooth user experience is paramount, and as the AR experience grows more sophisticated, so does the risk of encountering lag or latency. To combat this, it is crucial to strike a balance between real-time interaction and maintaining the fluidity of the technology.

In addition, technical barriers can also hamper your AR efforts. Device compatibility emerges as a prominent concern, as AR experiences need to be accessible across a variety of devices. Moreover, factors like internet speed and bandwidth can also affect the performance of AR applications. Dealing with these technical barriers involves optimizing applications for a range of devices. Moreover, a robust network infrastructure to support AR’s data-intensive demands.

Questions about privacy and data security are of the utmost concern for any user. AR apps often require access to personal data. This can cause concerns about data collection, storage, and potential misuse. Users need assurance that their private spaces and sensitive information remain safeguarded. Thus, robust security measures and transparent data policies need to be in place to establish trust and encourage widespread adoption.

The Future of Augmented Reality in Ecommerce

While AR has already made significant strides in the e-commerce landscape, its potential is far from being fully realized. With the number of online customers increasing. The demand for personalized shopping experiences and immersive technology to bridge the divide between the digital and physical realms.

As technology continues to evolve, customer expectations continue to shift. According to a NielsenIQ survey, 56% of the shoppers they surveyed revealed that AR technology gives them more confidence about the quality of a product and helps them make a buying decision. AR integration is moving towards becoming an irreplaceable feature for many brands.

The future of AR in e-commerce holds exciting possibilities from a convergence with other immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), to a boost in social commerce through AR-powered features and the integration of AI-driven personalization in shopping experiences.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

The post Using Augmented Reality to Level up your E-Commerce Business appeared first on ReadWrite.

In today’s hyper-connected digital world, businesses and individuals find themselves navigating a complex web of online interactions as the social benefits of internet usage far outweigh the negatives. With more than half of the world (60%) now using social media, the way people and businesses connect with each other has undergone drastic change.

Brands must now establish their presence in the digital space to stay competitive and relevant. Enter Digital PR, a strategic approach that combines traditional PR principles with digital media channels to reach a broader audience. It is a crucial tool for building an online reputation and enhancing visibility.

In this article, we will explore the significance of Digital PR, how it can help modern businesses, and various strategies to leverage its potential effectively.

Related: How to Make the Most of Your Public Relations

Why Digital PR Can Be a Game-changer for Your Business

In today’s day and age, having a strong online presence is a non-negotiable factor for success. Digital PR helps you achieve exactly that by using the digital landscape’s power to elevate your brand to new heights. Here’s how it can benefit your business:

Related: Why a Good Digital PR Strategy Is So Important

Boosting Visibility and Reliability through Media Outreach

According to AdWeek, 63% of adults actively talk about various products and services online, and 81% of adults read what people have said or posted about products and services. This highlights the importance of having a good digital PR strategy in place. Media coverage has always been essential for brands seeking to gain exposure, and Digital PR opens up new avenues for media outreach. Press releases, thought leadership articles, and expert interviews published on authoritative websites could significantly boost visibility and increase reliability.

Social Media Amplification

Social media is the heartbeat of the digital age, and Digital PR excels at leveraging these platforms. A survey reports that 76% of consumers look at a business’ online presence before physically visiting it. A good social media presence helps attract and retain interested customers.

Engaging with your audience on social media can foster brand loyalty, address concerns, and promote positive sentiment. Responsiveness and engagement on social media can also directly impact your brand’s reputation and online visibility.

SEO and Digital PR Synergy

Starting with SEO can be highly beneficial when looking to enhance your public relations and overall brand image. Although these two aspects may initially appear unrelated, they are closely interconnected.

PR and SEO cater to the same segment but differ in approach. PR focuses on creating appealing content to resonate with consumers, while SEO customizes content to achieve higher rankings and improve online visibility compared to competitors.

They both complement each other in the quest for online prominence. High-quality backlinks from reputable websites, earned through Digital PR efforts, are highly valued by search engines. Google considers backlinks one of the most important factors in its ranking.

Hence, by optimizing content for relevant keywords and securing valuable backlinks, Digital PR enhances your online visibility organically.

Related: Why Combining Public Relations and SEO Will Propel Your Business in Today’s Digital Landscape

Navigating Online Crises

In the digital landscape, crisis situations can escalate rapidly. Misinformation and negative sentiments can spread like wildfire, potentially harming your brand’s reputation.

Digital PR equips you with the tools to respond effectively to crises, manage online narratives, and minimize reputational damage. It helps you stay ahead of the narrative, taking control of the conversation surrounding your brand. By engaging in transparent and timely communication, Digital PR enables you to address concerns, correct inaccuracies, and reassure your audience.

Measuring Success with Data

Unlike traditional PR, Digital PR provides a wealth of data and analytics to gauge the success of your efforts accurately. Metrics such as website traffic, social media interaction, and media mentions provide vital information about the performance of your campaign. By analyzing these metrics, you may fine-tune your plan to achieve more significant results over time.

By utilizing these metrics, you can evaluate your performance and receive valuable feedback to enhance your brand’s image.

Effective Digital PR Strategies to Leverage

To harness the full potential of Digital PR, consider implementing the following strategies:

Storytelling: Craft compelling narratives that resonate with your target audience and evoke emotions. Human-centric stories are more likely to be shared, expanding your reach organically.

Influencer Partnerships: Connect with influencers in your industry to spread your brand’s message and reach a larger audience.

Content Distribution: Use a variety of digital channels such as blogs, social media, and online magazines to distribute your content efficiently.

Online Events: Host webinars, virtual conferences, or live streams to engage your audience and establish thought leadership in your field.

Data-Driven Insights: Leverage data and market research to support your PR campaigns and position your brand as an authoritative source of information.

Related: Break Through the Noise: 5 Hacks to Boost Your Public Relations Efforts in a Noisy Digital World

Combining Traditional PR Strategies With Digital Media Channels

Traditional and digital PR share the common objective of creating a favorable brand image, but choosing between the two depends on your target audience and the approach that produces the best results.

Building a solid online reputation and increasing visibility are critical for business success in the digital era.

Digital PR offers a strategic and data-driven approach to achieving these goals. By combining traditional PR principles with digital media channels, brands can create meaningful connections with their audience, navigate online crises, and stand out in a competitive landscape. Its ability to harness the power of online platforms, social media, and data analytics makes Digital PR an indispensable tool for modern businesses looking to thrive digitally.

Embrace Digital PR as your key to building an influential online reputation and establishing a lasting digital presence.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Pixaby; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Digital PR: Building an Online Reputation and Boosting Visibility appeared first on ReadWrite.

NOW is the time to safeguard your business against the perils of the economic downturn.

Once the economy begins to decline, it might be too late to take action and steer your business toward survival and growth in the face of worsening conditions.

“Recession-Proof Businesses Are Those That Continually Evolve, Identifying New Opportunities, And Adapting to Changing Market Conditions.”  -Gary Vaynerchuk

According to International Monetary Fund Chief Kristalina Georgieva, it is estimated that one-third of the global economy will experience a recession in 2023. Three of the world’s biggest economies, “The US, China, and Europe,” show signs of weaker growth, and the overall global economy seems to be reaching close to a recession.

As the economy heads into a recession, businesses will face a challenging landscape characterized by reduced consumer spending, declining demand, and financial uncertainties. So, they must adapt their strategies, manage costs, and explore new opportunities to navigate the downturn and emerge stronger on the other side.

Rosenblum motivates business owners to elevate their game by focusing on five crucial aspects:

• Refine and clarify your messaging
• Target and attract your ideal clients
• Implement a profitable business model to monetize your skills and knowledge
• Secure financing in advance for your business before you need it
• Lead your team and entire business

By any definition, recessions cause contraction in the economic output as consumer spending and business investment slump.

How Does Recession Impact Small Businesses?

A recession is a period of temporary economic decline characterized by a significant contribution to economic activities. These activities include declining customer spending, rising unemployment rates, and reduced business investments. According to a survey, nearly 75% of multinationals strongly agreed that an economic crisis is considered while planning advertising and marketing expenditures for 2023.

During a recession, small businesses face several other challenges that can significantly impact their operations and success. Here’s how a recession can affect small businesses:

• Reduced Consumer Spending:

During the time of recession, as uncertainty looms, consumer behavior undergoes a significant shift. With financial uncertainty, people exercise caution in their spending habits. This change in consumer mindset puts forth a challenge for small businesses that offer non-essential products and services.

• Decrease in Sales and Revenue:

As the number of consumers decreases, small businesses face the harsh reality of declining sales and revenue. This challenging scenario can be far-fetching, making it difficult for businesses to meet their expenses and generate a profit.

• Cash Flow Issues:

In times of economic downturn, larger businesses face financial struggles, often delaying payments to their smaller suppliers. Unfortunately, it can damage small businesses, leading to severe cash flow problems.

As the bills pile up and employees rely on timely wages, it becomes difficult for small businesses to make payments.

• Increased Competition:

Due to economic hardships, large businesses reduce prices or offer more competitive deals to attract customers. While this strategy may work in their favor, it can put small businesses at a disadvantage as they may struggle to compete with these bigger players.

• Employee Layoffs:

During the recession, small businesses often have to cut costs to stay afloat. Regretfully, one of the measures they may resort to is reducing their workforce through layoffs. This unfortunate turn of events can lead to job losses and profoundly impact the morale and well-being of the affected employees.

Strategies to Recession-Proof Your Small Business

Don’t be afraid to seek advice or help if you need it!

Many resources are available to small business owners, from mentorship opportunities to government programs. Businesses can survive and thrive during challenging economic times by taking advantage of these resources.

Follow these tips on how to recession-proof your business and survive in economic crises:

1. Build a Strong Financial Foundation

To safeguard your small business from the impact of a recession, it is essential to implement key strategies. Building an emergency fund, reducing debt, and maintaining cash reserves create a financial safety net.

Effectively monitoring and managing cash flow and investing in financial planning and forecasting offer valuable insights and enable proactive decision-making. Additionally, exploring business insurance options provide added protection.

2. Diversify Your Customer Base

An impactful approach to recession-proofing your small business involves diversifying your customer base. By expanding your target market to encompass various demographics or industries, you can reduce reliance on a single customer segment.

This strategic move mitigates the potential impact of economic downturns, ensuring a more consistent revenue stream. Broadening your reach and catering to different customer segments enhances resilience, enabling your business to weather challenging times. And maintain stability in the face of market fluctuations.

3. Focus on Customer Retention

A vital strategy to recession-proof your business is nurturing strong relationships with your existing customers. You can enhance customer satisfaction and foster repeat business by delivering exceptional customer service, personalized experiences and implementing loyalty programs.

Investing in these efforts boosts customer retention rates, creating a stable base of patrons who continue to support your business during the economic downturn.

4. Expand Your Product or Service Offering

Expanding your product or service offering is a powerful strategy to recession-proof your small business. You can tap into new markets by analyzing market trends, identifying gaps, and developing new offerings aligned with the target audience.

With this strategy, you can attract a broader customer base and generate additional revenue streams, strengthening your business’s resilience during challenging times.

5. Embrace Digital Transformation

Small businesses can seize opportunities to enhance operations, expand reach, and optimize marketing in the digital landscape. Adopt digital transformation by establishing a robust online presence, investing in e-commerce, engaging customers on social media and forming app development partnership.

This enables quick adaptation to changing customer behaviors and ensures business continuity. The digital realm empowers small businesses to thrive in an ever-evolving market, connecting with a broader audience and capitalizing on the benefits of technology-driven solutions.

6. Implement Cost-Saving Measures

During a recession, effective cost management becomes extremely vital. You can identify areas for expense reduction without compromising on quality. And then streamline processes, negotiate with suppliers, and explore cost-effective marketing strategies.

By optimizing your cost structure, you can enhance profitability and bolster business endurance in challenging times. Embracing cautious cost management ensures financial stability while maintaining the value and integrity of your offerings.

7. Foster Strategic Partnerships

Collaborating with other businesses through strategic partnerships can yield mutual benefits in challenging economic times. You can seek out partnerships that can align with your goals and objectives. By pooling resources, sharing expertise, and accessing new markets, you can enhance business sustainability and create additional revenue streams.

Strategic partnerships can unlock opportunities for growth and innovation, fostering a competitive edge in the marketplace. These partnerships can help you navigate through uncertain times and spread your horizons across the globe.

8. Invest in Employee Development

Your employees are invaluable assets, and their development holds immense potential, particularly during a recession. You enhance their skills and knowledge by providing training programs, cross-functional opportunities, and a clear career path. Engaged and empowered employees are catalysts for your business’s success, playing a vital role in handling challenging times.

Investing in their growth and creating a supportive work ambiance cultivates a dedicated workforce ready to overcome obstacles and drive your business toward new heights.

9. Stay Agile and Innovative

Recession-proof businesses thrive on adaptability and innovation. Keep a finger on the pulse of market trends, customer preferences, and emerging technologies. Foster a culture of innovation that encourages employees to propose creative solutions and new ideas.

You can seize opportunities and conquer challenges in an ever-evolving business landscape by remaining agile, open to change, and adopting technology to grow. Adopting adaptability as a core principle empowers your business to navigate turbulent times, ensuring long-term sustainability and growth.

10. Monitor and Plan for Economic Indicators

Lastly, maintaining a vigilant watch over economic indicators and forecasts is crucial to stay informed about industry trends, market conditions, and potential policy changes affecting your business. Regularly review and update your business plan to align with the evolving economic landscape.

A keen awareness of the economic climate ensures your business remains robust and well-positioned to maneuver through dynamic market dynamics.

Conclusion

When business is booming, owners often get caught up in managing the day-to-day operations, neglecting the essential details. However, a slowdown presents a chance to reevaluate and tackle inefficiencies that accumulate over time.

Regardless of the economic conditions, small businesses must prepare for uncertainties. Practicing wise financial habits establishes a strong business foundation and ensures its viability in both challenging and favorable market conditions.

Implementing these proven strategies empowers your small business to emerge from the depths of a recession like a phoenix rising from the ashes. With strength, adaptability, and foresight, your business can thrive in any economic climate.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

The post 10 Strategies to Recession-Proof Your Small Business and Thrive in Challenging Times appeared first on ReadWrite.

In the digital landscape of today’s business world, graphic design has become a fundamental element in effectively conveying messages and values. Whether it’s for creating compelling social media posts or designing presentations, the visual component is critical. Online design tools like create.vista.com/create/storyboards/ guide their users and help them create polished-looking designs.

