Michael Levitt's Blog, page 86

Alternative Investments – Is it the Best Option to Invest My Money?

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Investing is the process of putting money into a financial product with the expectation of earning a profit. This is typically done for retirement, though there are many high-risk investments people choose to get rich quickly. Except for safe investments such as US Treasury Bills and CDs, there is always the possibility of losing money with investment, though it can be lessened through the use of certain investment tools.

When you think of investing, do you automatically think of stocks and bonds? If so, you aren’t alone. However, there are dozens of other ways to invest your money. Just ask the corporate trustees here; they know all about different investments and the best investment routes for different individuals! Today, we’re going to cover some of the best alternative investments. Alternative investments are just like the more common investments; only they’re less mainstream.

What are Alternative Investments?

While the stock market has been rebounding since the financial crisis, equity investments are still much riskier than alternatives. As a result, many investors are turning away from stocks and bonds in favor of alternative investments. These may include investing in alternative energy, acquiring ownership in a racehorse, or buying rare musical instruments. While it is usually best to diversify your portfolio, some investors are choosing to buy into alternative investments exclusively.

Alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity, and commodities can be a smart way to diversify your portfolio. But they are not without risk, and it’s important to understand what they are, how they work, and how they can help (or hurt) your finances.

With that being said, here are the different types of alternative investments:

Real Estate - Real estate is a type of alternative investment, meaning that it is not part of the typical investment mix that most investors consider, such as stocks, bonds, and cash. Real estate can be a great investment because the value of property tends to go up over time, and the income it generates can be a steady source of revenue.

Peer-To-Peer Lending - Peer-to-Peer lending (P2P lending) is a type of alternative investment that uses the Internet to match lenders with borrowers to make loans. An investor becomes a lender by purchasing a small portion of a larger loan. The loans are paid back with interest, and the investor earns a return.

Owning a business - Owning your own business is a very viable alternative investment. The advantages to the investor are that most businesses are extremely undervalued, the tax benefits are tremendous, and the opportunities for capital gain are far greater than the stock market.

Gold - Gold is a precious metal with a long history of value, so it’s not surprising that it’s being seen as an alternative option to traditional investments. Right now, there’s renewed interest in gold, with the metal hitting its highest price in 20 years. However, for the average person, investing in gold can be overwhelming. The metal’s price is based on supply and demand. This means that its price is connected to things like the strength of the economy, inflation, and central banks.

Investing in an alternative investment can be a smart decision. While you may not always see your investment go up in value, it can be a great long-term investment to make. If you don’t have a lot of money to invest, you don’t have to put in a lot of money. You can invest as little as $0.01 and still get a percentage of the profits.

Before You Make an Investment

Investing takes a lot of homework and not just in the form of research. If you want your investment portfolio to do well, you need to choose wisely among a dizzying array of investment options. There are two basic types of investments: options and equity. An investment in options gives you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security at a specific price by a certain date. Equity investments are shares of a company that you can buy and sell. Once you have decided what type of investment is right for you, you need to pick the specific investment you would like.

When you are looking for an investment, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. Is a 401(k) a good investment? What about a Roth IRA? Are bonds a good investment? What about mutual funds? Should I invest in stocks? Should I invest in a mutual fund or individual stocks?  These are all very common and good questions, but they can all be answered by one overall philosophy: “Don’t invest in what you don’t understand.”

Business Owners: Here are Clever Ways to Build Your Online Brand Identity

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As the globe increasingly becomes interconnected, brands continue to go online to create brand awareness. Brand identity is a long-term process that doesn’t happen overnight. To establish a long-lasting online brand identity, you must put in the time, effort, and resources. However, although the process of building a brand identity online may seem intimidating, the following tips can guide you to success.

Create a strategy

Before anything else, strategy is the most essential as it outlines everything you’re trying to achieve and how. The online platform is a competitive one, and without strategizing, your brand could be swallowed by the sharks before you make any progress. Your online branding strategy should comprise its message, heart, and identity. People online only see what you let them view, and these components play a vital role in communicating what your brand is offering.

Write blog guest post for other business publications

Almost all businesses that run online run their blogs and sites to grow their audiences. However, these assets can’t drive enough mileage within a short period. To build your brand identity across large markets, partner with other sites and write blog posts for them.

Research publications and blogs in your industry by searching for guest posts and industry keywords. If you find a business that accepts guest posts, research their content, social media channels to understand how they engage with clients and provide a fresh voice. When potential clients from other blogs notice your brand on other trusted sites, you gain access to a new audience.

