Today, blogging is not a new phenomenon. Blogging emerged in the late 1990s which provided a platform for even nontechnical users to post their content. The user base of good-quality blogs differentiates them from other newbies. In February 2011, there is now about 156 million blogs in existence. So in this tough scenario, the question is how to grow one’s blogging business?
Here is a look at how you could expand your blog business faster!
Market The Content of the Blog
A blog becomes successful if it is spread efficiently. Meaning, the readers play the most important role in making the blogs popular by sharing them. For this, the blogger must understand what to write. The content of the blog should always target to audience making them share it. Blogs relating to a particular community, topic, tone, writing style, content are likely to become more popular than others. For instance, blogs relating to sports or a movie are likely to be spread more by readers interested in sports or movies rather than those who don’t.
Use the concept of Guest Posts
A blogger can grow the blogging business by creating new and relevant readers. For this one of the best ways is to write guest posts on other blogs. The posts should be informative as well as entertaining in nature. Guest postings often help the readers with what they want. Also many bloggers easily agree to publish guest posts as it helps to bring out a variety and diversity in their blog. Also bloggers should actively participate in certain communities and forums where their audience generally gathers.
Do NOT Forget to Make Blogs SEO Friendly
Search engines like Google provide a huge platform for bloggers to grow their blogging business. Search engine optimization or SEO, is very easy and simple to set up for blogs purpose. Bloggers can opt for SEO friendly platforms for writing their blogs. Some of these platforms are WordPress, Jumla or Drupal. The search engine traffic is increasing tremendously, day by day.
By 2011, Google alone had about 3 billion searches every day. Through proper SEO tactics and techniques, a blogger can easily take advantage of this massive traffic. A small effort to utilize SEO techniques can bring out a success rate of more than 80% for blog growth. One can only wonder the amazing power and contribution which proper optimization can bring to blog traffic. So adopting the techniques of SEO is a must for all bloggers which in turn would provide them with hundreds and thousands of readers, praising the blogs.
Do Use Social Networking Sites
The use of various social networking sites is on boom. Millions and millions of people are using sites such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. bloggers should embrace to these sites without any hesitation. They should share their posts and also find new followers and audiences to connect with. The word about the blogs is spread like wildfire through the readers participating and actively using these social networking sites.
Aside from these, bloggers should also think of other strategies which may help to grow their blogging business. A good blogger should always know the importance of the audience and their valuable contributions.
Hey there, if you’re one of those people thinking about starting their own website or a personal blog, you must have come across terms like domains, the world wide web (WWW), URLs, webpage, web hosting, and many similar terms. These terms are something that every aspiring blogger, the amateur person in business, or online store owner should know. Setting up a website or blog requires domain registration, and it’s better to have your own and cheap domain name rather than using a web hosting service that charges hefty rent from your end.
If you are serious about starting a blog or an online business, you need to know everything about domain names and web hosting. This technical jargon might scare you, but trust me, it’s easy once you get the basics. In this article, we’ll be talking about domain names, how it works, what’s web hosting and the different types of domain extensions available. In the end, we’ll be listing out some tips on how you can easily design your first website and choose a cheap domain that will help you in creating that online presence you dream of.
First of all, we need to understand what a Domain name is, as beginners tend to confuse domain names with different terms like URLs and websites.
A domain name is basically a term given to a specific website that is fairly easy to remember. It acts as an address for your website. In the vast universe, also known as the Internet, a domain name works as an address to your home or website where people can find or visit you.
Every webpage has a unique address, and that is called its IP address which is just a unique string of numbers. Now, these IP addresses are difficult to remember, and those who want to find you can’t do that if they forget your IP address. To solve that problem, domain names are used.
Domain names make it much easier for people to look up your website that would otherwise be very difficult if people had to remember the IP address of your website. You can imagine people looking up Apple.com by typing a random string of numbers, which is really hard to remember. Thanks to technology, we are spared from the hard work.
How Do Domain Names Work?
When you search for a website by typing its domain name, the computer sends the search request to a giant network of servers known as DNS or Domain Name System. This DNS is the mega-hub of domain names where millions of domain names are registered.
The DNS, after getting your search request, searches for a nameserver; these are names managed by hosting companies that provide you hosting services. After getting the search request, the nameserver associates your computer with the IP address of the website that you’re looking for. It might seem like a lot of complicated steps, but all of it happens within milliseconds.
Here’s a video that will provide a better insight into what domain names are and how they work:
Are Domain Names And Web Hosting Services The Same Thing?
Simply put, domain names and web hosting are two different things that people confuse a lot. Domain names act as the address for your website, whereas web hosting is the area where your website is actually set up. Hosting packages provide you with an area to set up your website.
A domain name and a web host are mostly purchased separately, but you can get yourself a web hosting provider who lets you purchase a domain name from them. Domain names are generally purchased from a set of registrars called Domain Registrars.
A domain registrar is where you can find all the domain extensions. There are a lot of domain registration services that can help you in purchasing your first domain.
Purchasing a domain name and web hosting service from the same provider is a great deal for you as it becomes a lot easier to organize and manage both at the same place.
Some hosts even provide free domain names or cheap domains when you subscribe to their hosting plan. Their plan consists of free domain registration with free SSL certificates, also known as Secure Sockets Layer certification. A free SSL certificate is necessary for keeping your data secure from attackers. A free SSL certificate is the symbol of trust for your users and clients.
What Type Of Domain Registration Do You Need?
While registering for a domain name, you need to be clear with what domain name suits you the best and how many options are available to you while you go for a domain name registration.
Here Are The Different Types of Domain Names That You Should Be Familiar With
TLD and gTLD: TLD is also known as Top Level Domains, and gTLD represents generic Top-Level Domain. You are well aware that most reputed websites have .com extensions at the end of their primary domain names. This extension is known as the Top-Level Domain. There are different types of TLD, namely, .net or .biz. On the other hand, gTLD or generic Top-Level Domains is used for any general-purpose; the most common gTLDs are .com, .info, .org.
ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain): It is a domain name generated especially for specific countries. For example, you have heard of .uk for United Kingdoms and .in for India. There are domain extensions available for many countries worldwide.
Second Level Domain: an SLD is the primary name of the business or company setting up the domain extension. SLD is often named keeping in mind the company’s brand, or it is often named something related to the company’s niche.
Premium Domain: A premium domain is a domain name that has been bought by people already. These domain names are not accessible to you unless the owner is willing to sell you the domain extension for a good deal.
Now that you’re well aware of the basics of Domain name, hosting, and the different options available while finding the right domain extension for you, the next step is to find a cheap domain for building a great website that too with low registration costs.
Steps To Get Yourself A Cheap Or Free Domain
There are a plethora of options available to you when it comes to buying a cheap domain. A cheap domain is the demand of people as the prices offered as per the hosting plans of companies are very high and unaffordable.
That is why a few points need to be kept in mind while deciding your domain provider. Since domain and web hosting are two different things, it is unnecessary to host your website from the same place where you bought your domain.
People make some key mistakes while buying their domain names or finding cheap domain names. Everyone wants to get their hands on a .com TLD, but the availability of such domain extension is highly unlikely, so people settle for bad and low-priced domain extensions instead. It would be best if you tried to avoid these mistakes:
Adding Hyphens To Your Domain Name: Adding hyphens to your domain names is a bad idea as people won’t remember the multiple hyphens and their position on the URL. Hyphens make your website or profile look very amateur, making a bad impression on clients and users. Since people easily forget domains with hyphens. If your competitor gets the same domain name as yours just without the hyphen, they will generate more traffic on their website as your clients will get directed to their website by mistake. It is definitely better to invest some time into brainstorming and finding a better domain name to help you in the long run.
Settling For Domain Extensions Like .biz and.org: Most of us are unfamiliar with domains other than .com, .net, and .org. While the internet is filled with many other domains, it is rare and hard to find a good .com extension. Out of desperation, people choose to settle for domain extensions like .biz and .org. Taking a hasty decision might cost you a lot in these scenarios. Since most people are unaware of the plethora of domains other than the very old .com extension, those who settle for extensions like .biz and .org are prone to indirectly advertising their competitors if they have the same domain name with a .com extension. Your competitors will easily generate traffic on their websites as people don’t always remember the extension other than .com.
2. Buying Cheap Domain From A Recognised Registrar
There’s an ocean of domain registrars out there, small and large. But what is best for you? When buying a domain name or a cheap domain, you should always opt for a reputed domain name registrar. Registering from a small company is an unnecessary risk you should avoid as there are low chances of good customer support after providing the services. Many small hosting services run out of business in the long run, so going for a prominent domain registrar is the best choice. Some of the best registrars out there are:
GoDaddy.com
BlueHost.com
HostGator.com
Namecheap.com
3. Consider Registering Your Domain Name For More Than 2 Years
Most people commit the mistake of registering the domain name for only one year; we’ll be listing out 3 reasons why it is a bad idea to buy domains for less than 2 years.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): If you have managed to register a domain name for at least 2 years or more, google sees your commitment towards your website and provides you with a high rank in search results.
Hassle-Free Process: Renewing your domain name regularly within short spans of time can be quite daunting. Getting yourself a domain name for more than 2 years can save you all the trouble of domain renewals now and then.
Low Cost: In the era of inflation, registrars offer discounts if you get the plan for a longer duration; that way, you can save up the costs and save yourself from the current inflation.
4. Brainstorm Before You Search
Before you begin searching for memorable domain names, it is very important to keep in mind that investing more time in coming up with a good and unique domain name is better for your business as building an online presence or brand is something you are going to invest a lot of your time in. So feel free to use programs and services like domainwheel.com or domain checker.
Programs like domain checker will provide you with ideas that you have to mix and match, and eventually, you will be able to come up with a good domain name. Domain checker also helps to identify similar names along with their extensions. There are alternate websites to a domain checker which can be found online. Tools like the thesaurus can also help you get the right word for your domain name.
To get a better understanding of How To Buy a Cheap Domain, watch this video:
The Best And Cheap Domain Registrars You Should Know About
Now you need to have a look at the options available for buying a cheap domain. Everybody wants to get their hands on a cheap domain; the cheaper, the better. But going for the cheapest product isn’t always the right thing to do, as cheap service is not sustainable in the long run. The same thing applies in the case of a hosting provider when going for cheap domain registration. Most prominent brands and the best domain registrars offer low prices with discounted rates if you choose their services.
BlueHost is a cost-effective host that is the main attraction of people starting with their businesses. It has a special perk for new bloggers and businesses.
If you are a new user here and get yourself a hosting account with BlueHost, you’ll be eligible to avail of their services free of cost for the first year! Which means that you get a free domain name.
Those familiar with the WordPress site will be glad to know that BlueHost also provides WordPress hosting as a service. Bloggers who seek a WordPress hosting solution can opt for BlueHost without a doubt.
All you need to do to avail the free service is get yourself an entry-level package provided by them for $6.65 every month.
It provides both the services of a registrar and a host.
There’s always room for upgrades as your business keeps growing.
2. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is considered one of the most popular companies that do the job of hosting domains out there. It also comes around to be a bit more expensive than you’d expect.
It has numerous add-ons which you need to skip to get your hand on the real and cheap deal. Just buying a regular domain and skipping all the other essentials which only make the purchase costlier.
