How To Turn Your Confidence ON!

One of the most fascinating aspects of mindset is that it encapsulates many components, and that each of these can be taught and learned. That’s one of the things that attracted me to this field because you can learn and master any of these components to impact your life, career, and business.

Let’s look at one of these integral mindset components: confidence. Your confidence (or lack thereof) has a direct impact on your success, and I will share some of my favourite strategies for you to boost it, so that you can maximise your success.

This is a component very close to my heart, and as I write I’m drawn to my old self, a few years back… I want to share to remind you of what is possible: back then, if you had told me I would become the person I am today, there is no way I’d have believed you! At that time to say I was not confident was an understatement! My lack of confidence directly impacted all areas of my life, and people around me often said “Ah, she won’t do much in life.”.

Then, I discovered you could learn confidence. And I realised that confidence is not something you are born with or without; it is something that you can acquire at any point in time. You see, confidence is a state of mind and one that you can consciously step in to every single day. Confident people are not born with confidence; they don’t just have it: they have it because they apply confidence strategies, and as a result, are described as confident.

Confidence is not something you are born with or without; YOU can learn & acquire it at any point in time.When talking about mindset and its various components, I often refer to a switch button, one of those you can turn ON and off. Well, this is it: here are ways to turn your confidence ON. These strategies are sorted into 3 sections as I believe that you are confident when you think confidently, feel confidently, and act confidently.

Think Confident

  • Have a robust plan of actions: people lacking confidence are uncertain about their plans, so confidently map out your steps, goals, and milestones to where you want to go,
  • Control your inner voice: people lacking confidence tend to listen AND believe their negative internal dialogue, so confidently control your thoughts by ignoring the negative, and embracing the positive,
  • Remind yourself of your greatness: people lacking confidence tend to dismiss their past achievements and disregard their current progress and successes, so confidently list these.

Feel Confident

  • Watch out for your physiology: people lacking confidence tend to slouch, look down, and cross their arms, so confidently stand up, look up and open up your chest,
  • Take care of your image: people lacking confidence tend to hide behind colourless clothes, so confidently pick outfits that make you feel ‘like a million dollar’,
  • Be proud of your body: people lacking confidence tend to dislike their body, so confidently love your body, whatever body shape it is; what matters is that you love it (and if you don’t, do address your vitality and fitness goals).

Act Confident

  • Pay attention to your walk: people lacking confidence tend to walk at a slower pace, so confidently walk like you are walking with a purpose,
  • Concentrate on your breathing: people lacking confidence tend to breathe erratically and at a much faster pace, so confidently breathe at a normal pace, grounding yourself,
  • Focus on your speech rate and tone of voice: people lacking confidence tend to talk quietly and fast, so confidently speak up at a slightly slower speech rate while easily articulating your message.

Apply these confidence strategies over and over again; they will soon become habits, and you’ll naturally step in that confident state of mind. I’d even (strongly!) suggest you create your very own confidence routine, and work on it daily.

Do not let a lack of confidence hold you back. You can do anything. Decide today that you can think, feel and act confidently, and go for it. Only you know how much you are going to achieve when you think, feel and act confidently!

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you! Which one(s) of these confidence boosters will you apply from today onwards?

Please leave a comment and join the below conversation!

Until next time ;-)

To your Mountain Moving Mindset,
Frederique Murphy
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If you liked this article, I invite you to join my inspiring (and free!) online M3 Power Community and start climbing your own mountains as you receive a wealth of mindset resources!

Specialising in Inspirational Leadership, Frederique Murphy is a mindset strategist who inspires leaders to believe and accomplish the extraordinary. With her Mountain Moving Mindset (M3) platform, she equips you with scientifically-based strategies to take your life, career and business to a whole new level.

She has over 15 years of experience in corporate change for large multinational organisations. She has a proven track record in business transformation, including as a dynamic communications leader migrating businesses all over the world to create a $4 billion trading company. As a consultant on organisational design, culture development and stakeholder management, she knows how to instil change. Frederique earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with a major in social psychology; she is a master practitioner of neurolinguistics, hypnosis and quantum linguistics with expertise in positive psychology, neuroscience, and behaviour change.

