Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Tuesday 31 May 2022

Will Your Startup Online Business Be Profitable? Here’s How to Know


You’ve come up with a winning business idea and you’re ready to get to work building your startup. But before you put in the work to make it a reality, there’s one crucial step that will save you a great deal of headache. You need to start with market validation.

 

What Is Market Validation?

 

Market validation means finding out whether there’s demand in the market for your business idea. It tells you how likely it is that your business will be profitable in a reasonable amount of time. If you find that it’s not a potentially profitable idea, you can abandon it or refine it so that it is.

 

Validation is important because you can’t tell all by yourself whether an idea is viable. You need objective data from your market, not just assumptions. This step in the process saves you time and trouble because it prevents you from launching a business that’s not going to take off.

 

Check out the Competition

 

A good way to get started is to see if your idea already exists and is out there making money. Get online and search. See if your competitor has an audience and if they’re selling. If so, this is a profitable idea. 

 

You just have to put your own spin on it. If you find that it’s taken, this doesn’t mean you can’t launch a similar business. In fact, it could tell you it’s a good idea.

 

If you find that many businesses are out there using your idea, you might want to refine it. This could mean the market is already saturated. You’ll face tough competition unless you can find a good way to differentiate yourself. 

 

Does Your Business Offering Solve a Problem?

 

Another way to assess your idea’s viability is to consider it in terms of problem and solution. The best business offerings solve a problem for their customers. What issues and challenges do your customers face? Does your product or service help to solve them?

 

Research your target audience. Follow them on social media, join groups where they’re members, and look for questions they’re asking. 

 

Use Web Analytics

 

You can gain a great deal of insight by looking at web analytics. Start by using a free keyword tool to investigate search terms. Enter terms related to your business idea and look at search volume. If people are looking for these keyword terms, it means they’re looking for what you’re offering.

 

This is also a great way to refine your idea. Keyword search tools will show you other high-volume words and phrases. You can discover what people are searching for.

 

There are programs that analyze social media behavior as well. Don’t forget also to look at Amazon and affiliate network programs and see what products are selling. 

 

Reach out to Your Audience

 

You can get great feedback on your idea by reaching out to your audience and asking them directly if they’re buying what you’re offering. You can start with friends, family members, colleagues, and employees. Reach out to social media followers, email list subscribers, members of your online groups, or any other access you have to your target audience.

 

Ask them whether they’re interested in your idea. While you’re talking to them, see what problems they’re facing. Find out what products they currently use and what faults they have. You can also ask how much they’d pay for a service like yours.

 

Validation Is Just the Beginning

 

Remember that market validation is no guarantee of success. It just tells you that there’s a market out there for what you’re offering. If you take the time to validate, your idea is more likely to earn in the short term. Now, your idea’s ready to launch.



6 Ways to Find Unique Ideas for Your Online Course


Ready to offer an online course? The first major challenge is to come up with a topic. It’s the most important decision you’ll make, so you really need something good. How do you come up with unique ideas for courses people will love to take? Here are 6 ideas for finding unique topics.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What questions do people often ask you? What questions are people asking online? You can look at Q&A sites like Quora or social media and other online forums. 

 

Another idea is to check a similar company or site in your niche and see what questions are on their FAQ. If you can create a course that answers a question on everybody’s mind, you’ll have a great topic that people are interested in.

 

Identify Your Strengths

 

If you offer an online course in a topic where you’re truly an expert, it’s guaranteed to offer great value to your audience. Brainstorm a list of your greatest strengths. 

 

You can often say off the top of your head what you’re good at. You can also analyze your work history to see where you have the most experience. But the best way to find out is to reach out to people in your network and ask them. They know you well and can tell you objectively what you’re best at.

 

Channel Your Inner Nostradamus

 

Get clairvoyant and try to predict what’s coming in the future. It takes a few months to organize and promote an online course. If you can choose a topic that’s going to be trending in the coming months when you’re live, or in the months after that, you’ll really have a great topic on your hands.

