In this age of digital communication, it is easier than ever before to hire freelancers. If you run a small business, utilizing freelance workers can help you to grow your company. Here are four considerations and tips to help you determine whether you should hire freelancers.
Gaining Access to Specialized Talent
Freelancers can be very beneficial to small businesses in a number of ways, but the key is knowing when to hire a freelancer. While you can get freelance workers to handle almost any task, the best time to utilize them is when you need specialized talent. A freelancer can provide you with a professional skill set that your regular employees do not have. For instance, most small businesses hire freelance web developers to create websites and advertising professionals to create logos and slogans. When you need a specialized service that is outside the scope of your business acumen, it is a good idea to hire a freelance professional.
Completing Tax Forms
You should consider that there will be additional paperwork to do when you hire freelancers. Firstly, you need to draw up a contract to make sure both your company and the freelancer are protected. Secondly, you will need to complete 1099-NEC forms. As of the 2020 tax year, the form has been used to separate the reporting of payments to non-employees from Form 1099-MISC. So, when you hire a freelancer who meets certain requirements, you need to complete a 1099-NEC form. While contracts can take a while to construct, thankfully, customized and accurate 1099 NEC forms can be obtained in just a few minutes when you use an online service.
Freelancers Are More Affordable in the Long Run
If you hire a new full-time or part-time employee, you not only have to pay a regular wage. You may also need more space in your office and more equipment, which in turn will create more outgoings. When you hire a freelancer, you do not have to worry about affording such overheads. A freelancer will work remotely and use his or her own equipment. So, even if the hourly rate of a freelancer is higher than an employee’s rate, you are not only paying extra for specialized skills, you are also cutting costs on overheads. Furthermore, the cost of hiring a new employee can be pretty expensive when you consider all of the steps involved, from recruiting to interviewing to onboarding. You also have to pay withholdings and deductions, such as for Medicare and Social Security, from employee salaries. On the other hand, you only need to pay freelancers as and when needed. In addition, if you are considering hiring an agency for certain projects, it is usually much cheaper to hire the services of an independent freelancer.
Growing Your Small Business
The above considerations and tips should help you to make an informed decision as to whether you should hire a freelancer and when you should hire one. When you select freelancers for the right tasks, you can rapidly grow your small business. For instance, when you onboard professionals who utilize UX and UI design methods, your website can gain more visitors and conversions, and your business can rank higher on search engines like Google. Another example is getting a branding professional on board. When you have an expert at the helm of your business’s look and identity, your brand recognition will increase. And if you run a seasonal business you could simply hire freelancers so that you do not have to pay out salaries and payroll taxes all year round. In turn, you would save costs and could invest those savings in upping your marketing game to grow your business even more.
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Meeting management software is an effective tool to many companies, as it enables efficient communication between different levels of management and employers and employees. It is a digital tool that allows the scheduling of meetings, and it can help the company with organizing, running and managing all company meetings.
Essentially, it will also make everyday operations at the workplace easier for both the company and its employees. A room scheduler allows you to inform visitors or new employees within the company of guidelines and agendas as they register. A room scheduler can be a lifesaver for your company and employees.
The benefits of a room scheduler
All companies, whether large or small, need collaboration time to solve the tasks at hand within the company. For example, it is possible to create the regulated social distancing required by your company or state guidelines, so that all employees and visitors are able to feel safe within the workspace during meetings.
For most companies, time is money. A room scheduler can solve the problem of booking meetings that are necessary and with a deadline. There will no longer be incidences that might waste time when a meeting has to be scheduled. The employees can book free rooms directly on the room scheduler screen. Whether it’s just for a quick call, sparring with a colleague or a larger meeting for the entirety of the company, it is easier to plan different levels of meetings.
The step-by-step program to successful planning within the company
With workplace management software, it has become possible to optimize the workplace and planning meetings. This is done through different, but equally important steps that will allow any company to plan meetings safely, thoroughly and easily. These steps have been developed with focus on the different requirements. For example, it is important that it is possible to regulate the number of employees and visitors within the different meetings, as these meetings have to comply with capacity restrictions.
Besides this, one of the steps focuses on informing guests and employees of new guidelines before and during meetings. The meeting holder can then choose whether guests and employees must consent to the new guidelines whilst giving their consent to the GDPR policy and NDA, as they first register themselves. Then it is possible to set the time and place of the meeting and then integrate this information with Google Maps, so that the guests and employees can easily find the location of the meeting.
Meeting management software is an important tool that comes in handy for any type of company. It is a tool with multiple purposes, and it is possible to customize your management software to the requirements of the company in question. The different settings available within the software will grant access to a new level of organization within the company. Essentially, it will become possible to make the most of the workplace and make the company lucrative to visitors and incoming employees.
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If you run your own small business from home, you are probably limited when it comes to both time and resources. Many people who run home businesses struggle when it comes to certain tasks such as chasing money owed to them, as they simply do not have enough time and they may have no idea how to go about this. Fortunately, there are solutions you can use in order to chase money owed to your business, and this includes skip tracing solutions.
As the owner of a small home business, you cannot afford to keep losing money if people fail to pay you for goods and services and then skip town so you cannot chase down the debt. This can make life very difficult for business owners but using these solutions can prove very helpful. You can find out a range of information when you use skip tracing services, and this makes it much easier for you to get in touch to try and recover the debt even if the debtors have moved on.
Making the Process Easier
As many business owners will know, chasing money owed can be difficult at the best of times, but if the debtors have skipped town, it can be even more of a challenge. You can find out a range of information by using this type of solution, and this makes the process far easier and faster for you. Some of the information you can discover includes:
Current Address Details
One of the things you can find out from using these solutions is the current address of the debtor. It doesn’t matter if they have skipped town and left you with old address details. It does not even matter if they have moved multiple times to a range of different addresses. You can gain access to their most current address details, which makes it easier for you to get in touch with them to recover the money they owe.
Updated Phone Number
Another thing you can find out from using this type of solution is the current phone number of the debtor. Many people change their phone numbers on a regular basis these days, so even if you have a number on file, it could be an old one. By using skip tracing solutions, you can find out the most updated phone number, which means that you can quickly contact the person by phone to try and recover the money owed to your business.
Current Status of Debtor
Another thing to bear in mind is that the current status of the person can affect your chances of being able to recover the money that is due to you. For instance, if the person has been declared bankrupt, you may have to write off the debt. Likewise, the person may be deceased, in which case your only option would be to claim against the estate. Using these services will enable you to find out what the status of the person is so that you can avoid wasting time.
These are some of the ways in which skip tracing can help with the process of chasing money due to your business.
The post Recovering Business Debts with Skip Tracing appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
UK entrepreneurs fought back against the trials and tribulations of the pandemic last year, creating 770,000 new businesses throughout 2020, an all-time UK record.
Data compiled by digital payment provider Tyl by NatWest, has revealed that the number of start-up businesses grew by 30% compared to 2019, and aside from April, 50,000 new businesses were created every month in 2020.
In a year of lockdown restrictions which resulted in mass closures across the high street, new entrepreneurs turned to the digital market to set up shop. This change in approach made online and mail order businesses the most popular sector of creation in 2020.
