Keeping your customers engaged is super important for your business if you want it to thrive. Without your customers, you don’t have a business in the first place. The Internet is packed with distractions, which means that your customers are going to go elsewhere within less than 10 seconds of clicking on your website.If your website or your products are not going to deliver what your customers want, they’re not going to stick around to find out why.
You need to make sure that you attract your customers, but you also need to be able to retain them. For example, if you have an easy website but a super difficult payment system, they’re going to click off and you’re going to have a lot of abandoned baskets. If you have a streamlined payment API that makes their lives easier. They’re going to want to shop with you again and again. Technology is going to help you to attract your customers and retain them. And we’ve put together a list of five of those technologies to help.
A Great Customer Relationship Management platform. Building relationships with your customers is crucial to your business success. One of the easiest ways to do that is to keep track of what they’re up to, and a good customer relationship management system is going to help you to do that. There are plenty of tools out there that eliminate the need to switch between different systems, and they also allow you to input existing contacts and social networks in one place. This will help you to keep track of those developing and emerging customer relationships.
Easy payment systems. We already mentioned a streamlined payment API to make their lives easier, but you need to have an easy system for payment. For example, if you only accept PayPal, you are cutting off a huge market of customers. If your payment systems are easy to use, then your customers will continue to use you because they know that you’re all about convenience.
An informative website. Your website doesn’t need to be packed with content to be informative, but it should be smartly designed and intuitive to what your customers need. First impressions will draw people in and keep them where they are loyal for good. There is never a shortage of free online website tools, so make sure that you have the tools available to make it happen.
Great social media. You need to have a good online presence if you want to draw in your customers and keep them with you. Businesses that have the hang of social media platforms are the ones that will be doing much better than those still stuck in their website and in their physical locations.
Easy data analytics. Do you want to know what your customers and your competition are up to? Well, you need to utilize analytics to pull out the raw data to turn into digestible information about how customers engage with you. There are plenty of tools that help you to focus on small business success and this is one of them.
As a business owner, you very well may have been in a situation where you have to create a presentation that will make a memorable first impression on your audience. Be it pitching a new idea, a proposal presentation, or simply speaking at a conference, sometimes the quality of your presentation may be a real make-or-break deal determining your success. Designing any winning presentation that can engage your audience requires more than just a deck of well-designed slides; thoughtful preparation, engaging content, and strategic delivery are needed.
Here is how to create an unforgettable presentation based on four of the most important focus areas: knowing your audience, impactful content, designing visual slides, and mastering the delivery.
Know Your Audience
The foundation of any great presentation rests on knowing your audience. Ask yourself: Who do you think they are? What interests them? Are these potential clients, investors, or your peers in the industry? Once you comprehend their needs and motivations, it shall be easier to deliver information that you believe would resonate with these people. Research becomes key in this regard: professional background, pain point and interests. Investors may instead want to know about the profitability of the output and scalability. Remember, the better you know your audience, the stronger you are in speaking effectively to what matters to them.
Address Their Pain Points
Once you have identified your audience’s most relevant concerns, it’s time to address them directly. After all, the best presentations offer up solutions. As you build out your content, keep in mind the problems of your audience and how your business solves these. Give examples specific to your business and provide case studies that reflect expertise in your subject matter. For the women business owner, this is particularly important because one is pitching products or services to a potential client who may be skeptical about the product or service. By framing how your business solves certain challenges, you immediately make your presentation relevant.
Connect with Stories
Stories are one of the most effective ways to connect with an audience. Humans are far more likely to remember stories rather than facts and figures. When you’re preparing your presentation think about how you might weave in stories to show value and impact from your brand. These could be personal anecdotes about how you started your business or success stories off the back of satisfied clients.
Impactful Content
Strong Hook
The first minutes of your presentation are the most critical moments in the presentation, where you need to capture the audience’s attention. Begin with one strong hook to draw in your audience and make them curious about what you’ll be saying. This is surprising statistics, a provocative question, or some kind of intriguing statement that goes against the conventional way of thinking. You will be trying to entice them into wanting to hear more.
Keep It Simple and Focused
One of the worst things a presenter can do is overwhelm their audience. The best presentations are light on detail and focused on just a handful of takeaways. Before you start building your slides, determine the three key points you want to leave with your audience. Design a presentation that will center around those core points and resist the urge to tangent.
Call to Action
What do you want your audience to take away with them at the end of your presentation? Do you want them to call to learn more about your services? To book an appointment? Sign up for a newsletter? Whatever it is, a presentation should always have a clear call to action. Make it easy for your audience to take the next step.
Designing Visually Appealing Slides
Presentation Slide Design
Remember that when designing your presentation slides, less is often more. You should avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or images. A clean, professional design presents your information nicely and will help to keep your audience engaged with your message. Use a continual color scheme depicting your brand, and no more than one key point per slide. The text should be supported by the visuals and not overwhelmed by the visuals.