With strong business acumen and strategic vision, she makes change happen. The secret weapon in her arsenal is her ever-growing mindset expertise. If you are one of her 150,000+ M3 Power Community members, you know that she is constantly sharing her mind and brain expertise, whether it’s writing for publications like The Small Business Owner Magazine, being interviewed on radio shows around the world, providing advice as a SAGE Business Expert, training up-close and personal, adding another resource or article to her trove of treasures, connecting with her remarkable community, or as a speaker delivering her most popular keynote ‘Lead Beyond the Edge’ across the globe.

Frederique is a passionate and charismatic speaker, who captivates audiences – when she takes to the stage, sparks fly! With her ‘practical magic’ she excites audiences and awakens the neural paths in their brains so they suddenly see that the extraordinary CAN happen. With Frederique as the guide, you embark upon your M3 journey where beliefs, attitudes and behaviours will be instilled to create lasting change.

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What All Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Working from Home

As a budding entrepreneur, working from home might feel like a dream come true. You won’t have to worry about long commutes, and you can even save on daycare expenses, right? But it may not be so simple. Take a look at this list of considerations all work-from-home entrepreneurs need to think about before taking the plunge.

Distractions

When you are home, you can be distracted by events that would normally not happen in an office setting. For example, if your dog barks at the mailman, the laundry goes off every hour, or if your neighbor calls to ask you to watch her child after school, your attention is being pulled away from your work. This can lead to a lot of wasted time over the course of a workday.

To work at home effectively, you need to set boundaries. Set up a home office for yourself and set firm, but not rigid, work hours. One boon of working at home is flexibility, but you need to be careful that your time is not too flexible. If you make that mistake, you may find yourself falling behind and working into the night.

Childcare

One particular distraction has to do with the youngest members of your household. If you currently have childcare for your little ones, don’t be so quick to end your arrangement. Small children require a lot of your attention, and if you plan to work from home, you need it focused on work during your set hours. You can try to get everything done while they are in school, but you may need an extra two or three hours in the afternoon after they get home.

If you want to take your kids out of daycare, consider hiring a nanny to care for them at home while you work. Another option is to work a shift opposite of your partner’s. Make sure they are able to handle all childcare while you are working.

You Will Need Your Own Equipment

When you work in an office, you normally get to use your employer’s computer, printer, paper, copy machine, and other office equipment and supplies. This is not the case when you work from home. Be sure to build room in your budget for things like printer ink, postage, and file folders. Save on office supplies by finding online deals and discounts on everything from 4inkjets promo codes to in-store coupons for pens and staplers.

Taxes

The bad news about being self-employed, is you are now responsible for an additional self-employment tax. The good news is, you can take deductions for your business as allowed by the law. Count on hiring an accountant to walk you through the process of determining which deductions you can legally take, and be prepared to pay taxes quarterly. Having an organized system is the key to keeping your at-home business on track.

Becoming a work-at-home entrepreneur can be rewarding in many ways. Just be sure you plan ahead and understand what will and will not change about your situation. With foresight and a can-do attitude, you should be able to clear the hurdles that go along with starting a new business out of your home.

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How to Create an Inventive Marketing Strategy on a Budget

We’ve all been faced with a situation in life when we haven’t necessarily got the funds to simply buy what we want or need. Being canny with a budget and creative in our approach is an important part of life. Having these skills in the business world is an essential requirement.

When it comes to marketing it can be daunting to deliver a strategy on a modest budget. Traditionally making a big noise required the budget to back it up. Large print ads, TV commercials, celebrity endorsements, radio jingles, billboards – all tools in the armoury of marketing departments and all relatively expensive.

Yet the modern world – and the technology that the world is obsessed with – plays into the hands of those looking to be canny and creative. There are essentially three things you must do to create an inventive strategy when on a budget: plan properly, embrace new technology, and share your wisdom.