Business sector success stories
There were more online and mail-order retail businesses created than any other sector – 35,608 in 2020 compared to 13,615 in 2019.
Buying and selling of real estate was the third most popular source of new businesses created growing by 40% compared to 2019.
The number of takeaway food shops created increased by 33% in 2020 compared with 2019.
The pandemic hit the female workforce hard, with job losses affecting women 1.8 times more than men. This meant many women had to tap into their entrepreneurial talents to find new sources of revenue.
One marketplace which has been an entrepreneurial outlet for women is Etsy. 81% of sellers on this platform identify as women and 69% of these consider their Etsy shop to be a business. The platform boasted a community of 1.9 million active sellers in 2020, a rise of 1 million from 2019.
Whilst new businesses have been created across the UK, Leicester in particular, saw a surge in new enterprises created in relation to population.
For every 100 people in the East Midlands city, there were 1.68 new enterprises created. The feat is even more impressive when you consider that Leicester was the first UK city to enter lockdown, and its citizens have spent the longest period living under COVID-19 restrictions.
Mike Elliff, CEO of Tyl commented on the findings:
“Despite the many challenges faced by businesses, communities, and the world at large, the resilience and resourcefulness of Britain’s entrepreneurs is one of the great untold stories of the past year.
With a 30% rise in business launches compared to 2019, the enterprising energy of new business owners deserves great credit. And while we all look forward to a world without lockdown restrictions, let’s hope the spirit of our agile, innovative and fearless start-up communities can endure long into the future.”
Tyl is a payment partner for small and medium sized businesses based in the UK who want to take card payments. They offer next working day settlement and a range of payment devices and methods, whether that be in person, online or over the phone.
You can read more about the Year of the Start-up for inspiration if you’re an aspiring business owner.
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Cold showers were considered beneficial as early as 1600 B.C.[1] However, thanks in part to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Lab on Netflix, The Wim Hof Method brought the benefits of cold showers into mainstream American media.
Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman, is known for his ability to tolerate extreme temperatures. He credits this ability to a series of breathing exercises, meditation, and exposure to cold temperatures.[2] One study suggests that the Wim Hof Method leads to a release of brain chemicals, which result in decreased sensitivity to cold and increased feelings of euphoria.[3]
However, the benefits of mindfulness and breathing exercises are already widely known while less is known about the benefits of cold exposure. So, is there any merit to this particular facet of the Wim Hof Method?
This article will focus on cold exposure—the history, benefits, and how to take a cold shower to maximize its benefits.
Cultural Practices Related to Cold Exposure
In ancient Rome, individuals walked through multiple heated rooms that culminated in a dip into a cold pool. This practice is called “frigidarium.” It is still practiced today in spas and saunas.[4]
In Finland and Norway, it is also a common practice for individuals to intermittently expose themselves to cold temperatures while sauna bathing. Individuals may do so by stepping outside during cold weather, sitting in the snow, or taking a cold shower. In warmer weather, individuals may step into ice-water between sunbathing. For instance, during five to fifteen minutes of sunbathing, they may step into ice-water three to five times for five seconds or longer.[5]
In Russia, individuals celebrate an event called “Epiphany” by swimming in the cold. In the Orthodox Calendar, Jesus was baptized on January 19th. Therefore, to recognize this date’s significance, individuals will plunge themselves into ice-holes three times. To prepare for this, they take cold showers every day for a week leading up to the event.[6]
Moreover, winter swimming is commonly practiced in countries such as Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Latvia.[7] How is that for an extreme sport?
The Dark History of Cold Showers
Conversely, in the early 1700s, cold showers were reserved for individuals with mental disorders. At that time, mania was believed to be a condition that could boil the blood and the brain, and a cool shower appeared to be the natural cure.[8]
By the 1800s, mental illness was believed to be caused by inflammation, but cold showers remained a treatment of choice in mental asylums. Unfortunately, this resulted in treatments designed to shock individuals with intense water pressure and prolonged cold exposure.
Fortunately, by the 1900s, these practices were abandoned, but the rising concern of hygiene led to the development of the showers utilized today. Nearly 150 years after they were developed for use in asylums, showers become a mainstay of modern hygiene practices.[9]
The Benefits of Cold Exposure
Here are three main benefits of cold exposure or taking cold showers to your overall health.
1. Fewer Sick Days
A study found that individuals who take cold showers take 29% fewer sick days than those who do not. This shocking statistic can be achieved in as little as 30 seconds of cold water exposure for 30 days. Nevertheless, the individuals were not sick any less, they just tolerated it better.[10]
2. Improved Appearance of Skin and Hair
Cold showers may also help to improve the appearance of your skin and hair. How does it work? Exposure to cold constricts blood flow, leading to a glow. Furthermore, cold water helps keep the skin hydrated, giving it a better appearance.[11]
3. Increased Well-Being
Exposure to cold water may also have an impact on your mental health. In a case study on cold swimming, one woman was able to decrease her use of anti-depressants and eventually replace them entirely with cold swimming. However, this is just one example. Further research is needed to support the use of cold therapy for the treatment of depression.[12]
Regular winter swimming is associated with decreases in fatigue, tension, and negative mood states. It has also been linked with decreased pain for individuals diagnosed with rheumatism, fibromyalgia, or asthma. In the general population, winter swimming is linked with increased well-being.[13]
How to Take a Cold Shower for the Best Health Benefits
Cold showers have been around for centuries, both as a cultural and medical practice. However, there is limited research that suggests the right way to shower to obtain the most health benefits. Therefore, this is not a prescribed approach. This is simply a suggestion as you begin to experiment with cold showers, and the effects may vary from individual to individual.
While the evidence is limited, there are many cultural practices in place for individuals curious about cold showers, bathing, and swimming. Many spas may offer hot and cold water therapies as a form of relaxation. Furthermore, many individuals around the world enjoy sitting in hot and cold springs. Yet, one does not need to travel to experience this for themselves. Try it for yourself: simply turn down the dial during your next shower and see how you react to cold exposure.
Taking a Cold Shower for Fewer Sick Days
Here’s a very simple three-step guide to taking a cold shower.
Take a shower at your usual temperature.
At the end of the shower, turn the faucet to cold and remain under the cold water for at least 30 seconds.
Repeat this practice daily for at least 30 days.
That is it. This method may help decrease your sick days by 29%. To further increase the odds to 54%, you could also try adding regular exercise into your routine.[14]
Contraindications
Cold showers are not an adequate replacement for mental health or medical treatment. Furthermore, individuals with underlying medical or mental health conditions should consult their medical professionals before engaging in cold showering.
Conclusion
Ultimately, there is no prescribed empirically-based method for the benefits of cold showers. Research is still inconclusive when it comes to most of the major benefits of cold showers. Nevertheless, many individuals who practice this technique swear by the benefits.
The Wim Hof Method is just one example of cold exposure gaining momentum in the health and wellness industry. In fact, this practice has been around for centuries, and it is clearly here to stay.
While research still needs time to catch up, there is only way one to find out what works best for you. Give it a try, turn down the dial, and turn your shower into a day at the spa. You have as little as 30 seconds to lose and potentially a lot more to gain!