GoDaddy offers an annual fee of approximately $9 for the first year, and with every passing year, it charges around $14.99.
The website provides services of a registrar, and people can also buy hosting if they wish. It also includes many promotions, additional services, and discounts.
3.NameCheap.com
If you are one of those people who want to register domains at one place and host elsewhere, Namecheap.com is the right place for you. Most people register a domain name from here and host their website somewhere else. This helps make a better online presence as you can get the most out of the two different services.
With NameCheap, you’ve to deal with an annual fee of almost $10.7, excluding the discounts. This website also provides a hosting service and cheap domain names.
This website covers an exclusive deal for new users; it provides free private registration for new users, which otherwise costs $2.88 every year.
4.HostGator
HostGator comes in the list of popular host services among the new users who enter the world of online marketing. HostGator has cost-effective prices for users, which is comparatively higher than some of the other services. Still, their prices make them a one-stop destination for buying cheap domain names and making your hosting accounts.
Most people who choose HostGator as their web hosting partner decide to get their domain purchase done from somewhere else.
It covers the annual fees of $15, which is higher than that of NameCheap and GoDaddy
HostGator offers private registration for $10
5. Domain.com
Domain.com is a website that sells domains, and that is the main service offered by them.
Domain.com also provides a hosting service from their side, but most people don’t opt for these services like hosting and a website builder from their end. A website builder is not necessary for everyone, and people like to get their website hosted from somewhere else even if they choose Domain.com for their primary services.
The customer support from their side is quite good to register cheap domain names, but as the reviews say, they are a bit slow on the side of web hosting.
6. Network Solutions
Network Solutions don’t have a lot of brand value, to be fair, but being one of the oldest companies that provided the service of Domain registering, it has its fair share of goodwill. So if you plan on registering your domain from this company, be calm as it is probably the right choice made by your side. Some of these companies also provide SSL certificates for better security.
The Annual fee charged by Network Solutions is $34.99
The company also acts as a host for the users. Many deals can be availed of with purchasing the yearly package for the hosting service they provide.
7. Hover.com
Hover.com is a name that most of you are not familiar with. This is because it is comparatively new in the market. They claim themselves to be full of new and fresh ideas for naming your domain. They are very good at selling domains and offer many other services like providing a professional email address with their domains. They have managed to create a name for themselves in this niche of the market. They have managed to create a name for themselves in this niche of the market.
The customer support or the additional services provided by Hover.com are really customer-friendly, where the support can be reached via phone or email.
Hover’s pricing range comes in a lot of variety if you register a domain name from Hover.
The price differs with opting for a different domain extension. The .com extension is charged $12.99 and the .org extension is priced at $13.99. The .net extension is even higher at $15.49.
This article covered all the basics about domains, their types, and how you can find a cheap domain for creating your dream website. This article has also covered how you can get a cheap domain extension for your website. The websites and domain service providers are listed above. Make sure you check it out and get a better insight on what to go for and what to avoid while choosing a domain name or a registrar. I hope you learned something new from this article, and it helped you choose the best and cheap domain for your website.
Marketing is the procedure of planning and executing activities of promotion, pricing, and distribution of goods and services or ideas to create an exchange that satisfies organizational and personal goals. In today’s world, Marketing has a huge role in every organization, and it is considered a substantial career option by people.
In simple words, Integrated Marketing Communications means integrating various promotional elements and marketing activities to promote a particular product/service effectively among end-users. Other levels of integration are vertical, horizontal, external, internal, and data integration.
In all the business functions and marketing mixes, there is Horizontal integration. Encouraging the staff and keeping them informed over any new progress is Internal integration. The assistance of communication and marketing objectives to the high-level corporate objectives and missions is Vertical integration.
Collecting important data that is shared across various divisions is Data integration. External integration brings partners from outside the company, such as a Marketing and Public relations agency, to work together to form an integrated message.
What is Integrated Marketing Communications?
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) refers to carefully integrating and coordinating all the methods of brand promotion of a company to deliver a clear and consistent message to its customers.
In IMC, there is an added value of a comprehensive plan that analyzes the strategic roles of– Sales Promotion, Public Relations, Advertising, Social Media, Direct response and combines these principles to provide consistency, clarity, and maximum communications impact.
Its main objective is to ensure that all aspects of marketing communication collaborate for higher sales and maximum cost-effectiveness. Also, it enables a company to convey the correct message to customers at the correct place and correct time.
What is Integrated Marketing?
Integrated marketing is a marketing approach that joins all marketing channels to make them a unified force. This approach creates a more unified and seamless experience for customers.
This means that all marketing efforts, be it on the internet, T.V or billboards, should have a similar style that will connect them to that company. Companies ensure that via this method, all communication with customers is consistent across different platforms.
IMC Tools
IMC tools are various marketing tools such as online marketing, advertising, public relation activities, sales campaigns, direct marketing to promote brands so that the same message gets to a wider audience. Promotional tools are more productive when they work together rather than in isolation.
Let me take you through the Integrated Marketing Communications tools:
1 . Advertising
Advertising is paid and one of the most effective communication tools because it reaches a wider audience immediately. Billboards, radio, television, print media are various ways of advertising to increase sales and create brand awareness among customers.
2 . Sales Promotion
Sales promotions are short-term incentives like free samples, discount coupons, special schemes, membership cards given to consumers to increase sales. It gives customers a reason to buy the product/service.
3 . Direct Marketing
Direct Marketing is the oldest form of communication that allows organizations to communicate directly with their customers. Various tools are telephone, fax, text messages, emails, catalog, and brochures.
4 . Personal Selling
Personal selling is face-to-face communication with customers to publicize the product/service and convince the customer to purchase the product.
It is an important and effective IMC tool as the biggest advantages are that the message can be customized as per the buyer’s needs, issues can be resolved on the spot, and it helps build a long-term relationship with the buyer.
5 . Public Relations
Public relations is the policy of maintaining a relationship between an organization and the public. PR activities help in brand promotion through press releases, event sponsorships, news, and public appearances.
People share their feedback with the organization, and hence it is two-way communication.
6 . Mobile Marketing
Mobile Marketing means sending text messages to customers on their mobile phones. It is a cheap and traditional marketing strategy for promoting a particular brand.
7 . Social Media Marketing
It is a cost-effective and powerful way of brand promotion through various social media channels. Companies manage to get loads of attention on social media platforms and interact with customers when browsing the internet.
8 . Event Sponsorships
Sponsorships improve the visibility of a company and create brand loyalty, also helps in differentiating the product from competitors.
Top 10 Examples of IMC:
Let us now have a look at the top ten Integrated Marketing Communications examples.
Domino’s is a pizza restaurant chain that established the AnyWare campaign. This campaign allows people to order pizzas in more suitable ways by ordering with a text, tweet, smart televisions, and smartwatches.
Domino’s established Pizza Profiles which save customers’ payment information, Easy order, and address just two years before the AnyWare campaign. In Easy Order, a customer’s dearest food order is saved along with the preferred payment method, chosen store, and order type (delivery or carryout).
To attract customers to AnyWare.Dominos.com, where they can order pizzas in unique ways, Domino’s arranged a national television campaign, press releases, and online marketing.
The result of all the marketing efforts put by Domino’s was that the site got 5,00,000 more visits and generated 10.5% annual sales growth.
One of the most impactful examples in top integrated marketing communication campaigns is GoPro: Be a Hero campaign. GoPro, the video camera brand, has mastered the use of online content to grab its target audiences’ attention.
GoPro has a YouTube channel where it has uploaded videos of high-quality, mini action cam including unique, thrilling, and beautiful shots taken by users and by the company itself to reach its target audience.
They have plenty of follows and likes on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and have used the platforms to catch people’s attention by posting visually stimulating videos taken with the cameras.
GoPro looked to create content to expand its target market by capturing a larger audience like professional athletes, tourists, photographers, hikers, and many others. The Be a Hero campaign appealed to the audience’s emotions, and that’s the reason it succeeded.
3 . Always #LikeAGirl
Always is a feminine care brand that wanted to target the next generation of customers. The company saw a chance to support girls as they transition from Puberty to young women.
This idea was very successful because of the problem it tackled and was interesting for their primary target audience, i.e., teenage girls, and their whole target market of women. Always found out that close to half of the world identified their campaign and their brand.
They thought of Social media as the right path to make the campaign go viral and introduced #LikeAGirl to co-create the message that the company is trying to spread. This campaign went viral like nothing else and resulted in the company’s growth and considerable global awareness.
4 . Volkswagen: Think Small
Volkswagen’s integrated marketing campaign in the 1960s changed people’s perception of the brand and drove sales through honesty. The Company was against a challenge to increase car sales in the United States of America even after 15 years of World War 2.
It was difficult to sell German products in the USA market at those times, and on top of it, the car was much smaller in size than the other cars or what the buyers used to purchase.
The company embraced the fact and used the small size of the cars to its advantage by starting a campaign that conveys a message to the audience to Think Small.
Its longevity marks the success of this campaign as it ran in popular magazines and newspapers across the country for years. After being triumphant in print, the integrated approach was used with the campaign in TV ads, posters, and radio to great success.
The series of 66 television ads featured comedy actors representing the two computer brands, PC and Mac (by Apple). This ad aimed to convince people to switch from a famous and reliable brand, PC, to Mac’s lesser-known competitor.
The Ad was funny and competitive, which described Apple as a good guy who always used to tell PC not to be so harsh on himself. The campaign penetrated popular culture almost straight away because it was superbly executed.
By being a part of cultural discussion, Apple secured its fate with the younger generation who were already well-informed of the brand due to iTunes and iPod. There was a growth of 12% in Mac sales right after the first few commercials were aired.
6 . Old Spice – The Man, Your Man, Could Smell Like
Old Spice aimed to build a campaign that would fascinate both men and women. In 2010, two of their ads were aired, but the real victory was found on social media.
It was noticed by the company’s creative unit that the ad was becoming famous online, and they followed the TV ads with an interactive video campaign. The customers’ reactions were stunning as the videos received more than 11 million views, 30000+ Facebook fans, and 55,000+ new Twitter followers.
7 . Southwest Airlines Transfarency
An Airlines company named Southwest Airlines had launched an integrated marketing strategy called Transfarency. The company uses T.V, print media, radio, and digital assets to inform customers about paying for things like flight changes, checked bags, snacks and drinks.
For this campaign, the company has made a microsite that displays the importance customers will receive by choosing Southwest airlines over other airlines. The site has fun and informational content like-
A Fee or Fake game checks customers’ understanding of unforeseen fees they will encounter when travelling with other airlines.
A #FeesDontFly compares Southwest and others like United Airlines, American Airlines, Spirit Airlines, etc.
It’s great to watch a big company like Southwest Airlines use a sense of humour to differentiate itself from its competitors.
8 . The Martian Movie Prologue
Films about Mars had suffered negative box office results before the release of The Martian. Some failed movies about Mars are Disney’s John Carter, and the animated Mars needs Moms.
The prologue campaign for The Martian decided to reverse the box office misery through integrated marketing strategies, and its goal was to bring the movie to life.
The marketing managers had to partner with various organizations like GoPro, National Geographic, Under Armour, NASA, Microsoft on a multi-platform narrative to achieve this goal. The marketing efforts included social media channels and celebrity endorsements to maintain enthusiasm.