 

The good news is that you don’t need to be psychic. You can find out about future trends through market research. Follow industry publications related to your niche. Use tools like Google Trends. Monitor the competition and see what they’re talking about. You can also hone your psychic abilities by knowing past trends and looking for patterns.

 

Look in Unexpected Places

 

Sometimes a great idea comes from somewhere else, not related at all to your business or niche. For example, you might turn on the TV and get a great idea from a news story. Something that comes along your Facebook feed might offer inspiration. Think back on a conversation you recently had with a friend.

 

Get into the mode of always looking for ideas and take notes on your phone whenever something strikes you.

 

Find Gaps in the Market

 

For a unique idea, look for gaps in the market. Look at courses being offered in your niche. You’ll see a few topics being covered by many businesses. Try to find a sub-topic within your niche that’s not being covered and you can make this the topic for your online course.

 

The great advantage here is that you’ll be the only one offering this topic. It may not be a big seller, but if there’s interest, you’ll dominate.

 

Check Analytics

 

People often won’t tell you honestly what they’re interested in even if you conduct surveys and ask them directly. But their actions don’t lie. This is why it’s good to look at analytics. Analytics show you your audience’s behavior.

 

Look at website and blog analytics. Run a newsletter and see which links your subscribers click or messages they open and engage with. Analyze reactions to your social media posts. Look for patterns and you’ll discover your audience’s real interests. 

 

Once you find one of the above ideas that works well for you, document it and refer to it whenever you need new ideas. Also, start an ideas list that you can carry around with you on your phone or in your pocket. Any time inspiration strikes, write it down. You never know when you might hit upon a profitable idea for your online course.

 


Monday 23 May 2022

To Do List Success Tips


The humble to do list is a powerful organization tool. It doesn't matter whether you create and keep a digital list using an app such as Todoist or use a pen and paper. What matters is that you create and use your lists every day to help you get and stay organized. The following tips will ensure that your to do lists are a successful tool in your organizational tool box.

 

Keep it Short

 

The ideal length of a to do list is 10 items or less. You've probably created lists in the past that have seemed endless. Instead of helping you feel organized and successful, you probably ended the day with most of the items still unchecked and feeling a failure.

 

By keeping your list purposely short you are more likely to cross off every item and end the day feeling successful.

 

Separate Lists for Home and Work

 

Don't add your work tasks to your personal to do list. Maintain separate lists.

 

Prioritize

 

Once you've listed everything you need to accomplish then number the items in order of priority. Do the most important items first and you'll feel the biggest sense of achievement.

 

If there are any items on your list that aren't important then mark them as such. That way you won't need to feel guilty if you don't cross them off.

 

Assign a Time Limit

 

Wherever possible set a time limit for every item on the list. Not just how long it will take but when it needs to be done. That way you can identify tasks that need to be completed before lunch or before picking up the kids from school.

 

Re-visit and Re-work

 

A to do list should be a working document. Once written it should be revisited throughout the day. You can check off those items you've completed and reprioritize or schedule those that remain.

 

You can also cross items off that are no longer important or unnecessary. It will also give you the opportunity to add any additional tasks that crop up during the day.

 

Keep it with You

 

How often have you made a to do list at the beginning of the day and then totally ignored it? Probably because you left the house without it at the beginning of the day!

 

To make sure that your list is where you need it you could use an app such as Todoist or Jamie's To Do. Better still you could keep your daily to do list in your daily or weekly spread in your bullet journal. That way it will be with you wherever you go and you'll get the satisfaction of marking off the items as you complete them. You'll also have a visual record of your achievement.

 

Your to do list can be a powerful tool for helping you to live an organised life. Using these tips will help you to ensure that it is used successfully.

 


6 Essential Tools to Keep Your Life Organized


Creating an organized life, and maintaining it, isn't as hard as you might think. Of course, it will require planning and some time to set it up but once you've got the following six key tools in place you will feel more focused and in control of your life and time.

 

Paper Planner

 

Yes, even in the age of digital organization a paper planner does still have a place in your organizational tool chest. It doesn't have to be big and bulky or expensive. In fact, you might find that the latest trend for a bespoke bullet journal might suit you best. Your paper planner can include tasks and items that you want to keep a close eye on, as well as for making notes and lists.