More Benefits of Taking a Cold Shower
5 Surprising Benefits of Cold Showers
Cold Shower: Powerful Way To Improve Your Mental Health
How Cold Showers Can Change Your Brain And Boost Your Mental Health
Featured photo credit: kevin Baquerizo via unsplash.com
Reference
[1]
^
ClinicalTrials.gov: Feasibility and Effects of Taking Cold Showers: A Randomized Controlled Study
[2]
^
NCBI: Who is the Iceman?
[3]
^
ResearchGate: “Brain over body”–A study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure
[4]
^
NCBI: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial
[5]
^
American Physiological Society: Effects of heat and cold on health, with special reference to Finnish sauna bathing
[6]
^
Express to Russia: The Russian Orthodox Epiphany and Ice-Swimming
[7]
^
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Cold Water Swimming—Benefits and Risks: A Narrative Review
[8]
^
Sage Journals: Showers: from a violent treatment to an agent of cleansing
[9]
^
Sage Journals: Showers: from a violent treatment to an agent of cleansing
[10]
^
Harvard Business Review: Cold Showers Lead to Fewer Sick Days
[11]
^
ClinicalTrials.gov: Feasibility and Effects of Taking Cold Showers: A Randomized Controlled Study
[12]
^
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Cold Water Swimming—Benefits and Risks: A Narrative Review
[13]
^
North American Journal of Medical Sciences: Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body
[14]
^
Harvard Business Review: Cold Showers Lead to Fewer Sick Days
The post How To Take a Cold Shower For the Best Health Benefits appeared first on Lifehack.
In business, every product launched to the market has to pass some set of requirements. There are general procedures, such as user experience research and product testing, that are usually used to determine the viability of a product before it’s sent out to the consumer market. All these procedures are aimed at improving business efficiency by meeting client’s needs as much as possible.
However, there are other options in product development that businesses can utilize to improve the results of their products. Such options include material model development and prototyping. Using these options, businesses can develop mock models to test products’ physical and behavioral aspects under different circumstances before launching them out to the market.
Before, only the physical model of materials could be tested, but this didn’t give the developers a better understanding of how such products could react in certain cases like stress. However, technology has made it possible for a business to model various things they couldn’t before.
How Technology Has Improved Material Modelling
Technology has had several benefits to the financial and industrial process. In model making, it’s now possible to get better results using technology that previously wouldn’t be achieved.
Here are some of the ways that technology has improved model development:
Behavioral Analysis: When products are developed, the performance isn’t only limited to the physical aspect. For example, when developing shin guards in sports, you need to understand how they’ll react to stress and how long they can withstand such cases. With technology, it’s possible to test the viscoelastic behavior of the materials used to create the shin guard, allowing manufacturers to develop a more efficient end product.
Modeling Accuracy: Another aspect of material modeling that has been significantly improved by technology is modeling accuracy. Remember, a product prototype is always the first of a kind, which means it has to be as close to the intended product as possible. In such cases, physical modeling couldn’t give you accurate results. However, with computer-aided engineering (CAE), it’s possible to get more accurate models with much finer details.
Speed Modeling: When product developers want to develop a product, they always have different designs of the end product in mind. Technology has made it possible for them to develop several designs of the same product quickly, allowing them to test the efficiency of each and choosing the right one. Additionally, they can easily make changes to the models developed, ensuring that they end up with a more efficient prototype to be used in the actual product design.
All these technological features have made it possible for businesses to develop models and prototypes that help in better product development and improve efficiency.
How Modelling Materials Can Improve Business Efficiency
In your business, whether you’re a startup or an already established company, you need to test how your product is going to perform. If you have a novel idea or want to compete against similar products, you need to be fully aware of the market forces. Identifying a gap in a consumer market won’t always translate to the success of your product if you don’t commit to the proper testing before channeling your resources to the actual products.
This is why modeling is important to any business in the following ways:
1. Guide the Production Process
Another advantage of having a material model is that the production process is no longer guided by theoretical ideas but a physical representation. This makes it simple for your team to develop the product as they already know what it should look like.
Additionally, with a model, you can assemble the right team and all the required materials used in the development. This helps streamline operations in your business and even save time during production. Every team member will know their roles, what steps to take, and how to bypass challenges as they arise, allowing the companies’ operations to run smoothly.
Developing a model can also help the team realize that what they seek to develop isn’t achievable. For example, if you want to provide software as a service, a model will help you realize that your software doesn’t work correctly with particular hardware or device. You can then adjust your design to meet all the targeted devices.
2. Helps Test Customer Interest in Your Product
The ultimate goal for a business is to create a product that people will be interested in buying. If you first decide to develop the products without testing how customers will receive them in the market, it could cause significant losses to the company, crippling the business.
Modeling the material first before the actual product can help you determine how it’ll be received in the market. For example, if you want to develop software, you can first develop a prototype and then send it to different people to test it and provide feedback. If the feedback is positive, you can then channel more funds into the development and marketing as you’ll be sure about customers’ interest.
If the people in the testing period perceive your product otherwise, it’s safe to change it or look into a more viable option.
3. Modeling Can Test Your Team’s Ability
Depositphotos
Another critical aspect of an efficient business is having a team that can handle a task given to them with little to no struggle. If you want to develop a product, you’d want to have a skilled, committed team and responsible enough to bring the idea into realization. Of course, you expect that the team you’ve worked with before is up to the task, but what if your new idea is more complex? How do you determine if you have the right team?
This is where the modeling part of the product helps you assemble the right team. You’ll test if your potential team can develop the product, how long they take, the challenges they face, and how they bypass those challenges. Using this data, you can either assemble a new team or train the current team before embarking on mass production.
Do note that the product has to meet all sets of requirements, and your team should be able to deliver that.
4. Secure Funds from Investors
It’s advantageous if your business is stable enough to finance itself during the production process. However, if you’re looking for external investors to chip in and finance your operations, you need to be crisp in your pitches for them to be confident in your project and invest in your business. Word of mouth won’t always do the trick as you need something more tangible that can help them understand what you’re developing and why you need their money. For some, seeing is believing, and what better way to do it other than a model.
With modeling, you can show investors how your product will interact with the real world and how it’ll solve consumer problems. If they think the product will be viable, then they’ll give you the finances. However, if they think the project won’t succeed, they won’t give you the funds, and you can take the lessons instead.
5. Proper Resource Allocation
The efficiency of a business is also determined by how resources are allocated. For a new product being launched, a lot of resources can be channeled to places such as funding the development and the marketing programs. This is a wise decision if you’re sure that the product will be successful. Otherwise, it may cause significant business failure.
Therefore, you need to make more informed decisions when allocating your resources towards a project. By modeling a material before mass production, you’ll be aware of whether it’ll be a success or not. You can then decide if it’s worth investing in.
Moreover, you can estimate the cost of developing one unit of the product through the model, allowing you to determine the overall budget needed. You can also make better decisions with other resources, such as time and labor. More viable projects will get more resources and vice versa.
6. Meet Consumer Requirements
Businesses create products for consumers, hence it’s important to meet customer requirements as much as possible. Procedures such as user experience testing can help you answer the question, what do customers want? You can then incorporate the feedback into the development cycle and give them what they need.