The Martian opened at the No. 1 position at the box office in the USA, and the videos, apart from the trailers, received more than 20 million views, and the campaign was honoured with several awards. The movie was loved by people and earned more than $600 million worldwide.
9 . Dove: Campaign for Real Beauty
An Integrated Marketing campaign is successful when it sparks conversations and draws attention, and in 2004, Dove’s campaign for Real beauty did just that exactly. The company used a series of billboards across Canada and London that featured pictures of different women to start the campaign.
The advertisement asked the passers-by questions about the ladies, like whether these ladies were Fat or Fit or Wrinkled or Wonderful. Dove prompted people to talk about female beauty with these bold questions.
The Ad was featured on billboards, but through smart marketing, Dove successfully made people discuss the brand message on social media platforms. This helped the campaign to go viral and to trend.
Annual sales of Dove products increased from $2.5 billion to $4 billion due to this superb campaign. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty was a financial success, and it was also unorthodox, which celebrated women of all shapes and sizes.
In 2018, New York Times, a popular newspaper company, was struggling. They had a decrease in total subscriptions, and people were losing trust in their news, so the company had to figure out ways to regain the public’s trust.
They came up with the campaign Truth is Hard, a prominent example of an integrated marketing communications plan. The campaign’s goal was to offer transparency to the citizens, and it had a clear story to prompt people to learn more about the issues at hand.
In the same year, they released a short film that displays the clarity of the newsprint. This film was appealing to viewers who felt challenged and realized what truth meant to them. The campaign also showed what journalists endure to deliver accurate coverage to the public.
The New York Times then launched paid campaigns on social media, and due to this, the message reached the whole world. All this resulted in The Times’ skyrocketing subscriptions, and its subscriber base went up by 100%.
I hope this article was helpful and fun-reading to you. Thank you for your time. If you want to read more of our articles, click here.
First impressions do not always leave a lasting effect on our minds. But sadly, that is not the case with designing websites. If you build a website with a dull and dreary appearance, chances are you won’t attract many visitors. So, it would be best if you made it really attractive. Squarespace site will let you create your own site seamlessly. Besides, you can choose from myriads of visually appealing Squarespace templates to make people flock to your site.
Why Choose Squarespace?
Designing a website isn’t always an effortless job. It entails careful planning. But Squarespace does away with a lot of hassles. Following are some reasons why you should choose Squarespace:
Squarespace is very simple to use.
It has a reputation of being friendly towards its users. Squarespace is the savior of every beginner.
Do you know what’s more interesting? You don’t have to know anything about coding if you use Squarespace to create and design your website.
If Squarespace is your choice, you need not get all worked up over things like web hosting, coming up with domain names, and so on.
Do you want to make your online presence felt within a short span of time? You may consider choosing Squarespace if that is the case.
You will not have to think too much about figuring out the security needs of your site.
I hope you have understood now why Squarespace has so many admirers, haven’t you?
Well, Squarespace Isn’t All That Perfect!
Squarespace has some flaws too. In the following section, you will find what the limitations are:
What Squarespace lacks is flexibility.
Those who have an idea about coding may not be happy with Squarespace. They might feel somewhat restricted. After all, Squarespace is meant especially for people with zero knowledge about coding.
Squarespace 7.0 And 7.1: The Two Versions Of Squarespace
For those who are unaware, there are two different versions of Squarespace. They are Squarespace 7.0 and Squarespace 7.1. Squarespace 7.1 is the enhanced version, while the Squarespace 7.0 version is the old one. Squarespace 7.0 is still actively used by many people.
Now, the templates found in the 7.1 version function like those found in the 7.0 version. However, their features are somewhat different. The difference in features is, however, not that great.
You may watch this video to know more about the templates available on Squarespace 7.0.
Firstly, in some templates found in Squarespace 7.1, features like parallax scrolling and single-page landing pages are absent.
Secondly, you won’t be able to change your website template if you’re using Squarespace 7.1. However, users of Squarespace 7.0 will be able to change their templates.
But, Squarespace 7.1 beats Squarespace 7.0 in terms of one aspect. If you design your website using a Squarespace 7.1 template, your website will have a better loading speed than a website designed using a Squarespace 7.0 template.
To know more about Squarespace 7.1 templates, do watch this video!
Why You Should Be Careful While Choosing A Template On The Squarespace Site
I have mentioned before why templates are so important when it comes to designing websites. There are a few things that you must know before you quickly set out to choose a template. You have to put in some thought before you select a template of your choice. That’s because the template you choose will affect the entire look and performance of your website.
Here’s a quick bit of wisdom for you. While looking for a template on the Squarespace website, try to answer all the questions they pose before you. Skipping them would be unwise. That’s because these questions will help you choose the right template based on your goals, tastes, and preferences.
Things To Remember Before Choosing A Squarespace Template
It would help if you also were meticulous about choosing a design for your website. Make a choice based on what your website aims to do or achieve. Be very careful about the responsiveness of your chosen design. Also, always take a look at the preview before making a choice.
Free Squarespace Templates vs. Premium Squarespace Templates
Now, you can choose either a free template or a paid template for your website. Both varieties have merits and demerits of their own. Let me give you some idea about free templates and paid templates in the following sections.
Free Templates
As the name suggests, the free templates are free of cost. Squarespace completely supports these templates. The best thing about these templates is that they load seamlessly and swiftly. This is the reason why these templates have the edge over premium Squarespace templates.
Premium Templates
Premium Squarespace templates, on the other hand, lend a touch of uniqueness to your website. I’m trying to imply that, since many people tend to use free templates, their websites may end up looking somewhat similar to one another. That’s because the templates that come for free aren’t significantly different from each other in terms of looks.
But, the Help and Support Team of Squarespace will not assist you if you choose to use them. These premium templates, especially if they are coded badly, may tamper with the security of your website. Besides, the premium Squarespace templates may affect the loading speed of your website. That is, your website would take a lot of time to load. This would affect your website’s performance. Few people would be drawn to your website because who likes a slow website?
So, be clever with your choice!
Buy Blogging Templates, Social Media Templates, And More From These Popular Premium Squarespace Template Shops
You can buy templates from an external template shop. Most premium Squarespace templates are accompanied by tutorials, step-by-step guides, design kits, video tutorials, and so on. These allow users to build their own websites effortlessly.
If you go for premium Squarespace templates to build your website, you may purchase them from the premium Squarespace template shops that I have listed below:
Squaremuse
If you choose to buy templates from Squaremuse, you will gain access to step-by-step instructions that will help you set up and customize your site. You will get a design kit as well, and it will help you build your site.
Kate Scott
Kate Scott is another premium Squarespace template shop. The templates found in this shop come with layouts consisting of 12 pages.
23 & 9 Creative
Templates sold by 23 & 9 Creative come with video tutorials, a host of images, a launch plan, and so on. The templates found here can be used by creative entrepreneurs.
GoLive
GoLive is another shop where templates come with a step-by-step guide meant to help you build your own website smoothly. It is not a new shop selling Squarespace templates. Bloggers, E-Commerce service providers, influencers, and a host of other professionals can flock to this shop searching for well-designed templates.
Big Cat Creative
If you want no-code template kits and easily understandable tutorials, consider buying Big Cat Creative templates. Social media templates can be found in this shop. Plus, the support that they offer is phenomenal. To avail of this support, you will have to submit one support ticket.
PixelHaze
PixelHaze should be your choice if you want to buy templates that are cost-effective and budget-friendly. Business owners may buy templates from here and build their websites with them.
Choose A Template Based On The Purpose Of Your Website
The number of Squarespace templates is only a little above 100. But you may be baffled by each one of them. Well, how can you not when each of them is designed so exquisitely?
Let me remind you of something that I’ve already talked about in this article. It would be best to have a very clear and crisp idea of what you wish to achieve with your website. Are you a blogger willing to start your own blog? Or, do you wish to build a fine portfolio? Or, do you aim to start a quaint, little online store? That is, you need to figure out the purpose of your website.
Now, templates like Skye and Haute Culture are ideal for would-be bloggers. In contrast, those who wish to build their portfolios should go for Wexley or Carson. Apart from these, there are many other templates that you can use to design your site.
So, it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed while choosing one template from 100+ Squarespace templates. But fear not! I will help you choose a template that’s suitable for your beautiful website.
15 Squarespace Templates To Make Your Website Look Stunning
Here’s a list of some of the most popular Squarespace templates that you can use to create your website.
Templates For E-Commerce Sites
A lot of us know how E-Commerce has received a boost in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study claims that the rates of E-Commerce penetration are likely to increase. They might rise as high as 25% in 2025! So, you may consider building your own E-Commerce website to earn your living. It looks like it would be a viable career option, right?
Galapagos
You may opt for the Galapagos template if you wish to have your own E-Commerce platform. It’s a simple template. It comes with a clean interface. If you choose this Squarespace template, you won’t have to devote much time to design your website.
It supports several other features, including picture galleries in slideshows, calendars, list-style blog formats, and so on. It comes with a single sidebar. With a template like this, you can effortlessly attract potential customers to your site.
Hester
Hester is another Squarespace template that is ideal for E-Commerce sites. It will let you showcase all your products in a very minimalistic way. Using it to build your site, your visitors will be greeted with a Shop Now button.
Templates To Build A Portfolio
Searching for the perfect template to build your portfolio? Squarespace offers a lot of them. Let us take a look at these templates and their features.
Wexley
Wexley is perhaps the most popular among those looking for a Squarespace template to flaunt their portfolios. This simple template has a beauty of its own. For those who don’t know, it’s one of the older Squarespace templates. If Wexley is your choice, your visitors will get a glimpse of the best of your artworks or photos on the landing page itself. It comes with a grid layout.
Carson
Carson is another template that you can use to create a good-looking portfolio page. It comes with so many cool features like overlay effects, full-bleed imagery, and so on. Your visitors will find your website quite adventurous if Carson is your choice.
York
If you want to showcase more than one portfolio in just one place, you should choose York. It is equipped with a grid index page. However, you cannot add sidebars if you choose this one.
Templates For Blogging
Squarespace has quite a few templates in store for bloggers as well. Some of these templates are:
Five
Five is a template that bloggers will love. Did you know it’s the only Squarespace template that will let you add two sidebars on your website? This versatile template is one among the old templates. It’s quite flexible. If you design your website with the help of Five, you’ll be able to incorporate elements like videos, full-width banner images, and so on. What it lacks is an index page.
Skye
If you want to provide your readers with a seamless and smooth experience while reading your blog posts, then you should consider using Skye. Its full-screen design that users can customize lets you arrange all your posts in grid-based blocks. Choose it if you want your site to look neat and organized.
Farro
For those who love simplicity as well as elegance, Farro is the ideal Squarespace template. It offers a remarkable blog layout. Your site will look great on mobile browsers if you choose this one. It offers plenty of layout options that you can customize. However, it doesn’t let you add sidebars. Nor does it come with an index page.
Haute Culture
Haute Culture is another Squarespace template meant for bloggers. This template lets you organize your posts in a mosaic-style layout. This template doesn’t use thumbnails. Rather, it uses full-size pictures.
Tudor
Another template that bloggers may use is Tudor. It offers a three-column layout like those found in magazines. The social media icons that come with it are somewhat minimal.
