How to Expand Your Interior Design Business

Expanding an interior design business, whether it specialises in residential or commercial projects, is an exciting but challenging endeavour. The dynamic field of interior design constantly evolves, and the competition among commercial interior designers and fit out companies Melbourne and beyond is fierce. To achieve sustainable growth and success, adopting strategic approaches that cater to the market’s demands is essential. This article will explore practical steps and strategies to expand your interior design business successfully.

  1. Diversify Your Portfolio

Diversifying your portfolio is one of the first steps to expanding your interior design business. While specialisation is valuable, consider expanding your offerings to cater to a broader clientele. If you primarily focus on residential projects, explore opportunities in the commercial sector. With its thriving business environment, Melbourne offers ample opportunities for commercial interior designers to collaborate with fit-out companies.

  1. Networking and Collaboration

Networking is crucial in the interior design industry. Connect with other professionals, including Melbourne’s architects, contractors, and fit-out companies. Collaborative projects can provide exposure to new markets and expand your client base. Building strong relationships within the industry can lead to referrals and partnerships that fuel your business growth.

  1. Invest in Marketing

Effective marketing is vital for expanding your interior design business. Create a professional website showcasing your portfolio, client testimonials, and services. Optimise your online presence through search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your visibility in search results. Engage with potential clients through social media platforms and share your expertise by writing blog posts or creating videos on interior design topics.

  1. Targeted Marketing for Commercial Interior Design

If you are venturing into commercial interior design, tailor your marketing efforts accordingly. Develop marketing materials highlighting your expertise in commercial projects, such as office spaces, retail stores, and hospitality venues. Attend industry events and trade shows to showcase your work to potential clients and fit-out companies in Melbourne.

  1. Embrace Sustainable Design

Embracing sustainable practices aligns with global environmental concerns and appeals to clients who prioritise eco-friendly solutions. Consider obtaining certifications or credentials in sustainable design to enhance your expertise and attract environmentally conscious clients.

  1. Expand Geographically

While Melbourne offers a thriving market for interior designers, consider expanding your geographical reach—research nearby regions or cities with growing economies and demand for interior design services. Establish a presence in these areas by networking, attending local events, and marketing your services to a broader audience.

  1. Build a Strong Team

You’ll need a skilled and reliable team to handle an expanded client base and larger projects. Hire experienced designers, project managers, and support staff who share your passion for interior design. Building a strong team allows you to take on more projects and deliver exceptional results, leading to increased referrals and repeat business.

  1. Streamline Operations

Efficient operations are essential for scaling your interior design business. Implement project management tools and software to streamline processes, manage timelines, and track expenses. Invest in training for your team to ensure everyone is well-versed in efficient project management practices.

  1. Client Relationships and Referrals

Maintaining positive relationships with existing clients is as crucial as attracting new ones. Client referrals are more likely to come from happy customers. Encourage referrals by providing exceptional service and showcasing your completed projects. Consider implementing a referral program to incentivize clients to refer friends, family, or business associates.

  1. Offer Value-Added Services

Consider offering value-added services beyond traditional interior design to stand out in a competitive market. This could include services like virtual reality (VR) walkthroughs of design concepts, 3D modelling, or comprehensive project management. These extras can differentiate your business and attract clients seeking a complete solution.

Expanding your interior design business in a competitive market like Melbourne requires a strategic approach that involves diversifying your portfolio, building strong industry relationships, investing in marketing, embracing sustainable design practices, and effectively managing operations. Following these steps and remaining adaptable to market trends and client needs, your interior design business can thrive and grow. Whether you’re working on residential or commercial projects, collaboration with fit-out companies in Melbourne and the broader design community can provide invaluable opportunities for expansion. Ultimately, the key to successful growth lies in delivering outstanding design solutions and building lasting client relationships.

How to Protect Your Innovations on a Budget

Startups are often characterised by their innovative spirit and a relentless drive to bring new ideas to market. In the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship, safeguarding these innovative concepts is crucial. However, budget constraints can be a significant challenge for many startups regarding intellectual property protection. This article explores how startups can protect their innovations through patents without breaking the bank.

1. The Importance of Intellectual Property for Startups

Before diving into the world of patents, it’s essential to understand the significance of intellectual property (IP) for startups. IP encompasses many types, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Patents, in particular, offer legal protection for novel inventions, granting their owners exclusive rights to use, make, or sell the patented technology.

For startups, IP protection can be a valuable asset. It safeguards their innovations from being copied and adds significant value to the company, making it more attractive to investors and potential buyers. With this in mind, let’s explore how startups can navigate the patent process on a budget.

2. Prioritise Your Innovations

Start by identifying the core innovations that truly set your startup apart. Not every aspect of your business may require patent protection, so it’s essential to prioritise your innovations. Focus on the most critical elements that drive your competitive advantage and align with your long-term business goals.

By concentrating your resources on protecting these key innovations, you can optimise your budget and ensure your most valuable assets are shielded from competitors.

3. Conduct a Thorough Patent Search

Conduct a comprehensive patent search before filing for a patent to determine if similar inventions exist. This step is crucial for avoiding unnecessary expenses associated with pursuing patents for ideas that may not be novel.

Fortunately, online databases and tools allow startups to perform preliminary patent searches at a minimal cost. This initial research can save you both time and money by helping you identify the patentability of your innovations before proceeding further.

4. Consider Provisional Patents

Provisional patents can be a cost-effective way for startups to secure their innovations while delaying the entire patent application process. These patents are relatively inexpensive to file and provide a one-year window to develop your technology further and assess its commercial potential.

During this period, you can seek feedback from potential investors, partners, and customers, helping you make informed decisions about pursuing total patents. Provisional patents can serve as placeholders, giving you time to refine your innovation strategy.

5. Leverage the Micro Entity Status

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers a micro entity status with significant cost savings for startups and small inventors. To qualify as a micro entity, your startup must meet specific criteria, including gross income below a certain threshold.

Micro entities benefit from reduced patent filing fees and maintenance fees. By taking advantage of this status, startups can significantly lower their overall patent-related expenses.

6. Explore Patent Pro Bono Programs

Several organisations and law firms offer pro bono legal assistance to inventors and startups with limited financial resources. These programs connect startups with experienced patent attorneys who can provide guidance and support throughout the patent application process.

While pro bono assistance may not cover all expenses, it can help reduce legal fees, making patent protection more accessible to startups on a budget.

7. Collaborate with Universities and Research Institutions

Consider establishing collaborations with universities or research institutions that can provide resources, expertise, and support for patenting your innovations. Many academic institutions have technology transfer offices that can assist startups in navigating the patent process.

These collaborations can be mutually beneficial, allowing startups to access research facilities and expertise while providing universities with opportunities for commercialization.

8. Opt for DIY Patent Applications

For startups with a strong understanding of patent law and a willingness to invest time and effort, filing a do-it-yourself (DIY) patent application may be viable. While this approach requires careful research and attention to detail, it can significantly reduce legal costs.

Online resources, guides, and software tools are available to assist with the DIY patent application process. However, weighing the potential savings against the risks and complexities involved in representing yourself during patent prosecution is crucial.

9. Utilise Accelerators and Incubators

Joining startup accelerators and incubators can provide access to valuable resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities. Some of these programs may also offer support for intellectual property protection, including patent-related guidance and services.

By leveraging these organisations’ resources, startups can navigate the patent process more efficiently and cost-effectively.

10. Develop a Comprehensive IP Strategy

Finally, startups must develop a comprehensive IP strategy aligning with their business goals. This strategy should outline the specific innovations to be patented, the timing of patent filings, and the budget allocated for IP protection.

With a well-defined IP strategy, startups can make informed decisions about when and how to pursue patent protection while optimising their budget and resources.

Patent protection is valuable for startups seeking to safeguard their innovations and gain a competitive edge. While budget constraints pose challenges, startups can explore various cost-effective strategies to navigate the patent process successfully. By prioritising key innovations, leveraging available resources, and making informed decisions, startups can protect their intellectual property without compromising financial stability.