However, tools alone are not enough. This article intends to present a comprehensive overview of fundamental tips to enhance your designs, especially if you are new to the field.

Understand the Basics of Design Principles

All good design starts with a solid understanding of the fundamentals. Before you jump into creating designs, it is essential to understand the basics of design principles.

Composition and Layout

Ever glanced at a design and felt your eyes naturally drawn across the page? That’s likely due to a strong composition and layout. Principles like the rule of thirds, grid systems, and visual hierarchy all contribute to creating a balanced design that guides the viewer’s eye. Remember, your design should tell a story – so arrange your elements in a way that makes it easy for your audience to follow along!

Color Theory

Colors can be powerful storytellers. They evoke emotions, grab attention, and even influence behavior. Understanding color psychology and the art of choosing harmonious color palettes is critical for creating visually appealing designs. Experiment, play around with different hues and tones, and watch your design come alive.

Typography

Typography is much more than just picking a pretty font. Different typefaces convey different feelings and messages, and they can significantly impact your design’s overall look and feel. The golden rule here? Keep your typography consistent and legible. And remember, less is often more when it comes to fonts!

White Space

Don’t underestimate the power of white space! It gives your design room to breathe and helps important elements stand out. Use it wisely to improve clarity and create focus in your designs. Think of it as the pause in music; it enhances the overall composition.

Prioritize Simplicity and Consistency

In the realm of design, simplicity often triumphs over complexity. Clean and uncluttered designs not only provide ease of comprehension but also offer visual delight. When unsure, remember to keep it simple! Eliminate any extraneous elements and allow your design to speak for itself.

Consistency, in turn, establishes a sense of familiarity and trust among your audience. This entails maintaining a cohesive style and visual language throughout all your designs. Whether it’s through consistent color schemes, typography choices, or graphic styles, embracing consistency unifies the elements seamlessly.

Pay Attention to Details

Alignment and proportion are the unsung heroes of a good design. When elements are aligned and proportions are maintained, it brings harmony and balance to your design. It’s visually pleasing and guides the viewer’s eye across the page.

Always use high-resolution images and graphics in your designs. This way, your work looks professional and sharp, no matter where it’s displayed.

Consider User Experience

Effective design encompasses more than just aesthetics; it also prioritizes clarity and comprehension. Ensure that your designs are easily legible and accessible to all by employing suitable font sizes and contrast ratios. 

In today’s fast-paced, multi-device landscape, responsive design is indispensable. Your designs should exude excellence and perform seamlessly, whether accessed via smartphone, tablet, or desktop. Always subject your designs to comprehensive testing across various devices to guarantee a fluid user experience.

Seek and Implement Feedback

Getting feedback from peers, coworkers, or online communities can provide valuable insights and fresh perspectives. It’s an opportunity to view your work through someone else’s eyes and make necessary improvements.

Design is a process, not a one-and-done deal. Feel free to revise and refine your designs based on the feedback you receive. Each iteration brings you a step closer to a design that looks good and effectively fulfills its purpose.

Finding Inspiration for Your Designs

Usually, you can easily find inspiration with templates offered by graphic design tools. But when you need to create something from scratch, here are some other to look for ideas:

Online Platforms

The internet is a treasure trove of creative works from artists around the globe. Websites like Behance, Dribbble, and Pinterest allow designers to showcase their work, providing a vast library of ideas at your fingertips. Instagram also houses an immense community of graphic designers whose innovative works can inspire your next project.

Nature

Nature has been an inspiration for artists since time immemorial. The colors of a sunset, the patterns on a leaf, or the symmetry of a snowflake, nature is filled with intricate designs waiting to be discovered. Try taking a walk outdoors or browsing through nature photography to stimulate your creativity.

Books and Magazines

Printed materials are another great source of inspiration. Graphic design books not only provide insights into the principles and techniques of the craft but also feature inspiring works from renowned designers. Magazines, on the other hand, offer a wealth of typography, layout, and color scheme ideas.

Art and History

Art history is a goldmine of design inspiration. Different art movements, such as surrealism, minimalism, or pop art, each have unique aesthetics that can inspire modern designs. Visiting an art museum or gallery can expose you to a variety of styles and mediums.

Everyday Life

Inspiration can strike at the most unexpected moments. It could be from a catchy billboard on your commute, the packaging of a product you purchased, or even the color palette of a movie scene. Keep your eyes open and your mind receptive to the designs around you.

Design Challenges

Participating in design challenges can also spark creativity. These challenges, often hosted by online design communities, provide prompts that can push you out of your comfort zone and inspire innovative solutions.

Conclusion

Regardless of what you need to create, these fundamental tips will surely make the graphic design process easier for you. They serve as a starting point, providing a solid foundation for creating effective designs. 

We encourage you to take these tips and apply them to your design projects. Experiment with different layouts, play around with color theory, choose your typography carefully, and pay close attention to the user experience.

The post Essential Graphic Design Tips: Elevate Your Designs with These Fundamentals appeared first on ReadWrite.

The realm of artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in generating text and graphics from simple instructions in recent years. However, the next frontier in AI technology appears to be audio. As we witness the rise of music creation based on word prompts, AI language tutors, and voice simulators, companies like Voice.ai are leading the way in voice-altering technology. Recently, speech.ai, the parent company of Voice.ai, announced that it has secured a $6 million investment to propel its voice-changing technology into new markets.

Voice.ai has experienced remarkable growth, largely driven by word-of-mouth marketing. The company’s Discord channel has amassed over 120,000 subscribers, attracting a diverse range of users, including gamers, content producers, vloggers, and enthusiasts of popular apps. Voice.ai offers users the ability to create new voices or choose from an extensive library of pre-created voices contributed by other users. These tools are available as applications for Mac, PC, Android, and iOS, enabling users to utilize the voices for recordings or live sessions in real-time.

See also: Voice.ai’s Real-Time Voice Changer Technology Attracts $6 Million in Funding

With the infusion of fresh capital, Voice.ai plans to expand its technical team and develop additional software development kits (SDKs) and application programming interfaces (APIs) for platforms like Unreal, Meta, and Unity. The company also aims to broaden its language support and explore new applications for voice, including singing. Given the existing waitlists for its services due to high demand, Voice.ai may allocate some of the funds to enhance server capacity.

In the competitive landscape of speech-to-voice and voice-to-speech services, Voice.ai stands as a formidable player. Notable participants in this space include Snap, which acquired an AI voice assistant for contact centers, and Spotify, which purchased Sonantic for its AI speech platform technology. Other companies like Sanas, Murf, and Acapela are active in accent modification and synthetic speech creation. Voice.ai differentiates itself by positioning as a consumer-oriented AI speech modification tool, as opposed to solutions primarily aimed at businesses. By making speech AI technology accessible and affordable to the general public, Voice.ai aims to democratize its usage.

What sets Voice.ai apart is its unique approach to voice alteration. The company places strong emphasis on preserving key aspects of a speaker’s speech, such as emotion, timing, and emphasis. This distinguishes Voice.ai from other firms that merely replicate voices or offer costly voice-to-voice services to production studios. By changing the voice’s tone, Voice.ai produces entirely original output in real-time, appealing to individuals seeking to enhance their audio quality and amplify their online presence.

Currently, Voice.ai boasts a user base consisting of 70% men and 30% women. However, the company anticipates attracting new user groups, including individuals who use avatars matching their voices, those seeking privacy protection, transgender individuals desiring voices that align with their identities, and those experimenting with entirely new online personas.

The recent fundraising efforts led by Mucker Capital and M13 indicate investors’ optimism about the future of Voice.ai. Mucker Capital, renowned for its successful mobile ad firm AdMob, sees Voice.ai as a catalyst for transforming the AI developer community, drawing parallels to AdMob’s influence on mobile app developers. The M13 team, led by former Digital Ocean COO Karl Alomar, is committed to encouraging developers to embrace and integrate Voice.ai’s technologies.

Voice.ai is spearheading the voice AI revolution, empowering individuals to shape their online sound. The company’s user-friendly and cost-effective solutions are democratizing speech AI technology, opening up new possibilities for consumers, developers, and the broader AI industry. Voice.ai offers a distinctive and easily accessible platform for individual expression and creative exploration in the online space by preserving the essential components of a user’s speech while altering the voice.

As Voice.ai continues to grow and evolve, it is poised to revolutionize the way people interact with audio content. With its recent investment, the company is well-positioned to expand its reach, enhance its technology, and cater to the diverse needs of its expanding user base. By democratizing speech AI technology, Voice.ai is paving the way for a future where individuals have greater control over their online presence and can express themselves in new and exciting ways.

First Reported on TechCrunch

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Voice.ai?

A: Voice.ai is a company at the forefront of AI technology, specializing in voice-altering solutions. Its platform allows users to modify and conceal their voices in real-time, offering a range of customizable options.

Q: How does Voice.ai’s voice-altering technology work?

A: Voice.ai’s technology focuses on preserving key aspects of a speaker’s speech, such as emotion, timing, and emphasis, while changing the voice’s tone. Unlike other companies that replicate voices or provide costly voice-to-voice services, Voice.ai generates wholly original output in real-time.

Q: What are the applications of Voice.ai’s voice-altering technology?

A: Voice.ai’s technology has various applications. It caters to gamers, content producers, vloggers, and users of popular platforms. Users can create new voices or choose from a library of pre-created voices for recordings or live sessions, enhancing their audio quality and online presence.

Q: What platforms are supported by Voice.ai’s tools?

A: Voice.ai’s tools are available as applications for Mac, PC, Android, and iOS, ensuring accessibility across different operating systems and devices.

Q: How has Voice.ai gained popularity?

A: Voice.ai’s growth has largely been driven by word-of-mouth marketing. It has amassed over 120,000 subscribers on its Discord channel, attracting a diverse user base and gaining traction among gamers, content creators, and users of various popular apps.

Q: What are Voice.ai’s plans with the recent $6 million investment?

A: With the infusion of fresh capital, Voice.ai aims to expand its technical staff and develop additional software development kits (SDKs) and application programming interfaces (APIs) for platforms like Meta, Unreal, and Unity. The company also plans to expand language support, explore new voice applications such as singing, and potentially allocate funds to expand server capacity to meet demand.

Q: How does Voice.ai differentiate itself from other speech-to-voice and voice-to-speech services?

A: Voice.ai differentiates itself by focusing on providing a consumer-oriented AI speech modification tool. It emphasizes affordability and accessibility, making speech AI technology available to the general public. Unlike other solutions, Voice.ai prioritizes preserving important speech characteristics while altering the voice’s tone.

Q: Who are the competitors of Voice.ai in the voice-altering market?

A: Voice.ai faces competition from various companies in the speech-to-voice and voice-to-speech market. Notable competitors include Snap, which acquired an AI voice assistant for contact centers, and Spotify, which purchased Sonantic for AI speech platform technology. Other active players in accent modification and synthetic speech creation include Sanas, Murf, and Acapela.

Q: What is the user demographic of Voice.ai?

A: Currently, Voice.ai’s user base comprises 70% men and 30% women. However, the company expects to attract new user groups, such as individuals using avatars matching their voices, those seeking privacy protection, transgender individuals looking for voices aligning with their identities, and individuals exploring new online personas.

Q: What is the significance of Voice.ai’s recent fundraising efforts?

A: The recent $6 million investment in Voice.ai, led by Mucker Capital and M13, demonstrates investors’ confidence in the company’s future. Mucker Capital, known for its successful mobile ad firm AdMob, sees Voice.ai as a catalyst for transforming the AI developer community, much like AdMob influenced mobile app developers. The M13 team, led by former Digital Ocean COO Karl Alomar, aims to encouragedevelopers to adopt and integrate Voice.ai’s technologies.

Q: How does Voice.ai contribute to the AI industry as a whole?

A: Voice.ai is contributing to the AI industry by democratizing speech AI technology. Its user-friendly and cost-effective solutions make AI accessible to the general public, opening up new opportunities for consumers, developers, and the broader AI industry. Voice.ai’s innovative approach to voice alteration and its commitment to preserving important speech aspects set it apart and have the potential to reshape how people interact with audio content online.

Q: What can we expect from Voice.ai in the future?

A: As Voice.ai continues to grow and evolve, we can expect the company to expand its reach, enhance its technology, and explore new applications for voice-altering technology. With its recent investment, Voice.ai is well-positioned to further innovate and cater to the evolving needs of its user base. The company’s commitment to individual expression and creative exploration in the online space suggests that it will continue to empower users to shape their online sound and push the boundaries of voice AI technology.

The post Voice AI Splits Away From Enterprise-Focused Text-to-Speech appeared first on ReadWrite.

Katya Dmitrieva had been an intuitive life coach for 13 years and had been thinking for a while about teaching her profession to others when, at what seemed an inopportune time during the pandemic, she launched The Intuitive Life Coaching Academy of The Third Eye (ILCATE) in San Ramon, California.

“I coached people one-on-one and also ran some meetups, but in August of 2020 I made a decision during one of our meetups to actually teach some of my clients intuitive coaching,’’ she said. A month later her first class of aspiring intuitive coaches was convened and, in true entrepreneurial fashion, Katya improvised her curriculum as she proceeded.

“I’m grateful for my first class, because they allowed me to create that program while we were in session,” she said. “It was only me who ran all the classes and did everything. As people started to graduate, I started to get teachers in training, who were previously my students. They joined our academy, helping me on the administrative and marketing side.”

Accreditation

The first class for aspiring intuitive life coaches was launched in September of 2020. The program was accredited by the International Coaching Federation around that same time, an arduous but worthwhile process, Katya said.

“It was a difficult process,” she said. “ICF is changing their accreditation requirements, so we had to submit new materials for that. They will have first and second level accreditation. We have second level accreditation, which is the highest level. Accreditation with such a serious organization like ICF is very important, because the life coaching profession is getting more regulated.”

What distinguishes an intuitive life coach?

Anyone who has spent ten minutes on LinkedIn will quickly realize that coaching is a crowded industry these days, which raises the question of what distinguishes an Intuitive Life Coach from any other sort of coach. Katya stresses that an intuitive life coach doesn’t give answers, but is there to help clients find their own answers.

“We’re not trying to be liked or to say what our clients want us to say, or what they want to hear,” Katya said. “We really go deep and try to understand the person and help them to see themselves in a powerful light, to find the answers within to understand what they really want.”