Templates For Business Purposes
Business owners can choose from the many templates that Squarespace has to offer. They can successfully build their new websites to promote their products and/or services with those templates.
Brine
If you are a business owner looking for a Squarespace template to build your dream website, Brine should be your choice. This versatile template offers many customization packages. This one is probably the most popular template available on the Squarespace website.
It’s extremely flexible and is one of those templates that offer customization packages. With this template comes a host of features. These are- attractive blog layouts, full-width banner images, numerous navigation areas, and so on. It has one major drawback. You can’t add sidebars if you use this template.
Templates For Miscellaneous Purposes
Squarespace users can also use the other templates available on the Squarespace platform for miscellaneous purposes. There are so many freely available and premium Squarespace templates that people can put to use for various purposes. I will give you a brief idea about some of these templates in the following section.
Charlotte: To Showcase Memories Of Your Wedding
There’s a template known as Charlotte. You can use it to organize all your wedding photos and memories by yourself. Wedding planners will look dull in front of your website with its beautiful design! So why not build your own wedding site?
Wav: For Music And Podcasts
Looking forward to publishing your own music or starting a podcast? Do consider using this fresh and new Squarespace template known as Wav. It comes with a grid layout, and it also allows Soundcloud integration.
Horizon: To Publish Your Videos
If you want to build a website where you can publish your videos, Horizon is the Squarespace template that you can use. Equipped with a carefully designed index page, this template lets you build stacks of full-bleed banner photos and videos.
Pursuit: To Create Your Customized CV
Did you know that you can use templates offered by Squarespace to create your resume? Pursuit is one such template that lets you make an eye-catching CV. This template has a professional look, and its colorful call-to-action buttons add to its charm.
So, I guess I have given you a fair idea about the variety of Squarespace templates that you can use to build an exquisite website of your own. Squarespace gives you a lot of options to choose from. Moreover, you can use templates that are free of cost or those for which you have to pay. Now, try and figure out your purpose and embark on your website designing journey!
Are you looking for legit online jobs? Also, the one that will be a full-time income job, working from home rather than something that’s only going to help you make money for a short period?
It is necessary while considering today’s Coronavirus situation because businesses all across the globe have shut down their offices and adapted the remote mode of work. As per Time Magazine, COVID led the “world’s largest work from the home experiment.
Earlier, most people didn’t encourage the work-from-home concept because it wasn’t profitable at all. According to the time, there are many opportunities for people to earn money from home as various legit online jobs are available.
In 2020, the improvement in technology and the emergence of large-scale social media usage ushered in a new wave of legitimate online jobs.
11 best legit online jobs you can find on the internet
The top 11 legit online jobs have the ideal mix of large-scale demand, a low supply of talented individuals,s and the potential to start earning fast.
A virtual assistant is a person who offers support services to a business from a remote mode or location. Administrative tasks are generally common for virtual assistants, but they can also be related to any other elements required by the business.
Virtual assistants are in demand by Traders and Online businesses that need help but don’t want to spend money on office space for staff.
This is a good option if you are looking for legit online jobs. However, many small businesses use virtual support, especially for specific tasks such as social media management. These people work as remote executive assistants doing some particular tasks.
Following are the common tasks carried out by Virtual assistants, including answering emails, scheduling appointments, or booking travel.
Some assistants take on multiple agents simultaneously, allowing them to earn over five figures a year from home. Average pay: $15 to $40 per hour approx
Benefit: The more systematic and efficient you become, the more clients or customers you can add.
Disadvantage: Mostly business people would want you to work only for certain hours of the day.
If you are looking for legit online jobs and your photography skills are amazing, you have plenty of online jobs for photographers and image buffs. You can take awesome photos of anything, and there are good chances that you can sell them to online image sellers and create a niche side income online.
It is an easy task with smartphones and digital photography technology today, and anyone can take and sell photos. Many websites, blogs, and even social media need images and photographs to engage and attract their audience, so they are willing to pay for great shots.
It doesn’t matter whether you are taking pictures of natural attractions in your area or focusing on staged shots. There is supposed to be a buyer out there who wants to use your photograph and is willing to pay for it. Therefore, it can prove to be one of the best legit online jobs.
Average pay: 10 to 40 cents per image approx
Benefit: Many of us have it as a hobby, which can be turned into a profession.
Disadvantage: It takes time to build up your stock of photos for sale.
3) Freelance Writing
If you are good at writing and looking for a legit online job, you can earn a high income as a freelance writer. You can work in a niche that you enjoy and understand while making (from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per article.)
A freelancer can be described as a self-employed person who provides services, usually to multiple clients at a time.
As a freelance writer, if you want to increase your earning capacity, you should try working directly with businesses and finding online clients. Regarding freelance writing, you write online content for blogs, magazines, and online businesses, etc.
There are a variety of legit online jobs available in the field of freelance writing. To search for customers, try engaging with online businesses to inquire if they need any content.
Talk and engage with their social media contacts online, and reach out to site editors to look if they have any vacancies.
Apart from that, you can try having your website post your written content in the niche because this is a great way to find new customers. They can see your writing’s standard or quality, which leads you to the top paying online jobs.
Average pay: $10 to $35 per hour approx
Benefit: In the contemporary world, the growth of online publishing is increasing, and because of this, there is a huge demand for freelance writers.
Are you looking for legit online jobs to work from home? If you have a head for figures and especially if you know accounts or have financial planning experience, you can earn money by helping individuals or other businesses with bookkeeping. Bookkeeping is a major task for ensuring that a company runs smoothly and will survive in the future.
Market your services to entrepreneurs to help them manage their finances. Find customers by searching local works in your locality or joining social media such as Facebook groups to promote your services.
One can make a lot of money if they are interested in numbers and do legit online jobs. There are a lot of opportunities available in this field. It doesn’t require any certification.
Average pay: $20 to $50 per hour approx
Benefits: You will work with customers on an attendant or retainer basis, which offers you a steady income base.
Disadvantage: Atleast need basic training for the first customer.
If you are looking for suitable legit online jobs, then becoming a translator is the best option. A translator converts the written word from one language to another without losing the literal meaning.
It doesn’t matter which country you are in. Being a translator is always fruitful. So, one can use translation online earning sites to make more money from home.
The best thing is that one doesn’t require a degree (although having a bachelor’s degree helps), but the most important requirement is fluency in at least 2 languages.
One can easily look for hundreds of projects related to transcriptions to make money online. Not only that, the approx national wage in this field was around $46,000 in 2016, although the top 10% of workers earned an average of $83,000.
There are sites available like LinkedIn and Freelancer, which can help you find legit online jobs. Everything depends on the languages you are an expert in and how effectively you can translate from one language to another.
Average pay:$5 to$50 per page approx
Benefits: It is very convenient and easy if you are fluent in any two languages.
Disadvantage: It can be very time-consuming, and at the same time, is a slow process to make money.
In India, during this pandemic, the high-growth business industry right now is online education. Apart from that, one of the fastest-growing niches within online education is online tutoring jobs.
There are a lot of legit online jobs available in the field of education. If you enjoy helping others learn, your knowledge can be put to good use through online tutoring.
You don’t require any qualifications if you are good at that particular subject. Platforms such as Udemy are a great place to sell your course.
Average pay: $20 per hour approx
Benefits: There is a chance to start earning in as little as a few weeks.
Disadvantage: Limited upside.
7) Medical Transcription
If you are looking for legit online jobs, being a Medical transcription is one of the best options. Even though many medical transcriptionists work at hospitals or physician’s offices, most can work from home or at a time or place according to their wish.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report: Medical transcriptionists earned a national median wage of $34,770 in May of 2018 or $16.72 an hour even after being self-employed.
They usually edit medical transcriptions for local healthcare providers. The most important thing regarding this is that medical transcription requires a certification. With the medical transcription certification approved by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, you can prepare yourself to land an online job as a transcriptionist in an industry that’s hungry for qualified talent.
Average pay:$10 to $25 per hour approx
Benefits: It is a steady source of income
Disadvantages: One needs a high startup cost to earn a credential.
8) Travel agent
One should believe that travel agents are still in demand, and there are many opportunities present in this field if you are looking for legit online jobs. It just depends on finding the right niche. This is a good business for you if you have personal or professional travel experience because you can offer your clients insights they can’t get from a website.
Travel agents are in charge of helping individuals, groups, and business travelers plan and organize their travel schedules, purchase tour packages, and book flights and hotels. A travel agent also plans trips and offers advice on destinations.
We all know that job prospects can be best for travel agents who offer expertise in certain areas of the world, have experience in planning tours, or focus on group travel. So, if you have experience in traveling, there are various legit online jobs available in that field.
Average pay: It depends on the cost
Benefits: It is a way to earn more money for those who love to travel.
Disadvantage: Income can vary, as travel tends to rise at certain times of the year.
Use social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand or increase sales and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your social media profiles, engaging your followers, evaluating results, and running social media advertisements. This is an excellent option when you are finding legit online jobs.
The prime social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.
Generally, what happens is that many company owners don’t have the time to make consistent updates to their social media platforms or to respond to customer requests and answers made through social media.
That is why companies nowadays hire social media managers for media marketing.
As long as you can post accurately and manage content on social media channels, you can take on customers and begin your job. So, what are you waiting for? Search for legit online jobs in the field of social media marketing.
Average pay: $20 to $100 per hour approx
Benefits: They work on a retainer basis.
Disadvantages: Limited upside
10) Data entry
Data entry may not be one of the exciting legit online jobs, but it can offer you to earn $15 to $20 per hour. Data entry is a legit online job that does pay less than some of the others we’ve listed, but it can provide you to make a decent side income.
These jobs tend to be highly flexible, which provides you to work in your spare time. You can opt to work as much as you can or as little as you need according to your schedule.
There are various platforms like Capital typing, which allow you to find online data entry jobs. Most of these generally require setting up a basic profile and confirming a few details before you start earning. This is one of the best legit online jobs.
Benefits: It is a very convenient task to do.
Disadvantage: Less earning.
11) Graphic Design
If you are an artist, graphic design is a great way to monetize your hobby to turn your passion into money. This is one of the most creative legit online jobs available. The web is becoming more and more visual, especially as mobile devices have become the supreme browsing method.
The highest-paid graphic designers compile multiple skills into their designs. Knowledge in branding or sales can help – graphic designers to charge over $150 per hour. Choose this among all the legit online jobs if you want something creative.
Average pay: $150 per hour approx
Benefits: One can work in flexible hours
Disadvantage: It needs certain kinds of certifications.
Overall, we can say that the internet has made it much easier to make money from home nowadays. Many people are just looking for legit online jobs and opportunities to make a little money here and there by taking online surveys. Whether your goal is to work full-time, part-time, or run your own business, there’s no shortage of work-at-home jobs. So, it is time to get ready and get started today. Take at least one action and give a fresh start to your career.
Starting a business is no child’s play as it takes a lot of effort and time. Before starting a business, you have to undergo various steps such as planning, decision making, market research, and legalities. So now, are you ready to start a business?
Undoubtedly the idea of entrepreneurship seems fascinating to many people, but when you take to start a business, it can be overwhelming. Each business is different, in various terms, from one another. Still, every business requires enough hard work from you to be successful, and that’s why the question of ‘Are you ready to start a business always comes to mind in the beginning.