However, it’s also possible to first develop a model that seeks to meet these requirements. Customers will provide additional feedback, and you can incorporate each one of them in the model before advancing to the next stage of mass production. This will ensure that you know what features to add when you start. This is better than trying to add these features when the development has already started.
Conclusion
Material modeling has become a very important part of businesses. Unlike before, where modeling and prototyping may have been limited, better technology can help businesses model materials and products before actual production.
With the correct models, businesses can make more informed decisions regarding resource allocation and the development cycle. Also, they can get more funds from investors and meet customer’s requirements. All of these are important in boosting business efficiency. An efficient business will always be a successful one.
The post How Material Model Development Boosts Business Efficiency appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
Congratulations on setting up your small business! As small as it may be, don’t think of that as a negative thing. Remember that every big business out there has once started out small, too. In a world full of opportunities as it is today, there’s so much room for you to grow as long as you harness the right tools, maximize your potential, and put in a lot of hard work.
Among all the other strategies that you can apply to build a strong brand identity for your business, you can’t go wrong with developing a brand identity, especially as you’re still a small business. When you’ve got a brand identity, it means that the general public or your customers know about your existence. They’re able to identify your brand and relate your products and services with quality.
In effect, once you’ve established a strong brand identity, whenever a customer needs to purchase a product or service within your niche that they know you have, your business becomes their first choice for this purchase. It’s also when you’ve developed a good brand identity that you can incorporate this into your campaigns like marketing paraphernalia from Shop Strange or other providers, advertising campaigns, social media efforts, and others.
With that said, if you haven’t already, it’s not too late yet to start developing this strong brand identity for your business. There are many ways you can do so, starting with these tips:
1. Do a Lot of Research
Remember that your brand identity is more than just your logo. So, it’s not just enough to rush the process, come up with a random logo, and hope that it’s going to work.
To have a strong brand identity, you also need to do strong background research. This starts with researching your niche, your target audience, and even your competitors. The data that you have can be used for you to come up with how to go about with your brand, such that you stand out from your competitors, you’re able to offer more than what your competitors currently are offering, and your brand resonates well with your target market.
Here are some important pointers to help you out:
Audience. People want different things. So, you can’t expect your teenage market to have the same product preferences as the older ones. Knowing more about your audience and their specific demographic can help ensure that what you’re doing is all going to be tailored towards the specific market within your niche.
Mission. Upon starting your small business, you already know what your business and brand offer to consumers. But, take it a step further beyond that. Be sure that your brand has a mission statement that’s able to clearly define your goals and your vision. This will make it easier for your target audience to fall in love with your brand more when they see that your mission also resonates with their lifestyle or personal preferences.
Value proposition and composition. This refers to the fact that it makes your business unique and stands out from the industry. When you’re able to discover this, it’s also going to be so much easier for you to show to the public what you’re able to offer to your customers that they can’t find anywhere else.
2. Come Up with Your Assets
When it comes to branding, there are things known as assets. These are your logo, photography and graphics, color palettes, style guide, and typography.
It’s important to have these match each other and choose them early on in your branding process so that you can come up with all these that are matching and related to each other. The goal is to ensure that these assets are so united that, upon releasing them to the general public, they’ll immediately be able to identify those as belonging to your brand.
Generally, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this, as you’re going to have to factor in your business type and the niche that you belong to. Nonetheless, there are certain standards, known as the 3C’s, that would come in useful:
Clarity. It’s your job to send your message out and not for your customers to guess what your message is. If they have to think so hard just to interpret or understand what you’re trying to say, then you’re not branding your business quite well enough.
Commitment. There are instances that your brand, your ads, and all your marketing campaigns are going to get viral. But, remember that as is the case in any business cycle, there are always down days. On these days, the most important thing for you to have is commitment. This can keep you going, so you don’t lose motivation just because the situation feels a lot harder.
Consistency. When all of your media, logo, and marketing campaigns point out that your branding is consistent, this makes for better memory recall with your target audience. This means that whenever they see your brand, certain colors, or even specific typography of your ads within the niche your business belongs to, these individuals can automatically relate it as your brand or business.
Once you apply these 3C’s, you can then proceed with designing each of those assets. Among them all, pay special attention to your brand logo. This is, after all, the face of your business. It’s one of the very first things that your brand is going to get known for.
Being that it’s the most recognizable part of your brand, all the more that you’ve got to ensure you get this right. Your logo should fit well in all of your business correspondence and marketing campaigns like print ads, business cards, your website, and social media accounts, among others.
Depositphotos
3. Perform a SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is still one of the fail-proof ways to come up with sound business and marketing strategies to give your business a strong foundation. Moreover, because you’re still a small business, it’s all the more that you’ve got to come up with a SWOT analysis as a part of your plan for branding strategies.
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats:
Strengths. This refers to your small business’ characteristics that work to be an edge against the competition.
Weaknesses. These are your weak points that are a disadvantage for your business. Hence, you’ve got to focus your branding efforts here so you can eventually turn these weaknesses into strengths.
Opportunities. This refers to all of the developments and changes in the niche or industry your business belongs to that offer positive opportunities for your business. When you’ve identified these opportunities, you should then make the most out of them, so you can penetrate these opportunities and use them to your advantage.
Threats. This refers to those outside or third-party elements in the industry your business belongs to that may possibly bring in potential problems for your business.
4. Create Your Brand Story
Emotions are the best way to tug into the heartstrings of your target audience. This means that you can be able to convince them that patronizing your brand is the best choice when you give them that positive brand story to believe in. Essentially, this doesn’t just refer to your identity. However, it’ll shape the questions relating to how and why your business even started in the first place.
The more that your target market feels that they can resonate with you and your company culture, that’s when you’ll know that you’ve made it well enough with branding. Your brand story should be able to answer questions like the following:
Where do you see your business headed in the near future? Five years down the road? 10 years later?
What are the philosophies that your brand believes in, and how can you incorporate these into your marketing strategies?
What are the pain points that your target audience has that your brand or business seeks to solve?
How can your products and services act as the solution to these pain points?
In crafting your brand story, answering these questions can also shape your brand and identity as a business. It shows how your brand is able to relate to your audience and why your brand exists in the first place.
5. Create Trust with Your Customers
You can’t say that your business has a strong brand identity if you’re not able to win the trust of your customers for the long run. This is very important, as it’s what’s going to keep your business going smoothly. Remember that as a small business, your main goal is to grow. And, this growth can’t be achieved if you don’t have customers who trust you enough to continuously make purchases from your brand.
Last on this list, therefore, is to ensure that all of your brand elements are in place and you’ve started running and employing marketing tools to gain the trust of your customers. Trust is one of the biggest branding advantages that’ll put your business out there.
When your brand is trusted, you’ve got a strong identity versus that of the competitor. And, it also keeps you going strong, especially during the business economy may start to get rough.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways for your business to be able to develop a strong and good brand identity. In the highly competitive business arena of today, a good brand identity is needed in order for you to stay afloat.
Moreover, there’s that hope that eventually, you’re going to win a much higher market share than you did before, going through all the effort that you now do for a stronger brand identity. When there are so many ways that you can do so, as enumerated above, you can simply try it out, little by little, and see what works for your business and what doesn’t.