Plan

If money is tight then you need to get it right. You need to be specific and you need to plan everything properly. How much money do you have exactly? What does your strategy have to achieve? Who does it need to reach? Ask yourself important questions and ask important questions of your target market so that you are clear before you begin.

Often by focusing solely on the essential goals you can deliver a focussed campaign that is successful. By setting out a good, well-researched plan you can track performance and monitor costs at all stages.

You also need to plan in advance. Rushed, last minute campaigns are likely to attract greater cost.

Digital can disrupt

One of the very best things about the technological advancements of recent years when it comes to marketing is that they have greatly reduced the cost of getting your message across.

Expensive print runs for big batches of flyers can be replaced, for example, by sending out a large batch of SMS messages. It’s quicker too. If sending too many SMS sounds like it’s going to be painful for your thumbs don’t worry. Technology exists to send hundreds or thousands of messages in seconds. People much prefer a text, too, to a leaflet pushed through their door.

Videos no longer need to be made for television or cinema screens – YouTube and social media have reduced the barriers to getting these to your customers.

You should harness social media well. This is your chance to show a human face for your brand and create content that can be shared by your customers who, in this scenario, act as ambassadors for you. It’s powerful, effective and does not come with a big cost.

In general you should think about how digital technology can deliver some of the traditional marketing methods at a fraction of the cost. Stage a virtual trade show, for example, use eye-catching poster images on Facebook instead of billboards and pay for web banners instead of print ads.

Share wisdom

Don’t confine yourself to the short term. One way to boost your marketing efforts is through content. Set yourself up as a thought leader through sound, well-written blog posts on your own website and offer your services as a guest writer for good, relevant industry websites.

In the long-term being a thought leader will establish your brand as something to be respected and will help you to have greater authority when marketing new products, services and practices. If you have a flair for writing and interesting thoughts to share, this can be a lucrative long-term way of extending your marketing efforts in a cost-effective way.

Plan properly, embrace digital and use content smartly and you’ll deliver a winning creative strategy at a cut price.

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Improving Efficiency Through Business Processes

Invoices, receipts, and business communication are one of the most voluminous bodies of writing going back all the way to the civilizations of Sumer and Egypt. And while there are also many different business methodologies tried out over the past 4000 years, it still surprises people that it has only been in the last 20 years or so that the technological business infrastructure necessary to directly improve results through BPM has been in place. In this post we look at improving efficiency through business processes…

The internet browser changed the business world

Of course even 20 years ago, projects and products were being created and completed by companies that were utilizing software as a tool to enhance their results and increase efficiencies. But due to technology limitations, it wasn’t either as easy or as apparent how to leverage technology to collaborate better.

Into that world stepped Netscape, a company that created an internet browser and had a secret goal of turning the world into a place where all business tasks were accomplished through the browser. Netscape was not completely successful during its lifespan as a company- yet today, their distributed computing model is what the majority of companies use, making geographical barriers obsolete.

Adding more intensity to your work day

With the technology barriers dropping, integrating BPM into the lives of all workers became a matter of porting philosophies and process methodologies into software that could utilize the internet or intranet and several companies sprung up that did this well. Not only did BPM models get integrated into project management software, business tools that were designed to manage everything from assets to software development began incorporating traditional business process management steps and procedures into their software packages so that greater efficiency at work could be part of their sales pitch.

For workers, greater organization and greater flexibility in communications meant that greater benchmarking could be done- making them more efficient over time because what they were capable of on a regular basis became much more of a known quantity. At the same time, benchmarking allowed management to add intensity to employee schedules for the same reason: what was being accomplished and what was possible were now much more transparent.

It’s a Matrix!

After the popular film series the Matrix was released, even Americans that didn’t go to business school began to appreciate what matrix management was all about. Still, the one person, many masters approach can be both complex to understand and murky to accurately get ROI from. The great debate, therefore, at the beginning of the 21st century was whether multi-tasking were to be cultivated as desirable or not. Experiments were run to determine what the limits of an acceptable work day was for many workers and the data that was collected found its way into new benchmarks that more accurately assessed what was possible.