All the industries work differently, but it takes similar steps to make them successful and achieve greater heights. So, if you plan to start a business, you must be aware of some essential things.
Are You Ready to Start a Business? Here are 11 tips
1. Working on Ideas and Determining the Type of Business
Before starting a business, you must be having an idea about what you are going to sell. That is to say, you need to determine the type of business beforehand. You must decide which industry or market you want to enter and look at other existing companies for inspiration. After all the decisions, it’s finally time to decide ‘Are you ready to start a business.’
Once you are sure that you can deliver something that other companies cannot, you can take further steps.
“Always start with why,” says Simon Sinek. You don’t just need to determine the type of business; you must have a clear idea about why you want to choose that field.
Always choose a field about which you have enough knowledge. Your business must have the ability to fulfill market needs.
Many people jump into launching their business without working upon their ideas, leading to disappointment.
If your answer to the question ‘Are you ready to start a business’ is yes, then it’s about time to move to the next step.
After you have decided the type of business, you must make sure that you can make money through your niche. An excellent way to do this is to conduct market research to understand the trends in the market and economic behavior.
If you do market research before starting your business, it lets you add things that add to the success of your business and eliminate the risk factors.
You can either use existing sources to know the market or research yourself by talking to the consumers. Though using current sources saves your time, the information provided by them might not be entirely accurate.
If you research yourself, it gives you a more nuanced knowledge about your industry and audience. Though it requires time and effort, the result received is more accurate and solves your business-related queries quickly.
3. Choosing a Location for Business
When you know the answer to the question ‘are you ready to start a business, you must first choose a suitable location for your business.
Picking the right location for your business also plays a vital role while starting a business. The business location determines the zoning laws, taxes, and rules and regulations that your business must abide by.
Your decision to choose a business location depends on the site of your business partners (if any), target audience, and personal preferences.
When deciding the location, it’s necessary to consider the costs, state taxes, and expenses, depending upon the location, as it makes a significant difference.
4. Business Plan and Exit Strategy
Just because your answer to the question ‘are you ready to start a business’ is yes doesn’t mean your job is done. You must have a good business plan and an exit strategy before starting a business.
Writing a Business Plan
One of the most significant steps before starting the business is to write a business plan, as it lays down the foundation of your business. A business plan is a record that covers all your business details.
A good business plan gives the guide you need through all the stages of starting, managing, and making your business successful. Moreover, it helps you get funds, brings new business partners, and convinces other business owners to believe and invest in your industry.
No right or wrong format is there to make a business plan. It just requires you to meet your needs. Your business plan should include all the necessary details about your business, such as a description of your company and product, ways of management, sales strategy, marketing plans, financial plans, and a summary of everything regarding your business.
Exit strategy
It’s always a great idea to keep the future in mind. Whenever you start a business, plan the exit strategy, making you a good entrepreneur. An ideal business owner holds both success and failure in mind.
Whenever you enter something, you get to know where you are supposed to exit from. Just like that, you must be knowing beforehand what your strategy would be if you don’t get successful.
While answering the question ‘are you ready to start a business, you must answer one more problem regarding the business structure.
Before starting a business, you must decide the business structure. It influences everything in your business (be it the day-to-day operations, risk factors, or taxes you pay). Always choose the business structure that suits your business.
You can even convert into a different business structure in the future, but you may face restrictions based upon your location. Some common business structures that you can choose from are:
Sole proprietorship: This means that there will be a single owner of the business. It is easy to form, and you have full control over your business under this structure. But, you will be the one liable for the risks simultaneously. This implies that your business assets and liabilities are not different from your investments.
Partnership: This business structure has two or more owners of the business. It is of two types, i.e., limited and limited liability. Limited partnership businesses have one partner with unlimited liability and other partners with limited liability.
On the other hand, the Limited liability partnership has all the partners with limited liability.
Limited liability company: This one has the benefits of both the corporation and partnership business structure as it provides legal protection of a corporation and at the same time allows tax benefits of a partnership. It is one of the most common structures for small businesses. LLC can be the right choice for a medium or high-risk business.
Say yes to the question, ‘are you ready to start a business when you have enough funds to bear the expenses.
You need money to start a business, and funding your business is one of the essential things before launching your company. You need to decide whether you have enough means to cover the costs and support your business or do you need to borrow or find investors.
If your business runs out of money before making a profit, your business will fail—the funds you have affect the determination of the company’s structure.
Self-funding
You can self-fund your business if you have the required amount of money. You can even ask for help from your friends or family.
You get complete control over your business when you do self-funding, but you have risks too.
Loans
If you don’t want to share the ownership and control over your business, but at the same time, you are not able to self-fund your business, you can take a small business loan from the bank.
To secure the loan, you must have a business plan and financial projections ready so that the bank knows that they can believe in you and sanction your loan.
Investors
When you cannot self-fund all your business, you can get funding from venture capital investments from investors. In return, venture capital generally offers an ownership share and an active role in the industry.
We are aware that everything has a price. If you need investors to invest in your business, be ready to share control and ownership of your business with the investors.
To get funding from investors, you first need to find interested investors, share your business plan with them, and discuss all the terms and conditions. Only after they know and believe in your company will they invest in your business.
This is yet another way to get funds for your business. If you do not want to share the ownership and control over your interaction with others, this is an excellent way to help you. Crowdfunding means raising funds for a business from many people (called Crowdfunders).
They are not investors as they don’t receive share or control over your business. Crowdfunders don’t expect financial returns on their money as well. They expect a ‘gift’ from your company to return their contribution. You can either give them the product you will sell as a gift or give them their due credits.
Crowdfunding has a low risk for the business owners as you are not obliged to repay the crowd funders if your business fails.
While funding your business, keep in mind one thing that you must not overspend money when you are just starting your business. Make only those necessary purchases for the business and enough to help you achieve your business goals.
Keep a record of your expenses while starting your business as you don’t want to regret and incur a massive loss if your business fails.
7. Business Name and Registration
Are you ready to start a business? If yes, be prepared to give it a good name and register the company.
After you are done with all the planning and funding, it’s time to decide on a name for your business. Every one wants a business name that reflects your brand and is different from others.
After you choose the business name, you need to register it, and there are four different ways to register the business name to protect it:
Trademark: It protects your business’ name, goods, and services at the national level. Entity Name: This protects the name of your business at the state level. Your entity name is the way the state identifies your business. DBA: Doing business as DBA doesn’t provide any protection, but it might be legally required in a few states.
Domain Name: Everyone wants an online presence of their business nowadays. Your domain name must be registered so that no one can use it as long as you are using it.
After you choose a business name, get your business registered. The registration of your business depends upon your business location and structure. If you have a small business, the registration process is as easy as writing the business name.
On the other hand, there’s no need to register your business at all in some cases. If you plan to conduct your business as yourself, using your legal name, then there’s no need to register it.
8. Open a Business Bank Account and Get a Tax ID
Are you ready to start a business? Well, then be prepared to open a bank account and get your tax ID.
Once you are done registering your business, apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) straightaway, as it’s free of charge. Your EIN is your federal tax ID. It’s mandatory for your business if you need to hire employees, pay taxes, open a bank account, work with certain types of organizations, and apply for licenses and permits for your business.
When you are ready to accept and make payments, open a business account as it helps you stay legally protected. Business accounts generally include savings accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts, and merchant services accounts.
You can open a business account after you get your federal EIN. Choose the right bank to open your business account in. Opening a business account is easy as you need the required documents.
9. License and Permits
If you can perceive the answer to the question ‘are you ready to start a business, then be prepared to get all the required licenses and permits as well.
After your business registration, you need to apply for all the necessary licenses and permits. Most of the small businesses require licenses from both federal and state agencies.
All the requirements and fees for getting a license and permits vary based on your location, business type, and rules. You need to get a federal license or permit if a federal agency regulates business activities.
Not only this, you need to get state licenses, as states regulate more activities than the federal government. The state licenses and permits vary in every state based on the rules and regulations of the state concerned.
Are you ready to start a business? If yes, then start finding measures to protect it from risks.
Many people ignore this step while starting a business, but purchasing an insurance policy for your business is essential. Whenever you start a business, there’s always a risk of expected and unexpected damages (be it theft, property damage, or some natural calamity).
If you initially buy a suitable insurance policy for your business, you’ll be protected appropriately. You should always choose the right approach for the type of business you start.
11. Build your Team, Launch your Business and First Product and Market your Business
When you say yes to the question ‘are you ready to start a business, then be prepared to build a good team for the success of that business.
Building a good team for your company is one of the most critical factors that determine the business’s success. Unless you plan to run the business all by yourself, you need to hire talented and efficient employees and workers for your business.
After you have a team, you are finally ready to launch your business and serve the target audience. You can keep hiring more people after the launch, according to the needs of your business.
After the final launch of your business, you need to launch your first product and make it available to your audience. We all know the saying, ‘First impression is the last impression.’ Ensure that the first product of your business is powerful enough to attract more clients to your business. Always keep consistency in the quality of your product.
Before selling your product, you need to brand yourself and market your business and product. Create a logo so that people can identify your brand and use the same logo across all the platforms.
To market your business, you need to spend money on advertisements. Make sure that you don’t spend much. A good marketing plan must be present to advertise your business and attract an audience.
So, now that you know how to start a business successfully. Are you ready to start a business? It might seem a bit challenging initially, but everything takes effort, and to start a business, it requires a lot of hard work, knowledge, and dedication.
Remember that it’s okay to make mistakes initially as we learn from those mistakes so that we don’t repeat them in the future. You may face a few obstacles in your way, but it’s all about how you handle things while starting your own business. Just make sure that your answer to the question ‘are you ready to start abusiness‘ is yes, and then follow all the steps given in this guide.
If you want flexible work hours or give a shot at building a career that involves working from home, freelancing may be a great choice for you. Here is a look at the five best fields to freelance in:
1. Marketing:
This field can easily bring you anywhere between $46 and $52 per hour. You will be responsible for creating customer experience strategies for brands and companies, and also utilise social media for the same. You will only get better more time, and your payment will also rise accordingly.
2. Recruitment:
If you have an eye for spotting new talent, this is the job for you. Many companies look for freelancers to help them with the recruiting process and this brings in an average of $46 per hour.
3. Writer:
You can specialise in different fields- technical writing, content writing, editing and proofreading. A freelance writer can earn about $55 per hour. The pay generally varies from assignment to assignment, but the more experience you gain the better chances you have of landing high-paying writing jobs. Writing is an art that you can master if you devote yourself to it.
4. Translation:
Do you know two or more languages? Then you can try your hand in translating content from one language to another, and earn between $25 and $40 per hour. Publishing houses look for good translators and offer good payment for work well done.
5. Programmer:
If you have programming skills, you can try this field. You can earn up to $60 per hour. The world of computers is a developing one and you need to really know what you are doing.
Freelancing is not a way to slack. It can be as difficult as working a full-time job. So think carefully before you choose which field to step in.
Does your business have enough cash flow? Operating Capital (Working Capital) is the cash that a business has for daily operations within a period of time. Every business depends on this as having no cash is ultimately a big reason as to why businesses fail. Whether a business is small or large, a lack of cash can be a huge problem for them and, therefore, cash management and planning for future cash flow is a key factor in the continued existence of a business. The success of a business can be measured by how well they manage cash on a daily basis.