Improve engagement with audiences through SEO

Search Engine Optimization, though it may seem intimidating, it is a simple process that involves getting optimized on search engines like Google. Depending on your industry, search keywords online and in your content category. Keywords enable your target audience to find your brand easily when they conduct searches.

When creating content for your site, use informational keywords and SEO tags to ensure your brand performs well on search engines. Include keywords in your body, headline, image titles, and call to action. This way, Google crawls and indexes them, giving you a higher ranking than your competition. However, find a balance, and be careful not to overstuff keywords on your posts, as you will incur a penalty by Google.

Use your brand name or logo

The logo of your company is the identity of your company. It helps establish a long-lasting image of your company in the minds of your target clients. Ensure that you keep your brand name and logo visible and clear. This will help your audiences to differentiate between your company and others in the market quickly.

So, anytime you post something on social media, don’t forget to include your brand name and logo. That is the thing that will help your customers differentiate between your posts and others. Using your brand logo and name will help your company promote its products and services, help your clients identify your brand, and help your company build its own brand in the market.

Make your content shareable

Your marketing approaches can affect your brand identity. The content you share online impacts who you are as a business. Therefore, it is essential to consider the type of content you want to share with your audience. The content must be relevant and shareable, engaging, and credible.

Sharing engaging and relevant content will make people start to trust your professionalism and want to return for more. The internet offers many powerful marketing tools, and nothing is amazing than seeing your content being shared across all the social media networks. But for people to trust your content and share it, you have to make your brand known.

Identify your competition

Building your brand to be unique is all about variation. But, without a strong understanding of what your competition is doing, it can be tough to build your brand. Therefore, it is vital to understand who your competitors are and how your brand compares to theirs, both in presentation and perception.

Determine your target audience

The base of building your brand is to determine the ideal customers that will be focusing on your brand. When creating your brand, it is crucial to decide who you want to reach; you will have to tailor your message and mission to meet their precise needs.

Know your brand personas

To create your brand, you will need to understand your brand personas. The brand you make should effectively communicate who you are since it is the face of your company. And to know the people you are trying to reach; you need to create personas representing your target segments. Some things will help you document your ideal customers, for instance, their age, location, income, gender, and educational level.

Conclusion

Don’t ignore social media when creating your brand. It allows you to create and share valuable content and opinions with your customers. To build your brand, make use of every social media platform you know, determine your target audience, understand your brand personas, and more importantly, identify your competition to understand how your brand compares to theirs.

How To Make Your Website More User Friendly

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In the past decade, many businesses have created websites as a digital extension of their business. Many companies did so out of peer dynamics and did not optimize their websites to be user-friendly. This means your conversion rate will be low because consumers value convenience above everything else. Simple things like knowing how to accept credit card payments and incorporating them into your website can vastly improve your conversion rate. Due to the effects of Covid-19, internet use has risen rapidly over the past 12 months. Here is how to take advantage of increased internet traffic for your website.

Aesthetic design

Nothing is as inviting as a website with an attractive layout. Usually, a three-column lay is quite common and will be familiar to your visitors. You could also have a column on either side of your pages to make them look professional and consistent. In addition, you should have a simple user interface; remember, the goal here is convenience and accessibility. The color scheme on your website should reflect your corporate colors and blend well with the background color. Choose font types carefully as they must be visible and legible to make it easy for visitors to navigate.

Easy navigation

Your website must have intuitive and logical navigation to offer convenience to the user. That is, it must follow the norms that users are used to. If you do something different, it will throw off users as they may struggle to use it. In the end, you will lose valuable traffic because even if you try to explain or even provide a guideline on how to navigate the website, users will prefer to go somewhere else that offers navigation that they are accustomed to. The navigation on your website must be straightforward and filled with concise links. Ensure that there is a mega menu for users to navigate quickly and get what they want.

Fast page loading

Speed is synonymous with convenience on the internet. Additionally, visitors are searching for solutions, so even if you have those solutions and your pages take a long time to load, you risk missing out on purchases as visitors are often impatient. You should check how long your web pages take to load by setting emulators at 56K internet connections. The feedback you get from the emulator tests should help you identify how you can speed up your page loading. Also, consider compressing CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files and use small-sized images.

Search capability

As mentioned, speed and access play a crucial role when it comes to users who visit your website. For them, convenience also means being able to find what they are looking for quickly. If you have substantial inventory, it is advisable to have a search box on each page to offer visitors the chance to find what they need quickly. This can cut out a chunk of the navigations required to access the information or content they want.