Which sounds somewhat like what a therapist does, but there is an important distinction between life coaching and therapy.

“The difference between life coaching and therapy is that therapy goes from dysfunctional to functional, while coaching goes from functional to the highest potential,” Katya said. “It’s about changing your mindset, changing your limiting beliefs that you’re not good enough, not smart enough, that something is wrong with you. How can we change the negative narrative that we constantly tell ourselves? An intuitive life coach tries to understand the person so that they understand themselves and make the changes in their lives that propel them to grow, succeed and be happy.”

Be prepared to improvise

There are as many reasons and motives for seeking a life coach as there are people in need, but often they seek answers that no reputable coach will give, Katya said.

“Some people ask me, ‘will you teach me how to live my life?’ and I tell them no!” Katya said. “Life coaching is a partnership with the client. We listen intuitively and we ask questions that provoke answers from the client. We believe and trust that clients are resourceful, smart, capable people who can find the answers within. We take away the need to come up with solutions or tell people what to do. Life coaching is about empowering your clients to realize that they have all the answers and they have the wisdom within.”

The program at The Third Eye prepares aspiring intuitive life coaches to deal with that infinite variety of client needs and aspirations. “Students create their own exercises and tools, because during the session with a client, you have to improvise, you have to come up with different ideas and tools,” Katya said. “You have to be fluent in coaching, you have to be fluent in your intuition and creativity, so we incorporate all that into our professional life coaching program.”

Those skills are helpful to many professionals.

“This program helps even the people who don’t become a life coach,” Katya said. “We have lots of doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists and others who are helping and healing. They want to understand patients who have something happening in their body that they don’t know how to articulate it. It’s a program for people who want to grow, who want to take their businesses to the next level.  It will teach you communication strategies, communication skills, strategies for sales. Graduates of the program tell me that their business is booming after taking this program because they are able to talk to their customers, clients, patients in a different way.”

The business of being an intuitive life coach

Naturally, many of the people enrolled in the program do want to launch their own intuitive life coaching practice, which means grappling with all the usual challenges of starting a business. The program at The Third Eye prepares its students to succeed.

“We offer a one month business module, where we teach how to start your coaching business, how to go from zero to your first 10 clients, and how to actually keep it going,” Katya said. “To really support our graduates, our continuous education classes will be focused on more advanced coaching modalities, more intuitive development, going deeper into learning business skills like social media, operations, marketing, and sales.”

A big aspect of the program at The Third Eye is the supportive community of graduates, particularly among those who are launching their life coaching practices. “We educate our community about what life coaching is and what life coaching is not, and we support our students after they graduate,” Katya said. “For example, we offer free group coaching to our community every third Tuesday of the month. Anyone can get free coaching, and our graduates are able to practice coaching. It’s a win-win situation.”

But does the world need more coaches? Katya is emphatic that it does.

“This world right now needs good coaches,” she said. “With everything that’s happening, we need healers, therapists, coaches, mentors. People are talking now more openly about mental health, about mindset for success. There is a huge demand for practitioners, but you know, they better be good.”

Published First on GritDaily. Read Here.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Nacho Juárez; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Katya Dmitrieva, Founder of The Intuitive Life Coaching Academy of the Third Eye appeared first on ReadWrite.

Business owners and managers are always looking for ways to boost productivity in the workplace. A company can’t succeed unless everyone is motivated and willing to work hard to achieve shared goals. Being hyper-critical and micromanaging your team often backfires and makes employees feel more stressed and resentful.

Instead, you should work toward creating a happy workplace, relaxed environment where everyone feels valued and appreciated. Happiness and productivity are known to go hand in hand. So, if you want to see revenue increase and goals met at a faster pace, don’t just look at the bottom line but also consider the attitudes and mindset of your team. Here are a few tips to help you do so.

Featured Partner for Workplace Productivity Learn More on Monday's website Free Version: FREE FOREVER Starting Price: $8 / monthly Integrations: Outlook, Teams, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Zapier, LinkedIn...

Give Colleagues Positive Feedback 

When a colleague does something that makes your day, be sure to let them know. Everyone loves to feel appreciated, yet far too many people neglect the simple acts of kindness that make others feel like their effort is being valued. It could be work-related or any simple gesture that helped you out. They may have offered to chip in on a project to help you meet a deadline or met their work goals for the month. Any positive action, no matter how small, should be acknowledged with positive feedback to encourage similar behavior in the future. If it’s something small, a simple thank you may suffice, but if it’s more significant, you may consider sending them a card or a modest gift. Just be sure to be specific about what they did and how it affected you.

Congratulate Colleagues on Their Wins

In addition to providing positive feedback, you should also congratulate colleagues on any wins or achievements. No one wants to feel like their hard work is going unacknowledged, especially in the workplace. So, take the time to give recognition for employee achievements – large or small. Maybe they exceeded their monthly sales goals or brought in a new client.

No matter what the victory, make sure to acknowledge it and encourage them to keep it up. A simple email may suffice, or if possible, congratulate them in person. You may even consider hosting a regular meeting to acknowledge staff accomplishments. But don’t sandwich it in between feedback and requested improvements – let the kudos stand on their own and find a different way to address improvement if necessary.

Create Shared Plans

Humans are social creatures, and we thrive when working in groups. So, make an effort to create shared plans and communicate goals and expectations. Employees can quickly become frustrated and stressed out if they feel they need a clearer sense of what is expected from them, or they can’t effectively communicate with colleagues and management. So, creating shared plans helps to ensure employees aren’t wasting time trying to figure out how to best serve the company or team. It also helps encourage teamwork and collaboration so that no one feels isolated or left out of the decision-making process.

Featured Partner for Workplace Productivity Learn More on Monday's website Free Version: FREE FOREVER Starting Price: $8 / monthly Integrations: Outlook, Teams, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Zapier, LinkedIn...

Encourage an Open Dialogue

Communication is essential to a happy, productive workplace, so encourage open dialogue between employees, management, and other key partners. Have regular conversations about the team’s progress and get feedback on what works well and what can be improved.

Set aside time at your regular staff meetings to answer a few questions:

• How can we help each other use time more efficiently
• What are our biggest time wasters as a group? (Email, chatting?)
• What types of breaks are essential to help us focus longer?

Keep in mind that email and conversation are essential aspects of a healthy work-social life, but too much socializing can reduce focus. Also, remember that breaks are scientifically proven to improve focus in the long run. However, you must be strategic about when and what types of breaks you employ to improve productivity and avoid creating unnecessary distractions.

When creating this open dialogue, try to center it around how the group can improve and not single out particular individuals. That will make it easier to provide constructive criticism without feeling like you’re chastising anyone in particular.

Featured Partner for Workplace Productivity Learn More on Monday's website Free Version: FREE FOREVER Starting Price: $8 / monthly Integrations: Outlook, Teams, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Zapier, LinkedIn...

Set Clear Goals for Productivity AND Happiness  

Finally, you should also prioritize discussing goals for productivity and happiness in the workplace. While it’s essential to set objectives related to earning or completing tasks to keep everyone on track, this shouldn’t be your only concern. Also, discuss ways you can improve the workplace’s overall happiness and comfort level by eliciting feedback from your staff.

You could set a goal of hosting one pizza party per month or regularly recognize one person in the office for their hard work. Once you realize that happiness and productivity go hand in hand, you’ll start making a consistent effort to improve the mindset and well-being of your team. Everyone will be more productive if they feel their personal source of happiness is being recognized and fed.

The post Methods of Increasing Employee Productivity appeared first on ReadWrite.

For various reasons, 2021 was a challenging year for small company owners. However, 2022 gives a fresh opportunity to build your business, whether it was a successful or poor year for you or if you just began one. Eight small company growth methods and recommendations are included below to assist you in achieving your objectives. Here’s how to use small business growth strategies for 2022.

Create a Successful Business Plan for Growth Strategies

You must prepare a business strategy if you do not already have one. Writing a business plan pushes you to consider different areas of your company, including your products and services, target clients, competitors, and marketing strategy.

A business plan also aids in the formulation of revenue predictions and the setting of firm objectives. Take the time to consider all of these factors and set objectives for 2022. Then, it’s time to dust out your old company plan and refresh it with new objectives and predictions.

For various reasons, 2021 was a challenging year for small company owners. However, 2022 gives a fresh opportunity to build your business, whether it was a successful or poor year for you or if you just began one. Eight small company growth methods and recommendations are included below to assist you in achieving your objectives.

Boost Your Online Visibility as a Business Growth

Having an online presence is critical for future success, regardless of whether your firm is thriving offline. The eCommerce business is increasing at a rate of roughly 23% per year, and some experts predict that by 2040, online sales will account for 95% of all purchases.

2022 is the year to have a website for your company if you don’t already have one. A website may assist your firm gain reputation, expanding sales capacity (particularly in the future), developing brand recognition, allowing you to engage in email marketing, and much more.

Another channel you can’t overlook is social media. 45 percent of social media users said they used the platform to study companies and items, and 67 percent said they bought something they saw advertised on social media. Even concentrating on one or two social media channels where your clients are engaged might help your company grow significantly.

Quality Employees to Attract and Hire

A solid team is one of the most critical components of a successful business. Quality and devoted staff may make a huge difference in the success of your small business.

According to the most recent labor data, the United States still has 10.6 million job opportunities and insufficient applicants to fill them. In reality, there are just 0.7 jobless people for every job opportunity.

Write precise and informative job descriptions to attract great employees by letting applicants know exactly what will be required of them. Then, to make your firm as appealing as – or more appealing than – your rivals, match incentives from other businesses in your field.

This might include a welcome bonus, a hybrid work model, or other perks.

Look for Ways to Save Money

Cutting expenditures is a simple and effective strategy to enhance the financial health of your small business. But, first, determine where your money is going and which areas may need some trimming. Wave accounting software can help you classify costs to understand where your money is going.

You might be able to save money by canceling superfluous software subscriptions, moving to shared office space, or renting, leasing, or purchasing old equipment. Do you have an online store? Finding a wholesale distributor for your company is an excellent method to cut costs.

Every dollar counts when you’re a tiny business, so reduce or modify anywhere you can to improve your cash flow and financial condition.

Develop a Positive Company Culture

Businesses have faced large waves of resignations in what has been dubbed “the Great Resignation,” and facing financial difficulties and implementing Covid-19 safety standards.

Developing a solid business culture is one of the greatest methods of retaining outstanding personnel and ensuring business growth. In 2022, make an effort to bring the whole business together for events – as securely as possible – to establish trusting connections via transparency, have an open-door policy so workers can voice their concerns, and be as flexible with scheduling as feasible.

Form Connections.

Building a successful business requires networking. It enables you to learn from others’ experiences and uncover best practices. Furthermore, your contacts when striking up a discussion might lead to new chances.

Begin by joining industry-related online networking forums and organizations. Comment on other people’s threads or start your own in areas that are a good fit for your talents and interests to join in the debate.

It’s important to remember that networking is a two-way street, so give individuals something useful when you talk to them. For example, if you work in advertising, you may make your best guess on how Facebook Ads will do this year in terms of ROI.

Reduce Your Business’s Risks

While doing a company has some risks, having proper business insurance will protect you from serious liability risks. Unfortunately, 75 percent of firms, according to one research, are underinsured.

There are many various forms of company insurance to consider, but general liability, workers’ compensation, and commercial property insurance are the three most important.

• Liability in general. General liability insurance protects you and your company if a client, customer, vendor, or other third party is injured on your premises or while using your products and services.
• Workers’ Compensation Insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance is almost mandatory for all employers. It pays for medical expenses and missed earnings when employees are injured on the job or get ill due to their work.
• Commercial real estate. Accidental damage, vandalism, or loss of the physical structure and assets are all covered by commercial property insurance.

Ensure you have the correct sort of business insurance and enough coverage so that you and your company are protected in a disaster. Business Growth can stall or stop with a disaster, so protect yourself.

Franchising

Franchising remains one of the most popular methods of small business expansion and shows no signs of slowing down. Franchising allows business owners to expand to new markets and locations by assigning franchisees to new franchise territories allowing the franchisor to grow their business without doing it all by themselves. If you would like to learn more about why franchising is such an effective growth strategy, we recommend you read the various information and free guides at Franchise UK.

Make a marketing investment.

Invest in marketing and spread the word about your company to get ahead in these unpredictable times. In 2022, marketing must be a component of your business growth plan, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Utilizing social media ads, google ads, regular print advertisements, and other marketing strategies can all be effective ways to make your business known and attract potential customers.

If you have one, direct visitors to your website and establishing an email list may also be quite successful. Make marketing a priority in your budget, regardless of the path(s) you take.

Concentrate on the Correct Customers

Do you know who you’re trying to reach? Do you understand their wants, needs, and passions? If not, you should prioritize this because you won’t be as successful if you can’t satisfy your clients’ demands. The correct customers is your greatest key to business growth.

Making customer/buyer personas is a fantastic method to start thinking about your consumers’ problems and how to address them.

Are your products and services satisfying your target customers’ requirements, wants, and interests? Then, make contact with your current consumers and solicit feedback. They’re the ideal individuals to inform you how you’re doing and even provide you advice on how to better.

Make Customer Service a Top Priority for Business Growth.

This may come as no surprise, but customer service must be prioritized to expand your business in 2022. If you don’t provide better service than your competition, your clients will move elsewhere.

When customers’ concerns are promptly addressed, and their problems are rapidly resolved, they feel appreciated. Always go above and above to assist your clients, and ensure your employees are well-trained to deliver the finest possible service. Consider getting a business phone number.

Don’t forget to request reviews and testimonials, as 88 percent of purchasers trust internet reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Image Credit: Krakenimages; Unsplash; Thank you!

The post Best Small Business Growth Strategies for 2022 appeared first on ReadWrite.

Rapid growth is something that companies often aspire to and hold up as a measure of their success. While this is generally true, the fact remains that quick expansion and fast scaling are often extremely challenging to navigate, especially for fledgling businesses.

These “growing pains” can cause serious problems that have ripple effects throughout the entire company. So it is critical to understand the pitfalls and learn how to navigate them as efficiently as possible.

QA Ensure Your Strategies for Rapid Scaling and Collaboration Will Go Smoothly

Logically, founders often think that they should look for ways to avoid the hurdles that come with rapid scaling. Unfortunately, this is an impossible task for any fast-growth situation. The best thing to do is learn about the most common scenarios that occur. Then figure out how to manage them effectively.