The post How to Develop a Brand Identity for Your Small Business appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
After a full year of quarantining and placing everything on hold, we are now slowly getting back to life and back to business. It’s a critical time to publicize your business so that your growth and success can pick up where it left off 1 year ago. For this topic, we’ve gathered a panel of business experts who share their tips on how to get publicity for your business.
Such tips include filling the gaps; staying regularly connected with customers; utilizing digital marketing techniques; utilizing technology for more effective publicity and marketing; increasing brand exposure through messaging; building a successful website and online presence; focusing on content; growing your email list; utilizing social media and optimization; implementing a chatbot; producing quality content; cross-media marketing; repurposing content; and much more. Learn from these experts and implement these tips to better publicize your business during the second half of 2021.
Fill the Gaps Created by the Pandemic
In many ways, the pandemic created even more competitive fields in publicity and marketing for many industries. If there’s any bright side, it’s that many opportunities have been created for those that are agile and creative enough to seek out those opportunities and seize them. For us, through the heart of the pandemic we identified that there would be less sports vying for TV time, so we immediately pivoted to first developing a safe model for play for our players, and then petitioned our broadcast partners for the additional time. Production costs were at an all-time low, allowing us to deliver value to our sponsors with multiple broadcasts while at a discounted rate of cost to us.
The moral of the story is that whether it be your industry, competitor, or local market, there has been a gap created that is waiting for someone to fill. It will require some level of risk, but those that can fill the gaps will be the ones who have the smoothest transition from this pandemic-filled world back to a state of (semi) normalcy.
– Trey Ryder, CMO of American Cornhole League
Stay Connected with Your Core Customer Base
Being in California, our bowling center was mandated to be closed for over a year and we were just permitted to reopen about a month ago. As bowling centers in less restricted states started reopening, they reported that the first customers to return were their core base of weekly league bowlers. We knew that it would be important to be able to publicize and market directly to these customers and remind them that when the time came to reopen, we would be there for them. We used our customer database to send out several email blasts during the months that we closed to keep our customers updated with the latest information on when we might be permitted to open.
The best part about social media is that it’s free publicity and marketing. We used our Facebook page to create numerous posts about bowling and had contests to help keep them engaged. We sent a couple of mailers to let our bowlers know that we were still there and as the time to reopen drew nearer, we launched a phone publicity campaign with the league secretaries and had them contact all the bowlers to let them know the dates that each of their leagues would start. Overall, we have had a pretty good turnout. While we don’t have the usual number of league bowlers that we have during the winter months, our bowler count is still up for this time of the year. It’s been very encouraging after being closed for such a long period of time.
– Jim Decker, President of Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America
Focus on Native Digital Marketing Techniques over Platforms
With everyone cooped up inside due to stay-at-home guidelines, prospective customers are on their devices more than ever. For all entrepreneurs focused on digital marketing, that’s amazing news, but not all digital marketing is working amidst the pandemic. More content is being consumed online, but that also means more platform advertising is being ignored or skipped. YouTube saw the most significant usage growth amongst all the social media platforms during the pandemic, but ad revenue plunged as businesses cut back and users skipped 65% of ads.
Because prospective customers are consuming more content than ever before, consider publicizing and marketing through podcast host read ads through platforms like RedCircle or creator recorded ads in videos, which my tech startup Curastory powers hundreds of YouTube, IGTV, and Facebook Watch video shows. Naturally, potential customers are more likely to listen to ads from those creators they are already tuned in to see as it’s more organic.
– Tiffany Kelly, Founder and CEO of Curastory
Communicate Regularly with Clients
Here we are a year into the pandemic and we have been doing what it takes to keep our business thriving. A major lesson I learned to keep the momentum going through a difficult period was communication and publicizing and marketing to our clients and partners. Setting a schedule as part of each day to reach out through conversation, email, etc. has made it a more comfortable situation when we haven’t been able to travel and visit these customers in person!
Taking things for granted and having a mindset that our customers are here to stay is neither smart nor safe. Reach out, create conversation, and give your customer base the confidence that they are on your mind and in your focus. I think we all had to go a little out of our comfort zones with technology this last year to help stay connected to our clients and guests, but social media marketing allows us to do that. But you learn quickly when it’s the only option to communicate face to face. I am grateful for apps like ZOOM and Microsoft Teams, that allowed us to still maintain an intimate relationship with our clients and customers, and almost made it a little easier to reach potential customers or guests.
– Chad Belding, Founder of The Provider Life and American Almond Beef
Use Technology for More Effective Marketing Language
In the age of automatic text generation, artificial intelligence is getting better all the time at generating the words (text) used in publicity and marketing efforts. But actual wordsmithing? Or being able to sort and evaluate slight changes to text? To compare and score changes in a meaningful way? That is something new that Anyword has been able to harness and is now providing to marketers.
Anyword has developed an intuitive scoring system that ranks text, predicting results so that marketers can measure performance prior to launching a campaign and avoid costly and time-consuming A/B tests. With predictive performance, marketers know, in advance, how well text will perform with each audience base. Additionally, Anyword has filters that will generate tailored language for a specific audience (i.e. gender, age, etc.) maximizing publicity and marketing potential for that demographic. It is about using AI technology to workshop effective marketing language where even slight variations in wording will alter CPC and CTR results.
– Inbar Yagur, Head of Marketing at Anyword
Photo by Anthony Shkraba from Pexels
Convey Point of Difference and Increase Brand Exposure Through Messaging
Start by identifying unique points of difference that make your company special and superior. Do a competitive analysis to find the unique selling points that you can amplify and own. Many entrepreneurs fail to put the time and resources into learning about their competition, and they don’t know what sets their company apart. If a unique point of difference doesn’t exist, it is imperative to create one. There are so many ways to set your company apart, even in a crowded marketplace, such as adding new services or faster delivery times, expanding product offerings, or even offering goods and services for free with purchase. What is essential is creating a competitive edge that will help you capture market share and drive sales.
When creating PureOlogy (though professional hair care was a saturated market), by looking at the competitive landscape and market trends, I was able to identify that there were not any products specifically addressing color care. Exclusively targeting color care became our unique point of difference and gave us a competitive edge.
It’s important to then create a concise and memorable tagline to convey your point of difference and use it consistently across every messaging touchpoint, whether packaging, digital marketing, or print. This message should reinforce that your company offers something unique that the customer needs.
Make sure to maximize your brand exposure through public relations and social media. Although hiring a PR or social media firm may initially seem like an added expense, the return on your investment will make it extremely worthwhile. A specialty firm or consultant will leverage its connections and expertise to amplify your message and create brand awareness that will catapult your brand. With social media and influencer relationships, you can create publicity and marketing campaigns to target specific audiences and demographics to dramatically grow your customer base.
– Jim Markham, Founder of PureOlogy and Author of Big Lucky
Build a Successful Website and Online Presence
Increases in website traffic since COVID provide an opportunity to make sure your website is 100% “buttoned down”. A website that attracts customers that do not find the cash register and convert is a wasted opportunity. It is critical that an audit review of your website be done to make sure that visitor experience is fully optimized.
The four critical areas to focus on in order to build a successful website and online presence include:
1) User Experience – Make sure the user experience is friendly. There should be user-friendly navigation, a professional looking web design, no bugs in user functionality, and a mobile responsive design.