Brompton Bags for Every Occasion

The cycling world has seen a remarkable evolution over the years, and the Brompton collapsible bike has been at the forefront of this transformation. Compact, efficient, and incredibly stylish, Brompton bikes have gained a dedicated following among urban commuters and cycling enthusiasts. But what truly elevates the Brompton experience is the wide range of Brompton bags designed to accompany these remarkable bicycles on every occasion.

Brompton bags are more than just accessories; they are a testament to the brand’s commitment to blending fashion and functionality seamlessly. From daily commutes to weekend getaways, these bags have you covered, ensuring you ride in style, no matter the occasion.

1. Commuting with Elegance

Brompton bags are indispensable for those who rely on their Brompton collapsible bike as their daily mode of transportation. These bags are intelligently designed to fit perfectly on the front carrier block of your Brompton bicycle, allowing for a convenient and secure attachment. Whether heading to the office or running errands around town, Brompton bags keep your essentials within easy reach.

One popular choice is the Brompton Tote Bag, a sleek and minimalist option that effortlessly complements your urban lifestyle. It provides ample space for your laptop, work documents, and personal items, ensuring you arrive at your destination with everything you need. The Tote Bag’s water-resistant material also offers protection from unexpected showers, making it an ideal choice for unpredictable weather.

2. Adventure Awaits

While Brompton bikes are synonymous with city commuting, they can tackle scenic countryside routes or weekend adventures equally. For those moments when you want to escape the urban hustle and bustle, Brompton bags adapt seamlessly to your needs.

Consider the Brompton Touring Pannier, designed with the avid cyclist in mind. These panniers offer a generous storage space for extended rides or overnight trips. Their robust construction ensures your gear remains safe and secure during your journey, even on rough terrain. Plus, the reflective details on these bags enhance visibility, adding an extra layer of safety for those twilight rides.

3. Evening Elegance

Brompton bags aren’t limited to just the practical aspects of cycling; they also make a statement when you’re off your bike. Whether you’re heading out for a night on the town or attending a formal event, there’s a Brompton bag that complements your style.

For instance, the Brompton Roll Top Bag seamlessly transitions from a practical cycling accessory to a stylish evening companion. Its sleek design and premium materials make it the perfect choice for a dinner date or a night at the opera. Its roll-top closure can accommodate your essentials while maintaining a refined appearance.

4. Shopping in Style

One of the joys of city living is the convenience of nearby shops and markets. With a Brompton collapsible bike and the right Brompton bag, you can effortlessly combine your shopping trips with your daily commute.

The Brompton Basket Bag is an excellent choice for such occasions. This bag easily attaches to the front carrier block and provides a secure and spacious compartment for groceries or purchases. Its stylish design ensures you can confidently ride to your favourite boutiques or markets, knowing you have a practical and fashionable solution for carrying your goods.

5. Bringing the Whole Family

The Brompton experience is not limited to solo riders. Many families have embraced the Brompton lifestyle, enjoying group rides and adventures. In such cases, Brompton bags ensure everyone can carry their essentials comfortably.

The Brompton Borough Basket Bag is versatile, offering an impressive amount of storage space. This bag can handle it all, whether you’re packing snacks, water bottles, or toys for the little ones. Its durable construction and easy attachment make it the perfect accessory for family outings on your Brompton collapsible bike.

Brompton bags are not just accessories but integral components of the Brompton experience. From daily commutes to weekend adventures, these bags cater to every occasion with style and functionality in mind. Whether you’re an urban commuter, a weekend explorer, or a fashion-conscious cyclist, there’s a Brompton bag that suits your needs, allowing you to ride in style no matter where your journey takes you. So, gear up, hop on your Brompton bike, and let your Brompton bag be your trusted companion on every occasion.

The ‘Ultimate Office Space’

The first step to creating the ultimate office space is starting with comfortable equipment. You are going to spend long hours sitting at the desk working on your computer and having the correct equipment is going to make a huge difference in your comfort and productivity levels. A space that has been carefully thought out will ensure employees are satisfied and working effectively. A professional office space can also aid brand development and corporate culture. It can also encourage transparency, inclusiveness, and coherence amongst employees. 

Here we look at a few ways to make the ‘ultimate office space’: 

Invest in a decent chair

A comfortable chair is the heart of a home office that is full of productivity. You will spend half of your day sitting in that chair so investing in a comfortable one is a good life choice. Prices can range from $50 for your basic chair all the way up to high end chairs with plenty of features. Pay attention to the thigh, back and arm support, also take the material options into consideration.

Using a second monitor

Having a second monitor is classed as a productivity superpower. The extra screen makes many tasks like writing, researching, coding and designing easier. It is a good way to make multi-tasking better equipped. If you hate juggling around all the windows you should really consider having a second monitor. For the best results get similar or the same equipment as what has already been set up, so the experience and fidelity is the same.

Mouse and keyboard

The good old keyboard and mouse get forgotten for all the high-tech equipment these days. Did you know that a keyboard and mouse actually play a huge part in improving comfort and productivity? In terms of your keyboard, go for a mechanical keyboard with the clicky keys that are known to be responsive and easy to use. These might be noisy, but they can give you unparalleled comfort in typing. The coders and writers seem to love them. When selecting a mouse, it is important to choose something that your hand comfortably fits around. Gaming mice are a good choice as they are accurate and comfortable, but they do have an expensive price tag.

Consider a standing desk

There is plenty of growing research that shows when you are sitting for long periods of time you are putting your health at risk. This is why now we are seeing a new generation of workers that are using the standing desks. The standing desks are height adjustable so you can raise and lower it as you need to. This type of desk will improve heart health, focus and productivity. 

Using green plants

Adding plants to your desk will add colour, reduce stress levels and increase happiness. Even a few plants can help to increase your productivity. Try and aim for something that will improve your air quality and that is easy to maintain. The boston fern, ficus and the spider plant are known to filter the air.

Keep a special spot for brainstorming


Your best ideas won’t come to you when you are sitting at your desk. Maintain a space inside your office area that is just for brainstorming where you can encourage creative thinking. How you create this personal space is completely up to you. Some people may prefer to have a whiteboard and a chair, others may like a sofa couch or a bean bag, and a side table with a pinboard. Make sure there is easy access to pens, papers and other stationery items that you may need.

The aforementioned should align with your company vision, mission, communication strategy, goals and so on. Your office design should reflect what you are about, at the core of your business. 

Responsibilities of a Medical Sales Rep

In order to maintain high levels of efficiency within a healthcare organisation, the inventory must always be equipped with the necessary healthcare equipment. Contrary to popular belief, doing this job takes a certain degree of skill, not to mention knowing the ins and outs of the pharmaceutical industry.

As the job title suggests, a medical equipment sales rep is a sales expert who advertises their company’s devices to various facilities, including hospitals, aged care homes, and clinics, to name a few. These devices can range from syringes to dialysis machines. Therefore, if this is a field that you are interested in, you should take the time to know about the fundamentals associated with the job. Let us look at some of them below. 

Challenges

While having a job in this field can be very rewarding, it is similar to any other situation, and that means it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Travelling ranks very high on the list, seeing that you may need to move around a lot to increase product awareness. There is also the issue of managing your time well to fulfil the day’s requirements and meet various quotas. A sales rep’s income is usually connected with their volume of sales, which means that if you had issues meeting your targets in a given time, you could expect a reduction in your salary. 

Educational requirements

Given that this job comes typically with a five or six-figure salary, the proper qualifications are a must. Matter of fact, people interested in this line of work can be found in undergraduate programs that are directly or closely related to the job such as health sciences, business, and sales.

Nevertheless, it is an excellent place to start and seeing that knowledge of medical equipment will be a requirement. Others will choose to tinker around with other related programs like biotechnology, for example. Over the years, the industry has become competitive to a point where many of these skilled professionals are going back to med school to further their education to become more proficient. 