 

On-line Calendar

 

In addition to the paper planner, an online calendar or app for your smartphone, is another essential. This handy tool will be with you everywhere that your phone goes and has the added benefit of being able to give you alerts for meetings and scheduled tasks.

 

Evernote

 

This handy tool is free but does have a paid option that provides more functionality. However, for most people the free version will be sufficient. You can clip whole webpages, URLs, create notebooks, share information, create draft documents and add pdf files. It is an online tool but has apps for smart devices that will allow you to sync your notebooks across all of your devices so you'll always be able to access your information.

 

Financial Planner

 

If you're using a bullet journal, then you may decide to create a financial planner within it. If not then you really need to create a dedicated financial planner in which to record your income, expenses and savings. You can keep a track of bills due with a monthly bill payment calendar to ensure that you never miss making a payment again. If you don't want to have a paper planner for your finances, then there are lots of financial planning and management apps available online. One such tool is Good Budget which is a free app for iPhone and Android.

 

To Do List

 

Your to do list is going to be an essential tool to keep your life on track, running smoothly and perfectly organized. Paper lists are great as you can carry them with you or display them where you can't miss them. There are also plenty of to do list apps that can help you create, monitor and organize your lists. Suggested apps are Todoist and Jamie's To Do which are both free.

 

My Fitness Pal

 

A health and fitness tracker can help you monitor your exercise as well as your diet. My Fitness Pal is a popular free online tool with Android and iPhone apps. It contains a huge food database for tracking what you eat and you can create a personalized diet profile.

 

These six tools can really help you stay on top of organization. There are obviously other tools that you may find useful and necessary in organizing your life.

 


Pros and Cons of Buying Time Management Software


Do you work as an internet marketer? If so, your ability to manage time is important to your success. Not only that, it will directly impact the income you generate. For that reason, make sure you have a good sense of time management.

 

Unfortunately, good time management is not a skill that we all have. If you are known for getting distracted easily, procrastinating, or falling behind schedule, you may be looking for help. For some, that help comes in the form of time management software, but is it right for you?

 

The Pros of Time Management Software

 

Time management software can promote organization. It comes in a number of different formats. Regardless of that format, organization is promoted. You should receive specific lists and categories to choose from. For example, you may have the option of creating a daily to-do list, the option of outlining weekly projects, and more.

 

Time management software is installed right on your computer. Since time management software is installed on your computer and since you work from your computer, it is easy for you to access. In fact, you can always leave the program running in the background for quick access and easy loading.

 

The number of choices you have. As previously stated, time management software comes in a number of different formats. Different programs have different features. Look for those you can benefit from. Do you work as an internet marketer for hire? If so, you can benefit from a program that stores the contact information of your clients, as well as links that information to projects. When buying a software program, only spend money on features you will use.

 

The Cons of Time Management Software

 

Time management software costs money. In fact, it can be expensive. On average, a time management software program costs between $50 and $100. You may find programs for sale for more and less. If you are shopping on a budget, compare prices, but don’t forget value. A cheap software program is nice, but not if it is loaded with features you do not want or cannot use.

 

Time management software isn’t always a good value for the money. As previously stated, time management software is expensive and it may come loaded with features you will never use. The perfect solution to this problem is programs you can customize for an affordable fee; however, they are hard to come across. As a cheaper alternative, create your own spreadsheet. In fact, many software programs use spreadsheets. The only thing missing is the countdown clock that most include to alert you to an impending deadline.

 

Time management software can be difficult to use. When buying time management software, you should receive a detailed user’s manual. This guide will show you how to use the program, but you may still have questions. Not only that, if a learning curve is hard, you waste time.

 

Time management software can become a distraction. As previously stated, some programs have a difficult learning curve. As opposed to being simple, learning to use a program can now become a huge distraction. It is ironic, as time management software is designed to improve your productivity. That is only if you know how to use it. For that reason, read reviews online. If users state a product is hard to use, examine other options.