This explanation is easy enough to understand but putting it into action can be quite complex. Cash is not a constant factor and will change frequently day by day, therefore, managing it can be a tiring ordeal.
Working or Operating Capital can be found by getting the total Current Assets available and deducting the total Current Liabilities from it. Current Assets are the assets available to the business that can be converted to cash within that year, example, Debtors, Inventory and Prepaid Expenses. Current Liabilities, on the other hand, are the liabilities that are due within that year, example, Creditors, Short Term Loans and Accrued Expenses.
Working capital is classified as one of the most important assets of any business and they use a multitude of ways to monitor and keep the cash flowing. As a new or small business, initially working capital will come in the form of investors. This could be from angel investors, friends & family, savings or venture capital. More seasoned businesses have other venues to choose from such as bank loans or becoming a publically listed company and selling shares on the market. No matter the size of the business, they are always looking for methods to be cash flow positive so as not to affect the daily running of the company.
Let’s summarize the whole idea through an example.
Company ABC has recently noticed a significant growth in business. To keep up with this growth, they need to have more capital in hand in order to increase the production of their goods to match the current and near-future demand levels. They will first do an evaluation of their current working capacity to check if it is possible.
Current Asset value as of now
Cash in Hand – $10,000
Cheques – $5,000
Debtors – $10,000
Inventory – $5,000
Total Value = $30,000
Current Liability value as of now
Creditors – $20,000
Accrued Expenses – $5,000
Total Value = $25,000
Operating Capital = $30,000 – $25,000 = $5,000
After their evaluation, Company ABC has only $5000 in hand for the year which can be used for this expansion which is not nearly enough to match their needs. Therefore, they now have to make a decision on how to improve their current cash flow level. A short term bank loan would be the most beneficial decision right now as they need immediate cash in hand.
Benefits Of Having A Healthy Working Capital
·Working capital in hand is the backbone of smooth running in everyday business life. All future debt obligations, future expansion and sudden requirements of cash are all dependent on how well the working capital is managed in the business. Keeping a healthy level of cash, accounts receivable and liquid inventory constantly available will ensure that the business will not stutter from its path to growth. It will also give them more options as a financially secure business like being able to give out products on credit which will lead to increased sales levels. And these increased sales would need the additional stocks to be purchased which can again be satisfied if their working capital is at a healthy amount.
·The current or quick ratio that you read about earlier plays a part when it comes to lending. The reason small businesses have to depend on savings or investors is that banks or other financial institutions will not offer them a loan without proper collateral and proof that they can pay it back. The current ratio shows a value of how well a business is able to pay back their debts instantly, and so if a business is able to maintain a highly positive ratio constantly, then they will have more streams of cash flow into the business when they require it. A lot of businesses end up closing down as they run out of cash too quickly and are not able to bring in more cash to continue running. This big risk is eliminated by the proper handling of their working capital.
·Working capital is also more beneficial to certain types of businesses compared to others. Having a healthy level will give a buffer to a business in terms of businesses that operate on a seasonal basis. Example, a holiday company that relies on a couple of seasons a year to do business must find a way to continue running on the off-season days. During the times when they are busy, they must take more precaution to manage their working capital better so as to keep the daily transactions going in between that season to the next. These types of businesses can easily fail if they do not have this cash in hand.
·Having a good working capital level will also give the business an edge over its competitors in some situations. If the country that the business is operating in suddenly has a downturn, then the extra cash that the business has will allow it to survive even while those around slowly close down. Or, for example, if the business wants to make a strategic move and gain more market share, then they can lower the prices of their products below that of their competitors and use the working capital excess they have to make this happen. If these products are being sold below costs, then competitors may not be able to keep up and so the company will be able to grab that market share and grow as a whole.
The Operating Capital Cycle
This cycle shows the amount of time that the business takes to convert the Net Working Capital (Current Assets minus Current Liabilities) into cash. This will show how optimized their cash flow is and how soon they are able to make assets liquid in need of urgent cash.
A typical business would operate by using credit transactions between short periods to get their products moving. By keeping this in mind, we can see how a working capital cycle usually works during that time. Here is an example:
Company Z purchases its raw materials to manufacture their product from a supplier for credit. The supplier has given them a period of 60 days to pay them back. (Accounts Payable)
The company then manufactures its product using these materials within the next 50 days and are then able to sell it during that time, also on credit (Inventory Outstanding). Therefore, there will be a certain period of time before they receive cash for their products. In this case, it will usually take 20 days. (Accounts Receivable)
Thus, we have three values here that we use to add on to the operating capital cycle formula:
Operating Capital Cycle = Inventory Days + Accounts Receivable Days – Accounts Payable Days
Operating Capital Cycle = 50 + 20 – 60 = 10 days
The above value means that the company will be out of cash from that transaction for 10 days before they get it back.
Now, this is just an example that we used where we assume that the company only has one supplier and will only make one transaction during that period, but in reality, they will have multiple transactions happening concurrently which will make it harder for them to keep track of all of them. This cycle will allow them to have a general understanding of how fast cash is going out and coming into the business.
The working capital cycle value can have both a positive and negative value. The positive value, as shown above, means that the business will have to wait for a while once they have sold off their goods in order to pay back their bills. However, there can be instances where the opposite happens and that is when the cycle has a negative value.
A good way to understand this is by taking another typical business example. Above, we assumed that the business will sell off their products to the customers in the form of credit so there is a waiting period before they get their cash back. However, let’s assume that the business will do credit transactions with their suppliers and only cash suppliers with their customers.
In this way, the accounts receivable days will reduce to zero. So using the same example above, let’s calculate the working capital cycle again:
Operating Capital Cycle = 50 + 0 – 60 = – 10 days
The value has now dropped to a negative which means that the business will already have the cash in hand ready to pay their suppliers before the date that they were due to pay it off.
Improving your Working Capital
Now that we know just how important operating capital is to a business, we can identify ways to how they can improve and manage it in the long-term. Not all businesses that are profitable may be managing working capital well. It depends on the business cycle that the company goes through. This can depend on if the business is a seasonal business, has a high debtor day ratio, and more.
The first thing that the business must identify is their cycle. Once they know the period of cash inflows and outflows in the business, they can make a plan to improve it. Certain businesses need a cash buffer to keep running whereas others may need a lot of cash on hand all the time to manage their daily transactions.
One way of improving the working capital value is by reducing the overall use of the working capital as a whole. This means reducing the amounts spent or optimizing how effectively cash is spent in the business. There are a few ways this may be done:
1.Over-trading
We all know that the more a business receives demand, the better off they are. However, if the business is operating on credit and the payments take quite a bit of time to come back to them, then sudden increases in order quantities may not be good in the long-term.
By increasing production, the business is also increasing its overhead costs, which means that the business will face a much higher cash loss until the time that the customer pays the amount back. This makes the business vulnerable during that time due to the lack of cash. So, they have to be careful when it comes to increasing supply or production and should make sure that they have sufficient cash to run in the future. (At least a 3-month buffer).
2.Reduce inventory costs
Optimizing the way they purchase raw materials and improving their production capabilities will reduce their costs in the long run and ultimately lead to higher cash inflows.
3.Reduce constant cash withdrawals for personal use.
4.Purchasing fixed assets from the daily transaction value should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Finance should be set aside separately for these purchases.
By checking the financial health of the business by using the ratios shown above and forecasting cash flows for the future, the business can see how well they are doing at the moment as well what necessary steps they’ll have to make for the future.
And as we spoke about before, reducing the working capital cycle by improving the average debtor days and maintaining good credit scores with their suppliers, can improve the working capital levels of the business to best support them in the long run.
Instagram has 300 million active users every month who like 3.5 billion photos every day. What makes Instagram a tactical business tool is the fact that it uses photos. Photos have a visual appeal and they pretty much market themselves. You do not need to create specific pushy advertisements.
The Top Instagram for Business Tips
By posting the right kind of content you can have tremendous marketing on Instagram. For instance, you can try to post Instagram story ads to gain engagement. Let us see how.
Step 1: Utilize Link in Bio
The goal, when it comes to Instagram for business, is to take people away from Instagram to a landing page, or website. It’s the internet and you need to spell it out. Adding your link in your bio doesn’t make you redundant. The link should take users to the page where they find the same posts which got them interested. They shouldn’t have to look for those all over again on your website – that just kills their interest.
99% of people use insta on phone so any traffic that you drive has to be mobile ready. Make sure that your website is optimized for a mobile platform.
Additionally, make sure that you don’t post a long url of the landing page. Use a link shortener because that will also give you the data analytics on the traffic being diverted to your website from Instagram. Every time you post something new, use a different link so that you can keep a track of traffic leads.
Step 2: Epic Content Strategy
What is Instagram for business without the right content strtategy? Post consistently on a daily basis. An average Instagram account posts at least once a day, and successful one does more than that which on average is about 2-3 posts a day. Posting more than that will saturate your followers’ feeds and turn them off. Make a schedule and post often.
The best thing to do is post during popular times. Do a little research and post during the times when people are most active so that you will optimally reach the followers. The timing of the posts needs to be very strategic especially when it comes to videos. The follower needs to be available to watch the video. For example, nobody will watch a video during their work hours.
Instagram is all about its visual appeal and the photos that you post must have a good look. There is a reason why Instagram has all those filters. Using the right ones will get you more views and engagement by making your pictures standout.
Instagram is not a direct market. If your photos have to have the appeal that will make followers stick around you will need to inject a little charm into them and you can do that by creating lifestyle photos. Use real backgrounds with your product in use.
Tools: Wordsswag, Typorama, Kik, Canva.
Look to find the best possible content.
It doesn’t hurt to stay abreast of your competition if you want to succeed with Instagram for business. INK361.COM (allows you to run scans on competitors accounts, so can find the most liked/commented. When you get the data on what has worked best for your competition, it gives you an easy insight as to what are the trends and appeal factors in your niche and you can use similar strategies instead of re-inventing the wheel.
If physical based product post photos of people utilizing product or service (for social proof). Using photos of real life people instead of models makes your approach authentic and gives your product way more credibility. Moreover, it increases brand loyalty, the person whose photos you used will himself want to market your product more. But make sure you get their permission before you use their photos.
Use a strong call to action in your bio or comments directing people to make a purchase. Be creative and inviting with your CTA. People won’t click on link in bio unless you ask them to. It’s what will help you in your Instagram for business success story.
Step 3: Hashtags for Instagram for business
Post relevant hashtags to niche or market. They are an important search tool for users to find stuff they are interested in. use relevant hashtags that include your brand name and product. Don’t make them too lengthy rendering them unreadable. You can also use hashtags of trending topics if they are relevant to your niche. Do not use more than 5 hashtags.
Get your audience engaged by using relevant hashtags that are relevant to your brand and your current campaign.
Engage with people in your target audience. Every good relationship is built on a two way communication. When users respond, so should you. Make sure you reply to their comments. If they have posted a photo of your product, thank them and like the picture. People love attention – make sure you are giving them enough.
Using the right hashtags can increase the engagement of your brand in leaps and bounds. They give you the opportunity to reach more people and for people to find you. Use tools such as Talkwalker to find out what hashtags your competition is using and monitor your campaigns. It’s going to help you in your Instagram for business journey.