Mandatory skillset

When it comes to the subject of sales, staying at the top of your game will have a significant part in whether or not you keep your job. Given the aggressive nature of the industry, certain traits are must-have if you plan on staying in the field for a long time. While some people believe that being a sales rep is an easy job because it is all about closing the deal, it is very demanding. First of all, you must have detailed knowledge of your products and having social skills will also play an important role. Bear in mind that you are still dealing with people, so being able to listen actively will better prepare you in meeting the needs of potential clients while gaining their trust. 

Main responsibilities

When you think about it, people who have a career in sales do not have many “regular” days. Given that you may have to travel a lot, meet deadlines, deal with new and existing customers; every day will bring a new surprise. The duties of a medical equipment sales rep can change on any given day based on factors such as demand and supply. Even with that in mind, there are still a few essential tasks that come with the job such as meeting medical executives, doing presentations with demonstrations, tracking orders, meeting targets, building client relationships, updating clinical data and keeping an eye on the competition. 

In closing, it is safe to say that being a medical equipment sales rep is a cut-throat business, but still very rewarding. After reading through the details, you should be able to approach with a better understanding and develop the potential to do very well. 

5 Tips for Property Investment Companies

  1. Request business

Begin with with your present client and potential customer database. Figure out where the majority of your business comes from. The 80/20 rule states that 80 percent of your business generally stems from 20 percent of customers.

So, find out that those 20 percent are. They are very likely to be your best chances for new business.

  1. Consult your best customers to get a referral

Who better to have words of praise and spread the word in a happy customer? Your best customers are people who come back time and time and provide you a great deal of company whether they are constantly moving or building a property portfolio. They’re your winners and best marketing vehicles. Just request a referral and be sure that you thank them with a tiny token of your appreciation.

  1. Contact with previous customers

If you find customers who you have not heard from in some time, pick up the telephone and inquire how they’re going. You will be amazed by how many might have been meaning to about a problem they want solved or were in need of some property investment advice.

Communication is essential to developing customer relationships. Among the most typical reasons that customers leave is because they feel ignored.

  1. Follow up

It is great sales practice to follow up after a month or so, to determine how things are moving with the agent they have chosen.

Enquire if they are delighted with the amount of support they are receiving but do be careful in this situation. The last thing you need is to be viewed as a nuisance and indicate they have made the incorrect choice — no one needs that.

Ensure the conversation remains friendly, short, telling them you will be more than happy to submit a proposal if they’re thinking about a change of representative later on. It shows initiative and willingness to conduct business.

  1. Attend a local company occasion and work the area

Networking Is a great method of creating new business. When attending an event, here are useful methods for working the space.

  • Always bring lots of business cards.
  • Set a goal to meet 1 person every 10-15 minutes. You’re there to meet people and therefore don’t only stick to a single individual or with a colleague the entire night.
  • Attempt to create a relationship with other people by asking questions until you start about you or your organization. You’ll find this the best method to identify business opportunities.
  • Whenever possible, provide a prospective contact something before you request something. It may be as straightforward as offering to send them a post you have read which could be of interest or placing them in touch with someone. It’s not really ok to ask a complete stranger for either their business or even a referral without offering anything initially.
  • Always follow up. Do not let these business cards accumulate dust. Send them an email the next day stating it was fine to meet them and refer to something that you discussed. If you promised any advice, make certain to follow this immediately.

Networking is about creating new contacts not about creating immediate business. It’s a long-term investment which needs some effort on both sides to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Marketing maintenance

This is also the ideal time to evaluate the business, create new ideas and begin new marketing and advertising endeavours.

Here are suggestions to keep the organisation in order.

Survey your customers

This is a fantastic way to judge how customers are considering you, the amount of support that you provide. It is possible to obtain some valuable insights, which may be employed to improve the enterprise. A questionnaire is also a chance to get in contact with customers so be certain that you add a general comment or opinions question in the poll.

Maintain a watch out for complaints and common issues or issues raised as they are just another chance to delight the customer.

Cleanse your database

It is arguably among the most valuable company assets so ensure that your database is clean and current, and you have an effective website design. Based upon your degree of participation with customers and how big your database, it’s a fantastic idea to maintain this action in-house instead of outsourcing to another party.

Update your site

This can also be a fantastic time to rethink the way your site can work for you. If it had been developed by a web developer a while ago with no additional improvements since, odds are, the site is unlikely to be search-engine friendly plus, the appearance and feel is very likely to require an upgrade.

The recommended option would be to decide on a package that features content management, allowing you complete control and capability to edit web content (text and also pictures) fast and easily, directly from your desktop computer.

The New Way to Market Online in the Digital Era

Consumer habits are changing at a fast speed, which means entrepreneurs and marketers need to rethink how individuals wish to buy or take on a service such as tree removal and why. While radio and TV played a more powerful role in marketing ten years back, today, with cutting-edge technologies, behaviour is connected to the internet world and the hottest gadgets.

Why is it important to learn and know your clientele?

Every startup needs customers since they will directly affect sales and general gain. As soon as you know what the marketplace lacks and exactly what your customers are expecting, you can readily fulfill their requirements. Do study, examine surveys and gather as much info as possible about the target market to your goods.

What does electronic transformation suggest?

Generally, electronic transformation signifies the integration of technologies into all facets of people’s lifestyles – from the way we store data, even worth, to what programs we use to facilitate our expertise with the entire world. From an organization’s perspective, digitizing actions and procedures can go so much as to become connected with new tendencies, such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, to update functionality and earnings development.

To be more exact, based on the MIT Center for Digital Business, businesses that have adopted digital transformation will be 26 percent more rewarding than their ordinary business opponents and revel in a 12 percent greater market evaluation.

Thus far, people have adapted to the new era of technology, from shopping online through telephone or tablet computer to adjusting their thermostat in the car before coming home. One thing is clear: We can just proceed. No turning back again.

How do digital advertising promote companies?

This method of marketing relies on client experience and the best way to effectively react to the needs and histories of individuals that want to purchase or invest. In other words, digital marketing accounts for the marketing of products or brands via digital media. Through social networking stations (internet, TV, radio), individuals may examine marketing campaigns to comprehend the pros and cons of the business.

Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in powerful public relations, media strategy, creative and marketing services. Can I qualify?

It is a revolutionary fad – customers are not fully determined by what advertisements say since they’re also able to look for reviews, relying upon the opinions of the others. If someone is looking to undergo a home extension then they will look for reviews about some home renovation builders and compare their skills, quality of work and price, all at the touch of their fingers and within minutes. People today prefer businesses they could trust, which has come to be a prime standard in establishing a promotion plan. What’s more, prospective customers are interested in businesses that truly understand them and also have established a more personalized interaction so as to reply to their expected needs.

How do you market your company on the internet?

Search engine optimization refers to the very top of Google’s search engine results page. If someone Googles a word or term as well as your brand is connected to it, then you would like your title to appear on the very first Google page. Ensuring you get there entails SEO understanding and navigating Google’s core search calculations, which is not a stroll in the park.

Managing a website and also a Facebook page for the company is the way you attract clients and readers within an engaging and rewarding manner. These approaches take some time, but in return they deliver in reputable fans who will provide credible opinions. Ensure that you post consistently with high quality articles because customers have high expectations.

Even the LinkedIn community is a strong one, and people can quickly associate with other people in their preferred industry or market to help spread their message. To participate in powerful classes, you have to spark curiosity about your company with strong incentives, dependable content and approaches. Do not rush into things unless you’re sure your values and the way individuals can actually benefit from your job. If you are a business specialising in tree pruning services than look towards optimising content geared towards tips about tree health, how to know when a tree is withering away and needs removal, etc.

To adapt to quickly changing consumer habits from the electronic era, it is important to market your company on the best-known sites by minding SEO strategies, blogging and Facebook and LinkedIn classes.

Mistakes to Avoid When Marketing Your House

One of the major reasons why a house may sit on the market without any potential buyers could be that your marketing strategy is not effective. You might want to reconsider your marketing approach, especially when your listing is about to expire, in order to improve your chances of a sale. Some real estate agents may blame the appeal of your property; however, an excellent marketing plan can ensure the sale of any property.