The good news is that it is possible to implement rapid scaling without hampering your company’s overall productivity. The solution is to tackle any challenges that arise immediately, which helps to avoid harming your existing team’s motivation or alienating new hires.

Understanding the Choke Points: Scale Everything Simultaneously

Growth always means hiring new team members because steady expansion means more people are necessary for success. This can mean anything from hiring a new team of developers to work on furthering your product to customer service reps to ensure the client experience doesn’t suffer during your scale-up.

In my experience, there’s always a bottleneck in these scenarios. Companies have to simultaneously manage the growth of their team and the expansion of products and processes. It’s common to see businesses struggle with this because they believe they can scale one aspect at a time.

Remember, the more people you have, the more your procedures must adapt. What worked for a team of 10 can’t sustain a team of 20, and it certainly won’t work for a group of 200. This means that a key part of successful rapid scaling is not only hiring well but also creating better, more efficient onboarding processes. It helps newbies integrate fully into their existing workplace culture.

One aspect of this integration is ensuring the newcomers can “mesh” with the veterans — particularly when it comes to engineers and non-engineers working together. Keeping everyone on the same page is critical for maintaining a smooth expansion path.

Below are several steps your company can take to begin streamlining the onboarding process and fostering better collaboration between QAs and non-engineers.

1. Start by hiring veteran managers with scaling experience.

The advice given by most in the business realm is to always grow your leaders from within. In a majority of cases, this is an excellent strategy. It helps your business flourish and stay focused on its goals.

However, this route often doesn’t work when you’re undergoing rapid expansion. Due to the “full speed ahead” nature of the duties involved, the best course of action here is to seek out seasoned management with previous outside experience in meteoric growth.

When you bring on management that can take the reins of certain expansion aspects without direct supervision, it frees you to focus on the bigger picture. It also gives the less experienced team members someone easily accessible for guidance.

2. Pair newbies and “oldies” for faster integration.

Following a “new-with-old” buddy system can be extremely beneficial for periods of swift scaling. Creating these pairs is one strategy that worked exceptionally well for us at Qase because of how technical our projects are.

Both sides of this buddy system benefit immensely from these one-to-one pairings. New hires are able to glean employee-specific knowledge. They can also connect with someone who can help them connect with other “old guard” team members. It also gives them a safe haven to ask questions when they need direction rather than constantly approaching unfamiliar colleagues in their department.

On the other hand, veteran employees get to broaden their skill sets and refine their soft skills. They are critical for any person in your company who hopes to become a leader one day.

We also utilize a version of this buddy system when forming project teams. By blending half new hires and half veterans, we create a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. The newbies aren’t yet entrenched in a particular way of thinking, so they are more likely to make bold, innovative suggestions.

Having seasoned employees on the team helps to guide these suggestions in a productive, doable direction. It also speeds up the typical “forming-storming-norming-performing” idea cycle in which untested team members typically get stuck. They can offer company-specific guidance and practical tips as well, further improving the ideas generated. This helps your company maintain its momentum while cultivating innovative ideas and fresh solutions.

3. Spend time fully developing and refining your hiring and onboarding processes.

In the beginning, it’s easy for founders to “wing it” a bit when it comes to onboarding and hiring. The team is often small enough that it seems logical to put off investing time and effort into onboarding processes until some nebulous “later” time.

Speaking from experience, it is much better to go ahead and spend that time creating detailed, information-rich onboarding processes and hiring profiles. Knowing ahead of time exactly which types of candidates will fit in best with your corporate culture and the existing team can save you time, money, and stress.

Onboarding is often the worst growing pain your business will experience during periods of fast scaling. Doing all you can to smooth this process out beforehand will help you hire better and integrate newbies faster. Since speed and momentum are so vital for supporting this kind of scaling, think of it as an investment in your company’s future.

Remember, knowledge is power, especially for newcomers. It can be highly alienating and frustrating for new people who have no feel for your corporate culture to try to jump into their jobs and also fit into a team full of people they don’t know.

Developing clear and comprehensive training guides is important. It ensures that all of your new hires receive consistent, correct information about basic work processes, company goals, and general conduct guidelines. This empowers newbies to feel like they understand their role more thoroughly. It also prevents any intentional or unintentional misinformation from spreading and slowing your team down.

4. Continually look for ways to automate.

Automation is a key component of your scaling efforts, and it can easily be the difference between success and failure. Before you begin a massive growth spurt, review your existing processes and routines with a fine-toothed comb and an open mind.

The closer you can inspect all of the established processes in your organization, the more minor tasks you will likely find that can be automated, streamlined, or removed altogether. During these review sessions, you will also start to see areas that could potentially cause bottlenecks to your expansion efforts. For example, the need to constantly grant access permissions to newcomers who will be working on current and future projects.

It is also worth noting that no-code and low-code solutions are often excellent choices for a low-effort, high-reward tool to prevent scaling lags. Things like chatbots and dedicated Slack channels are tools that Qase uses to save both time and effort.

5. Ensure every department has a clearly defined plan of action at all times.

Periods of hypergrowth are often ripe for confusion and miscommunication. Be aware of this possible pitfall before you begin your next round of expansion.

Nobody can help you reach your destination if they have no idea where they are going. It means that clarity and transparency are especially critical during these times.

Remember that unclear goals are one of the most significant demotivating factors in a workplace. When there is a noticeable lack of direction, both new hires and old-timers will quickly begin to disengage — even if they were previously excited to come to work every day.

In fact, confusing goals are especially dangerous for newcomers because they already lack a deeply rooted connection to colleagues and your company’s mission. If they start feeling like they are adrift in the workplace, they are far more likely to leave their position in favor of a brand with well-defined mission statements and clear goals.

Because this is a pervasive problem for companies experiencing rapid scaling, it’s something management must stay on top of. One of the best ways to handle this is with a top-down approach. Start by ensuring your top executives have a deep connection to your brand’s mission and goals. Let the “trickle-down effect” spread this passion to middle management and their team members.

Tools like SMART goals, OKRs, and North Star metrics are all great starting points for creating the ideal solution for your business.

6. Keep everyone on the same page with a single “tech radar” information hub.

Well-organized information is also a vital component of keeping your internal projects running smoothly. Nothing slows growth and stifles innovation more than chaos and confusion. To prevent this, simply create your own “command center” or central hub for tech projects.

Utilizing a company-wide tech radar (which is just a comprehensive information center) helps everyone stay in the loop about important information. For example, which programs are being worked on, what software is being used, and how existing workflows operate. A repository like this eliminates crossed signals and wasted time by making it easy for anyone to review the guide before jumping into the middle of an active project.

Tech radars also have the added bonus of giving executives a big-picture view of what is and isn’t working well and where there is potential for cross-team collaboration.

Think About the Future Before You Get There

Rapid scaling doesn’t have to be a nightmare, even if it begins happening unexpectedly. While hypergrowth scenarios may seem like a two-edged sword, growing pains are inevitable but don’t have to be unmanageable.

Planning ahead and creating a solid foundation to build upon will help you streamline the process and position your business for great success.

Featured Image Credit: Dylan Gillis; Unsplash; Thank you!

The post 6 Strategies for Rapid Scaling and Collaboration Among Non-QA Engineers appeared first on ReadWrite.

A Mastermind is a peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems and improve their lives. We have all read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The central concept is to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who have what you’d like to create if you haven’t. Masterminds allow you to gain new experiences and perspectives, growing your life and business.

Mastermind groups have exploded in popularity in recent years. If you’re not in a Mastermind, the world will pass you by. The world is changing rapidly and surrounding yourself with other industry leaders is essential to staying ahead or catching up.

Being part of a group that thinks alike and different will make you better. They will also challenge your thinking. Most of these communities are exclusive and invite-only. If you qualify, consider yourself one of the fortunate ones. It is up to the participant to show up and receive value within all these groups.

Check out more masterminds on Coursera.

Why join a specific mastermind and which group to join can be complicated?

I am in a few different masterminds for different reasons. One is a business and speaker mastermind, another is a spiritual mastermind, and another focuses on marketing and sales strategies. 

You can join masterminds for every industry, entrepreneur, or business leader.

A few years ago, I was at a mastermind dinner for one of the groups below. One of the members was debating whether he would rejoin for $25,000 for year two. One of our fellow members asked why he would not rejoin. He responded that he didn’t feel he had received $25,000 in value or even a fraction of the $250,000 the program guaranteed. 

This member shared how he thinks about receiving value in these communities upon further discussion. It isn’t on the mastermind leader or the group to provide the value. It is on the participant to receive the value. He shared his thinking: how on day number 1 of a year-long program can I receive $25,000 or $250,000 in value in my life or business. The rest of the year and days in meetings are a bonus for accomplishing this. This thinking forever changed how I show up and receive value from these groups. Masterminds have led to millions of dollars of opportunities, friendships, and business collaborations. 

Being a member of many masterminds over the years, I want to outline the top 22 to join during 2022 to make it the best year of your life and business. 

1. YPO

Young Presidents Organization (YPO) is one of the oldest, most respected, and most prominent masterminds globally. The group was founded in 1950 by Ray Hickok. It connects 30,000 CEOs globally. Admission is invite-only and with business standards like 50 full-time employees and revenue over 13 million. Members connect in-person and online over the course of the year. Events often include speakers like Richard Branson, Steve Wozniak, and heads of state. Money’s no issue for members, but the annual fee is reasonable. So if you’re offered an invitation, don’t let the opportunity pass.

• Website ypo.org
• Investment: $10,000 plus Annually

2. Genius Creators Collective

Genius Creators Collective is an exclusive community of young creators focused on connecting and becoming empowered in building the future. The members (Genius Creators) include entrepreneurs, musicians, athletes, actors, executives, investors, and artists born during and after 1985. They host events at luxurious properties around the world. The community also meets twice a month online. Genius Creators Collective was created on the premise that young leaders crave a place to connect, learn, grow, and flourish collectively. The founders run investment companies and use the community to determine and support their investments. The community is startup founder and finance centric with influencers building all industries. 

• Website:  GeniusCreators.org 
• Investment: $11,000 Annually

3. Selfless Givers Mastermind

An invite-only mastermind that includes multiple best-selling authors, YPO members, hall of fame speakers changing the future. Membership costs $55,000 per year and consists of an epic trip to a remote location. Last year they rented a 90-foot yacht off-coast of Cabo. The group has launched members to number 1 on the WSJ list three times during 2020. They know how to market and create businesses changing the world from real estate to startups to consulting firms. 

• Website: SelflessGivers.com
• Investment: $55,000 Annually

4. Connected Geniuses

Sacred invite-only masterminds very few people have heard of. Members include the COO of a public company, investors, speakers, and business owners. Membership is capped at 22 members and includes an annual trip. We had no idea of the cost, yet we talked with one member who said it’s a place where he can be vulnerable and learn arm and arm with his brothers.

• Website: ConnectedGeniuses.com
• Investment: Undisclosed

5. The Lifestyle Investor Mastermind

Justin Donald’s Mastermind is a 12-month program that’s perfect for anyone looking to go beyond his book, courses, podcasts, and connect with top investors. The Lifestyle Investor Mastermind gives you the space for building your confidence, skills, network, and portfolio — all in one spot. The tax strategies of high net-worth individuals gain more than pay for the investment in this mastermind. Members get preferred rates to invest alongside Justin in his deals. They meet annually in-person and monthly online. So if you want to work less and have your money create a new lifestyle, this is the mastermind to join.

• Website: justindonald.com/mastermind
• Investment: $50,000 Annually

6. Mastermind Talks

A veteran entrepreneur, Gaignard is the founder of a top-rated business podcast on iTunes and runs one of the world’s most exclusive events for entrepreneurs through Mastermind Talks. His invite-only event brings together brilliant minds. His work has been featured by influential publications like Forbes, Life Hacker, and Business Insider.

Since 2013, more than 19,000 entrepreneurs have applied to MMT from across the globe. With our community capped at 150 members annually, MMT is one of the most exclusive entrepreneur groups in the world.

• Website: mmt.community
• Investment: $15,000 Annually

7. Genius Network

I alleged War Room was pre-Illuminati, but that’s before I researched ‘Genius Network.’ Joe Polish’s group connects members to educational content, a digital network, and colossal annual events where Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis, and Richard Branson speak. Pricing is either 25K or 100K annually. By most accounts, it’s the premium mastermind option. 

Genius Network is recommended for the most experienced masterminders. It is best to join knowing how to network, create partnerships, and market your business. Learn to walk before sprinting a marathon and joining Genius Network.

• Website: GeniusNetwork.com
• Investment: $25,000 or $100,000 Annually

8. The Human Gathering

The Human Gathering is a community created under the belief that nothing is impossible through the right community. Together, it is possible to gather the power to change the world. The focus is to leave behind a legacy carved into the history of humanity. Members include executives from public companies, entertainment, music, and diplomats. 

• Website: humangathering.com
• Investment: $5,000 Annually

9. EO

EO is perhaps the most well-known mastermind brand. Over 13,000 entrepreneurs are members globally. Each meets the standard of running a business over at least $1 million in revenue. Meetings are in-person at local chapters with discussions covering business, life, and balancing the two. 

If you meet its requirements, EO is very reasonable. The membership cost is minimal compared to other groups. The network is international, with members near every major city you can travel to. It has reigned as the 800-pound gorilla of masterminds since 1987 for good reasons.

• Website: eonetwork.org
• Investment: $9,500 Annually

10. Live for Livin 

Olenka Cullinan’s mastermind is a perfect place where driven executive women go to recharge, find balance, elevate their business and gain their time back. This combination of 1-1 work and peer connection Mastermind model helps executive women create life on their own terms while scaling and maintaining success. Cullinan has more than ten years of experience as an executive coach. As a result, she understands the main struggles women entrepreneurs deal with daily. This is the foundation for why she created Live for Livin. It’s a vetted group of very driven women running six to eight-figure organizations around the globe.

• Website: liveforlivin.com
• Investment: $9,500

11. Titans Mastermind

The Titans Mastermind is a business and personal growth. It is run by Brian Kurtz, one of the best direct response marketers in history. His group meets multiple times her year in-person and on zoom. So if you want to turn your company into a marketing machine, this is the group for you. 

Brian has worked with all the great marketers in history. These marketers are regular attendants and speakers at his events. In addition, this legend has mailed over 1.5 billion pieces of mail and shares his secrets with the group.