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Contact information

Visitors often want confirmation about information and will want to interact with someone. This makes an excellent case to have some contact information displayed on your websites, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical locations. You can also consider having chatbots on your sites to help people make inquiries and receive responses in real-time rather than having to call or wait for a reply to their email.

Top Tips to Help Your Small Business Stand-Out In Customer Service

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As a small business, customer service is a necessity. It’s up to you to provide a service that your customers can trust and appreciate. Having excellent customer service can make a small business reach success. When a customer is deciding who to shop with, great customer service can set you apart from your competition. Customers also choose to end interaction with a business quicker when they experience bad customer service.

So, what does it take to stand out? Let’s have a look below: 

Building A Rapport With Your Customer 

Small business owners need to make the most that they have a fantastic opportunity to provide a personalized customer service experience. Reaching out to your customers, remembering faces, and remembering your interactions will make your business more memorable and enable your customers to feel valued. 

Make Yourself Available On More Than One Level

Great customer service is all about being available for your customers. From social media to on the phone, it’s all about being present. Make sure you provide some level of service via phone, social media, email, live chat, and others to leave no room for them feeling neglected. Even if you can’t man each area at all hours of the day, you can provide your opening hours for each to your customers on your website. 

Treat Every Customer The Same 

Every customer should receive the same level of service. From the customer who visits more than once a year to ones that are brand new, you need to make sure you treat them with the same great service. Referrals and repeat customers are assets to your business, customers talk, therefore it is essential for you to make sure everyone is seen the same. Make sure you have a good process in place that follows your customer lifecycle from marketing to retention. 

Look After Your Customer Feedback 

Your customers deserve to have a way they can share their opinions about their experience with your business. Whether it’s a survey or an invite to share reviews on platforms such as Facebook or Yelp. When customers feel like you are listening and providing somewhere for them to praise your business or voice their concerns, they will feel more comfortable with your business and what you have to offer. 

Hire People With Stand-Out People Skills 

From the floor staff to the online chat agent, hiring employees who have stand-out people skills is something your small business cannot turn away. The people you choose as your customer service representatives are the face of your business so you need to make sure you hire people who are going to do you proud. Alongside this, you should support them with stand-out training, from using the latest card chip reader through to learning the bestsellers, it will help them to continue providing great customer service. 

Small businesses compete in an extremely competitive environment, and it can be difficult to get noticed. Great customer service is something that can help you to stand out from the crowd and enable you to exceed your customers’ expectations. Do you have anything else that could help? Please share them in the comments below. 

How Businesses Are Moving With The Times

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In the face of the modern world, it can be hard to keep up with the trends: what practices are in and which ones are out. The world is moving at one hundred miles an hour, and it's no small task to keep up with it all. But how do we know what practices are going to stay or which ones are going the way of the dodo? It's a difficult question to answer, but we may have some insight into what the correct one may be.

Many businesses are trying to introduce new and exciting ways of moving with the times. These can range from online project management to the introduction of algorithmic AI to help pinpoint audience and customer engagement. 

Over the past year, huge swaths of businesses have been forced to change tack and their whole overall approach to running and operating their business. Employees around the world have, for the first time, been in the unique position of having to conduct all of their work from home. Whilst for many this has been something to turn your nose up at (and we cannot deny how many people are excited to finally return to the office), for a large portion of workers, it has also been a rewarding and interesting challenge. 

For one, commuting is expensive and can be quite a stressful experience, given nauseating rush hour periods, as well as delays and cancellations to public transportation. 

Secondly, the office can be a stressful and sometimes even a dehumanizing environment. Most of us shudder at the thought of cramped and stuffy cubicles, minimal color, lacking entirely of personality. It doesn't always encourage the best work out of their employees. And Employee happiness has been proven essential in maximizing workplace efficiency and the overall success of your business. At-home employees feel safe; they are surrounded by what is familiar and what makes them happy; their creature comforts. 

Now, this is not to say that the future of work lies at home. Not all jobs can be performed from home, and as previously mentioned, not all workers want to mix their home life with their business life; there is something to be said for people enjoying their workplace environment and thriving in that space. 

However, there are ways in which some areas of the past year's move to work from home can be incorporated into the usual modes of business. For one, discussions about the four-day working week have surged in popularity since the COVID-19 crisis. However, one area some businesses have been looking toward is administration. Receptionists make up a key and significant portion of the workforce. Without them, we'd never show up for our appointments, meetings wouldn't take place, no one would know about our open job vacancies, and basically, the entire organization would fall apart. 