A positive and skilled real estate agent would be very useful in devising a good marketing plan and provide a good buyer advocacy service. It is advisable to interview prospective agents to gain insights on their marketing approach before deciding.

A “For Sale” sign on your front yard or an advertisement in the classified section is no longer sufficient in enticing potential buyers. With the real estate market getting more complex every day, you will need to work out a marketing strategy with your real estate agent to cover more ground by using all types of media. You can start with offering incentives to entice prospects, create a virtual tour of the property or placing it online. These tools can help you in the competitive market and ensure that your property will be noticed.

Read through the following common marketing mistakes that sellers make to avoid having your property left in the dust. Avoiding these errors allows you to find better methods to attract your demographics of buyers and increase the likelihood of selling your home.

Mistake 1: The online photos of your property are unattractive.

One of the most essential marketing tools you have is the set of photos you take for online listings. Your online photos could be the key factor that attracts buyers to arrange an inspection. If the quality of your photos is bad, and the photos are blurry, there’s a tendency that the buyers will skip your listing.

Photo Do’s:

  • Ensure that any high resolution photos are optimized before uploading them online.
  • Sidewalks or neighboring properties and other unrelated areas must be cropped out from the images.
  • Ensure that the orientations of the photos are correct before posting them.
  • Include as many photos as possible that highlight the unique details of the property.

Photo Don’ts:

  • Don’t use dimmed pictures or images that show clutter.
  • Don’t include pictures of your pet animals.
  • Don’t just post a single image of the property’s exterior without any description.
  • Avoid selfies or images that include your reflection.

Mistake 2: Your listing description is not informative or featureless

Having a captivating online description is also very helpful in drawing buyers to check out your listing. This could is a great opportunity to explain why your property would fit their needs and why it is a good investment. Great captions could spark their curiosity and entice them to visit your property.

Listing Do’s:

  • Emphasize any distinctive or appealing features in your property, this does not mean talk up the armadillo rugs you will not be leaving there but instead specific layout features.
  • Endorse how adaptable your property is by describing the features in terms of potential function.
  • Use constructive and diverse adjectives to liven up the description.
  • Post your internet listing on as many websites as possible.

Listing Don’ts:

  • Don’t forget to include contact information.
  • Don’t forget to include your home’s best features, and provide more than simple basic information.

Mistake 3: You are tied down to traditional marketing methods.

In order to make a successful sale, you must keep up with the fast paced real estate industry. You need to stay on top of online marketing techniques for a more versatile strategy. You may want to choose a real estate agent who is savvy with the latest forms of technology.

New Marketing Do’s:

  • Think about creating a virtual tour. This offers viewers with a 360 degree view of all the rooms in your estate, enticing curiosity. A virtually staged tour ensures that your property is way on top of the market.
  • Promote and advertise your property using blogs, informal websites, and real estate listings sites as well.
  • High resolution photographs of your property on the listing website must be printable.
  • Make the information and images of your listed property sharable so that visitors are able to share it with their contacts.

New Marketing Don’ts:

  • Don’t neglect to use traditional marketing methods in favor of all new ones. Old methods can still be effective such as home staging, making a combination of both the most efficient way to sell your home. You can seek assistance from Brisbane interior designers or interior styling services to make your home more appealing while in the staging process.
  • Don’t stop advertising in your local newspapers or magazines. House sale ads printed in the classified can still reach a wide audience. Maximize all printed media that can showcase your property.
  • Don’t reject new marketing ideas right off the bat because you are unfamiliar with them. Collaborate with your real estate agent and consider his suggestions. Always remember that more exposure can lead to a wider audience of potential buyers.

Mistake 4: It’s too difficult for buyers to view your property.

Looking for perfect home takes time. Like shopping, your buyers may need to inspect the property more than once before they make their decision. You can make their life easier by making it effortless for them to come view your property. Otherwise, they will skip your presentation and go to your neighbor’s instead.

Viewing Do’s:

  • Take time to make yourself available for private viewings making sure your decoration and design is appropriate to your buyer.
  • Stage your home to be in a buyer-ready state. Make it marketable by removing personal items, tidy, and clutter free to ensure that it is ready for viewings at all times.
  • Inform your real estate agent to give you a heads up before a visit so that you have time to tidy up and make any last minute arrangements.
  • Place a lock box on the property so that your agent can easily access it when you are not around

Viewing Don’ts:

  • Don’t require more than 24 hours’ notice for the ocular inspection.
  • Don’t restrict your property’s viewing times.

Mistake 5: There are no incentives for buyers to visit your property viewing.

Sellers normally want to avoid incentives due to the extra cost, however, it can make the open house more inviting and the property appealing enough to get as many potential buyers as possible. So if you have decided to hold an open for inspection, go the extra mile and offer incentives just as commercial property sales do.

Marketing and Managing a Basketball Team

Your team might not be competing in the top leagues but simply because you’re not Real Madrid, the L.A. Lakers, New Zealand All Blacks or Boston Red Socks that doesn’t stop your team from getting the recognition and support it deserves.

Could anything be better than hearing the sound of cheering supporters at your gamesor having new players in line waiting for a place in the team roster or even more, have sponsors yearning for you to have the name of their brand on your team basketball jerseys?

Regrettably, all of this would not just happen magically, time and effort have to be put in place if you really want to stand out there. However, the good news is that many affordable and sometimes freeways exist by means of technology to promote your sports team.

In this article, we’ll look into a few marketing ideas you can implement in your sports team both on and off the web to attain the fame, support and fans you so desire.


1. Develop a Free Professional Website Using WordPress

What do you think anyone would do when they hear your team name at first instance and want to find out more about your team? More often than not, the first place anyone would want to hear your team name at first instance and want to find out more about your team? Your guess is as good as mine, they’ll Google it up.

At this stage of technological advancement where virtually everyone owns a smartphone and has access to the internet, they wouldn’t hesitate to search the web for information on any subject they desire.
It is therefore very important that you take advantage of the internet and market yourself.

Not to get any valid information about your team from is your team’s website. By having a professional team website, you can make a very good first impression to information seekers. The possibility also exists that potential sponsors would make a first stop at the team’s website. If for any reason your sports team doesn’t have a website yet, you can worry less as it has become even much easier for a layman to create a website without being a highly advanced web agency. By using WordPress, in just a few minutes anyone can create a professional website.

Being an open source platform and completely free to use remains one of the greatest reasons for the widespread success of WordPress. Additionally, there’s the availability of a wide range of free high-quality themes that can give a website a totally unique look in just a click.

Functionality can be further extended on WordPress platform by using plugins that can perform almost any imaginable task, consult professional website designers for pointers on how to get the most out of WordPress.

2. Build an Email Newsletter

Email is an important communication and marketing tool that has been around for a long time. You can easily set up and manage professional email newsletters by using providers such as MailChimp. This service is completely free to use up to 2000 subscribers. To keep players, fans, and volunteers well informed about upcoming events, games and other activities, email is a very handy tool.
It is also a very effective means to keep in touch with your most loyal fans and send them such items as thank you notes, exclusive content as well as bonus material just to let them know you appreciate them.
How can you tell who is your closest fans?
Just as in your everyday internet usage, you only give out your email address freely and without much thought to things you trust and have interest in, right?
Hopefully, your answer was ‘Yes’.
This applies to other people too. If they choose to sign up to your email list, it simply means they have trust and interest in you, and you should accord such people their well-deserved respect.

3. Have a Social Media Presence

As of today, almost everyone belongs to one social media platform or the other.
You can imagine that I and my mum are Facebook friends. That summarizes it all!
Other than their wide audience, another great feat of social networks is that almost all of them are free to use. Consequently, they can serve as a cheap means to promote a sports team.
Fans can connect directly with their favourite teams using the available social networks, interact with players and keep abreast with important news and happenings in the team. Build your presence and soon enough everyone will be able to recognise your teams’ basketball shirts from a distance.