• Website: briankurtz.net/mastermind
• Investment: $20,000

12. War Room

War Room is where the top entrepreneurs, marketers, and game-changers meet to share strategies. Hall of Famers include Sara Blakely of Spanx, a Shark Tank Judge, and a former Pepsi VP. Executives share written templates, checklists, and systems on a private social network. War Room’s goal is to “double your business every year.” 

This mastermind tier is recommended for the experienced. Try out informal groups first to see if you do well in them. The payoff only justifies itself if you’re already good at networking, forming partnerships, and, generally, playing extraverted business.

• Website: warroommastermind.com
• Investment: $30,000 Annually

13. Elite365 (Itzler’s Mastermind)

Jesse Itzler created this mastermind to help members prioritize their lives over their work. Members discover that who they are matters more than what they do. Its main objective is to inspire people to build their life resumes, give them tools to do so, and experiences to create. Jesse is also a serial entrepreneur who has sold businesses to Warren Buffett, Coca-Cola, and iFit. He is also an ultra-endurance athlete who once hired David Goggins to live and train him for 30 days.

• Website: jesseitzler.com/elite-365/
• Investment: $25,000 Annually 

14. Strategic Coach

Strategic Coach is an organization run by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Coach is the recognized leader worldwide in entrepreneurial coaching. For over 30 years, Coach has worked with more than 20,000 successful business owners from around the globe to help them achieve faster growth, greater profits, and an exceptional quality of life. In addition, Strategic Coach offers business coaching workshop programs designed to step up progress and accelerate your business and personal life results. The global community of successful entrepreneurs, highly experienced coaches, an arsenal of proprietary tools, and deep-dive strategy sessions are the cornerstones of member success.

• Website: strategiccoach.com
• Investment: $25,000

15. Tony Robbins Platinum Partnership

Platinum Partnership provides the unprecedented opportunity to network and learn from Tony and master teachers. Limited to an exclusive group of serious players worldwide. Membership involves traveling to some of the most spectacular destinations on earth. An annual commitment, The Platinum Partnership is an opportunity to receive a personalized level of coaching from the Robbins organization. In addition, members can attend Tony Robbins live events whenever they want, as often as they’d like, anywhere in the world.

• Website: tonyrobbins.com/platinum-partnership
• Investment: $85,000

16. World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial, and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

• Website: weforum.org
• Investment: $62,000-$620,000 Annually
  

17. Blue Collar Mastermind

This is the mastermind designed for contractors. Meetings educate business owners on how to position companies as elite. Content focuses on increasing sales, marketing, and increasing the profitability of all contractors. In addition, the founder’s experiences as a contractor coach and sales strategist give this Mastermind a unique perspective for the contractor’s industry.

• Website: Bluecollarmastermind.com
• Investment: $30,000

18. Aubrey Marcus Fit for Service

Fit For Service is a curated fellowship with some of the world’s top coaches and experts, specifically designed to help you become physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, romantically, and spiritually fit. To use this to be in service for the good of all. Everyone who enters this program will leave more equipped to tackle life’s challenges with absolute confidence. This is not a mastermind, this is a transformational experience. It doesn’t matter where members are starting from, all have a lion inside, just waiting to emerge with a roar that says, “I am done playing small, I am done hiding my voice, I am done being the good girl, or the good boy. I would rather live one day as a lion than a thousand days pretending to be less than who I truly am.”

• Website: aubreymarcus.com/pages/fit-for-service-academy
• Investment: $30,000 Annually

19. The Conscious Leader Mastermind – Gerard Adams

The world-class network will power up and accelerate your path to financial fulfillment, global influence, and joyful spiritual growth. A full-stack, exclusive experience for 33 selective individuals… and you’re one of the lucky 33.

You’ve built your business. You have success. Now what? This Conscious Leader Mastermind is an exclusive high-level group for established entrepreneurs and high performers who are ready for their next level of self-mastery alongside a world-class network of leaders.

• Website: mastermind.leaderscreateleaders.com/
• Investment: $30,000 for 6 months

20. Elevate Club

The Elevate Club is a peer-to-peer learning community built around building capacity in four key areas—spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional capacity—to help members reach full potential in their personal and professional lives. Elevate Club members include over 100 CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives and thought leaders from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, India and Guatemala. Members meet regularly for keynotes/seminars, participate in on-demand online courses, and have experience sharing discussions in a private online community. The group is led by Robert Glazer, a serial entrepreneur, #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author and creator of Friday Forward, an inspirational newsletter read by over 300,000 leaders each week.

• Website: elevate-club.com
• Investment: $497 Annually

21. Dan Martell

Are you in the early stages of building your SaaS startup?

You’ll learn the “3 P’s of Growth” in the Growth Accelerator—product, positioning, and promotion. You’ll learn how to build compelling software, position it attractively to the right market, and promote it in a way that creates traction so you can scale your way to $10K/MRR in record time. Scale your software company. Optimize their revenue engines and build escape velocity in their business.

• Website: danmartell.com
• Investment: $125,000 Annually

22. Women in Tech

Women in Tech is an international non-profit organization to close the gender gap and help women embrace technology. They promote girls’ and women’s empowerment worldwide, focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 5b: harnessing technologies. It is a global movement with chapters in 6 continents, counting over 70.000 members.

The aim is to educate, equip and empower women and girls with the necessary skills, confidence, and opportunities to succeed in STEM career fields.

• Website: Women-in-tech.org
• Investment: Starting at $995 Annually

Being part of a group of people who think alike and have the same interests and ambitions will make you better at what you do. Not only will these masterminds challenge, but they will also support your wildest dreams.

Despite their exclusive, private status and investments, these groups have proven to be very effective in helping entrepreneurs to uplevel their lives and businesses.

Check out more masterminds on Coursera.

Let us know which groups you join or are already a member of. I look forward to seeing you at one of these masterminds this year.

The post The 22 Top Masterminds to Join in 2022 appeared first on ReadWrite.

You didn’t start your company to lose money. However, you don’t want just to break even, either. Ideally, you want the healthiest possible profit margin. And that one way to do that is by growing your revenue streams.

As a refresher, revenue is the cash coming into the business. Typically indicated at the top of your organization’s income statement, revenue is highly variable. Some years it might be up; some years, it might be down. Ideally, you want your revenue to be as strong as possible to offset variable expenses.

Of course, boosting your revenue usually doesn’t happen without a little tinkering. Sure, you might get lucky and enjoy an unexpected spike now and then. But you can’t bank on luck. Instead, you need to put some measures in place to nudge your revenue higher and higher.

1. Reignite former customers.

Chances are good that you have information on your past customers. These were people you spent money to acquire and who spent money on your brand. Rather than accepting that they’re gone for good, why not take steps to reignite their interest?

For instance, think about all the customers who have come back, filled a digital shopping cart, and left. According to Retention.com, seven out of 10 buyers fall into this category. Your objective should be to use the data you already have about them to encourage them to reconsider. You might send texts, emails, or even DMs as reminders. Or, you could try a retargeting campaign.

Although you won’t recapture everyone who leaves, you’ll bring some back into the fold. As a result, your revenue will be stronger than it would have been. Plus, you’ll have the chance to renew your relationship with these “boomerang” buyers.

2. Increase your line of products or services.

Many companies striving for a revenue bump invest in the expansion of their products or services. The trick to making this work is to be sure that the new offerings are relevant. For example, an e-store selling winter recreational merchandise to adult consumers wouldn’t want to add wedding gowns to its lineup. The disconnect would be too vast.

On the other hand, that same company might want to consider adding pet outdoor winter gear and supplies. Many people take their dogs (and some cats) with them on hikes, trails, and other excursions. Consequently, offering customers the chance to keep their four-legged companions comfortable could make sense.

Be certain to conduct research, and don’t just follow your gut instincts if you take this revenue-upping route. You’ll be spending money upfront, after all, and you want to lower your risk as much as possible. The easiest way to do that is to do your homework and expand deliberately.

3. Reduce sales friction points.

A typical sales funnel is inverted for a reason. As leads move deeper down the funnel, some start to trickle out. This is natural, normal, and expected. Nevertheless, it’s not giving your revenue much of a jumpstart.

Sit down with your team and walk through all the customer journeys that make up your sales funnel. Cross-reference those journeys with data. Where do you see areas of major lead drop-off? Those are gaps — and if you fix them, you should see a corresponding spike in bottom-of-funnel conversions.

If you’re not sure how to correct a friction point, consider working with a marketing expert. It’s worth spending money to do things the right way the first time. If you’d rather do everything in-house, make small changes that can be tested in real-time. Don’t attempt to remedy all your gaps at once, because you might not know which strategy is serving up results.

4. Work harder on cross-sells and upsells.

Consumers who have had a good experience statistically spend 140% more in purchases than their dissatisfied counterparts. They won’t automatically know what else to consider buying from your online store or catalog, though. You have to help them by introducing them to items through cross-selling and upselling techniques.

A cross-sell is the sale of something compatible with what a customer’s buying. For instance, a consumer who buys a sofa may want a chair, an ottoman, a side table, or a floor lamp. An upsell is the sale of something more expensive than the customer originally selected. Adding extra cheese or sautéed mushrooms to a burger for a fee is an example of an upsell.

The good news is that there’s a lot of software available to help you automate cross-selling and upselling. The software — usually augmented by predictive AI and ML technologies — can “fetch” cross-sell and upsell options. When done well, cross-selling and upselling can significantly impact your revenue rates.

5. Consider a subscription model.

Another way to give your company a bit of dependable income is through subscriptions. Just about any product or service could have a subscription element. That’s why the average person pays $200+ in monthly subscriptions. The key is making sure that your subscription holds enough value for consumers to keep paying.

Part of the reason that subscriptions produce profits is that most consumers set them and forget them. People rarely use their subscriptions the way they think they will. That’s why no one cancels their gym memberships in February even though they’ve stopped going since mid-January!

You can get as creative as you want with your subscription. Anything goes. Who would have assumed that clothing into a subscriber’s delight? Or that people would want to have men’s grooming products delivered? StitchFix and Harry’s Razors, that’s who. Therefore, be open to trying something out of the ordinary.

6. Explore a different audience.

Chances are strong that you haven’t fully tapped into all the audiences who might be interested in your brand. These could be niche offshoots of your regular audience or a completely different audience than you’ve sold to before. Being able to conquer yet another target market can give new life to your revenue.

Unsure how to come up with new-to-you audiences? Conducting some social listening can be a good way to start. Find out what your customers are saying about your product online. Then, find out what they’re saying about your competitors’ products. You may unearth some hidden audiences that you’ve never marketed to.

Lucky Charms experienced this when the brand realized it wasn’t marketing to a huge segment of buyers. It turns out, adults like the fun marshmallows almost as much as kids do! This is why Lucky Charms has been making its ads more adult-friendly for a decade. No doubt its revenue reflects its sweet revelation.

7. Improve your brand presence.

People can’t give you their hard-earned money if they don’t know you exist. Putting a push on your outbound content marketing and publicity messaging can put your company name in front of consumers. The more common your brand becomes, the more synonymous it will be with the products or services you offer.

A rapid way to establish your brand presence and reputation is through social media. Staying active on the social media sites preferred by your target buyers should give you a little steam. You’ll just need to make sure you’re posting and commenting regularly. Social media is about engagement, not just sales. The more give and take you provide, the more buzz you’ll build.

You can amplify your social media presence through influencer marketing and paid advertising. Used in tandem with organic content deployment, influencer marketing, and ads will strengthen your credibility. Ultimately, you’ll get a nice lift that should carry over into your sales.

8. Adjust your pricing.

Your price points will affect your revenue. Even if you’re wary about moving your price up or down, take it into consideration. Never assume that you’ll lose customers if you move the needle up, either. Many customers who like what you offer won’t have a problem paying a little more. As noted by The New York Times, consumers rarely jump ship as long as your price raise doesn’t go overboard.

One caveat, however: Be careful about raising prices without warning, especially if you have regular customers. A customer who buys from you once a week or month will notice a price hike faster than one who buys occasionally. Giving notice that your prices will go up shows customers you’re thinking of their needs. Additionally, it makes them feel like you’re not trying to pull a fast one.

Still, feeling uncomfortable at going higher? Give your best shoppers a chance to continue buying at the same low rate for a limited time. Or, keep prices the same for items that are purchased in multiple quantities.

Your company’s revenue is a line item that you have more control over than you may have thought. If you want to see it rise, take action now. With some changes, you could be revenue rich and more profitable than you thought possible.

Published First on Due. Read Here.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Monstera; Pexels; Thank you!

The post 8 Ways You Could Be Growing Your Revenue appeared first on ReadWrite.

There’s a lot of buzz and confusion around the term “digital workplace.” Many businesses make the words digital workplace a synonym for their collaboration tools, intranet software, and various network solutions.

A Digital Workplace in 2020 is not just your tools.

Your tools are essential, but they’re a shortsighted view of what a digital workplace can be. Leaders need to look beyond the past and into the future about how a digital workplace might really transform the entire ecosystem of work.

Where to look to for the digital workplace.

We interviewed business leaders around the world to see what they had to say about what a digital workplace is and what are the problems it will solve in 2020. We asked, “How will a digital workplace help you at work in 2020?” Here are their most common responses.

1. Kill tab switching.

“I think the biggest challenge of the digital workplace is that we all have like 20 applications and 100 tabs open at once, with Slack, email, and text notifications popping in overtop of it all. In 2020, I’ll be looking at any applications or systems that will help me avoid that kind of context switching so I can be more productive,” said Yaniv Masjedi, CMO at Nextiva.

Context switching is a real problem that most people do not think about. It is the new age equivalent of people dropping by your desk to discuss ‘work,’ ‘not work,’ and everything in between. It is affecting productivity in ways we don’t realize.

Data silos are the main reasons for tab switching. A classic example is the use of emails for ‘official’ internal communications and chats for all other communication. Despite some apparent differences, there aren’t standard rules in place for when to use each form. Thus, when it comes time to find the details of communication, you now have to search at least two places to find what you need.

API integrations can fetch data from different apps and significantly reduce tab switching. However, it does not eliminate it. To have a higher impact on eliminating tab switching, transition your operations to multi-functional platforms from separate disparate tools.

2. Collaboration tools should work in tandem with projects.

“The capabilities I want from a digital workplace are the following. First, I need a capable communication platform, which lets me send texts and make audio and video calls, as well as share my screen. Next, I need a feature that lets me manage my projects better. We built a tool that aims to blend these two together, and I think it’s doing a good job so far,” says Dmytro Okunyev, Founder at Chanty.