Step 4: Shoutouts
Get as many people as possibly on Instagram to share your content. But for that, you will first need to have a loyal following. Create interesting content and ask people to share it. Another way to do this is by creating contests where followers stand a chance to win a goodie when they share your content or tag a friend. Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page and have users share the content so that you will have a better outreach across another social media platform as well.
Share for share (s4s) or paid influencer marketing is a strong cross-promotional tactic. Share the content posted by other players in your niche and tag them, ask them to do the same for you. It helps create brand awareness and gets you good exposure.
Another way of using paid influencer shout-outs is to ask a influencer who has a large following to promote your product or service.
S4S get people to mention you in the content. Share the content where people mention you and give the user credits for it. To get people to mention you in their content you can also host a photo contest.
Step 5: Analytics
Track the most engaged images, how fast the account is growing, and test your shoutouts. Instagram itself has tools that will give you insights about user engagement. You can get information about which demographic your followers belong to and what kind of posts seem to best resonate with them. This helps you learn the user behavior and you can come up with strategies which are more relevant. Analytics tools will tell you about engagement through demographics and based on time.
You also get to know how much you are being mentioned and track your sales. Use these tools to gain better insights, predict engagement, find influencers, see what kind of content gets most engagement and use these insights to gain an edge over your competition.
Tools:
Iconosquare.com : it is the most popular analytics tool which gives you high-level and in-depth insights about user engagement. Using this tool you can also add a Instagram tab on your facebook page for cross-channel engagement. Its embed feature allows you to showcase your photo gallery from your website.
Socialblade.com gives you complete insights on your Instagram activity like your followers, pictures you have uploaded, daily averages etc which you can use to create a strategy for growing your handle.
Minter.io : this tool gives you demographic details of your audience which you can use for growth and engagement. You can also track the growth in your target audience over time and see what kind of content gets more engagement.
Socialrank.com : this tool gives you insights using a follow centric service. It sorts and filters followers using various criteria. This data will help you understand what your users want and help you create strategies for the future.
Messaging apps are growing rapidly and they are used by practically everyone. They have thrown the conventional way of sending text messages or SMS via the telecom service provider overboard primarily because they allow the users to send messages for free using an internet connection. And yet, Line marketing for business is a product that is more than just an app. Youngsters especially prefer these apps over email, since they allow them to send and receive instant messages.
These messaging apps have become a dynamic channel of expression. Since users spend so much time on these messaging apps, they serve as a huge customer database with accurate insights into the customers’ mind-sets and needs and are going to determine the future of the marketing strategies of businesses worldwide.
About Line
Line is a free instant messaging app that allows users to communicate via texts, images, audio, video, and also conduct free VoIP calls. It was launched in 2011, by Naver Corporation in Japan. Within 2 years Line had reached 200 million users and became Japan’s leading social network surpassing Facebook and Twitter. It was launched as a disaster response when Japan took a huge hit from an earthquake which destroyed all telecommunication systems, leaving internet-based resources as the only means to communicate.
Line marketing for business started gaining more popularity by the release of stickers depicting original as well as well-known characters. These stickers could be bought at 2-3$ a dozen and acted as large-sized emojis making the app quiet a hit among then Japanese population and worldwide. In 2015, the company generated revenue of $1.1 billion, up to 40% of which came from the sale of stickers. It is now the world’s seventh largest chat app and has moved from being just a chat app to much more.
The Evolution of Line as a Marketing Tool
Within two months of its launch, Line released paid emoticons which generated a revenue of 350 million JPY. This profitability is a reflection of its rising popularity. The popularity of its stickers also stands to denote that brands will be able to launch their own stickers on Line. Apart from stickers, Line has launched several in-app purchases. The ‘Line It’ button enables users to share websites with friends and groups. Line also stood apart from other messaging apps owing to its gaming and built-in camera app with filters.
Line has also launched Music Streaming services in Japan. In October, 2016 it also released its stand-alone video app. The new app called Line Moments includes simple mobile-first editing tools as well as filters and sharing tools. All these features have given Line a very loyal user base. The marketing potential of Line basically lies in its fun ways to engage the youth, with most of the users falling in the 18-29 age group.
Since the massive success of stickers, Line has now set its eyes on being more innovative in a way that brands and publishers would be able to deliver their content using personalised GIFs or bots. With the use of bots marketers will now be able to send personalised messages to users including updates for shipping, order confirmations or new arrivals etc.
It aims at providing an ecosystem for brands to interact. Since, Line has access to a large customer base with knowledge of their interests via their chats, it will be possible for brands to reach out to their targeted customer and offer customised solutions. However, being a closed system, there is no need for users to worry about identity being leaked. Line has emerged as more than a messaging app with great potential as a promotional and marketing tool.
Line Marketing for Business
In February 2015, Line released it Line@ app designed for professional and business users. Using this app, users can connect to their customers or fans by creating an official account. They can send mass messages to followers, or batch messages for promotion and also chat one-to-one. It also lets you set an autoreply for when you are unavailable. A random is allocated to the users for free.
For those who want custom IDs, they can purchase it at an initial premium of $24, post which a recurring yearly fee of $12 is applicable. With a free account, users can send up to 1,000 messages a month, while with a post-paid plan of $50, the limit is 50,000 messages a month. Messages outside the 50,000 limit will cost $0.01 per message. All of these payments can be made using the Line Pay system.
The Line home feature lets you pull statistics related to timeline posts, number of friends added per day and block rates etc. Like any other social media website, Line@ allows businesses to create a page displaying business information and news and also post updates.
The Line@ for PC admin page offers additional features for creating a PR page with official materials and a Rich page for posting questions and surveys for customers and enhance their engagement. With all these features, Line intends to turn the messaging app into a smart portal as a part of its ‘Closing the Distance’ strategy. Since, users already have accounts with Line, it is expected that there will be a higher purchase rate as compared to conventional e-commerce websites.
Line Pay – The Other Line Marketing for Business Product
Launched in 2014, Line Pay laid the foundations of Line’s offering for businesses. Initially this was limited to making payments for purchasing stickers and themes but slowly expanded into much more. It is a next-generation payment application which allows users to make purchases using their mobiles or PCs. In addition to this, it also allows users to make cash transfers to each other without the need for any bank account information. The cash comes from binding credit cards or pre-paid cards to Line Pay. It works with several cards such as American Express, Diner’s Club, JCB, Master Card, and Visa as well.
Two of Japan’s largest financial institutions, Mizuho and SMBC have already joined hands with this initiative. Line Pay can also be used to make payments for Line taxi. The goal is to enable users to make payments using Line’s chat app. In the future, it also aims to enable users to make payments for goods purchased offline. Line makes use of a 7 digit password which users will need to input for transactions for security. This is authenticated via their mobiles or a password if the user is using a desktop. Line Pay substantially eliminate the use for maintaining bank cards and makes payment options more convenient lowering the payment barrier.
Line Taxi – Yet Another Line Marketing for Business Product
In 2015, Nihan Kotsu, Japan’s top private car firm in collaboration with Line has launched its Taxi service in Japan with 3,300 cars on the roads. There has been some tough competition from Uber and the British rival Hailo, which Line combats by offering lesser wait times, better coverage and several other options as compared to Uber. The pairing of a messaging app with a taxi service might come across as a little odd, but there is already a proof of concept in China, where WeChat has implemented the same.
There has also been a talk that Facebook might integrate messenger with Uber. Integration of several on-demand and offline services into a messaging app will certainly prove beneficial for Nihan Kotsu. Line taxi is a game changer for the fact that it does not need a separate download. Line is slowly proceeding into several Business niches helping them expand their businesses and get more exposure for more profits through its messaging app.
Line’s Delivery Logistics
Line has partnered with Woowa Brothers, Korea’s largest food delivery app, to launch Line Wow, a food delivery service. Woowa Brothers has been a successful company in Korea and has now been able to enter the Japanese Market by joining hands with Line. It started out by extending its services in the Tokyo Metropolitan area allowing popular restaurants to deliver premium lunchboxes and will expand into more extending its delivery radius and adding more restaurants and menus.
In Thailand, Line has launched Line Man in partnership with another logistics startup, Lalamove. This enables shoppers have their products delivered to them by a driver on a motorbike just like their own personal butler would do. Several small and medium sized businesses have started utilising this service to deliver their products. Line Man offers delivery services for food from restaurants, groceries as well as parcel transport using Lalamove’s fleet of motorbikes.
Line Maps for Indoor
It will allow users to check out updates from retailers in shopping malls nearby.
Line Launches Business Platforms
At the ‘Line Conference Tokyo 2016’ held in March, Line announced the opening of its business platforms on the Line@ app. It is aimed at allowing the users to make use of Line for business services and products and also help businesses offer a more convenient and enjoyable service and communicate with the customers more easily to promote their brand.
Later in 2016, it had also launched its Make-up app which includes 33 filters including one for men so that the users can try and buy make-up. The filters include real products from popular cosmetic brands like Clinique, 3CE and Etude House. The year 2016 saw the release of several other features for businesses like the Line Live, a streaming content distribution platform which gained 198 million hits from users within 3 months of its launch.
Big brands like Disney and Maybelline have already started to tap Line’s ‘Fun and Expressive’ pool of users. Disney published its mobile puzzle ‘Tsum Tsum’ with Line and it has been downloaded 14 million times. Disney had also launched the Mickey Mouse sticker on Line in 2012. This was the first time Disney and Line had worked together launching a sticker pack. It was followed by the launch of 50 more such sticker packs which featured several characters from Disney cartoons, Pixar, Marvel and the Star Wars Classics.
Line’s Stickers: Line Marketing for Business Product
The success of the stickers led to both the companies collaborating for launching the game which was a blockbuster and grew more quickly than anticipated. The characters of Tsum Tsum were also launched as plush toys in stores, monetizing in the sale of over 2 million units.
Maybelline also launched a one-day flash sale and sold 500 lipsticks in 5 minutes in an beyond successful attempt to bring its latest product to the Thai market.
Even before the Maybelline, Line held its first flash sale in Thailand when it sold company branded iPhone cases were sold out in 25 minutes.
It is not just limited to big players like Disney and Maybelline. Line, the app, has created an account called Line Hot Deals wherein users can get information about all the hot deals in one place. This has been very beneficial to small businesses. A fashion e-commerce site called WearYouWant offered a sale for FailyDrop Cosmetics, and 700 units of New Year Gift Sets were sold out in less than half a day. According to WearYouWant, the conversion rate from visitor to buyer was more than expected and with this result they plan to launch weekly deals on Line Hot Deal in the future.
Many e-commerce businesses in Thailand have also reported that 30% of their traffic comes from mobile devices which also accounts for 20% of the transactions. E-commerce is now essentially transforming into m-commerce and businesses must prepare for this and leverage it to the best.
Line Account Features for Business
Line has released 3 features for a more convenient business platform.
Reward Cards: This feature aims at replacing points and stamps which take up space in your wallet or tend to be forgotten at home. Using the Line app, users can now collects points and stamps at their favourite stores and exchange them for rewards. Users can view a list of their cards and find stores that issue the reward cards. You can search for these cards by store name or look for them in your vicinity.