Sunday 22 May 2022

How to Spend Less Time Cooking


One of the biggest lies you see commonly in books and online is that you can cook a meal in ten minutes.

 

How often have you seen books with titles like ‘Ten Minute Meals’?

 

There are a few things you can cook in ten minutes but really these don’t get much more ambitious than beans on toast or ‘an egg’.

 

If you want to make an actual meal though, you’ll spend a lot more time in the kitchen.

 

The perfect example of this is when you see an instruction like ‘take your chopped onion’. Hang on a second! Where did this onion come from? Who chopped it? The onion fairies?

 

But even the books that don’t use these little tricks fail to acknowledge that you will spend more time clearing the surfaces, washing up afterward, finding the food in the cupboards and even shopping for those things. A ten-minute meal in reality takes 30 minutes if you’re lucky!

 

While I can’t promise to completely solve this issue though, there are some ways you can get around it and spend a little less time preparing meals. Here are some shortcuts that are free for you to use…

 

Cook in Bulk

 

One of the best things you can do to spend less time cooking is to cook in bulk. This way, you cook a large pot of food that will provide more food than you need. Then, instead of dishing it all up, you put some of it away in the freezer or in the fridge.

 

This then in turn allows you to get it out on evenings when you’re in a rush and heat it up ready for dinner!

 

Use a Slow Cooker

 

A slow cooker can save you a ton of time in the kitchen because it cooks your food when you’re on the way home. You prepare the food that morning or the night before then leave it in the cooker. It turns on at about 4pm and cooks slowly without risking a fire. When you get in at 6pm, the food will be ready to eat!

 

Get the Right Appliances

 

Many appliances can save you a lot of time and effort. One of the best examples is a food processor. But another good one is a waste disposal unit for your kitchen sink. This lets you throw anything down the sink without risking blocking it!



Top Ways to Automate Your Lifestyle


Automation is a business term that basically means you set up a system to handle a part of your job for you. This in turn allows you to spend more time doing other important things and at the same time to exponentially increase your output and scale your production.

 

The obvious example is to use an automated assembly line to create a product rather than doing it by hand. This saves countless man-hours and means in theory that you can produce 10x or 100x the amount of product to sell and scale up your profits in accordance.

 

You can also do this in your personal life and in just the same way, it can hugely increase your free time.

 

Here are some ways you can do that:

 

Shop Online

 

Shopping online and setting up standing orders is a great way to save time that you would otherwise spend going to the shops. At the very least you should use this for your regular grocery shop and this way you can get a weekly shop delivered directly to your door every day without having to head out! This can save 2, 3 or 4 hours a week!

 

You can also set up standing orders for gifts. Want to make sure your partner gets sent flowers every year on your anniversary? That’s actually quite easy to arrange! Or how about using a ‘product as service’ such as one that will supply you with all the shaving products you need every week? There are plenty of these that can save you a lot of hunting and shopping.

 


Robotic Vacuum Cleaners

 

If you can’t afford a cleaner, then consider hiring a robotic vacuum cleaner. These will move around your home all on their own making sure to reach every small patch of floor to vacuum up crumbs, dust, dirt and anything else that gets on your carpet or wooden floor.

 

You can also get robotic lawn mowers that do the same job but outside!

 


Cooking

 

In the kitchen there are tons of things that can save you time. A food processor for instance can automate the peeling process for you if you get one that is good enough.

 

Or if you want an even more automated service, consider signing up to a company that delivers healthy meals to your door every day. These exist and can actually save you hours while improving your health and energy levels!

 


The Best Apps For Productivity


Our lives are marked with lots of work. Rarely will you find enough time, especially during the day to complete your work. Well, this can be attributed to the fact that during the day, people have meetings to attend and a lot of issues to address. But, what about the projects that keeps on accumulating in the office? Undeniably, you need an app that will get your stuff done in the office. Here are some apps that will be of great help to you. With these apps, there will be absolutely no need to work overtime and even on weekends.

 

1. Mailtracker

 

Sometimes, people are reluctant to read mails. And when this happens, mailtracker becomes a handy tool. This iOS app will notify you when people read your mail, and the best part? It will give you detailed notifications of where they read it from. When it comes to memo, you can easily ascertain if a person is telling the truth or not.