Many organizations are trying to build their own tools to bring their communication into their projects. Each project needs high-end analytics and reporting capabilities toessential get control and insights over all the activities running within.

The next challenge is to take these insights into actions, to manage work, people, and their collaboration in one go. Many enterprises build their own tools for the purposes of customizability and data security. They cost a fortune but get the job done efficiently.

However, there are some collaborative project management tools that SMBs and mid-markets could use to get the job done. They can still catch up with their enterprise giants if they realize this problem and start acting upon it.

3. Improved knowledge management.

“We can also expect enterprises to pay greater attention to their employees’ competences and knowledge augmentation. In this context, digital workplaces could get expanded with previously unavailable knowledge management features. I am looking forward to welcoming software solutions capable of sorting out batches of business content, and capturing valuable knowledge that could be further automatically relocated to employees’ competence centers, as well as shared across teams and communities,” says Alex Paretski, Knowledge Manager at Itransition Group.

In today’s dynamic work environment, it is important to document and manage information that needs to be on common grounds for all-round access. Getting new employees up to speed is more comfortable when they can find the resources by themselves and fill their knowledge gaps.

It also lightens the load on all teams when users can search for information right at their fingertips with ease — it merely gives a better experience for employees. With powerful search tools that can understand queries based on the context, a digital workplace should have knowledge management as a priority for every organization.

4. Increased productivity with remote work.

“As more people work from non-traditional locations (even within a traditional office), it’s critical for employees to provide tools to enable productivity while being mobile. The Capital One 2019 Work Environment Survey found that 61 percent of professionals expect their next employer to offer flexible hours, and 54 percent expect the ability to work remotely. To meet those expectations, business leaders and employees must make smart technology choices that allow for collaboration and seamless work/life integration,” says Christian Teismann, Senior VP & General Manager at Lenovo.

Remote work has been on the rise over the last decade. It allows employees to work at their own time and place. Studies have shown that the performance of employees increases when they work remotely. But how to make remote work a reality that works for both the organization and employees?

The best way forward is to give employees the right digital tools to stay connected to work. It has to be the right mix of providing maximum functionality and flexibility along with data security. To keep a tab on everything, it is also necessary to reduce the number of apps used by employees to get more visibility.

5. Employee-centric approach while adapting to new technology.

While software applications are expected to become more intelligent, employees will need to be empowered to leverage these technologies to become more effective and productive.

Until now, the solution to any work problem is looking for digital tools. However, the biggest mistake is assuming that buying and implementing a tool will solve the problem automatically. Make sure that employees adapt to a new work culture with those new tools. Only then will you see a significant change in ROI. After all, employees are human beings with habits that are hard to change.

How to approach a digital workplace?

Digital workplace initiatives are bringing in a lot of benefits to businesses of all sizes. Even if the term ‘digital workplace’ is loosely defined, it is necessary for leaders to try and understand why people are talking about it.

The ideal approach to your digital workplace should be to identify the current needs of your business, get digital tools if required, and implement them in the system through people. The vision for a digital workplace is an ongoing wave. Better to ride it than be late to the party.

Try Out Productivity Tools We Are Using

The post A Vision for the Digital Workplace of 2020 appeared first on ReadWrite.

We are living in the age of technology and innovation. Traditional processes and workflows have become outdated. Operations and process models are being reinvented to increase cost-effectiveness. However, not all businesses are adapting to the revolutionized business process, which results in increased costs, a lack of efficiency, and halted growth. Outdated processes end up damaging your business and cause loss of customers.

First and foremost, you need to consider which processes add value to the foundation of your business. To your employees. Businesses often focus on acquiring and retaining clients and customers, all the while neglecting HR processes. This works well initially, but as organizations grow, problems due to lack of process start piling up.

HR management is one of the key pillars of any business.HR processes ensure the recruitment of new employees, training professionals, and ensuring compliance with local labor laws.

Today automation is becoming part of a continuous transformation of HR processes. The main task is to release department employees from routine work, digitize the paper processes, and leave more time for planning and strategy. Thus, business reduces costs and time spent on previously inefficient HR processes.

By automating human resources management, organizations can quickly design, optimize, integrate, and implement the required services at a significantly lower cost. With the right implementation, HR automation can bring indispensable perks.

Just check out some benefits of HR automation:

• Increased productivity through rapid data processing and sharing
• Reduction of staff turnover due to increased employee involvement
• Reduced storage and printing costs associated with paper processing
• Stay away from the risk of non-compliance or policy violations.
• Increase organizational growth through effective recruitment at optimal operating costs

It is necessary to identify the most vulnerable spots in the HR workflow accurately to reach these benefits. Typically, the most critical aspects are:

1. Onboarding

Integrating an employee into all work processes is still one of the most “manual” HR processes. It includes verification, providing access to new employees’ tools, raising requests for devices, and much more. Due to the software, even such processes may be automated.

The onboarding software for employees offers a simple checklist to which all users involved in the process can refer. In a few hours, the new employee will have access to corporate standards, all the essential documents will be delivered just in time to the mail, and maintenance specialists will equip his workspace remotely.

2. Time Tracking and Vacation requests

In short, manual time tracking is ineffective. Time tracking software automatically marks when an employee is in and out of work, allowing the manager to track how many hours an employee has spent on a particular task and evaluate its effectiveness. HR processes become more organized, rapid, and efficient.

Vacation approval documents are the headache of any HR manager. Preparing financial documents, coordinating with supervisors, and calculating salaries manually slows down the process. With the automated leave management process, all this can be done automatically, without getting stuck in someone’s mailbox.

3. Assessment

Assessment is a permanent HR process that monitors, measures, and analyzes an employee’s performance concerning business goals. The software allows ensuring repeatable quality and increasing professionalism of each employee in the long perspective.

4. Exit interviews

Exit interviews play an important role in increasing staff involvement. However, exit interviews conducted on paper and manually are tedious, time-consuming, and inefficient. By automating the Exit interview process, enterprises can recognize potential problems and derive data that can be used to improve retention rates.

The most crucial issue is what spot of HR activity should be transformed into your company and how? What software requirements should be adjusted specially to your business needs and company growth opportunities?

It is even more complicated to take actions to digitize each area of HR activity without unnecessary spinning for both department personnel and employees of the whole company.

However, if you expect us to tell you how to automate your HR department in a few clicks, we have to disappoint you. We do not possess a universal solution for automating your HR processes. Each business is unique.

To create the right software, a digital transformation consultant needs to be part of your business. We are ready to be involved in the process. Due to the fact that only the right software gives the right result.

Try Out Productivity Tools We Are Using

The post HR Automation – The Way to Ensure Stable Business Growth appeared first on ReadWrite.

What was once a niche work lifestyle has become commonplace. Millions of Americans now work remotely – and millions more are ready to join in. While remote working offers many benefits, it also has its own distinct challenges that must be worked through. Understanding how to power through friction and optimize productivity for better output is the goal. Here are six brilliant brain hacks for the remote worker.

Do you know where to start? Here is a practical guide to on-boarding remote engineers from a topmost expert. Consider these 6 brilliant brain hacks for the remote worker.

The Upward Climb on Remote Working

If you work from home, you used to be the anomaly. Today, you’re in good company. Pretty soon, you’ll be part of the majority.

According to Global Workplace Analytics and Quarterly Global, the leader in PR, marketing and advertising, the number of individuals working from home has grown by 173 percent since 2005.

Overall, 4.7 million employees (roughly 3.4 percent of the overall workforce) work from home at least half the time.

Approximately 40 percent of American employers offer more flexible workplace options today than they did five years ago. But with 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. workforce saying they’d prefer to work outside the office at least some of the time, this number is expected to rise in the coming years.

As remote working becomes more commonplace, so will the need for better remote working strategies.

The Top Remote Working Challenges

Remote working is highly appealing and advantageous for freelancers, employees, and employers alike. But it’s not a perfect setup. There are plenty of challenges, including:

Blurred lines

Everyone wants to talk about tearing barriers between work and personal life, but too much overlap can equally problematic. One of the keys to maintaining optimal work-life balance is being able to separate the two. When you work out of the house, it’s challenging to carve out a meaningful division between each area. This can make you less effective in both aspects of your life.

Distractions

Have you ever tried to work from home when you have a house full of rambunctious children? Or what about participating in a conference call in the middle of a loud coffee shop? Wherever you’re working, distractions abound.

Procrastination

Whether you’re an employee or freelancer, your remote working status typically comes with greater freedom in how you manage your time. If you aren’t careful, procrastination can get the best of you. Over time, it may even become habitual.

Inconsistency

When working in an office, there’s something to be said for the predictability. You basically know what to expect. Your desk is in the same place, you see the same people, and you go through the same basic routines. Remote workers rarely have the luxury of consistency. This makes it hard to get in a state of flow.

Communication

We may have more communication methods than ever before, but there’s still nothing that can fully replicate being face-to-face in the same physical space. For remote workers, trying to communicate via a combination of phone, email, SMS, and video chat creates an extra layer of friction.

Isolation

Finally, remote working often gives rise to feelings of isolation – particularly in people with extroverted personalities. This can lead to boredom, pessimism, and a lack of drive. It can even have serious side effects, like anxiety or depression.

Most people ignore these challenges, and the results show. But if you’re someone who wants to increase productivity and maximize output, you need a better strategy.

You need to find what works.

And once you discover what works, you need to bottle it up and use it to your advantage.

Powerful Brain Hacks for Better Results

Brain hacking.

It sounds like a buzzword – and it kind of is. But that doesn’t make it any less valid.

Our brains are constantly being shaped by events, experiences, external stimuli, and other environmental factors. And as weird as it may sound, the human brain is subject to regular physical and cognitive changes.

The neuroplasticity concept says that the brain, like muscles in the body, becomes weaker or stronger over time. It’s continuously changing and rewiring. Over time, targeted techniques and purposeful strategies can morph into automatic habits and processes.

These targeted techniques and strategies are brain hacking. And it’s something that every remote worker can do to overcome the aforementioned challenges and optimize productivity and output.

Here are some brain hacks you may find helpful:

1. Try Intermittent Fasting for Better Focus

Intermittent fasting is a biohacking concept that involves alternating cycles of fasting and eating. There are various techniques, but the most common is to eat all of your meals in one eight-hour window. In other words, you’re fasting for 16 hours every day.

If you’re someone who loves food, this probably sounds impossible.

However, it’s not nearly as difficult as it initially seems.

It basically means you eat your first meal at 11 a.m. and your last meal at 7 p.m. (or whatever variation works for you).

Aside from the fat loss and metabolism benefits, intermittent fasting actually helps with focus. The consolidated intake of food prevents wasted energy from digesting food. Instead, you’re able to allocate those energy reserves to concentrate on work-related tasks.

On a related note, be mindful of what you eat.

While health professionals have spent years telling people to avoid fat, the truth is that you need healthy fats to maximize cognitive functioning.

Why?

It’s pretty simple: The human brain is 60 percent fat.

When you eat, try incorporating items like eggs, avocados, nuts, salmon, trout, and coconut oil into your meals.

2. Eliminate Digital Media from Your Morning Routine

Bing! Bing! Bing!

Your morning alarm goes off.

You slap the snooze button. Once. Twice. Three times.

Once you finally come to your senses, you grab your phone, pull up Instagram, and start scrolling.

Then you get out of bed, walk downstairs, and turn on the news.

While watching the news, you reply to a couple of late-night texts that came in while you were sleeping.

Over breakfast, you check your email.

It’s not even 8 a.m., and you’ve consumed more digital media than your brain can process. You’ve also unintentionally heightened your stress level, stifled your creativity, and destroyed your focus.

When you start your day with digital media, you’re actually beginning your morning playing catch-up on what happened yesterday. You’re also letting other people dictate how you feel. You haven’t even started working, and stress, worry, and discontentment become the resounding feelings of the day.

Try taking a digital fast for the first two to three hours each day.

In a study conducted by a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia, 124 individuals were asked to check their email frequently for one week. The next week, they were told only to check their email three times per day (and to disable all notifications).

The data was analyzed against the time spent viewing email, and participants reported feeling significantly lower stress levels and higher feelings of positivity when email exposure was limited.

Once you cut back on exposure to email, social media, news, and other digital media forms, you’ll start to feel the positive effects.

While everyone can benefit from less digital media exposure, it’s especially helpful for remote workers close to digital distractions like the TV, video game systems, and personal smart devices.

3. Leverage the Pomodoro Technique for Better Scheduling

Americans have a love affair with multitasking. We wear our ability to juggle responsibilities like a badge of honor.

But research shows that multitasking actually suppresses productivity. And if you work from home, where personal distractions are omnipresent, it can severely limit your output.

Enter the Pomodoro Technique – a revolutionary brain hacking method that remote workers have been using for years to increase focus and productivity.

The Pomodoro Technique consists of breaking your workday into 25-minute sections of work separated by five-minute breaks. Each one of these half-hour chunks is referred to as a Pomodoro. Once you’ve completed four Pomodoros, you take an extended break of 15 to 20 minutes.

These 15- to 20-minute breaks can be used for remote workers to do tasks around the house – such as folding laundry, fixing lunch, or taking a shower. This allows you to be productive with work while also taking full advantage of the fact that you’re home.

4. Use Parkinson’s Law to Avoid Procrastination

In a satirical piece written for the Economist in 1955, British naval historian Cyril Parkinson made the following statement:

“Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

He would later write a book that fleshed out this idea. Eventually, people would refer to this concept as Parkinson’s Law.

In a remote work setting, Parkinson’s Law states that the time it takes to complete a work project depends on how much time you allot for it. In other words, if you give yourself eight hours, you’ll slow down and make it take eight hours. If, however, you only give yourself five yours, you’ll block out distractions and get it done in five hours.

If you’ve grown weary of procrastination and hope to finish your work faster and more efficiently, you need to set tighter deadlines.

Instead of telling a client, you’ll have the project done by next Friday, tell them you’ll have it in by next Tuesday. By tightening the time constraints, you force yourself to work more efficiently.

5. Optimize Your Home Office for Productivity

One of the major challenges of working from home is that you’re forced to create a professional workspace in the middle of a very personal place.

But this is also one of the distinct advantages.

You have the capacity to design your own workspace – so why not optimize your at-home workspace in a way that puts your brain in the right frame of mind to be productive?

For starters, choose a room in the house that’s as far away from communal living areas as possible. In other words, being located right off the living room isn’t ideal. You’re much better off positioning a home office in the back corner of the house.