4. Word of Mouth Marketing

Prior to applying social networks and website, why not leverage one of the oldest marketing means known to humanity? You have connections to a large extended network of families, acquaintances, and friends of your team members although this is determined by the size of your team. People known personally by you or others are often excited to show support. Why not try to indulge them? This can simply be done by asking players, club members and volunteers to spread the word about any upcoming events and games.

For this to work out, you must first of all actively keep everyone informed as your club members can only tell others of things they themselves are aware of.
You can leverage the already mentioned mailing list to keep your loyal fans informed at all times and kindly ask them to pass on the information to others.
This can also be applied to online marketing measures. For instance, you can ask family members to invite their own friends to Facebook events.

4 Tips to Market Your Photography Business

You have started your dream photography business and now awaiting clients to hire you. Please do not waste your money on traditional adverts such as an ad in a magazine or newspaper, they are mostly worthless. I have tried them all and realised that they don’t work especially when there are so many free photography marketing tools you can make use of.

The advent of social media has revolutionised virtually every industry and instead of wasting your money on advertising that won’t make your long-term dreams comes true, use the social media and digital trend to gain attention for a much lower cost.
Imagine having many people going crazy with your photography business to the extent that they keep sending the friends and love ones your way. Thinks about what it would be when you show up in search engines like Google for your desired result. Think about having so many people finding your business to meet your profit goals without spending a huge amount of money on advertising. Learn how to develop your brand marketing in a meaningful way for your photography business.

1. Google Business Pages

Ensure you add your location to your keyword such as Wedding Photographer Dandenong Ranges so people can see what they are searching for. When you search on Google and include a location, the search engine platform adds you to their business listings. They put the listings BEFORE the organic listings in their rankings. These listings are free, so go and get one now!
If you want to show up in the local listings, it is crucial to completely fill out your profile and start getting reviews. Ensure you upload some images too as they usually show up in the search results. When people are searching for a photographer, you will be seen easily on Google search engines. Images that are clear and represent your business are crucial as clients will want to see examples of your work before hiring you.

2. Automate your Social Media posts

A super powerful way to promote your business is using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr.
While these social media platforms can be beneficial, they can also be distracting and you have to be super careful not to waste a bunch of time on these platforms. For instance, you can post on your business page on Facebook and may end up watching funny videos a few hours later, thereby forgetting to post to other platforms. IFTTT is a free software that allows you to automate your posts and will prevent you from wasting much time. By using IFTTT, you can post on a platform and then have it automatically post the same content on other platforms. This is how to get the best response while wasting the least amount of time.

3. Blog as often as you can

One of the best ways to let Google know th

at your site is still active (which gives you better rankings) is to have fresh content on your site. Customers on the other hands w

ill know that that you are busy and also mean business. I often wonder if a business is still running when their site hasn’t been updated for months
If you don’t have many shots, show some personal work or spread out your posts (do a few images one at a time instead of all in one big post). It is very important that you post contents that your clients are eager to know. For instance, portrait photographers may post about what to wear to a session whereas wedding photographers may want to put out a series on their blog with tips for brides for having better wedding photography (such as not getting ready in a church kitchen or hiring a professional lighting company). Your customer’s values you and see you as an authority on a subject. You could blog about various relevant subjects such as lighting tips for better photography or the most popular Melbourne wedding photo locations for summer.
Ensure your website is SEO optimised for search engines so that can attract clients who are searching the internet for a photographer like you.

4. Network with other professionals
Use the power of networking to improve your photography business by getting involved with other professionals in your local area. Business owners are usually loyal to each other especially when you are also promoting their businesses to your clients, and they’ll be sure to reciprocate.

It is also essential that you network with other wedding professionals to share ideas about the photography industry. Sharing clients doesn’t mean you have to compete for them. Marketing and business branding are critical activities for your business and ensure you leverage the above opportunities to increase the visibility of your company.

Marketing Ideas for Mortgage Brokers

Mortgage broker marketing isn’t typically something you would consider innovative or exciting but there are some essential tips for mortgage brokers that could make a difference for your practice. Traditionally, it is founded on conventional marketing procedures and frequently it isn’t too interactive. Digital platforms enable mortgage brokers to make automated messages catered for individual customers and encourage feedback. Let us look at some ideas which are all about engaging customers and fostering loyalty, while also lowering your workload.

  1. Utilize social media to your benefit. If you are not busy on social media, you are passing up the chance to get in touch with prospective customers. Social media is an excellent way to prove your knowledge for a mortgage agent, communicate with other companies locally, develop brand awareness, answer customer questions and much more. Use automated sociable media management to take advantage of your time.
  2. You need to differentiate your mortgage broking services from the rest: Referrals are a great way to call positive attention to your company and attract new customers. After every customer you help, request a referral. It is easy to do this via online surveys. An all-purpose mortgage broker advertising solution will allow you to easily make and distribute surveys. You won’t receive a referral from each customer, however you’ll find a few, together with a great deal of helpful feedback that will assist you improve your services.
  3. Keep a record of your online leads so you can connect with them personally: Even if someone visits your sitebut does not leave contact information, you can still collect a lot of information from them. Lead tracking follows where visitors come from, what they click on, time spent on the site and more. This builds a comprehensive individual profile for each lead, if the lead departs leaving their email or contact number, you can reach out. Consistently collecting online data enables you to understand which portions of your site get the maximum attention so it is possible to optimize the website. Private profiles also let you get in touch with leads according to their unique interests and internet activity.
  4. Splendid website: your website should be smooth well designed and informative. There are so many great mortgage broker websites out there, so yours needs to be better. Features such as a live chat with customers can are a handy tool that can transform your website. A live chat tool is valuable as it gives a means to get in touch with internet visitors immediately rather than them calling and waiting on the telephone. While they’re surfing your website, the live chat is always available on their own screen. You’re there toanswer any queries or point them in the ideal direction.
  5. Produce personalized mortgage agent campaigns for every one of your customers: With advertising automation, emails may automatically go out to every customer according to their particular requirements and preferences. This can help you build loyalty and involvement with customers, but you do not need to spend some additional time generating efforts. Simply select how you would like your messages to be routed and they’ll head out to your customers at the right moment.

What Can a Bitcoin Buy you Right Now

Despite its monumental price increase, Bitcoin has been undergoing some curious growing pains lately. Since it continues to gain popularity, the community is apparently falling into a civil war with a single issue at the middle of everything — scaling. Lambos we can purchase, but if you would like to get a coffee for yourself on the way to you job, comparatively slow transaction times and high prices make it a less-than-desirable coin to use. For the time being, at least, it appears high cost purchases alongside being a censorship resistant store of value are a few of Bitcoin’s most significant discoveries.

 

Bitcoin has clearly piqued the attention of the extremely wealthy who are the holders of a large crypto wallet. Multi-million-dollar mansions are popping up all over with Bitcoin price tags. And if you’re looking for luxury cars, yachts, fine art, or a $300,000 wrist watch, it is possible to find those too. Where the transfer of large amounts of money globally would normally cost an arm and a leg and require a few days to process, Bitcoin bypasses the banks, leading to lower prices and a 30-minute waiting period.

 

The infiltration of Bitcoin to the luxury marketplace began in 2013. The now defunct Bitpremier made waves in finance sites as it launched the first ever Bitcoin shop for high priced purchases. Following this, many big-ticket items started hitting the news.

 

Lamborghinis

 

The same year, Lamborghini Newport Beach started accepting Bitcoin… sort of. The initial purchase to hit the media was a Tesla Model S that was originally touted as a Bitcoin Buy, even though it later was revealed that the firm lacked the infrastructure to support a Bitcoin payment, and required the client to convert the coin to money before making the purchase. Since that time, however, there are quite a few legitimate Lambo purchases with crypto.

 

Headlines such as “A 4chan User bought a $200,000 Lamborghini Using Bitcoin” might have stirred some giggles back then, but it is now a critical business with numerous retailers seeking to jump on the bandwagon.