Coupon Book: You can now manage coupons issue by various vendors using the Line app. It also displays recommendations, popular coupons, coupons in the vicinity and coupons from businesses you ae following. Coupons that are about to expire are displayed on the top, so that customers can utilise them in a timely manner. Coupons can also be saved in the favourite items making it easier for them to be found and to receive expiration reminders.
Commerce: To help e-commerce businesses a new online store feature is being added to the Line@ account. There is no monthly or usage fee, however, a service charge of 4.98% is applicable on sales. With the increase in usage of smartphones, there has been a rise in providing users, access to products and services using their smartphone which is a new high in the e-commerce sector. Line has already made some of these services like food delivery, Taxi booking etc. available and continues to expand as more businesses sign up.
All of these features make it very easy for users and businesses to come together and serve as a wonderful tool for promoting businesses and generating profits. The e-commerce industry, especially could grow in leaps and bounds by offering their products and services through Line.
Line Business Platforms for Web Services
Line has created web services known as web apps, by tuning and upgrading its already existing platforms like Line NEWS and even Line Part Time Jobs. These official web apps are linked to Line accounts, the accounts now becoming a channel for generating new users, and redirecting existing users to perform specific tasks.
Users can enjoy the benefits of quick and easy access to various services, without having to install separate apps or signing up for a service. They can use the Line App to access all of these and use the auto login feature to befriend these accounts. Users can make reservations, purchases and fill up inquiry forms easily with the personal information already saved on their Line accounts, by consenting to the same. The use of these Official web apps allows users to receive personalised information and services through the Line App. As they do so, they can also accumulate Line Points and Reward Cards.
For Corporate Clients, a service called Line Business Connect, offers them an API which allows them to access different Account Features easily. Line Business Connect, Auto Login, Profile+ and Line Pay can be connected together by partners and integrated into their services. It will bring more ease of use and hence better conversion rates. Personalised push messages can offer hassle free reservations and purchases. The conversion can be further enhanced by clubbing these services with Line Points and Reward Cards. By offering services with such easy to use features, the Official Web Apps gain more exposure meaning they will be listed at the top.
Several companies like Tripadvisor, Domino’s Pizza, American Eagle Outfitters, Million Carats, etc. are already on-board.
Line Business Platform for SME Aggregators
Small and medium sized businesses can utilize the features of Line@ Business account using an SME Partnership program being implemented by Line. This can be very useful for the likes of restaurants and small retail shops.About 14 such businesses including some big names like Tabelog in restaurants, and Goo-net in cars, have signed up for this service. This initiative will help small and medium sized business communicate easily and conveniently with users, bridging the gap between users and stores.
Businesses that provide web services benefit and Line will prioritize implementation. They will be able to make use of three services:
Inquiries on Line: Line@ based chat system will facilitate communication between users and businesses.
Line@ Integration: Line@’s messaging API will be developed and integrated with the SME Partners’ in-house systems.
Account Plug-ins: The SME Partners’ solutions will be promoted and integrated with Line’s account plug-ins and content.
As these features are developed, it will allow users to check for waiting times and availability of tables, make reservations, get coupons and limited-time sales and from their favourite stores, make enquiries about apartments and cars for sale, all using Line. It may also give them access to user specific coupons, for their next one for services such as hair stylists, nail salons or spas.
When services become easy to access, it will certainly lead to a rise in sales and reservations. More plugins wil add to additional functionality into Line accounts like Reward cards, Coupon Books and Commerce do.
Integrating Marketing Strategies into Line
58% of the population that uses messaging apps is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region and Line is one of the most popular ones in Asia. Marketing strategies on Line are beyond ads or sponsored content, because that would destroy the user experience. It is about utilising Line as a space where the users are already comfortable talking, to set up interactions directly with the customer, by the use of bots. Messenger by Facebook has already started using these and though it is a major competition, Line is still not that crowded a space and also has a loyal user base which can urge brands to become early adopters.
Line has recently unveiled its new messaging API which offers better support for chatbots on the platform. These chatbots will be compatible with group chats so that businesses can share information and content with multiple users at a time. It also includes the capabilities of sending notifications to users by connecting Notify, another one among its API based services, to the chatbots. The new API supports 3 kinds of messaging:
Confirm: which lets the user respond in a simple yes or no
Button: Which combines pictures, texts and other action buttons
Carousel: A horizontally scrolling format that displays several pieces of content
The API is supported with an SDK supporting five languages viz Java, Go, Ruby, PHP and Perl 5. A trial version of the API, with limited functionality was launched in April last year and was used to create close to 20,000 bots. It was made freely available to the first 10,000 people along with Line Beacon to connect physical businesses to customers in the vicinity. The BOT API kit that was released in the summer of 2016, not only allows for exchange of messages using Line, but also offered the ability to develop CRM systems linked to IoT or existing systems.
Line Beacon
Line Beacon aims to enable the reception of Bluetooth Low Energy Data using Line. Stores will be able to set up beacons which will send coupons and product information to users who visit the store.
Chat Al Plug-in
Line plans on engaging third party developers, to further develop its proprietary Chat Al Plug-in. The aim is to have an intelligent and responsive tool which will be able to handle customer inquiries using the chat platform. This should be out very soon. The chat plug-in will have pre-set FAQs and other content programmed into it, and will also use the data from other chats between customers and businesses. It will also be able to offer recommendations and answer inquiries accurately. This will greatly reduce the cost of hiring human operators and setting up infrastructure for the same. This opens up the potential of Line Official accounts to be effective CRM and marketing tools.
Line Advertisement Distribution Platform
Along with Line’s Business Platform, its ad distribution platform will also be expanded. This expansion goes beyond its previously used one-way mass delivery system that could only be used by large businesses. The new version will be suitable for use by any business size who will now be able to send more relevant and personalised advertisements which will lead to better conversions.
Line will use the statistical data from activity of the users in Line Family apps like Line News, Line Music and Line Manga. User’s engagement with the brand and official accounts of celebrities will provide information on user’s areas of interests which can be put to productive use to create advertisements which are more relevant to the user and the business niche. However, it doesn’t pull sensitive and personal data. The data will only be statistical and not personal, in keeping with Line’s Policy of not providing any personal data of users to third parties including advertisers.
Optimised advertisements with M.T.Burn
Back in 2015, Line conducted a trial run on its timeline. They partnered with M.T.Burn, for advertisements based on demographics and user interests. The results were very good with users receiving these advertisements very well. Line will now transition into an advertisement distribution system. It is similar to what you find on Hike, which is owned by M.T.Burn and is a native advertisement platform. It has now begun releasing optimised Timeline advertisements based on demographics and areas of interests. New advertisement locations will be introduces in Line NEWS, Line Game services and Line’s More Tab.
Creators’ Stickers for Businesses
Line marketing for business
Line has seen some massive success with stickers. The stickers have a personality of their own. These stickers including the sponsored and direct ones along with Line’s won stickers, have been a great promotional tool for large corporations. Line has now launched its SME sticker service, which makes it way more easier for restaurants, stores, and other SMEs to offer stickers. Line’s sticker portfolio now has additional ‘Creator’ Stickers. The ‘Creator Stickers for Business’ Program allows small and medium sized businesses the right to purchase promotional stickers which they can offer as rewards for service purchases and incentives.
They can use Line Creators Market Platform to implement the same. Businesses will now be able to promote their characters at lower costs. It also offers an opportunity for growth to creators of stickers. Paul McCartney was the first to experiment with these when he released 8 exclusive stickers for sale on the platform using his Line account as the users were bonding with these stickers, the likes of which were never seen with emoticons or emojis. After Paul McCartney, several other celebrities have created their own stickers and launched them on Line and gained more popularity as cartoon versions of themselves.
How Brands can Expand Customer Service through Line
Line is transforming the customer service industry with the launch of its Line@ account. Brands are making use of this service for personalised and real time conversations with their customers. They can also invite customers to reach out to them in case they have any questions or concerns. They can even bolster in store customer service to buyers if they have any questions on the sales floor. The privacy of the app even helps customers keep their purchases a surprise. Hotels can receive booking and reservation requests through this app helping them expand their business by more user reachability and ease of use.
It helps promote sales by giving businesses the convenience send out messages to the targeted demographic about new product launches, special offers etc. Geolocation data helps stores reach buyers in the vicinity largely increasing their database of quality clients which manifests into more exposure and hence more profits. Line continues to strive to become a one stop solution for all B2C communication and these are a few steps that can help it achieve that.
Line steps into International Markets
With its sight set on the NYSE, Line marketing for business certainly has huge plans for expansion which it is bringing about by supporting several businesses via its messaging app and plans to take on the western market as well. Several of its services have already been released globally while some are still restricted to Japan and other Asian countries. The foundations of this IPO were laid down by Line’s release of several features like Line Moments, Make-up AR app etc. Line unveiled, in July 2016, what could be the largest tech IPO valued at $5.5 billion in a dual-initial public offering in both Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges. Line is positioning itself as a Lifestyle tool among consumers while it builds its base as a marketing tool for brands.
Spain is the biggest market for Line outside Asia, with Line hitting the Spanish Television and gaining over 10 million users in Spain as well as Latin America. Coca Cola used Line’s sticker features to start a campaign in Spain. The campaign was based on highlighting memories made in bars to friends and was a huge hit. Line is leveraging its strength in messaging to become an all-encompassing consumer platform by turning communications into commerce.
The Era of M-Commerce – Line marketing for business
The year 2013 saw 5.5 million users participating in flash sales orchestrated by Line in Thailand with orders coming in every 20 seconds. In 2014, Line announced its C2C platform. Line Mall allows users to purchase products without any listing fees. This saves users up to 10% on certain products. The first mobile advertisement campaign was also started in Thailand in 2014 on the Line Platform.
The emergence of m-commerce flash sales as seen with the sales of Maybelline and iPhone cases is just one example of how messaging apps are becoming useful in increasing businesses’ outreach to customers. Users get access to products which are not yet released or new before the general population, and that makes the sales spike like never before. The logistics of such flash sales are handled by aCommerce which takes care of warehouse, customer service, returns and the supply chain management overall. Businesses are able to tap into humongous customer databases using such sales. The partnership between Line, a Commerce and businesses has paved the way for success of the m-commerce platforms.
Line has paved the way for m-commerce in south-east Asia and is all geared up for expansion into the global market. Big brands are already looking forward to utilise Line and its database of loyal users. It’s a great opportunity for businesses to grow and the timing couldn’t be better since Line presents an unexplored market which is not yet crowded by service providers. The elimination of product lists serves as a huge advantage to brands. It uses a streamlined process of daily push deals and promotions which seem to be enticing customers quickly.
Line marketing for business – What’s in the Future?
As the use of smartphones continues to grow, so does then need for an all-encompassing platform, which Line has built steadily with the incorporation of mobile payment platforms, user friendly interfaces, and logistics for delivery. Line is the new arena and a hotbed for all kinds of businesses ranging from grocery stores to large FMCG brands.
With its m-commerce platform, Line marketing for business is certainly blurring the line between the physical and online worlds which is proving to be rewarding for consumers and businesses alike, allowing even the more expensive products to sell well. . Line Hot Deal will allow the entry of more e-commerce startups into its m-commerce space.The combination of Line and m-commerce is certainly an equation for success