Secondly, you need natural light. It plays a catalytic role in brain performance, creativity, and focus.

Thirdly, paint your office walls a soothing color. The principles of color psychology suggest cool greens, blues, or neutrals. Avoid colors like red and orange, which provoke feelings of urgency.

Finally, eliminate distractions by avoiding clutter. While some creative minds thrive in messy environments, the vast majority of people wilt. Clutter zaps up energy and makes it hard to focus on the task at hand. By adopting a minimalist environment, you can get more done with less effort.

6. Keep a Schedule

The human brain thrives on predictability. Remote working is far less predictable than working in an office where you’re expected to show up, take lunch, and go home at the same time each day.

If you want to give your brain a solid framework to latch onto, a consistent schedule is necessary.

Start your day by having your alarm go off at the same time every single morning.

After waking, implement a consistent routine that helps you transition from personal duties to professional responsibilities.

Start working each day simultaneously and use a couple of familiar tasks to help your brain slip into the right frame of mind.

Taking lunch at the same time is also advisable – particularly if you’re leveraging intermittent fasting.

The hardest part for most remote workers is “clocking out” at a consistent time. It’s easy to continue working and filling time until late in the evening. To prevent this from happening, try scheduling obligations in the evening. This makes it less likely that you’ll keep working.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

Not all of these brain hacks and strategies will appeal to you. It’s all about finding your best approach and leveraging whatever it is that helps you achieve a state of flow.

What works for you?

How can you set yourself up for max productivity?

Your approach will differ from the next person’s – so don’t try to mimic or replicate what others are doing. Instead, become like a scientist in the laboratory. Mix, match, and blend proprietary formulas until you discover a brain hacking system that puts you on a path for success.

Image Credit: David Cassolato; Pexels

Try Out Productivity Tools We Are Using

The post 6 Brilliant Brain Hacks for the Remote Worker appeared first on ReadWrite.

There are many amazing marketing speakers that can help shed light on the intricacies of marketing. However, only a select few understand what growth marketing entails. Growth marketing is a specialized segment of digital marketing, and it focuses specifically on online customer acquisition.

To learn how to incorporate this marketing segment in your business, it helps to get firsthand guidance from growth marketing thought leaders who present at marketing conferences across the country and around the world. Here are 15 exceptional growth marketing experts you’ll want to speak at your next industry event.

• Eli Schwartz

Eli Schwartz is the former director of growth at SurveyMonkey, building organic search from the ground up. During his stint with High Gear Media, he led user acquisition and grew new monthly users from 500,000 to six million in three years. Eli now works with large-scale growth companies on building products poised for hypergrowth. As an SEO expert and digital marketing consultant, Eli has assisted world-renowned B2B and B2C companies like Quora, BlueNile, and Shutterstock with strategies designed to grow organically.

Eli is a regular speaker at marketing events throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia, as well as serving as a guest lecturer at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Singapore’s Civil Service College, and the Founder’s Institute. In 2019, Eli Schwartz’s speaking engagements included the Internet Marketing Summit, Content Marketing World, Digital Summit, GrowthHackers Conference, and the Growth Marketing Conference.

• Ann Handley

Ann Handley is Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and Founder of ClickZ. Considered to be a digital marketing pioneer, she has also been cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in social media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers. Ann has also been named as one of just seven key people shaping the modern marketing environment.

Besides her ongoing stint as a best-selling author, Ann also is a regular speaker who delivers memorable presentations on a wide range of digital marketing topics. Ann Handley’s recent keynote topics included “How to Level-Up Your Writing and Make it Ludicrously Spectacular,” “ASAP: As Slow as Possible,” and “The Big, Bold, Brave New World of Content & Storytelling.”

• Sean Ellis

Sean Ellis is the Founder and CEO of Growth Hackers, the first marketer at Dropbox, and the guy who coined the growth hacking methodology. He developed growth initiatives for other companies, including Eventbrite, LogMeIn, and Lookout, which helped shape his growth marketing model.

Sean is the author of a book on growth marketing and has a blog that helps startup founders unlock business growth. He is a regular speaker at his company’s own event, GrowthHackers Conference, as well as presents at organizational workshops and conferences. At these events, he shares stories, use cases, and results from implementing growth marketing initiatives. Sean Ellis has also been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School and the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley.

• Gareth Everard

Gareth Everard is co-founder and CMO of Keyto, a technology and wellness company funded by Craft Ventures and Floodgate Fund. He previously founded Rockwell Razors, an award-winning zero-waste consumer goods company that sells online and in over 6000 retail locations around the world. In addition to managing millions of dollars of growth marketing budget over his young career, Gareth raised over 2.5 million dollars through crowdfunding campaigns to launch products from patented razor designs to keto diet breathalyzers.

An experienced speaker, Gareth’s candid, and engaging storytelling combines tactical advice and fresh perspectives, leaving attendees always learning something cutting-edge and exceptionally valuable. His topics include leveraging communities to drive memberships, consumer product launches, and how to dial in your digital marketing funnel. Gareth Everard has been featured as a speaker at marketing conferences, universities, and intimate masterminds around the world.

• Lee Odden

Lee Odden is co-founder and CEO of TopRank Marketing, a U.S.-based digital marketing agency that serves major B2B brands, including GE Digital, Oracle, Virgin Pulse, LinkedIn, Dell, Microsoft, Staples, General Mills, State Farm, Slack, and more. Lee is a recognized content creator and influencer marketer as well as an all-around marketing expert.

In addition to his role as a book author and content contributor to multiple media leaders, he is a prolific public speaker often called upon for keynote presentations in digital marketing industry conferences. In the last decade, Lee Odden has given close to 200 presentations in 13 different countries. His engaging stories and stage presence, combined with deep thought leadership across multiple digital marketing segments, make him a not-to-miss speaker.

• Carla Johnson

Carla Johnson is known as a world-renowned storyteller, entertaining speaker, and prolific author. Consistently named as one of the top influencers in B2B, digital, and content marketing, she works with entrepreneurs and companies like Amazon, Dell, and Intel to define themselves through their strengths.

From global conferences to company events, Carla shares her marketing and branding wisdom in fun, memorable ways that feel less like formal presentations and more like engaging conversations. Carla Johnson shares entertaining stories and thought-provoking ideas about marketing and customer experiences.

• Dorie Clark

Dorie Clark is a coach, content program creator, author and professional speaker, specializing in reinvention. Her books include  “Entrepreneurial You,” “Reinventing You,” and “Stand Out.” In addition to serving as an adjunct professor of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, she guest lectures at universities, such as Harvard Business School, Harvard’s Kennedy School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, MIT School of Management, and more. Dorie has worked with a who’s who of brands, including Boeing, Goodyear, FedEx, and Google.

Besides reinvention, speaking topics include personal branding, leadership, networking, and social media. Catch Dorie Clark at an upcoming global speaking event like numerous Deloitte University CORE Leadership Program dates through 2021, HMZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration, University of Dayton Center for Leadership, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Moscow School of Management.

• Andy Crestodina

Andy Crestodina is the co-founder of Orbit Media, an award-winning web design company in Chicago. For nearly two decades, he has been involved in the evolution of digital marketing through web design and interactive marketing. Andy has helped thousands of companies develop and implement their growth marketing strategies.

Be sure to catch Andy at one or more of the national content marketing conferences where he shares his deep expertise in search, analytics, and content strategy development. One of the most exciting perspectives he provides is how companies can improve results from their existing websites rather than focusing on web design leads. Andy Crestodina is also the founder of Content Jam, considered to be Chicago’s largest content marketing event.

• John Rampton

John Rampton is Co-Founder of Calendar, a time management and productivity app, as well as a serial entrepreneur with multiple other startup successes. He also leads Adogy, an interactive marketing engagement agency that leverages his expansive and proven digital marketing tactics to help clients achieve their own strategic growth objectives. John has leveraged what he has learned to create viral content with thousands of views, likes, and shares in a matter of 48 hours as well as generate and convert B2B leads into long-term customers.

As a regular on the speaking circuit, John shares numerous stories and examples of growth marketing in action, leveraging his knowledge, personal demeanor, humor, and love of helping people to interact with audiences. His topics include how to use influencer marketing, how to build and scale a solution people want, and how to make digital marketing tactics and tools work on a lean budget. John Rampton continues to be featured as a keynote speaker and panelist at marketing and content conferences all over the world.

• Jay Baer

Jay Baer is the Founder of Convince & Convert. He is a well-respected business strategist, keynote speaker, and New York Times best-selling author of five books, including “Hug Your Haters.” Jay has also advised more than 700 companies since 1994, including Caterpillar, Nike, Allstate, The United Nations, and 32 of the Fortune 500.

Jay applies nearly three decades’ worth of knowledge, practical experience, and stories to his keynote presentations. Recent keynotes illustrated the wide range of digital marketing and customer experience topics he understands, such as “Talk Triggers: Turn Your Customers Into Volunteer Marketers,” “Youtility: Why Helping Always Beats Selling,” and “Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers.”

• Scott Monty

Scott Monty is the CEO and Founder of Scott Monty Strategies, a strategic communications consultancy. After serving as global head of digital and multimedia communications at Ford Motor Company for six years, he now focuses on serving as one of the best marketing speakers for large groups as well as on advising brands and agencies about how to leverage digital marketing and communications effectively.

His engaging presentations combine real-world stories from his experiences, helping companies with digital marketing with historical and literary references, analogies, and humor. Scott Monty’s speaking topics run the gamut from transformational storytelling and personal interaction to how to have patience and endurance and understand how to leverage timeless business guidance.

• Mark Schaefer

Mark Schaefer is a keynote speaker, educator, podcaster, business consultant, blogger, and author of seven books, leveraging over 30 years in marketing, communications, and public relations as the basis for his marketing insights and actionable advice. Mark has the unique perspective of having been at the forefront of the migration from traditional marketing to digital and growth marketing models.

His global keynote speaking events cover topics around branding, social media, analytics, content strategy, email marketing, and related growth marketing tactics. Mark Schaefer is a fixture at large conferences, such as Social Media Marketing World, Growth Acceleration Summit, SXSW, AMA events, and Content Marketing World.

• Alisa Meredith

Alisa Meredith is Content Marketing Manager at Tailwind as well as a blogger, author, speaker, and self-professed Pinterest inbound marketing “nerd.” Areas of specialty include Pinterest marketing and promoted pins, social business development, inbound marketing, lead generation, and social media strategies.

Alisa’s vast experience in these niche growth marketing areas makes her an in-demand speaker. Alisa Meredith’s past speaking engagements include Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference, Social Media Marketing World, and Social Media Success Summit.

• Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis leads his own digital marketing agency and is a best-selling author and renowned keynote speaker. Previously he was a producer for NBC and worked on The Muppets show. His focus is now on helping startup founder and Fortune 500 business leaders learn how to use growth marketing to build and expand their companies.

Andrew delivers some of the most enthusiastic keynote presentations, pulling stories from his stints on NBC and the BBC, as well as using real-world examples from the brands he’s helped. Find Andrew Davis at some of the world’s largest marketing conferences like the Content Marketing Conference, Influence 2020, Elevate 2020, and the Super Niche Media event, just to name a few.

• Heidi Cohen

Heidi Cohen Is Chief Content Officer for Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide and President of Riverside Marketing Strategies. She is also an author, consultant, blogger, and influencer, as well as a keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator. Before striking out on her own to help other companies, Heidi had results-driven marketing careers with Citibank, Bertelsmann, and The Economist.

In the complex world of digital marketing, she specializes in helping simplify and untangle the seemingly endless number of tools, strategies, and processes available for companies to execute their marketing programs. Heidi Cohen’s speaking topics include business growth, research, social media marketing, branding, and content strategy and production. This past year, she was a featured speaker at Social Media Marketing World.

• Will Critchlow

Will Critchlow is Founder and CEO of Distilled, an online marketing agency that specializes in SEO and technical consulting, digital public relations, and content creation. He and his team are the driving forces behind many of the digital transformations of known globally recognized brands.

Besides speaking at other conferences about his digital marketing experiences, it’s also worth checking out Distilled’s own events known as the SearchLove Conference where Will also participates. Will Critchlow’s speaking topics focus on what he knows best, like conference design, web app development, SEO, and search marketing.

• Erik Huberman

CEO & Founder Erik Huberman launched Hawke Media in 2014. Now valued at over $150 million, Hawke Media is the fastest-growing marketing consultancy agency in the United States. Prior to its launch, Erik successfully founded, grew, and sold two e-commerce companies from the age of 26. Huberman has continued to strategically expand his business portfolio inclusive of a handful of company acquisitions, such as the launch of Hawke Ventures which has funded start-ups with as much as $5.6 million., the launch of his own podcast, HawkeTalk, the launch of HawkeZ, which offers brands the tools needed to tap into GenZ, and most recently authoring The Hawke Method. 

Huberman is a lauded recipient of a number of honors and awards, including Forbes 30 Under 30, CSQ’s 40 Under 40, Inc. Magazine’s Top 25 Marketing Influencers, The International Business Awards’ Entrepreneur of the Year, and a Telly Award for the Hawke Media commercial he co-wrote and starred in. Huberman was recently featured on the Drew Barrymore Show, where he awarded young entrepreneur Jordan James the funds and mentorship to create his dream project.

Hear What These Growth Marketing Leaders Have to Say

In 2020 and beyond, find these speakers, follow them on social media and on their blogs, and travel to conferences, seminars, and workshops where they have been chosen to present.

Looking for a few top speakers for your next event. Here are a few other top speakers we’ve found:

• Blockchain Speakers
• Futurist Speakers
• Marketing Speakers
• Leadership Speakers
• Reputation Risk
• Virtual Keynote Speakers

A few other guides to finding the best speakers:

• Find a Keynote Speaker

Updated March 2023

The post Top 15 Growth Marketing Speakers appeared first on ReadWrite.

With online jobs gaining more traction, processes such as recruitment and onboarding are also being performed remotely. At first glance, it seems to be convenient — employers don’t have to organize a working space and prepare offices. However, remote workers often feel frustrated during remote onboarding without a mentor by their side, which might greatly affect their productivity and willingness to work for a company.

How can employees be helped through the remote onboarding process? This step-by-step guide will help you ease the task for both existing and new team members.