 

2. Pushbullet

 

So, you want not to forget anything? Well, this app will be your ultimate solution. It synchronizes with your computer and thus will display notifications from your phone to the screen. Not to forget, it lets you exchange files between different devices, which you can instantly download.

 

3. Focus lock

 

Admittedly, our phones are the greatest form of distractions. As a matter of fact, if you are not keen, you may miss important information just because your concentration is on your phone. This app allows you to choose apps that you want to be locked out of. That done, you will still reads your mails and receive phone calls, but you will be locked out of frequent updates such as sports and weather.

 

4. ETA

 

If you want to be punctual whenever you have meetings, then ETA is your ultimate app. If you will need to drive to your next destination, this app will tell you how long you will take. Amazing! It also facilitates the process of locating where you need to go.

 

5. Evernote

 

This is a multipurpose app that allows you to write to-do lists, notes and other tasks. This app is ideal for making notes during meetings, and the best part? It has a scanning feature that lets you get business cards.

 

In this world full of ups and downs, there is the need to simplify work. Productivity apps will certainly see how achieve this. So, if you have undone work at the office, you have a reason to smile. Gone are the days where a manager had to forego meetings so as to do work at the office. With these apps, you can rest assured that your work will be greatly simplified.

 


Thursday 19 May 2022

The Top 5 Time Management Apps for Entrepreneurs


Your time, as an entrepreneur, is valuable. Every minute you waste looking for your to-do list is a minute that you’re not earning money and building your business. Rather than hiring an assistant to help you keep track of your time, why not try one of these five time management apps for entrepreneurs. 

 

Todoist

 

Todoist is an app that recognizes that not every task on your to-do list is equally important. You can create multiple products for different aspects of your life and business. As you add items to your agenda, you can set priority levels and due dates. Todoist will then show you the essential tasks with the nearest due date first.

 

Toggl

 

Toggl is an app that shows you how much time different tasks take to complete. This is the perfect time tracking app for entrepreneurs. Toggl allows you to track various activities with the touch of a button, then adds up how much time you are spending on that activity each day, week, and month. This can allow entrepreneurs to know their average hourly profitability for each client and task.

 

RescueTime

 

RescueTime can help you stop distractions once and for all. It runs securely in the background of all your devices and tracks how much time you spend on different websites and applications throughout the day. It will give you an accurate picture of how long you are spending on Facebook, email, and other distractions. It will provide you with detailed reports on your productivity so that you can see where you need to improve.

 

Letterspace

 

Letterspace is a notetaking app that is perfect for the disorganized mind. The app allows you to use #hashtags and @mentions within your notes and then organizes your thoughts in the sidebar next to those tags. If you forget to tag your notes, the app also has full-text search capabilities so that you can find what you're looking for easily.

 

Instapaper

 

If you ever get distracted by an interesting video or article, Instapaper can help you stay on track. Whenever you come across something while browsing the Internet, Instapaper will send it to the app. This way you can read it later on any device. It also allows you to comment on and highlight text in an article so that you can save and retrieve information as well as share it on social media.

 

These five-time management apps will help you stay focused on what matters most so that you can quickly grow your business. Incorporate your favorite apps into your daily routine and see how much you can accomplish.



Sunday 1 May 2022

How to Look and Feel Like a Highly Successful Digital Entrepreneur


There are many reasons that you may have been attracted to the idea of working online. For many, the allure of being completely free to work when and how they please will be enough. For others, it comes down to the feeling of satisfaction that comes from financial independence.

 

But for some, it’s the allure of being highly successful. For some, it’s the appeal of being successful, accomplished, powerful and wealthy – of being able to live that hedonistic lifestyle of travel, partying and womanizing/manizing (?).

 

In other words, some of us just want to be highly successful in the traditional sense and to get the feeling of reward and power that comes from that success. Internet marketing makes this possible because it gives us a way to earn money that isn’t ‘limited’ by conventional career trajectories.