 

Fine Art

 

Eleesa Dadiani, owner of the esteemed Dadiani Fine Art in London started accepting Bitcoin and six other top cryptocurrencies for bits in her gallery earlier this season. Dadiani considers in cryptocurrencies, not just for her organization, but all companies. They’re combining old world business ethics and practice with the new world of technology — the present system is getting stale and should be disrupted. Cryptocurrencies will offer a bridge from the elitist, centralist fine art marketplace to a decentralized, open source world where many more will have the ability to be a part of the exhilarating marketplace.

 

Real Estate

 

In addition to fine art and luxury cars, property has made its way to Bitcoin brochures.

 

Back in September, it was announced that Michele Mone, a British lingerie entrepreneur, and her billionaire partner, Doug Barrowman would be starting a $327 million commercial real estate project in Dubai, with an option to buy the big-ticket condos in Bitcoin. The couple see the buyers of those flats being people that are looking to redeploy funds from the crypto world into traditional world, and there is nowhere safer than bricks-and-mortar to do that.

 

Barrowman and Mone are not the only property tycoons looking to capitalize on cryptocurrency, either. Ben Shaoul, president of Magnum Real Estate Group, is now in the process of creating a building in Manhattan’s Lower East side where condos will be priced between $700,000 and $1.5-million. Though Manhattan’s high-priced housing market remains flooded, Shaoul wants to get an edge on the competition by accepting Bitcoin.

 

“Our buyer has evolved, they’ve moved from mom and pops to young people who want to pay with various forms of payment,” said Shaoul. When someone wants to pay for commercial property sales using another type of payment, you are going to attempt and work together and give them exactly what they want, particularly in a really busy housing market.

 

Private schools

 

These high-profile accounts have spurred a veritable frenzy in the luxury marketplace.

 

In Manhattan, there are even two private Montessori schools which have chosen to take Bitcoin payments. Citing slow and expensive transactions, Marco Ciocca the co-founder and chairman of the schools noted that they don’t accept credit cards, but Bitcoin has been “really really easy” to use. Rather than some of the other companies which might keep the crypto currency, Flatiron and SoHo immediately cash out the Bitcoin obligations for fiat.

 

The future of Bitcoin for a currency

 

While the scaling discussion reaches a boiling point, it’s obvious to see why ‘routine’ Bitcoin enthusiasts are searching for solution to the crypto currency’s largest drawback for a currency. It has become a store-of-value for a few, and a more affordable alternative to banks and credit cards for high cost purchases for others. With contested hard forks driving a wedge in the community, and second coating solutions in development it’s tough to say exactly when we will eventually be able to buy this coffee. But one thing is clear; adoption is well on its way, and an individual can bet that after solutions are ready for execution on the scaling Issue, Bitcoin will catch on even quicker.

Utilising Digital and Print Advertising

As the world changes to become more and more electronic, print is often reported to be dead. But, what you might not know is that company printing is a $640 billion business and based on Print Is Big; it is growing at a rate of 6.8% yearly worldwide.

 

Print is still a highly effective channel of communication for businesses who wish to communicate with their prospects and clients, particularly when coupled with digital. According to Adam Dost, VP of Strategy and Marketing in Printek, an integrated strategy will radically expand your capabilities to convey messages to audiences. Integrating print and technology enhances targeting, enhances personalization, and increases conversions. Together, digital and print advertising permit you to reach your customers personally and with a relevant message across each channel. The options are endless.

1. Use a postcard campaign as a ta

 

Bear in mind that postcards or other print media arrive in hard copy and clients will need to manually enter the URL to get your information, so ensure that your URL is simple. Don’t make it overly complicated with strings of random words and numbers. A good example could be: www.CompanyName.com/CustomerName

2. Use your business card to induce social participation

 

Regardless of the rise of social networking, business cards remain a normal practice and represent a vital way that individuals exchange information when they meet face to face. They serve as an important leave-behind, so use them as an opportunity to promote social interaction. Be certain you include contact information in your business card design like your Twitter and LinkedIn profile URL (that you may personalize) to drive folks to find out more about you and your company from your electronic presence.

3. Give away hard copies of articles

 

As content promotion has grown, the chance to present hard copy collateral at events reinforces your brand and offers a convenient way for some people to consume the material. We have seen sellers give people the choice at events–take home a hard copy or sign up there for soft copy shipping. The key is that you would like to make it as easy as possible for people to consume your content and participate with you and your brand, whether that is via a soft copy to read on their notebook or a hard copy to read on the airplane.

4. Send out applicable security

 

There are still times when we would like to touch and sense information about a product, whether it’s information about the colours available when purchasing a new car or a glossy brochure about a school that is being contemplated by pupil. If you have collateral that’s powerful but you need to make certain to direct it to the correct people at the ideal time, Chuck Moorehead, VP of Marketing in Trojan Press, advises to leverage your knowledge of the electronic behaviour to make that happen.

 

This digital behaviour could consist of data you have gathered about the ads they click on, websites they visit, time of day that they participate with you, or kinds of offer they have reacted to–all of that can help you shape your message, and allow it to be more personal, engaging and appropriate. Harry & David turned this electronic knowledge into action by matching their published vacation catalogues with their clients’ gift lists, which was automatically compiled depending on the gifts their clients previously sent and the men and women who received them. With this information at their customers’ fingertips, they supplied their customers with a seamless experience for the holidays.

Business Content Writing and Sales Copywriting

Content writing and sales copywriting are among the most popular services that businesses outsource. It’s the cornerstone of this content advertising process that has been proven highly effective in generating inbound traffic for business. If your articles frequently provide relevant, usable and technical answers, more people will respect you as a professional and will favourably patronize your providers over others. A company has two options for generating digital content. The first choice is to set up and fund an in-house content writing team. The second solution is to outsource content writing to a third party supplier. The best option is to outsource content writing to a third party service provider and there are 3 reasons for this:

Lower Cost Alternative

Outsourcing streamlines cost by capitalizing on relative cost advantages. When you outsource gift, you simply pay for total productive hours worked, you do not pay benefits and they’re accountable to their own costs of the company. When you put up an in-house content writing team, you pay a fixed salary and benefits to all team members. You also incur extra costs per item on your monthly budget. This includes rental distance, Internet bandwidth usage, supplies and power.

On Time Delivery

Third party service providers are very professional because they understand the value of getting content published on time. Since content production is their core competence and main enterprise, third party service providers can better focus on the quality and timeliness of its deliverables. Given these advantages, how should you outsource content writing for your enterprise?

Outsource SEO

Search Engine Optimization helps your articles get found online. Including web copy, blogs and posts, which are posted on your site, social media and relevant community blog websites. The search engine optimization professional will research the best keywords for your content author to use. In case you have an existing web developer, SEO will have the keywords incorporated in descriptors; meta and title tags to boost the visibility of your site.

Search Engine Optimization is a growing profession because it is an ability that it is in good demand. You can discover good candidates in freelancer websites, online job markets or connect with professionals in social networking networks like LinkedIn. Outsource your content writer. Content writing is among the most popular online tasks. You may locate candidates for articles writing on online job sites, community billboards, social networking networks and freelancer websites. However, not all of them are great.

So as to find the best content author for your company, you have to outline your qualifications:

  • High degree of proficiency in spoken and written English
  • Appreciable degree of knowledge in SEO principles
  • Ability to write in different styles such as;
    • Informative Story-Telling
    • Undertakes comprehensive study
    • Patient, meticulous and detail oriented
    • Disciplined with deadlines
    • Ability to write short form and long form content

It’s well within reason to check the writing ability of the candidate. It’s wise to cover this test to relieve concerns you might be a scammer. If a candidate fears you’re scamming to have a free article, you might not elicit their very best performance. It’s not enough that you can find content Writers and SEO professionals that match your qualifications. You should choose the selection process one step further by conducting due diligence steps such as:

  • Contact preceding customers
  • Run a simple Google check
  • Assess their social networking accounts

Content writing is not just about finding good writers and asking them to create blogs, and posts. The practice is much a science as it is an art. Theoretically, content promotion is more of a procedure than a digital strategy. Demand patterns have become unpredictable because preferences can be affected by social networking, and other online channels. That being said, when you outsource content writing for business, you need to know that the content should not remain stagnant. It should remain dynamic just as markets and your audience continue to evolve.