Add Storytelling with Visuals
This can add a whole new meaning to your presentation. Rather than just writing your messages, you can show images, graphs, and infographics to display your key messages. This keeps the audience more tuned into your presentation, rather than reading through ‘bulleted text’. In this way, they retain more of the information. Visuals unravel the text-heavy slides and hold the attention of the audience members.
Exercise Restraint with Animations
While it might be tempting to add a few flashy animations to your presentation, it is smarter to use them sparingly. Too many transitions and/or animations are distracting and take away from your message. For that reason, subtle transitions are best since they offer a smooth-looking presentation that doesn’t steal the show. Of course, if you do utilize the animations, make sure they have a point.
Mastering the Delivery
Practice Makes Perfect
No matter how well-designed your presentation is, poor delivery can undermine its effectiveness. Practice is the master of delivery. Run through your presentation several times to make sure you’re comfortable with the content and pacing. Record yourself, if necessary, and then watch for places where you can improve your tone, pace, and body language. Whenever possible, practice in front of a friend or colleague who can give you feedback.
Engage with Your Audience
A good presentation is not one way; rather, it’s an opportunity to engage with your audience. Make eye contact, ask questions, and invite participation. This keeps your audience involved in what you have to say and creates a more interactive and dynamic experience. During the middle of your presentation, stop and ask for questions or even comments. This will not only make your audience feel more engaged with you, but also provide you with the opportunity to extend any points which they fail to get.
Collaborate with Professional Support
Developing a successful presentation requires much time and hard work. If you face any problem with the content or layout, then you should not hesitate to consult any professional help. Of course, many business owners juggle their many responsibilities, and this is where outsourcing can free up valuable time. Professional writing services can help develop well-honed content that best fits your brand, ensuring the presentation communicates its subject clearly, is engaging, and most effective. This enables you to pay more concentrated attention to what you do best: run your business and communicate with your audience.
A presentation that wows requires a mix of thoughtful content and engaging visuals, delivered confidently. Understanding your audience, crafting effective messages, designing clean and simple slides, and practicing delivering-the fundamentals of constructing a presentation are all sure to educate and delight.
Health and safety is an important one in the workplace and something you want to be mindful of. Everything you do or don’t do for your employees, will likely benefit you or backfire and cause problems.
The purpose of health and safety is to ensure both parties are doing their absolute utmost to keep themselves and others safe. As an employer, you have a duty of care and responsibility to your staff. With that being said, here are some helpful tips to improve health and safety within the workplace.
Train your employees
First and foremost, make sure all of your employees are trained when it comes to health and safety. You can’t assume that everyone within your workforce knows how to conduct themselves when faced with an emergency situation or a scenario whereby the employee’s actions could potentially cause a dangerous outcome.
Training your staff is helpful and it’s something that can definitely help improve the safety of your workplace, as well as the health of all staff members and guests. Try to allocate a reasonable budget to training your employees in health and safety courses.
Create a health and safety policy
A health and safety policy is something that you want to introduce and ensure every staff member sees. This policy should outline the various practices you have as a business to ensure the health and safety of your staff.
This policy can be customized, adapted and updated as and when it’s deemed necessary. Having a health and safety policy is also a great way to provide some legal backing should you get yourself into any trouble with existing or disgruntled employees.
Implement equipment for improving ventilation
Ventilation is crucial because you want to ensure the air your employees breathe in and out is healthy.
When you’re working in an environment that’s dealing with harmful or toxic substances, it’s important to have equipment such as https://topairsystems.com/ if operating in laboratories. Proper ventilation is important to keep moisture levels at a normal level rather than causing dampness and potential mold issues.
Use labels and clear signage
Within the workplace, there should be clear labels and signage around the place. This is important to ensure that everything is highlighted and made apparent. There’s nothing worse than a lack of signage and an employee injuring themselves as a result.
A lot of injuries in the workplace are preventative and while you can’t predict the inevitable, you can put in preventative measures like signs to help avoid a nasty fall or accident.
Promote a collaborative work environment
Finally, when it comes to your workplace, you can’t have eyes everywhere. Therefore, it’s worthwhile speaking to employees and teams in general to ensure everyone is doing their bit in promoting a collaborative work environment.
Encourage staff members to flag any problems they spot so that it’s not just your operations team who are tirelessly working to keep eyes on the building.
Improving health and safety within the workplace is crucial so be sure to use these tips ot improve it within your organization.
Buying space for your business isn’t a one time transaction. You have to constantly update, develop, and evolve your premises to suit the operation you’ve put together. As time goes on, and you add more employees, more services, and make more products, you’re going to need a whole lot more equipment and space!