Step-by-Step Guide on Remote Employee Onboarding

Step 1: Start with pre-boarding preparations

Pre-boarding is everything that takes place from the moment of hiring to when a new employee starts their first day on the job. At this stage, your main task is to get this person acquainted with your company and its corporate culture, as well as to make your collaboration feel comfortable right from the start.

Hence, prior to the first day of work, make sure to:

•        Send all preliminary documents: contracts for E-signatures, corporate guidelines, employee manuals, and so on. Consider including in this list everything you believe might be helpful for diving into your company. These documents can save your HR staff and mentors many hours because it allows them to focus on more important tasks instead of explaining general things.
•       Craft a 3-month onboarding roadmap. It should outline the major milestones for a new employee to get introduced to your organization successfully: calls with colleagues, tests, and establishing lines of communication and performance goals. And don’t forget to make intermediary revisions during these months – they will help you evaluate a new hire’s strengths and weak points.

Pro tip: Create an introductory online course that includes welcome videos, materials about your company’s mission and culture, overviews of your products/services, and compliance guidelines. Tests and quizzes will help with the memorization of all this information.

Step 2: Organize calls with colleagues

Depending on the department in which the new hire will work, your new employees need to be introduced to certain people in the company. Most likely, before Step 1, they talked to HR, the CEO, or department team leads/heads. Now it’s time to get acquainted with other people who your new hire will work with on a regular basis.

During these conversations, you can discuss the details of work as well as communication strategies. This is also a great opportunity for beginners to ask you some questions.

Step 3: Tailor onboarding and make it collaborative

Aside from sharing educational content, your team members should also participate in the process of onboarding to reduce the learning curve for new hires. How can this be done? Encourage employees to ask questions in your communication channels and share expertise and recommendations. This will also improve the relationships between colleagues.

Don’t forget to tailor the onboarding process by giving employees enough time and freedom to digest new information and plunge into tasks. Not everyone is a fast learner, so adjust the pace accordingly. To ensure that a person is managing well through onboarding, use interactive checklists. Here’s an example:

Pro tip: Organize virtual team-building events, such as quizzes or online games. They will help new hires get used to colleagues and establish flawless communication with them.

Step 4: Get feedback and improve

It is imperative to track a new hire’s progress and receive timely feedback to make sure things are going smoothly. Besides, their opinion will help you understand what’s working well and what can be improved in your onboarding program.

Ask open and specific questions to get detailed answers – they will help you identify and nip issues in the bud and boost engagement and motivation.

Step 5: Evaluate success with onboarding metrics

Lastly, introduce some metrics to evaluate the performance of your new employees. These numbers show how a person manages to work at home and complete the associated tasks.

What sort of metrics could these be?

•        KPI
•       Number of completed tasks
•       Time-to-productivity metrics
•       Retention rates

Finally, introduce employee happiness and satisfaction metrics. They can be evaluated by asking new staff members to complete surveys.

Remote Onboarding Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Remote jobs have their drawbacks, including a more complicated onboarding process. From a lack of speedy communication to mental overloading, there may be different issues that spoil the person’s impression of the company and dishearten people from working for a new company. Let’s observe a few common challenges and the ways to handle them.

1. Setting up a workstation. Some jobs require more than a personal laptop, and employees fail to set up all the hardware on their own since they don’t visit an office. You can help them by shipping all the necessary equipment and providing tutorials on how to set it up. If problems arise, schedule an IT session where you can help your new hire troubleshoot those issues.
2. Too much information. Given the fact that new hires have to handle tons of information on their own, they may feel overloaded and frustrated. Help them by structuring materials and providing them in portions.
3. Issues with virtual communication. A normal workflow can be established only when colleagues communicate effectively, so make sure there aren’t too many channels for them to keep in touch. One chat and one work platform (like Trello or Asana) should be enough to collaborate in real-time and answer messages quickly.
4. Feeling isolated. Remote workers often lose connection with their colleagues because there are no real-life coffee breaks and conversations. How can that be made up for? Schedule one-to-one calls and assign a mentor who will guide and support a new employee through their onboarding journey.

Conclusion

The onboarding process is often underestimated, and the biggest mistake you can make with remote workers is letting them handle it on their own. By taking the above-mentioned steps, you can ease their challenges and make them feel valued and welcome members of your team.

Featured Image Credit: Mart Production; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Remote Employee Onboarding: 5 Steps to Success appeared first on ReadWrite.

Too often, recruitment departments are sidelined as simply a call center or cost function of a business, with the sole purpose of getting people to attend interviews and accept offers. This attitude and practice couldn’t be further from the truth, as quality hiring provides the foundations for cohesive and successful teams. Many companies stick to old hiring processes, which often prevent their recruiters from getting their hands on top talent.

Outdated Hiring Practices Can Derail Your Recruitment Efforts

This year, an astonishing 82% of US employers are planning to hire new people. Yet, recruiters still face an uphill struggle to find the right fit: 61% of recruiters say that their biggest challenge is finding qualified, experienced hires. It’s time for businesses holding onto outdated hiring practices to scrap them completely—and start seeing recruitment as the strategic function it is.

Though, of course, getting rid of outdated practices means replacing them with new ones. There are four core areas where hiring needs innovative, new solutions: talent discovery, candidate experience, data and reporting, and talent decision-making.

Let’s dive into which age-old practices should be resigned to the history books and how companies can leverage technology to strategically drive their hiring efforts.

The Right Tools to Power Top Talent Discovery

Many recruiters are still manually searching for quality candidates on job boards, but it’s difficult for them to be an expert in all the job roles they are expected to fill.

A lack of understanding of the position on the recruiter’s part leads to missing out on good candidates.

For example, if potential candidates don’t use the exact keywords that the recruiter is searching for, they might slip through the cracks.

Here’s where technology can help. AI-powered resume screening tools can parse through resumes, use past data on successful hires, identify the top applicants, and put them through to the next stage of the hiring process.

Getting to the next stage boosts the potential for recruiters to find the best candidates, as they are no longer relying on their own intuition—they have the historical data of hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants to rely on.

In addition to AI, other methods of technological advancements in the recruitment space have made finding the right candidate for the right role a more seamless process. For example, some recruitment methods in the area of travel nursing couple the organizational power application software with the human touch of a recruiter to guide nurses toward their chosen specialty in a location that needs them most.

How to reduce the chance of bias

One crucial thing to note here is that to minimize the chance of bias, it’s important to keep track of any tendencies that might emerge as a result of skewed data and adjust the algorithm accordingly. We all remember Amazon’s sexist recruitment tool and how that turned out.

Candidate Experience: From Disjointed to Seamless

Candidate experience has never been more critical than in the virtual realm. And with 80% of respondents to our Remote Hiring Trends 2021 survey saying their interviewing and hiring process is now fully remote, this means stepping away from disjointed technology experiences and building a seamless funnel for candidates.

The truth may be harsh, but it’s important to hear: Organizations that are still using multiple recruitment management systems and interviewing tools neglect their candidate experience.

In dealing with all of these different platforms at different stages of the hiring funnel, candidates often get confused and disillusioned with the sheer number of platforms they’re grappling with.

The applicant might interact with the applicant tracking system to submit the application, complete an assessment on a separate tool, take the video interview on Zoom or Google Meet, and manage communications via email.

Now the recruiter’s multiple tools

Meanwhile, on the other side, the recruiter is also forced to deal with multiple tools and switch between platforms to gather information, inevitably impacting efficiency in the process. Having this data strewn across different platforms makes it more difficult to locate and can result in recruiters missing it completely.

The answer here is simple: Organizations that invest in an all-in-one platform that takes care of everything.

An all-in-one platform is going to save you a ton of money in the end. You want your platform tool to take you from screening to interviewing. You will set yourself and your company apart from your peers when it comes to candidate experience while making life significantly easier for hiring teams too.

These tools can automate the process from one stage to the next.

For example, they can automatically schedule an interview for someone who passed the skills assessment or automatically sends an offer email to someone who was successful in their final interview.

Not to mention, adopting a single tool allows companies to curate the online environment to match their own branding, which is crucial for consistency and professionalism in the candidate’s eyes.

Organizations that adopt White Label recruitment platforms can create a more accurate image of their company in the absence of a physical workplace to visit.

Data is King — for Recruiters Too

The reality is the majority of recruiters do not have access to comprehensive data insights to drive decision-making. And that needs to change.

Recruitment often gets short-changed when it comes to investing in data and reporting technologies.

There has historically been a lack of emphasis on leveraging data insights within the function to drive strategic decisions, unlike other departments like Sales or Marketing, which are equipped with such technological capabilities as standard.

However, data and reporting are crucial for successful hiring, and the often sidelined business function of recruitment shouldn’t be left out of the data revolution.

Actionable insights can drive recruitment decisions.

Consider the time an average candidate spends in the hiring funnel. Look at the rate of high-quality candidates from various sources and all the data about the candidate. Each step in the information process takes time. Look at your application form conversion rates — and each candidate’s experience scores.

Armed with these insights, recruiters will be able to determine the success of their hiring efforts.

You’ll want to ensure they are reaching diverse groups, evaluate their candidate experience, and more. Especially given the importance of diversity and inclusion (one of Monster’s key hiring trends for 2021), companies must leverage data insights to support these efforts.

Remove the Bias in Talent Decision Making

Humans are inherently subjective beings—and the same goes for recruiters, no matter how fair they determine themselves to be. This, in turn, means that decisions made in large part based on interviews are ultimately subjective.

There are several different unconscious biases that the interviewer could exhibit in that process. Unconscious biases can include:

• affinity bias (when you prefer people who share qualities with you or someone you like).
• attribution bias (our flawed ability to assess the reasons for certain behaviors).
• conformity bias (allowing your views to be swayed by others).

Unknowingly, recruiters often take a pass on qualified applicants and take on unfit ones, all because of their internal biases.

What’s more, much of the data on candidate interview performance is not captured and used holistically and assessed objectively to make decisions. Rather it exists in bits and pieces across platforms and documents, further convoluting the process.

Behavioral insights

AI-powered interview platforms can provide objective behavioral insights to recruiters during video interviews and fairly assess candidates’ soft skills and learnability.

These tools augment the human decision-making power as they highlight areas where the interviewer’s judgment may be biased.

Advanced AI platforms can evaluate interviewer performance, providing data on time spent on each interview topic, the time the interviewer spent talking vs. the candidate, or whether or not inappropriate questions were asked.

All of this enables the interviewer to identify gaps in their approach and drive their performance.

Conclusion

It’s time for recruitment departments to leave age-old practices at the door and embrace technology to advance strategic hiring. With the growth of virtual hiring and remote work showing no sign of abating, what better time to start than now?

Featured Image Credit: Pexels; Thank you!

The post How Outdated Hiring Practices Can Derail Your Recruitment Efforts appeared first on ReadWrite.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in stressful moments of life. You may feel like you’re constantly on edge, with no time to relax. But if you don’t take some time for yourself, you’ll quickly find yourself burned out. One of the best ways to keep your mind calm in every situation is by practicing meditation.

This blog post will discuss how meditation can help you stay relaxed and focused under pressure. We’ll also provide some tips for getting started with meditation. So whether you’re a seasoned pro or a complete newbie, read on for everything you need to know about keeping your mind at ease.

How to get rid of stress in the first place?

The first key to getting rid of stress is understanding what causes it in the first place. Most people feel overwhelmed when faced with a situation that feels out of their control. The problem could be anything from a looming deadline at work to a family conflict.

When you’re feeling stressed, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode. Fight or Flight mode means that your heart rate and breathing quicken, and you may start to feel anxious or panicked. This feeling is a normal reaction designed to help you deal with a threat.

However, the problem is that many of the things that cause stress in our lives are not actually life-threatening. In other words, there’s no need to run away or fight. So when you don’t have to fight or run away, but the feeling of stress or anxiety is present and continues — this is where meditation comes in.

When you meditate, you train your mind to focus and be present in the moment. Keeping your head (thoughts) in the now helps you see stressful situations for what they really are: not threats but challenges that can be dealt with calmly and logically. As a result, you’re better able to manage your stress levels and stay calm in every situation.

What are the causes and symptoms of stress?

There are many different things that can cause stress. However, common causes include work stress, family, and financial problems.

Symptoms of stress vary from person to person, but they can include both physical and emotional symptoms. Physical symptoms may include headaches, muscle tension, and difficulty sleeping. Emotional symptoms may include anxiety, irritability, and depression.

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s essential to take some time for yourself and find ways to reduce your stress levels. Meditation is a great way to do this.

Is it really possible to keep your mind calm in every situation?

Yes, it is possible to be calm in every situation — but it takes practice. Meditation is a skill that you can learn and improve with time. The more you meditate, the better you’ll get at it. And the better you get at it, the more easily you’ll be able to keep your mind calm in every situation.

Of course, there will always be challenges and stressful moments in life. But with meditation, you’ll have the tools you need to deal with each situation as it comes calmly and effectively.

How to get started with meditation

If you’re new to meditation, don’t worry – it’s easy to get started. There are many different ways to meditate, so you can find a method that works best for you.

One of the simplest and most effective ways to meditate is to focus on your breath. Sit in a comfortable position with your eyes closed. Then, simply focus your attention on your breath. Notice the sensations of each inhale and exhale. If your mind wanders, simply bring your attention back to your breath.

Start by meditating for 5-10 minutes a day. Once you get the hang of it, you can increase the length of your sessions as desired.

Do I need to attend classes or go to a spiritual guru to start meditation?

No, you don’t need to do anything like that. Meditation is a simple practice that you can do on your own, in the comfort of your own home.

If you’re interested in attending meditation classes or working with a spiritual guru, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s not necessary. You can start meditating today without any special equipment or training.

What are the benefits of meditation?

There are many benefits of meditation, both for your mind and your body.

Meditation can help you learn to control and focus your thoughts. This can lead to improved mental clarity and decreased stress levels. Meditation can also help you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions, which can help you manage them in a healthy way.

On a physical level, meditation can help to lower blood pressure and improve sleep quality. It can also reduce stress-related symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, and difficulty sleeping.

In short, meditation is an incredibly effective tool for managing stress and promoting overall health and well-being.

Meditation is a simple and effective way to reduce stress. It’s also free, easy to learn, and can be done anywhere. If you’re looking for a way to improve your mental and physical health, find ways to deal with your stress or anxiety, or want to sleep better — meditation is a great place to start. Give it a try today.

Inner Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Greta Hoffman; Pexels; Thank you!

The post How to Keep Your Mind Calm in Every Situation appeared first on ReadWrite.