 

Business Advice: Networking, Mentoring, and Support

Small businesses should get the most out of experience available — knowledge is power and so is receiving business owner advice. Build your knowledge at which you can and do not enter something with your eyes shut. Brief yourself, get briefed by other people and in the event that you still have knowledge gaps, work with those who can fulfill them. If you can, reach out and be proactive to find your perfect mentor: I have quite a few mentors, I have always had mentors throughout my professional career. They tell me how it is, as they are frank and honest. They will help me but will not take the decisions for me. I believe that the mentor-mentee connection is a very personal one and one that must be worked at. If it’s a good one, it’s mutually beneficial and can open doors for you and your company.

You need to reach out and be proactive. Very good business mentors are busy running their companies. You need to attend important events — and might need to attend more than one to meet the ideal mentor, to network or to gain support for your business. If you discover someone you get on with and respect, never hesitate to ask them questions about who they are, and how you both may be able to help each other out within the networking field. To do this right, you have to know what networking really is: media is a connection. You can’t consider it in any conventional sense, you cannot box networking; you cannot explain it away using jargon. Networking with, and mentoring as small business advisors in its broadest sense is extremely easy, effective, and is about helping and supporting people.

A few quick top tips:

  • Help others, you never know who you will meet and who they know.
  • Attempt to work out which sort of networker is sitting before you.
  • Do not go into media events with the ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality, rather, connect and network with others with a positive mindset.
  • Developing a networked community takes time and dedication, do not think it will happen overnight, you have to work for it!
  • Be truthful with your answers, if you can not help somebody, say so.
  • Think dynamically about who you may be meeting, if you can not help them, perhaps someone in your network may.
  • Be engaged, do not be dismissive, do not forget the person you are talking to is passionate in their area too, and may just be looking to expand their own network.

When times are tough expert advice is invaluable. Some of the most advanced and fast growing companies have started up during recessions, since it is when markets change, existing suppliers fall out and the following recovery could give a boost to growth. However, economic conditions can be volatile and opponents can be very defensive about their rankings, so advice is vital. Financial management is critical since the creditworthiness of consumers can be unpredictable and when you sell on credit, you will need to make certain that you will get paid. A good accountant can make a major

difference and as a lender, we like to see that companies have sound financial systems and guidance.

Think hard about who will be the best match for your group. The best piece of advice I ever had was to be certain that you work with a group that matches your abilities and attributes. Do not recruit in your own picture. That way you compensate for any weaknesses, learn from their strategies and provide yourself the ability to play to your strengths. The same applies to a community or mentoring relationship.

Why Corporate Catering is Best

Significant clients need the utmost attention. For one-on-one meetings, treating them to a deluxe lunch functions is just fine, but what about larger groups? If you have got a significant board assembly or sales pitch coming up, you may want to think about getting bringing prepared meals right to your offices.

With corporate catering, you can get high quality meals for your customers without the fuss of visiting a restaurant. The catering company may come in to create your whole meal before the customers arrive. Caterers who deal with corporate accounts nearly always provide a choice of décor which brings a high-class element to your meal. The table where your buffet is set up can have the best linens and dishware, ensuring that your customers are impressed.

In regards to the food, corporate catering is a superb way to offer meal options that everybody will love and talk about. With your buffet-style lunch or luxury European styled delicacies, you can have a multitude of choices in which appeal to even the most discerning customers. Plus, these corporate caterers can even set up cold and hot stations for your meals. That means eggs, bacon, waffles, and pancakes for breakfast, or hot sandwiches and soups for lunch. Doesn’t this all sound extremely delicious? But wait, there’s more! Other popular items include fresh fruit, mixed salads and dessert trays piled with cookies and brownies – ticking the box of every single client attending your event.

When you have tried corporate catering, you will never return to ordering boring boxed lunches again. Clients are much more impressed with an elaborate food spread complete with all of the foods they may want. Additionally, it provides an element of class to your meeting, as there is a wide range of delicate foods to appeal to every client. But when you weigh up your options to cater, or not to cater, just think of all these wonderful benefits that come from catering a large corporate event. As opposed to eating with plastic tableware from Styrofoam boxes (what corporate company would want this option), however, when you use catering, your clients and customers will use real silverware and dishware to enjoy a tasty meal, making the function one to remember.

Business catering also works nicely for in-house meetings or events. In case you’ve got a significant training for your executive staff coming up, why not treat them to some wonderful lunch to divide the day up? It’s also perfect for staff appreciation events, holiday parties and special event parties to observe a team member’s retirement or anniversary with the business; many corporate caterers also offer quality beverages like wine from yarra valley wineries. These periodic investments in treating your employees to a particular meal will definitely pay off as they realise that their employers value their hard work, treating them with an amazing, hassle free feast.

Business catering also can function for evening occasions if you have them, or are considering to host an event. A number of businesses have an annual celebration, whether it’s for the holidays, a fundraiser or a meeting of shareholders. Whatever the case, these formal day parties got the attention of a corporate caterer who’s experienced in working in a corporate setting. These caterers know that look, food quality, and amazing service are all extremely important in regards to those events, so they have the ability to supply the best catering services for your occasion. One I recently attended was amazing, being inspired by vineyards in the yarra valley; they had used ingredients sourced from the area and paired them with relevant wines.

If you are considering having a company event catered shortly, contact local catering businesses to inquire about their company catering experience. You’ll realise that those with specific expertise in a business setting are the best suited to the job. A catering event is the perfect addition to any corporate setting, as the hassle free feast will be surely one to remember!

Enhancing Employer-Employee Relationships With Technology

The employer-employee connection is critical not only to preserve talent, but also expand your own company. That is the reason a lot of businesses are investing in constructing this relationship. And it all begins with confidence. Since the 2016 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found, 55 percent of the almost 600 workers surveyed reported trust between management and employees is extremely important to their job satisfaction.

When workers respect and trust their employer, they’re happier, participating more and work harder. When they don’t – which is much too common – they could be seeking to jump ship. So where does this leave management?

It is time to invest in technology solutions that can help companies improve their connection with their staff. Technology helps ease trust throughout the business by linking employees at all levels. It produces a culture of open communication and transparency which provides workers a voice and enables leadership the chance to train and enable their employees in a quick and convenient manner.

Here is how you want to use technology to boost your employer-employee connection:

Track Goals With Performance Analytics

People analytics is flourishing right now since it permits you to correctly monitor and measure your worker’s performance and determine real-time outcomes. And performance information may be utilized in many various ways. As an instance, it is possible to readily share progress reports to anybody at any moment.

Let us say earnings in a laminated-specialised timber constructions business are underperforming through a huge new product launching: Management can share these real time reports together with their sales agents and look at exactly what architectural timber products will need to be promoted more. This may influence far better product placement and rep behaviour in real time rather than awaiting reports the following day.

Use these reports to collaborate with workers to establish goals. Present them with performance information to show them where best practices could be implemented to enhance their earnings and help them better handle daily pursuits. When workers see their supervisors invest in helping them enhance their performance, they’re more inclined to trust and respect them.

Communicate Better Via Video

Employees need more input from their supervisors. Actually, Zenger Folkman’s 2014 Feedback: The Powerful Paradox research of 2,700 companies and workers discovered that 72 percent of workers believed their performance will improve if supervisors provided clinical feedback.

Communication tools such as video programs allow employers to construct a more confident staff. Rather than quitting a sales rep figuring on how to correctly handle tasks such as cleaning a revenue floor area or building promotional screens, they’re permitted with comprehensive directions from a higher level supervisor.

Video technology joins people visually, which makes it easier for the coach to show how to execute specific activities and to allow the trainee to observe just how things are done. Linking higher-ups with low-level employees through video is particularly useful when there are difficulties from the shop. Managers may see results without needing to visit a number of places.