This means you’ll need to customize your workspace to truly suit your business’ needs. Naturally this will involve a lot of changes over the years, but you can set up right from the beginning using design tips like these. The more you consider now, the better the budget you’ll build, and the longer your initial efforts will last.
Research Materials The materials you’re going to use need to be sourced ethically, have a low transport footprint, be of high quality (making them last around 25 to 50 years longer), and look good at the same time.
Well, in a dream world you’d be able to accomplish all of these things in one go! However, in the real world, you may need to discount a couple of these elements to ensure you get the right materials for your needs and budget. You may not want to, but you’ve only got a limited amount of cash (and material availability) to really work with.
So, do some research into the companies you want to work with and see what the next best thing is. A good sourcing organization will make it clear where they get their materials from, and will work on a quote by quote basis regarding how much they’re going to cost.
Use a Cubicle Layout for Privacy Setting up cubicle walls is good for initiating a sense of privacy within the workplace. When you have separate cubicle spaces for your employees to work in, you give them a space each to their own.
While this may seem like an issue for the social aspect within your office, it doesn’t have to interrupt natural workplace relationships, as long as you have other social areas for your employees to spend time in. This is easy to create with common areas, a break room, and proper facility toilets. However, a cubicle setup does ensure better productivity. Without the feeling of eyes on you, work tends to go a lot faster.
You also encourage your employees to be themselves; cubicles allow people to put up their own photos, desktop knick knacks, and other novelty items. If these items can be contained to one space, and are unlikely to be knocked or moved around, employees will feel safer bringing them into work. Control over the space is amazing for encouraging a sense of workplace loyalty too!
Soundproof Meeting Rooms Just one meeting room is fine if you have a small operation, but two or more is good for medium sized enterprises. Ensure that these spaces are soundproof; anything that goes on within them should be contained to attendees only, even if the contents of the meeting isn’t all that private.
It sets a precedent for privacy in the workplace, which is only further encouraged by the cubicle setup we mentioned before. And soundproofing also means the rooms can be used as quiet spaces for people who need some time to themselves.
If your employees have laptops or tablets they can use away from their usual desks, they can take them into a soundproof room and use the space to maintain their mental health while still getting the job done. As a business owner, this is the best attitude to promote.
Reinforce the Floor Making your floor stronger is the best thing to do when you’re working with heavy equipment, such as construction equipment or heavy case printers, like a 3D printing unit. You can invest in access mats to help support the load, ensuring the natural floor beams live to see another day.
This also works if you have outdoor real estate; passing a pipeline or conveyor belt across your property needn’t be difficult with primed flooring beneath it. If you regularly need to transport materials, preparing the ground is essential for optimized performance and a decreased need for long term maintenance.
As such, it’s a good idea to invest in equipment like this to prepare your business for the future. You never know what equipment you might need to bring in one day, as a result of expanding your product line or the complementary services you provide.
Install Skylights for Increased Light Skylights in the workplace ensure a constant stream of natural light and spectacle. From a mental wellbeing viewpoint, this goes a long way to keeping your team’s collective mood at a high.
Not only does it let in some natural light and scenes, it also means you have less to spend on airflow quality. If you can open a skylight, you can let in fresh air from a central location. Plus, glass isn’t unusual in an office setting, so if this is the workspace you’re going for, it won’t be hard to get a skylight or two installed!
You can also use a skylight to incorporate a modern design into your workspace. After all, using glass and other transparent materials can bring in a greener image, and is more easily decorated regarding items like hanging plants or hanging glass decorations that fit your brand colors.
Think About the Human Body How ergonomic do you need the space to be? For example, how long will people be standing around, if they’re working at counters or doing quality assurance on conveyor belts? Similarly, if people are going to be sitting for long periods of time (usually more than 2 hours at a time), can you support their back and shoulders?
This is where ergonomically made furniture comes in. You shouldn’t just invest in second hand office furniture from wherever you can find it. This is where you don’t skimp on the budget, no matter how small it may be!
After all, if someone is comfortable enough to work for 8+ hours, they’re going to get a lot done! That means tasks will likely be completed ahead of deadlines, and may even net you a few bonuses here and there.
Incorporate a Social Area Finally, it’s best to think about a communal area that everyone can use, regardless of how many people are on break at one time.
A social area doesn’t have to be a table and a few chairs, with a microwave and a fridge nearby. This is the most common setup, as ‘break rooms’ allow an employee to take control over their time, diet, and overall health. However, you can build a social area with more cohesion, and even add a sense of fun!
To do this, think about ways to make the space great, rather than standard. A vending machine, for example, is a good addition to any social area. You should also consider popular activities for relaxing and unwinding.
Building a business from the ground up is more than metaphorical development. It’s about figuring out the best use of your budget and the space it can buy you. So, if you have a plain building to work with, customizing it to suit your needs won’t be impossible.