While this was going on in parts of America, more true business process change started to take place when General Electric started to share their Six Sigma quality program with the rest of the business world. Six Sigma rapidly became one of the driving forces in the technology industry and gained a toehold in many other industries.

Am I therefore more efficient?

Even the scientific management people 100 years ago knew that by providing mechanisms that give attention to people doing their job, they could positively impact performance. So when it comes to understanding whether the plethora of systems like Six Sigma or Lean are actually helping to drive efficiency gains, company results that are not subject to bias due to the additional attention effect- are hard to come by.

Theoretically, workers are more efficient. More gets accomplished during the day than ever before. But are technology gains masking true worker efficiency gains? One study by Imaginot LLC found that workers at a very large company that had their ROI measured to determine the efficiency of a new system were very efficient at performing the tasks that were measured. The problem, if there was one was that when the workers, who were largely autonomous, were measured against a benchmarked utilization number, their efficiency dropped precipitously- making the the management challenge one of providing a system that not only measures and rewards workers for task efficiency, but also for utilization efficiency.

Overall, BPM theory and practices have advanced quite a bit over the past couple of decades. They certainly have become much more integrated into the toolset of managers, which has been a positive for the firms that they work for.

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Website Builders Empower Small Businesses

Small businesses benefit dramatically from a solid web presence and the rise of Etsyin recent years is just one indicator of how the Internet can boost their sales. But for many small business owners, creating a customized website seems daunting. The process can be costly and lengthy and many business owners don’t know where to begin.

DIY Website Builders Mean Any Small Business Can Have a Website

The recent boom of many do-it-yourself website buildershas helped to empower small businesses by reducing the barriers to entry into the digital market. To build a professional, well-designed website today requires tens of dollars rather than thousands, or sometimes nothing at all.

Building a website doesn’t have to be complicated. Most small businesses don’t need websites with an encyclopedia of bells and whistles; they need nothing more than a simple “business card” website which includes important details such as services, contact information and social media links. But even for those small businesses with extensive product lists and dozens of options, many popular website builders can provide them with just what they need. In fact,today’s website builders offer such a range of functionalities and design options that for most small businesses they are a better choice than hiring a dedicated developer.

Choosing the Best Website Builder for Your Business

There are many options on the market today. From the website builder by Wix, a platform now boasting more than 70 million users, to Weebly, Squarespace, Jimdo and dozens more who are all vying for market share.Each one has its pros and cons, but at the end of the day most charge a nominal fee for a website (from being absolutely free to $300 a month) and allow users to drag-and-drop page elements where they want them without needing to know code. Building a website is as easy as playing a game on your smart phone, so small business owners can go from no website to a live version in just a few hours.

Add Endless Functionalities to Your New Website

Whether a small business needs impressive eCommerce features which can track the inventory of a brick-and-mortar store, email newsletters, secure check out, or the ability to advertise specials in social media, website builders have really begun to push the envelope in terms of offering great tools which used to prohibitively expensive.

Here’s a breakdown of some of thesmall business tools website builders are providing… sometimes for free, thus saving businesses thousands of dollars in development costs.

  • Shopping Carts:It might seem strange to hear, but shopping carts are technically difficult to code and have many different variables where things can go wrong. But website builders provide easy-to-use shopping carts for their clients, often at no additional cost, or for just a small percentage of sales.
  • Secure Payment Gateways: Having a shopping cart is one thing, but accepting various forms of payment quite another. It used to be true that unless they were willing to shellout big bucks, small businesses with websites were limited to payment options like Paypal. But today businesses can choose from many payment options and website builders handle all the security issues for the small businesses.
  • Great Design: No one wants a template-looking websiteand several of the top website builders allow such a depth and ease of customizationthat almost no two websites will look similar. No matter how unskilled a user is, the final site can look terrific.
  • Business Emails:Setting up an business email account can be a costly headache even with the help of a developer, but website builders have taken the hassle out of the equation, and most offer an affordable business email solutionfor clients.
  • Reaching Clients: How can a business owner make sure that customers will see their new website? Today, many website builders offer great tools and information to help their users learn best practices in everything from PPC to SEO, banner advertisingand social media campaigns. Proud of your new website? The right website builder will help you promote it and bring in traffic!