2) Conversions – Make sure that clients can easily register or sign up and that sales are optimized by a call to action. The trust factor and attributes of the website should make a visitor feel comfortable.
3) Security & Speed – The performance and security of the website should be optimized so that page download speed is fast and secure. Make sure to implement an SSL certificate to promote website security.
4) Search Engines Ranking – Make sure the website is visible on search engines by selecting a keyword rich title and description metatags. Review the website for inclusion of alt tags, breadcrumbs, xml sitemap, and other on page SEO elements that will boost site ranking.
– David Reischer, Marketing Director and Chief Strategist at LegalAdvice.com
Focus on Content
Content marketing cannot start until you have the communication in place. Focus on writing the best commentary on an aspect of your industry, emerging trends, and DIY resources. Information is the currency of the internet, and having the best will make you an absolute stunner. Concentrate on improving upon outdated content from your competitors, or build the most comprehensive resources with videos and infographics, and full of sources. It’s not a race, so focus on making the best content possible.
– Mike Zima, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Zima Media
Grow Your Email List
If you “google” marketing trends for 2021, you get endless results with mainly the same items such as multi-channel marketing, automation, funnels, AI powered content creation, and so much more. In my experience, however, there’s a gold mine that a lot of small businesses underestimate: email. Grow your email list. A lot of people think that sending endless newsletters, for example, would be bothersome to customers. Remember, they subscribed to your list, so they want what you have to offer!
That is not to say that sending 5 emails a day can get you on some people’s spam folders since they will most likely stop opening and reading, but nurturing those relationships can absolutely bring money to the table. Once you have a few people in your email list, make sure to send them at least one email a week. You don’t need to sell anything everywhere; in fact, it’s better if you don’t every now and then give them something free, like a free PDF guide, mini training, a free digital print, or (if you sell physical products) a coupon. The goal is to grow your email list — that’s where the revenue is.
– Abby Herman, Director of Strategy for Snap Agency
Utilize Social Media
As real estate professionals who focus mainly on off-market properties — we never thought that having a social media presence would help us. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Since growing our social media accounts, we’ve significantly increased our business. You’d be surprised at who sees your posts, as small as your account is or may seem. We’ve increased our clientele and forged amazing partnerships with people solely through social media! It all goes back to the “tell everyone what you do” saying.
Simply posting once a day or a few times a week on social media, either adding value to your followers or just showing that you are active goes a long way. I recommend setting up a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter account for your business if you haven’t already, and just making a habit of posting at least a few times a week. Consistency is key with this. You will see results — it’s just a matter of time.
Another helpful tip with growing your social media is to try and find 5 to 15 other individuals or businesses that work in the same industry and create a “social media mastermind group” between them. Each time someone in that group generates a new post, he will copy the link in the group, and group members should engage with it. We’ve implemented this policy, and it’s gained us around 5 followers per day and we’re just starting out. Engage with other people’s posts on social media and you’d be surprised at how many people see that and will follow you.
– Ryan Whitcher, Owner of Harmony Home Buyers
Profit, Ad Creatives, and Funnel Optimizations
The ultimate success advice for any business is to first focus on profit! I see far too many businesses in the e-commerce space raising money without actionable steps to profitability. Early on in my business journey my partner now, Justin Kemperman, drilled into me how important profiting first was. Due to that mentality, we have had several companies scale to 7 and 8 figures with no outside capital. This meant that we had to budget accordingly, put in long hours, and focus on conversions over fancy design and branding.
We also placed a lot of focus on ad creatives and funnel optimizations. Ad costs are always on the rise, so creating content that converts is extremely important. Ads that look pretty don’t always convert. The most powerful ads for publicity and marketing are the ones that not only look pretty but also address your target audience’s problems and desires. When you have an ad creative that performs well, it’s up to the funnel to acquire the customer. We spent (and continue to spend) a lot of time split testing high converting funnels to support our ad creatives. Mastering these two pieces in Miracle helped skyrocket our business.
– Brandon Monaghan, Co-founder of Miracle Brand
Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels
Real Time Dynamic Marketing
Real time marketing is a brand-new, unique business model that will revolutionize mobile marketing and finally level the playing field. On October 20, 2020, ClikitySplit received patent # 10,810,619 on its revolutionary real time marketing technology.
Real time dynamic marketing turns advertisers into savvy marketers, empowering them to immediately react to deteriorating business conditions by changing their content in real time in just 3 minutes to publicize and run enticing special sales promotions (“Hot Deals”).
For example, all restaurants have a dead time after lunch and before Happy Hour. Using ClikitySplit, savvy marketers publicize and run time-sensitive “Hot Deals” to drive traffic. Once the content is changed, notifications are immediately pushed to the businesses’ Facebook timeline and Twitter feed, exciting their followers and filling those empty seats and stores.
The video “The Marketing Solution for Local Businesses” will give you a great overview of ClikitySplit’s differentiation. Five other informative videos are located at http://ClikitySplit.com/teachsmbs. To see ClikitySplit is action, tap http://ClikitySplit.com/merebulles. Just “X’ out the video that displays initially at login.
America’s small and medium size businesses (SMBs) are struggling and need a lifeline in order to survive COVID-19. ClikitySplit is the perfect solution for SMBs due to its uniqueness, differentiation, and simplicity.
– Jim Clouse, Founder and CEO of ClikitySplit.com
Implement a Chatbot
A successful business needs to strategize all departments but a common factor needs to be digital growth these days. After the pandemic of 2020, companies have realized that digital growth is a must to optimize their time & resources and to streamline communication with employees & customers.
A successful business calls for successful customer engagement and in small businesses, it is crucial that all the customers are given a personal touch. And when it comes to giving a personal touch, implementing an AI Chatbot on your website as a part of the digital strategy can give a real boost to the publicity and marketing strategies.
When small firms are expanding, it’s challenging to address new traffic on their websites with limited resources in customer support. But a business having a chatbot on its site can easily provide personalized support to prospective customers from different countries in their language — thus, giving them a quality customer experience. Furthermore, a chatbot can even qualify leads and assign them to the right service representatives which can save a lot of time.
The key takeaway here is the right use of automation to improve the business process. Implementing technology like a chatbot doesn’t mean less human work but rather efficient human work. It is this stereotype that small firms need to overcome. Even if they are just open to building their tech stack, they are one step closer to a successful business.
– Pranay Rathod, Sr. Digital Marketing Executive at WoTNoT
Network! Network! Network!
First, make sure the business is a good idea, the plan is well developed, and that you have tested by surveying your family and friends. Then, sell it. The best way to sell something is by talking to people. If you want to grow your business, you need to be open to initiating conversations. This can be done the old-fashioned way, but also virtually and using digital tools.
Reach out to people who you already know, and talk with them about what you are doing. Tell them how the business came to be and share with them the “why” of the business. As you are closing the conversation, ask for references about other people they know who may be interested. Other ways of networking can be through social media and sharing videos and resources that help explain the heart of your business.
– Karen Gordon, VP of Growth at Goodshuffle Pro
Produce Quality Content
Each of my businesses, including my online publications, have one common denominator to guide the business plan: quality content.