Don’t just decorate and buy some furniture – you need a plan that also includes elements like those above. Remember, any kind of commercial real estate is going to be highly customizable, so don’t let physical limitations prevent you from putting together the workspace of your dreams!
Managing a workforce is tough. It’s the reason many successful businesses eventually end up hiring human resources departments. As a small business owner, you’re unlikely to be able to afford to hire your own HR staff, which means the challenging task of managing your employees falls entirely on you. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can make human resources admin easier. Below are just 5 useful hacks that could make hiring and managing your staff easier
Start an employee referral program
An employee referral program can be a great way of turning your existing staff into recruiters. It involves rewarding employees with a bonus or some other kind of benefit in exchange for helping you find new staff. Why is it such a great strategy? Firstly, employees are likely to hire people they know and get along with – allowing these new recruits to more easily integrate into the team. Secondly, it empowers your employees and rewards them for it. Finally, it can save you time and money looking for applicants. All in all, it benefits you and your team.
Hire boomerang employees
What happens if an employee wants to come back? You shouldn’t allow them to, right? Wrong. Employees that leave and want to come back later (aka ‘boomerang employees’) can be great hires. They already understand how your business operates and therefore require less training. The fact that they came back also shows that they valued something in your business they couldn’t find elsewhere. Of course, if they were a nightmare employee, you probably shouldn’t invite them back. However, if they were a good employee, it makes sense to welcome them back as it could have major benefits.
Customize employee benefits
Not every employee is going to be drawn to the same benefits. Something that several employers are starting to consider is a customizable benefit package. This could include giving employees the choice to work from home or work from the office, letting them choose between monetary or non-monetary bonuses, and potentially even curating a unique choice of employee discounts for them to use (some employees may prefer a discounted gym membership, while others may value discounted cinema tickets). Such packages could help you to attract more talent and keep employees loyal.
Automate/outsource your payroll
Paying employees can be one of the most important jobs as an employer, but also one of the most tedious. Fortunately, there are many tools nowadays that can automate the process. There’s also the option of payroll outsourcing solutions – allowing you to pay someone else to take care of your payroll without having to hire a full-time team member. Either option is better than manually doing it yourself and could even reduce errors.
Keep job ads wholly positive
A big mistake employers make when writing job ads is focusing too much on demands of the job rather than the perks. Job ads can be particularly self-destructive if they focus on what they don’t want from an employee (i.e. ‘remote work not optional’ or ‘no timewasters’). It is better to keep job ads wholly positive and focus more on what you can give employees. Why? Because this is how you are going to attract the most high quality talent. The most high quality applicants already know they can get a job at most places and therefore will seek out the companies that have the best benefits. If your application comes across negative in tone or lists few benefits, you could scare off the best people for the job.
If there is one thing that the internet has had a significant impact on, it is the workforce. And while that was seen to the extremes during the pandemic – what has happened after has been brilliant for millions of businesses and workers.
The ability to work from home was forced upon most people, and businesses saw how much more flexible they could be. They saw better profits because they had fewer overheads, and what’s more, is that the global talent pool opened up.
But if you haven’t had experience running a remote and flexible team, it can still be a challenge. So for any small businesses that are growing their team or people stepping into the role of managing a flexible team – here are some tips.
Communication
Communication x 3 and then some. If there are miscommunications within remote teams, things can get tricky quickly. While there is a joke about a video call or a meeting that could’ve been an email – sometimes conversation via video is best.
All of your team members might have a preferred way of communication, and if that is the case, you will need to learn that and accommodate them. People generally give their best work when they feel comfortable and accommodated.
Try weekly calls, check-in emails, direct messages, and being open to being contacted when needed. See what works, see what doesn’t, and streamline it. Keep in mind you might only realize that there is an issue when something goes wrong. Proactiveness and vigilance will help.
Talent Pool
The job is the job, and the tasks are the tasks. But you have the ability to design the team, and this gives an incredible amount of flexibility.
Don’t stick to the regular recruiting methods; instead, make use of all of the platforms online that can help you put together a literal dream team. Go to specialists like a marketing staffing agency, a content writing agency, and more to hand-pick the best people for the job.
You’ll have access to a wealth of skills, and what’s best is that they are likely already vetted.
Using a global talent pool will mean that you and your team will be flexible on working hours – which can be beneficial to night owls and early risers alike. Don’t be afraid to split jobs up into parts so that you can have two or more people per task, allowing for part-time and ad-hoc people too.
Reimagine the team, and build it as you see fit.
Trust
Freelancers who were working from home or across the world ahead of the pandemic have always had a level of trust that people who went from office to home didn’t have. Trust is one of the most important parts of being able to have a flexible team. The only way you can build trust is to show it and act like it.
Focus on the deliverables, be able to talk through issues, and avoid micromanagement and constant check-ins when they just are necessary.
After you build the team, let them work on their strengths and get on with what you have to do.