Small businesses are often short on resources and also often face steep competition. It can be challenging for them to compete on the web for potential clients. Luckily, the do-it-yourself website builder platforms have helped to level the playing field, putting many of the same tools, tips, and tricks that larger companies use in the hands of start-ups, individuals and small businesses.

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Only One More Day to Enter Business Achievers Awards

This is (almost) the last call for the Business Achievers Awards and we want you to know that the deadline is tomorrow Midnight, Friday, September 25th.

In the last few weeks we have received several emails from people stressing about their entry; worrying about whether we received their submission or not, worrying about entering the wrong category, worrying about word count or worrying about everything else!  To all we say: Just relax!

For those that have entered, don’t worry – what’s done is done. You’re in the competition and once you’re in and you present a good business, you can win!

For those that haven’t entered yet, we say: Why not? It takes 30 minutes and you have a good amount of time left. It could make a big difference to your business success. Have you seen all the benefits you can get?

For those that think they’ve entered? Yes, there are a few out there that believe the “Register your Interest” form that they filled in a few months ago will do as a full entry….. It won’t!

You have to complete a full entry! It’s here. So, don’t worry, there’s still time.. Until this Friday Midnight.

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Accepting Payments Online for Your Business

One of the easiest ways of liberating yourself from the many constraints of operating a brick and mortar business is to go on-line and establish a web store. At a click of a mouse you will have managed to get rid of a number of issues that are a source of concern for traditional businesses. No longer do you have to worry about locating a retail store located at a vantage position and think about shelling out expensive lease rentals every month. You also do not need to keep a bevy of sales assistants to man the sales counters or even a large inventory to please every whim and fancy of the walk-in customer. However, one vexing problem remains; accepting payments online from customers.

If you think that you will be able to operate profitably by insisting that customers pay only by cash on delivery or send checks in advance, you would be losing out on the custom of millions of credit card holders who are currently spending billions of dollars in online purchases. To the uninformed, accepting payments on-line might seem to be a very complicated affair, but in fact it can be extremely simple and open the floodgate of sales for you with just a few easy steps.

The Typical Credit Card Customer

There are perhaps just three basic types of customers that shop on-line and pay on-line. The first is the average guy who prefers shopping with his mouse on an online platform to jostling with the crowds and queuing up at the counters and then lugging his purchases back home. The second type of customer is the one that keeps on browsing websites, falls in love with an item that she was never planning to buy and purchases it on an impulse with her credit card. The third type, now rapidly increasing in numbers due to globalization, is the international customer who would like to shop for articles of his fancy from suppliers, irrespective of the country they may be located in. Credit card purchases in international currencies are now as simple and seamless as transacting in domestic currency so that acts as a strong incentive to such transactions. As an on-line business owner you would lose out on all these customers were you not to accept credit card payments.

How to Accept Plastic Money

Basically there are two ways of taking advantage of the prevailing cheap credit card processing rates and accepting payments on-line. The first is through a merchant account set up by a credit card acceptance service provider. You need to approach a payment processor operating merchant accounts and get on board by entering into an agreement with them. The agreement specifies the various rules and regulations governing card acceptance, and the details of the various fees that will be charged for setting up the account, maintaining the account and on a per transaction basis.

Using your merchant ID, you can accept or decline credit card transactions on your website; the process is fully automated with electronic linkages for card verification established by the payment processor. Online business owners also have the option of using payment gateways to accept credit card payments online. Payment gateways are independent third-party merchants that provide the service to you for transaction and other fees.