Quality content on your website is key. It is what keeps the readers engaged, it’s what brings them back, and it’s why they publicize your business/site to others. You need a website for your business, no matter what it is. Everyone now does their research online, and if you don’t have a presence, then they will likely click on the competition that pops up.
To beat the competition and figure first on search results you need a rock solid SEO plan in place. To do this without spending a ton on advertising, quality content — packed with relevant keywords — is your solution. If you visit my site, you will not see any paid ads; only information and services to make your customer journey more comfortable.
I also avoid the really long story-like content. It is true, story-telling sells in publicity and marketing, but there are some marketers who go beyond and have you scrolling for 10 minutes before you get that nugget of information you were seeking. This wastes people’s time and is counterproductive to your needs.
Attractive headlines, relevant images, and filling out the “About Us” section improves reliability, trust, and monthly visits. Once all of these rise, so does your conversion rate and sales.
– Phillip Ash, Founder of Pro Paint Corner
Cross-Media Marketing
As more businesses begin to reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 is presenting ripe opportunities for growth. The two biggest keys to grow right now and over the next year are publicizing and marketing across all media platforms (cross-media marketing) and to deliver the highest quality products while providing outstanding customer service.
Cross-media marketing combines the strengths of digital and print marketing to provide consistent messaging no matter where customers interact with your brand. For example, you can send postcards to clients who are working from home and include special offers that will then be replicated online through email/mobile marketing as well as the QR Code or website link included on the postcard. By reaching out to clients across multiple touchpoints, you are more likely to remain top of mind to them when it comes time to do business with you.
– Chris Biscuiti, Minuteman Press Franchise Content Specialist
Repurpose Content
During the pandemic, we can see that people have already adapted to spending their time and shopping online. Thus, we believe that the best approach is to go an online-first (digital marketing tactics). For small businesses, the more you stretch a small budget the better. For example, a good way to take this up is to gather all the existing content that you have and try to repurpose it for social media use. Next, be certain that your newsletter produces real value and not just auto-generated discount offers.
To add to your results, even more, make content for YouTube videos; IGTV “InstagramTV”; Podcast episodes, and other long-form audiovisual content. Then you can redistribute this content by cutting it into smaller “bite-size” pieces that can be used for your social media and blog. This is a good tactic that Google loves, and this is also one of the reasons why you can see more big businesses adding an audio alternative to their blog articles.
– Dimitris Tsapis, Head of Marketing at Coara
Design Sprint Methodology
The old saying goes, “time is money,” but money also buys you time in business. As a small business, you often lack both resources, so you must focus on cutting costs and time-saving devices or methods to stay in business.
At Marketer’s Genius, we have found one of the fastest ways to turn a company around is by getting a lot of quality work done quickly. Designed by Google and instrumental in the development of Gmail, a Design Sprint was designed to fix large product design problems in a week; however, design sprint methodology can be adapted to solve other types of problems.
We use the methodology to solve publicity/marketing and sales-related issues for clients in a marketing sprint. The goal of a marketing sprint is to fix the main problems in your publicity and marketing campaigns within a week. You can accomplish this in a short time frame by developing overall strategies and testing hypotheses with small user testing. By rushing the time period from months to a few days for a publicity and marketing plan, your business only focuses on important aspects of the problem, and your team does not get lost in the weeds.
A marketing sprint can also become a part of your regular publicity and marketing processes with agile marketing methodology. Small businesses need to adapt faster than ever, in order to survive and thrive in 2021. One way to achieve incredible results in 2021 with extraordinarily little time and money is a marketing sprint.
– Evan Thacker, Founder of Marketer’s Genius
Photo by Amina Filkins from Pexels
Final Tip: Empathize with Customers
In conclusion, small businesses need to get publicity and get the word out in order to survive, grow, and succeed in 2021. The intent of this article was to provide you with insightful tips from business experts across many industries.
A final tip, provided by Colin Palfrey, CMO at Majesty Coffee is to get out of your comfort zone and go out and talk to your customers. If we learned anything in 2020 during the pandemic, it’s that everybody is human. Publicity and marketing teams need to remember that the people in your audience aren’t just one-dimensional people interested in your product or service. Ask your audience about their lives beyond your product or service, and you will discover new insights that will make your marketing so much more effective. Palfrey sums up this final tip by saying, “Connect with your customers as people. You’ll be able to empathize with them, which will help you build stronger publicity and marketing campaigns, even when times are tough.”
The post How to Spread the Word About Your Business 1 Year into the Pandemic appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
COVID-19 offered various indications that this year could be a profitable one for the online gambling industry. With real-world casinos closing due to the pandemic, online gambling became the obvious solution. As a result, we saw a great increase in the number of players registering online. Last year, the market generated a global revenue that’s been estimated to be around $53.7 billion.
Some reports have said that the global online gambling industry will be valued at $125 billion in 2027. As reported here, some countries, such as India, are seeing significant growth. Considering the kind of revenues we saw recorded in the online gambling industry last year, more investors will be looking for a piece of the pie.
Helped Out by the Supreme Court
Then there’s the fact that we can expect more online casinos making themselves available to gamblers in the U.S. as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the PASPA’s ruling against sports betting. And due to factors such as improved margins and reduced debts, investors are only too happy to see their stocks continue to rise. But what are some of the best ways entrepreneurs and investors can get involved?
Affiliate Marketing
This is an effective way for the entrepreneurially-minded among you to involve yourselves in online gambling, especially if you run a website or blog with gambling related content. It’s an advantage if you have knowledge of the industry, but don’t worry if you don’t, as there’s no shortage of resources available online to help you build up your knowledge base.
Affiliate marketers are a big part of what makes an online casino succeed, as they generate traffic for online casinos and sportsbooks after warming up the customers by giving them an idea of what they can expect from their experience. Affiliate content can take the form of product reviews designed to have the customer visit the operators’ websites. It can also be something as simple as a banner ad. However it’s done, an affiliate is paid for each person who clicks through to the site and becomes their customer.
Investing
The industry’s changing landscape provides numerous opportunities for anyone wishing to either start a business or invest in one. These areas include online casinos, sports betting, esports, and fantasy sports.
Online Casinos
When it comes to online casinos, one thing that had proven to be difficult was the smartphone market, due to Google’s and Apple’s strictness when it came to gambling apps. However, more recently, they seem to have relaxed their rules, now approving apps from developers with a betting license in the territory they’re targeting. These licenses are becoming easier to obtain as countries want to give licenses and take advantage of the tax revenue. With a growth of middle classes in developing countries, there’s more disposable income available, with a significant new opportunity for those wishing to capitalise on new markets.
Sports Betting
In the wake of the sports betting law being overturned in the U.S., companies are looking to cash in. As such, sports betting has become huge in the States. It’s been estimated by the American Gaming Association that Americans bet $150 billion a year in sports betting illegally. With its newfound legitimacy, we can expect even more money to be spent on sports betting.
Wrap Up
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from the pandemic when it comes to starting a business. And plenty of opportunities too, including in online gambling, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of COVID-19. It seems clear that opportunities will continue to present themselves to investors and entrepreneurs, as the online gambling industry continues to grow.