When armed with these tools, supervisors are more inclined to offer the ongoing, constructive comments workers deserve. This will enhance performance because workers are going to feel more confident in making decisions, which helps them fulfill expectations. Subsequently, workers will start to be understood more for their successes and feel more motivated and engaged while the direction they trust and esteem acknowledges their hard work.

Supply Training On Demand On Your Cloud

Cloud computing service providers have given businesses the ability to equip their employees with on-demand training substances, such as job descriptions, procedure documents and interactive on-line coaching tasks. Employees are now able to learn at their own speed and remain educated on upgraded corporate policies and some other shifting initiatives. This is particularly beneficial in ensuring compliance throughout the organization.

But how do they remain in the loop whenever they do not know how to get the training materials? Make it effortless for them. Show them the fundamentals of obtaining the internal net portal and the IT managed services or support services so that they can come across these employee development alternatives.

Apart from saving paper, electronic checklists are better because they can be updated and modified in real time. This means that you can quickly prioritize job lists to your workers. They love this since it helps them see the big picture and determine what’s absolutely crucial, and what could be done later in the day.

Companies will need to change focus on creating confidence and esteem to keep top talent and also to guarantee large-scale expansion. When workers feel as though they are put up for victory, they anticipate their company and will go to great lengths to attain their objectives.

Are you leveraging technologies to enhance the employer-employee relationship?

Be First Best or Different

First Best or Different“First, Best, or Different is one of those exceptional books that changes the way you think about marketing and entrepreneurs. I highly recommend this book.” Manny Fernandez, Chairman Emeritus, Gartner Inc. Innovative Marketing and Sales Strategies for Niche Markets Are you an entrepreneur, small business owner, or corporate marketing executive with questions like these? What viral marketing methods are most successful?. What direct mail marketing tactics create the most new leads? How can I optimize my website and increase traffic? How can I motivate and retain my top sales reps? How do I choose the right Public Relations firm? What is podcasting and how do I get started? What outdoor advertising techniques work best? Get answers to these questions along with practical advice on over 100 topics.

Written in plain English with short easy-to-read chapters, this book demystifies niche marketing by delivering easy-to-understand definitions and practical suggestions. About the Author John Bradley Jackson brings street-savvy sales and marketing experience from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. His resume also includes entrepreneur, angel investor, corporate trainer, philanthropist, and consultant.

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The Top Five Reasons To Hire a Funny Motivational Speaker

hire a motivational speakerA while back, I came across a really motivating article about what can motivate people more. I have sat through a number of business courses for managers and business owners and found that the ones that motivated me the most were the ones that were a little different and sometimes even humorous.

“When the time comes to  host a business conference, meeting, or assembly and you’d like to kick it off with a keynote speaker, you’ve got a big task ahead of you. There are all kinds of motivational speakers out there, from Christian keynote speakers to motivational magicians. However, anyone who’s seen one can tell you that [clean, of course] comedians make for the best motivational speakers. Aside from the fact that laughing with a group of your coworkers has been proven to improve performance and goal achievement, there are a lot of reasons why you should consider hiring one.

Laughter is Contagious

The main reason that comedic speakers are so effective is because they bring the whole room together and give them something to bond over. It’s a time for employees to let their business-casual guard down and have a little fun. When everyone in the room is laughing at the same thing, it’s a true bonding experience that can greatly benefit the company. Not only that, but it will give the employees something to talk about over coffee or at the water cooler, which helps to build relationships within the office even when certain employees aren’t very outgoing or willing to strike up a conversation.

Humor is Easily Absorbed

Let’s face it – your employees are going to be a lot more inclined to listen to something if it’s making them laugh. If they’re laughing, they’re not bored, and if they’re not bored, they’re engaged. It’s all too easy for even the top motivational speakers to lose the attention of the audience due to boredom. If everyone in the crowd is yawning, you can pretty much assume that they’re not absorbing anything that’s being said. Better go the safe route!

Laughter Reduces Stress

Everyone knows that during the peak times of the year, everyone’s job can get a little stressful. This might create hostility between coworkers, anxiety about going to work, or just general stress about meeting goals. Since laughter causes the brain to release serotonin, it’s a definite aid for stress relief.

Whether or not your employees are stressed out should be a major concern of yours. Stress-related illnesses, including insomnia and even heart conditions, are a very real issue, and work is one of the biggest sources of stress in people’s lives. If you can take them out of a stressful environment to give them a boost of serotonin and a dose of fun, you’ll be the one to reap the benefits. Not only that, but it’s been proven that laughter increases mental alertness, which is great for stimulating the workplace environment and getting a message across.

Fun Equals Productivity

Whenever your employees are having fun at a work-related event, you can assume that they’re participating, since it is enjoyable. Participation and productivity go hand-in-hand. There have been studies that show a direct link between a corporate culture that incorporates good humor and employee satisfaction. Who do you think is going to be a better worker – an employee that likes his or her job, or one who is totally dissatisfied?

When it comes down to it, everyone in the workplace can benefit from a little fun, so what are you waiting for”?

Original Article can be found here

The Value Of Damaged Art – From The Insurer’s Perspective

The Value Of Damaged Art - From The Insurer's PerspectiveInsurers of fine art hear lots of reasons and excuses in their kind of work. Practically as many as third-grade instructors.

A pipe broke and sprayed water all over it. The shipping crates weren’t strong enough and broke. The movers dropped it. At some point, a pet is most likely to have eaten at least one collector’s painting.

But when it comes to securing and protecting the value of one’s art, the way a piece was damaged does not matter. What does matter a thousand – perhaps a million – times more is how the owner can go about bringing back the piece’s value – or recovering it if the piece is considered a total loss.

Safeguarding art’s monetary value isn’t really as easy as it may appear. There is a “book” value to your car, which assists insurance companies to decide if the cost of repairs will be higher than the total value of the vehicle. The worth of broken art, ornamental arts and antiques is more elastic and might result in disputes between owners and insurers.

“It’s always a fragile topic of discussion,” explains president of the New York art brokerage company DeWitt Stern, Steven Pincus.

What follows is a look at exactly what every art owner ought to find out about damage and restoration in the world of personal art collecting, and how owners can secure their pieces – and wallets.

Examining the damage

When everything goes as planned, the insurance adjuster will inspect even the damaged artwork, then a conservator provided by the insurers will see if it can be fixed and at what cost. Assuming the expense isn’t substantially more than the piece’s value, the artwork is quickly given to the conservator to start treatment.

“You don’t want a long hold-up since that might make issues much worse or even extend the period,” Dorit Straus explains, retired global fine art manager at Chubb, a leading art insurance company.

After repairs are made, an appraiser with expert knowledge in fine art or a dealer in the kind of art will evaluate the object to figure out if the value of the now-repaired work’s value has declined and by just how much.

This is where many troubles can start.

“There is no mathematical formula,” states Chicago-based insurance adjuster, Robert O’Connell. “The artwork could have a small tear in a canvas, but it matters more if the tear is at the center of the piece or right on the corner or edge”.

A policy for fine-arts normally will cover the whole cost of remediation and, if there is, say, a 30 % loss of value because of the damage, the insurance company will pay the insurance policy holder 30 % of the insured value.

When there are arguments about values sent by an appraiser for the insurance company and another by the insurance policy holder, many fine-art-insurance policies have arbitration clauses that generate a third appraiser to examine both appraisals.

With greatly damaged older artworks, the insurance industry’s fine-art appraiser or specialist may decide not to say that an object has actually been ruined, “unless it is no longer identifiable’’, states Chubb’s Ms. Straus. “Even severely tarnished works might retain cultural significance, although determining what that works out to in actual dollars isn’t really that simple”. With such rapid advancement in technology over the past century, we have been able to offer state-of-the-art art storage solutions even for the oldest of works, in attempt to prolong the life of world famous art pieces.

Choosing if a work can be repaired and if it keeps any value can be even more complicated when the artist is still living. Some artists might offer to fix their own works or want to choose and monitor a conservator, while others might hold the view that their creations would never ever be the same, asking that their names not be connected with the artworks.