Deciding On the Best Method of Credit Card Acceptance

Each of the methods of on-line credit card acceptance has its own benefits and drawbacks so it is really up to the on-line business owner to decide for himself. Generally speaking, it can be somewhat more expensive to set up a merchant account than to tie up with a payment gateway. However, over an extended period of time, the total cost of using the payment gateway can be higher. For website owners experimenting with online payments for the first time, it can be worthwhile to engage a payment gateway. After satisfying themselves that business is booming due to on-line payment acceptance, they can go in for a more permanent merchant account arrangement.

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5 Necessary Skills for Every Entrepreneur

Successful entrepreneurship requires a certain mindset, collection of personality attributes, and a battery of skills. Each CEO and entrepreneur may have a slightly different way of doing things, but the essential elements of success remain the same. The following includes 5 Necessary Skills for Every Entrepreneur. These skills are necessary to achieve, persevere, and dominate in the world of business as an entrepreneur.

Necessary Skills for Every Entrepreneur: 1. Leadership

Not everyone has the ability to lead. Leadership qualities are more than just ordering subordinates about. A true leader inspires people to want to well for the company. This is not necessarily accomplished by ruling with an iron fist, but neither is it suggested that an up-and-coming entrepreneur take a relaxed attitude toward management.

Leadership encompasses many skills that required decisiveness, finesse, and sound decision-making. A leader needs to be willing and able to delegate tasks to employees, have a clear, workable plan fully formed before implementation, understand the financial expectations of the business, and build an effective staff by hiring applicants that will be assets to the business. An entrepreneur who can work with their staff is more likely to succeed than one that simply dictates orders without being in touch with what is actually taking place within the company.

2. Motivation

Without drive success will never occur. Slacking off and procrastination will get a person nowhere in the world of business and enterprise. Someone who starts at the bottom and works their way up by being a team player, taking initiative, and possessing a willingness to both learn and volunteer for tasks that are unpopular can create a reputation with important people who will remember the work put into achieving success.

A career or business that is stagnant or stuck in a rut will likely fail. Entrepreneurs who actively seek out new business, solutions to problems, and make the tough decisions quickly and decisively will reach their goals in a timelier manner than their lackadaisical counterparts will. It may take time to become a successful entrepreneur, but patience and perseverance will win out in the end, and last far longer. Expecting an overnight success will last just as long, and the flash-in-the-pan entrepreneur will burn out as quickly as they sparked to life.

3. Communication

Communication is essential for an entrepreneur is two major areas: within a business and outside in the business world. Effective entrepreneurs understand that communicating clearly and effectively with staff can mean the success or failure of a business. The ability to explain what is needed, and the specifics of a business plan are paramount to effective leadership. Staff should not need to have tasks explained in minute detail, but should have a good grasp on the style and focus of the business beforehand. This can only be done if management communicates these expectations from the beginning.

Networking throughout a specific area of the business world to further contacts and business relationships can only aid in the success of an entrepreneurship. Reliable contacts among people with influence can only benefit the budding entrepreneur, and possibly increasing future patronage.

4. Innovation

Some old-fashioned entrepreneurs have difficulty in keeping up with the times, refusing to modernize or adapt to changes in how and what business is conducted. This stubbornness can lead to the death of a business. A successful entrepreneur keeps abreast of new trends and technologies to keep a business updated, well maintained, and accessible to new clientele from younger generations.

In order to achieve this goal, an entrepreneur needs to be willing to accept and implement innovativeness to the business. Sticking with outdated methods and technology may be cheaper in the short term, but it will eventually lead to higher costs and loss of revenue. Embracing change in deference to accommodate the ultimate end goal of the company may help an entrepreneur realize that goal that much sooner.

5. Accepting and learning from failure

Every successful business person has a story about a failure on the way to success. Failure should never be viewed as the end of a business venture or a dream. Failure is an opportunity to learn from mistakes, and should be motivation to start again. Yes, failure can definitely hurt, and taking a hit in business can make building again more difficult, but simply giving up is never an option for a true entrepreneur.

If a business venture is struggling, it is sometimes better to cut the losses rather than trying to breathe life back into something that is never going to work. A successful entrepreneur learns to recognize the signs that something just won’t pan out. Acceptance that failure cannot always be avoided is a hard-won skill, but essential for understanding what makes a business succeed, and what will cause a business to fail.