The post Gambling Industry in 2021 and How Entrepreneurs Could Get Involved appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
Waking up groggy, eyes adjusting to the light, everything is a little blurry, you stumble into the kitchen and get your first cup of joe brewin’. The smell hits you first—a nice dark roast perhaps, and then finally, your first sip, ahhhhh . . . You begin the rest of your morning routine and that beautiful, aroma-filled beverage in your cup kick-starts your day.
But have you ever wondered if your morning coffee ritual is actually contributing to anxiety or depression? If so, I got some answers for you in this article
We’ve become a coffee-crazed culture—drinking it for pleasure, to relax, as a treat, drinking it to socialize, and not least of all, for energy. Suffice to say, all that coffee craze can lead to an unhealthy dependency. How else can we keep our energy up, treating ourselves along the way, to accomplish all the things we need and want to get done in life?
So, here’s the lowdown on coffee, anxiety, and depression.
Coffee and Depression
There’s some very interesting research out there about coffee and depression. It turns out that coffee might actually be a protective factor against depression and is even correlated with a reduction in suicide.[1] That’s a pretty amazing finding for coffee lovers and those who deal with depression or suicidality!
In fact, studies have talked about this very interesting outcome. However, before we get too excited, let’s hit the pause button and clarify a few things. I do say “might” because research is research, and although this gives us some evidence, it’s always important to remember that each of our bodies reacts differently to different environments, circumstances, or substances, and there are a lot of variables at play, so nothing is 100%—but it is a good indicator for sure!
Some of the variables to consider in these studies include the overall lifestyle of subjects and control groups as well as a super important one—whether the coffee they were drinking is caffeinated or decaffeinated as much of the research isn’t clear. So, there’s some more work to be done there, but that’s encouraging!
And that’s not all. Coffee, which is most often connected to unhealthy habits, was taken off the WHO’s list of carcinogenic foods in 2016, a somewhat rare move. The WHO even reports that coffee may protect against cancer of the uterus and liver. And they are not alone, several other, well-known and esteemed organizations, such as The World Cancer Research Fund and the US Department of Health and Human Services, have also declared that coffee consumption in moderation (three to five cups per day) can have positive effects on your health and protect you from various forms of cancer.[2][3]
When it comes to depression, it was found that it may not be only the caffeine at play, as there are other impactful components in coffee. The more notable are chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, and caffeic acid, all of which have been found to reduce inflammation of nerves which is found to be a factor in the brains of people suffering from depression. More good stuff!
Coffee and Anxiety
The research on coffee and anxiety, however, is not quite as positive for those who suffer from anxiety as it is for those who suffer from depression. And it’s not all that surprising either, but there was something that I did find interesting in all of the reading I did on this subject.
By and large, it was found that if you don’t suffer from anxiety, coffee will likely not have too much of a negative impact on you when consumed in moderation. However, when caffeine doses increase to more than 400mg per day, symptoms associated with anxiety may appear, such as restlessness, jitteriness, and trouble sleeping. In those who suffer from anxiety, it will take far less to exacerbate their already present symptoms of anxiety—not too surprising.[4]
But anecdotally, there is a lot of documentation about people quitting coffee for a period of time and writing about the impact on their anxiety, which was found to be fairly negligent. So, overall, if you suffer from anxiety, there is a good chance that moderate coffee consumption will not have too much of an impact on your anxiety, though it certainly won’t help it.
How Does Coffee Affect Your Mood?
When it comes to your overall mood, the thing you should think about is how your body responds to caffeine as this is the primary issue for most people—depression or anxiety aside—and our bodies have different sensitivities to caffeine.
Some people can drink espresso right before bed and have no trouble sleeping but for others, it could guarantee a night of restlessness with lots of tossing and turning! And poor sleep contributes to irritability, less resistance to dealing with life stressors as well as other poor health indicators, and hence, lowered mood.
Getting a good night’s sleep is essential especially when dealing with chronic anxiety. So, if you fall into this camp, then it might be good for you to moderate your coffee consumption or even just evaluate and assess for yourself to see what the impact might be on a period of time with no caffeine.
It’s important that you get to know your body and how it reacts to different substances and environments. Running a little experiment on yourself can be a fun way to get to know and understand your body and how you metabolize caffeine.
The Bottom Line on Coffee, Anxiety, and Depression
Overall, the research says that there are potentially a few health benefits when it comes to depression and coffee drinking than on coffee and anxiety—where it is found to have a negative or neutral impact. Furthermore, there is an array of other potentially beneficial health impacts from drinking coffee.[5]
Given all of this various research—some of it very promising (around depression) and some of it not surprising (anxiety)—coffee is not going to eradicate any mental health concerns, though it does not necessarily seem to cause them. The most important thing to consider when thinking about the impact of coffee drinking on your anxiety or depression is that it can aggravate sleep issues, which is a really important piece of your self-care when dealing with depression, anxiety, or any mental health issue for that matter.[6]
Wanna Cut Back on Your Coffee Drinking?
If you are looking to cut back a little on how much coffee you drink or even just run that little experiment on yourself that I was referring to, then you can start with a few simple tips.
1. Cut Back Gradually
Caffeine is a stimulant, and you will likely feel some physiological symptoms, such as a headache, brain fog, and general fatigue. This will last for a day or two, possibly more depending on how much caffeine you have been consuming. Before you start cutting back, it is good to know about how much caffeine you are drinking in a day. That way you can gradually cut back by a beverage each day or so.
2. Make Sure You Stay Hydrated
Coffee—or caffeine for that matter—is a diuretic, which means that it will naturally dehydrate you, so cutting down will most likely help with dehydration. However, with that said, it is still important to make sure you are drinking enough fluids as that will help minimize the effects of the withdrawal.
3. Get Plenty of Rest
You will naturally feel a little tired when cutting back on caffeine/coffee, make sure you get enough rest, giving your body a chance to adjust and recuperate from the withdrawal.
4. Increase Your Physical Activity
Try to increase your physical activity a little. Physical activity is known to increase mood, which will counter the irritability you may feel when cutting back on your coffee intake.
5. Take Notes
Keep a little log or journal to write down how you are feeling on different days and how much, if any, caffeine you are drinking at various points in your “trial.” Think about your mood, how you feel, how you are sleeping, and possibly how you feel it is impacting your relationships and your daily activities. When you go back to look at your data, you will be able to assess the impact of caffeine and coffee intake more accurately.
Keep in Mind
How much coffee we drink and its impacts vary widely depending on many, many factors. The best bet for you is to know yourself, pay attention to how coffee impacts you, talk to your doctors, and consider your personal life circumstances. Taking all of these steps will help you to make an informed decision for yourself, which will likely change over time.
Featured photo credit: Drew Coffman via unsplash.com
Reference
[1]
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NCBI: Coffee, caffeine, and risk of completed suicide: results from 3 prospective cohorts of American adults
[2]
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Harvard Medical School: The latest scoop on the health benefits of coffee
[3]
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Harvard School of Public Health: Coffee
[4]
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NCBI: Caffeine consumption and self-assessed stress, anxiety, and depression in secondary school children
[5]
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NCBI: Coffee Consumption and the Risk of Depression in a Middle-Aged Cohort: The SUN Project
[6]
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NCBI: Panic Disorder and Chronic Caffeine Use: A Case-control Study
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