 

You have the prestige that comes from being an entrepreneur, and you have the theoretical ability to learn limitless money. You just need a good idea, a little business savvy and the dedication to put in the work. Do all that and you can quickly become highly successful.

 

You can rub shoulders with bankers, lawyers and other highly successful individuals, enjoying tailored suits and lavish parties – all without putting in the time at the bottom of the heap.

 

The Problem

 

But there’s a problem and that is the fact that many of us don’t know how to live this lifestyle. Many of us want that successful lifestyle but we miss the vital steps. Many of us end up simply working our behinds off at home, not remembering to brush our hair or do our teeth, and then looking completely dishevelled whenever we do leave the house.

 

Working alone is not highly conducive to presenting ourselves will and what many people don’t appreciate is that running a business is a lot of hard work. Without a boss to motivate you, you can end up falling behind quickly. And then you end up making up for it in the evenings, or by diving straight into work without getting ready for the day first. This is especially true if you are so driven by being ‘successful’ or wealthy. Kind of ironic!

 

The Solution

 

The solution is actually to make sure you leave space in your day for looking after yourself and investing in your look. We all know the saying: dress for the job you want. This is just as true when you work for yourself because dressing well will make you feel more successful and effective. 

 

But knowing that and actually acting on it are two very different things. If you want to spend time on yourself, then you need to ensure you give yourself that time – and more importantly that you give yourself that energy. That means clocking off at a set time and dedicating some hours in the day to getting dressed and ready.

 

Develop a morning routine. This will make it easier to ensure you get dressed and ready the same time every day and will ensure you start your day with the right enthusiasm, mood and footing.

 


How Working Online Will Change You


Lots of articles have been written about the kind of person who becomes a blogger or an SEO, and the ways that you can make yourself better at blogging or running a website. What is less often discussed however, is how working online can actually change who you are as a person and influence your personal development. There are many ways that this can happen and a number of common effects that blogging can have on your personality and your attitudes. Read on to meet the person you might become... 

 

How Jobs Impact On Us 

 

I used to proudly claim that I hadn't changed, because I became a blogger and never bowed down to the man. I have no colleagues as a blogger meaning that there was no one for me to become ‘more alike’, but this in itself can have an effect on you. And likewise, working from home and earning passive income has probably had some impact on me too. Blogging/optimizing changes you just like any other job, only it changes you differently. Once I was self-aware enough to recognize this, I set about finding out what had changed about me. Here's what I came up with... 

 

Care Free 

 

I would say that compared to my other friends, I am more carefree and less restricted. While my friends have to work 9-5 jobs and get very stressed if they stay out too late one night, I can remain flexible and free to work when I choose and where I choose. If I'm honest, this has also led me to somewhat resent those people who aren't free to hang out because they have work the next day. I guess it's fair to say that I've become somewhat detached from the 'real world' and regular routine. 

 


Opinionated 

 

Writing online regularly has also made me somewhat opinionated. Sure, I'm opinionated in my views on employment (and self-employment), but I've also become very used to expressing myself a lot online and sharing my opinion. This undoubtedly crosses over into my daily life, as I tend to wax lyrical about pretty much any subject that I get the opportunity to talk about. 

 

Independence and Confidence

 

You also get a lot of confidence from working online. Once you’ve made money yourself – completely yourself – you realize you’re capable of anything. This helps you to feel more successful and generally means you get used to ‘being the boss’.

 

And with that comes increased independence too. You don’t rely on anyone, and you have countless projects to pass the time when you are alone.

 

An Unusual View of Money 

 

In some ways, being an online entrepreneur has made me stricter with my money. The money I've earned has been entirely down to my own effort and is a reflection of my success, so I feel more personally affronted when I spend it. On the other hand, though, I also think of money now very much in terms of overheads and profits. Spending a little money on a friend is just another 'overhead' and I can earn it back by working a little extra hard for a while. 

 

These are just some of the ways you change when you become a blogger or a digital marketer. Of course, the precise changes partly depend on who you are to begin with. Either way, expect to grow and change and to get more from the experience than you necessarily bargain for…