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5 Tips to Make Web Designing Smooth and Hassle Free

Websites cater to varied needs, that of businesses they represent, users who find them after online searches, potential and existing customers, employees, and many others who stumble upon them unknowingly.

Great websites are built around a target audience and a market niche. There is no ambiguity about a strong website. It is easy for the visitor to understand what the site is about and find what he is looking for. This is one of the hallmarks of a successful website.

Ease of use, simplicity and clean layout, though they sound simple, are not easy to achieve. As soon as you create the framework, design the layout, and keep adding the absolutely necessary components, the simple design becomes complex in no time. And to make something that is complex appear beautiful, simple and uncluttered, you need to employ the best designing tactics.

Here are a few web designing tips to help you design a beautiful and useful website, without headaches and heartburns.

Web Designing: Be Organized and Structured

Organization and structure are of vital importance when designing a website.

Organization will help a user navigate his way easily without getting confused. A cleanly-organized site will follow web designing conventions that a user will be familiar with.

Hierarchy will help a user spot the main and important sections, and navigate to relevant content. Readability becomes even more important when we consider that a majority of Internet users just scan a website to determine whether it is useful to them or not.

A smart web design will break up content into bold headlines and small chunks of content that are informative and concise.

Quality websites use contrast between text and background color to improve readability. A dark background with dull color text will only drive away visitors or give them a headache.

Web Designing: Pick Correct Color Scheme

Websites need to be visually appealing and a great color scheme will help with that.

When designing websites for companies, many designers choose to stick to the color scheme of the brand logo. It helps in maintaining brand identity and appeal, and makes it easy to build and execute brand promotion campaigns.

If there is no existing color scheme to build on, browse the Web and study sites that catch your fancy. Appealing sites have great color combinations that gel well, spark chemistry and speak to one another.

Avoid garish color combinations and colors that blend into each other.

Choose a limited set of colors for the general UI, text and backgrounds. It is best if you maintain uniformity and consistency with the color scheme used in the user interface. Look up quality sites like Facebook, Google or Airbnb and you will see that there is continuity or predictability across the UI. But graphics, illustrations, videos and photographs are not bound by any color restrictions, and you can let your creative juices flow.

Web Designing: Devote Time for Planning

Most designers work in agencies where there are too many deadlines and time schedules to adhere to. It may become impossible to spend more time than absolutely necessary on planning.

Great designers say that they put in plenty of work hours into planning the basic essentials of a website. This is necessary to design a clutter-free and simple user experience.

The core content or the very essential message that a website needs to convey should be uncovered and written down for reference. Everything else you do should do justice to this core idea and help communicate it well and in the most appealing manner to the user.

Also, map out user flow in the beginning and plan the website to maximize it. If a designer keeps user flow in mind, it will be far easier to focus on the right points and design the project effectively.

Web Designing: Ensure the Client Is on the Same Page as You

Web designers either passionately agree or strongly disagree on this point. We at web designing Utah agree on this point.

Many a time, clients are clueless about how web design differs from web development, and give wrong inputs and have misplaced expectations.

It is not necessary that you involve your client in every step of designing a website, but ensure that he/she is happy with your core concept or idea, and green lights the prototype.

In web designing, time is money and you cannot spend a lot of it educating your client. You must collaborate with your client and understand what the business and marketing requirements are. There is no doubt that he/she understands the business the best and can help you get to know the target audience better.

Mood boards help you convey your visual thoughts in the best possible manner to the client. They help convey the intended look and feel of a website to a client, and help in planning the designing process better. Crafting mood boards also help you put down what you have in mind and assess whether your visual thinking is in line with the business’ needs.

Designers vouch by the fact that mood boards help win pitches and get quick sign-offs.

Build the style or mood around a main/central image. The central image is also the core theme or the mood of the website, and it should be supported by smaller supporting images, illustrations or graphics. If clients are not able to understand the meaning of an image or why it is there, you need to replace it with something more meaningful and achieve a character and style that is in sync with the business.

Web Designing: Be Friends with Web Developers

Your job does not end after you furnish the style sheets to the web development team. Ensure that you collaborate and communicate, and see to it that your designs are developed, implemented and supported properly.

Many a time, developers will have valuable inputs to provide on designing. So if possible, check with them in the initial stages and validate your vision and ideas. This will also help in better implementation.

Clean codes, a fabulous user interface and good backend programming are necessary for a fast-loading and user-friendly website. And it is the web developer who is usually responsible for these. So, be passionate about your design and team up with the developer for the best execution.

Conclusion

There are several things that go into building a mind-blowing website, and creative vision and innovative designing ability are just a couple of them. Ensure that you follow all aspects of designing and development, and collaborate and communicate with your team and all stakeholders effectively to get the best results.

The post 5 Tips to Make Web Designing Smooth and Hassle Free appeared first on Small Business Can.

5 Innovative Social Media Tips to Grow Your E-Commerce Business

A report by Hubspot shows 365% growth of social media use in the past 7 years. Not only this is an astonishing figure, but also shows the vast number of customers that online businesses can attract. In another report, it showed that more than 70% people on social media prefer to make purchases online. This shows how the world is transitioning from a physical platform (real stores) to a digital platform for shopping and this is mainly due to the increased online presence on social media. But as innovative the social media platform is, business owners must also think of innovative ideas to attract more and more buyers and eventually turn their businesses into brands. Here are a few tips to attract the customer’s attention on social media and help grow your e-commerce business.

1. Grow Your E-Commerce Business with User Generated Content

The best way to engage your customers or clients is by encouraging user generated content. It provides a platform to your customers to showcase their creativity but also helps you promote your brand. So ensure that your e commerce platforms are equipped with social media tools that promote customer engagement. You can also look for the best e commerce platforms on websites like FinestShops and others. Guest post by select customers, photography contests and any campaigns that feature your customers not only increases their interest but will also ensure their loyalty. Maintaining goodwill is one of the most prime aspects of a business and promoting the customers is a great way of establishing yourself as a brand.

2. Inspirational Quotes

Promoting your products through an inspirational quote can be really effective if served in the right manner. In a recent study it was found that inspirational quotes by famous personalities get a 19% boost in shares on various social media platforms like twitter and Facebook. Any quote that is funny, motivational or educational is increasingly shared by social media users creating a great area for marketing. One of the great examples of this is the Never Settle Campaign by clothing brand Ugmonk that was coupled with an inspirational Quote from Steve Jobs. This not only allowed people to share their product on social media but also worked on an inspirational level rather than a promotional one.

3. Video Campaign about Upcoming Products

We all know that watching a video is more engaging than reading and hence it is also important to include a video campaign to promote your business. We are pretty familiar with video ads through the popular modes of entertainment like radio and television. As the world has moved on to the digital platform through the internet, the need for audio visual content still remains. A sneak preview video of your upcoming products not only creates more curiosity in the customers but also keeps them engaged about the product launch. Nevertheless, this should be served in an innovative manner and should not appear as a direct advertisement.

4. A Little Self Promotion Doesn’t Hurt

While the internet world hates people who brag, adding a bit of humor and cheekiness can work wonders. Showing some personality while making a self promoting statement helps the customers identify your business as an entity and not just a company. Try to have fun when trying to tell people why your brand is the best, instead of taking a more direct or serious approach.

5. Using Trending Content to Your Advantage

Using the current events to your advantage might be considered as a cheap trick for most businesses. But when done ethically, an ad campaign bundled with trending content can work wonders for your online business. Coupling your products with a trending hashtag on twitter can significantly improve your viewership. It not only promotes your products but also helps you engage in different conversations that were started by other brands or celebrities.

Not only social media emerged as a boon to the people across the world but has also opened several opportunities of business and created a whole new market. Hence, the owners of the online business must always think ‘outside the box’ to attract and engage more and more customers. The above tips can be implemented for most business that operate online and can certainly attract more customers and media attention.

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