But with businesses moving more toward the digital landscape, the idea of a person(s) sat behind a desk greeting clients with mountains of paperwork to file piling up may be an outdated one. This is where the telephone answering service comes in. But what is a telephone answering service, I hear you ask? 

Well, in many ways, it functions the same as what we've all come to think of from receptionists. Essentially they are receptionists that work remotely, otherwise known as 'virtual receptionists,' and the number of these virtual receptionists has been on the rise as the years have gone on. 

It is not too dissimilar from how many receptionists have had to work from home over the past year: making sure clients' needs are always met, keeping schedules on track, and running smoothly. Most of the work of a receptionist takes place over the phone, and maybe reception lobbies remain eerily quiet until other employees or clients pass through. Remote administration allows and affords businesses with a level of flexibility not seen with in-house and on-site reception staff. Businesses will be able to employ the services of virtual receptionists around the clock, with employees from different time zones. 

It is interesting to see the scope and scale of advances in technology and the direction it is going in. Maybe in a couple of years, we'll all be working from home, commuting very rarely into the office for important meetings. As each new idea, or in the case of working from home, necessity breeds new workplace practices; it is important to be on the front line and follow closely how the world of work is changing. If we don't, we'll be left behind, and our businesses will suffer for it.

How to Legally dissolve your LLC in 2021

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So, you have decided to call in quits and dissolve your limited liability company (LLC), so how do you do this legally, ensuring that you are not personally liable for future taxes, penalties or interest?

There may be many reasons to dissolve a LLC; maybe the idea that kicked off the enterprise was better on paper than in practice. Perhaps the actual running of the company brought out irreconcilable differences in the owners, maybe it wasn't profitable, or maybe the global pandemic forced your hand. Whatever the reason, legally closing a business requires that certain steps be taken; it is not one where you can throw away the key.

To formally close an LLC, you must file a certificate of cancellation with the Secretary of State. You may also need to file a certificate of dissolution. The dissolution process also includes sending a notice to your LLC's creditors, winding up the company business and filing a final tax return. If that seems overwhelming right now, it's okay because we have got it nailed down, step by step. 

Formal Vote on Dissolving the LLC

The owners( members) of the LLC should vote on whether to dissolve the company. Your LLC's operating agreement may have a section that describes how the votes should happen and the percentage of members who must vote in favour of dissolution. However, your operating agreement may not specify a procedure. An LLC Act allows you to dissolve an LLC if 50% of more members favour doing so. Document the vote in a resolution of meeting minutes and note whether it was unanimous. 

2. File a Certificate of Dissolution

Suppose the vote to dissolve the LLC was not unanimous. In that case, you must file a certificate of dissolution with the secretary of state, listing the LLC's name, Secretary of State filing number, and the event (such as a vote of the members) that led to the dissolution. If the vote was unanimous, you do not need to file the certificate. 

3. Send a Notice to your Creditors

The law requires that you mail a notice to your business creditors, inform them that you are dissolving the LLC, and wind up the business. This gives the people you do business a chance to submit bills, invoices and claims and get paid before you close your business for good. It may be an excellent idea to get an attorney to help you prepare for this and to include the proper wording.

4. Wind up the business

After the dissolution, an LLC needs to pay debts to creditors and distribute the remaining money and other assets to the LLC's members to make sure the business is officially wound up 

5. File a Certificate of Cancellation

To end your LLC's existence, you must file a certificate of cancellation after completing the winding-up process. The certificate must be signed by the LLC's managers and include a statement that the LLC has filed or will file a final tax return with the tax board; it should also indicate that all LLC members approved it. Once the certificate is filed, the LLC is cancelled and no longer has any powers, rights or privileges. 

6. File Final Tax Returns

You can file your final tax return before filing your certificate of cancellation; you need to file your last tax return on time and make sure it is indicated that it is a final return.

Mistakes You Don't Want To Make As The New Manager On The Block

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Respect is fundamental to managerial success, but it’s not easy to achieve. In fact, in many instances, employees are more likely to approach with trepidation until you prove that you’re a good egg.

As a new manager in an existing business, especially, it can sometimes seem impossible to earn the respect of employees who, by the sheer fact of their being in the company longer, likely have a more comprehensive understanding of inner workings. This can lead to disruption, poor company culture, and increased employee turnover in the worst-case scenario. 

No manager wants that, especially when they’re new to a role and need the guidance of company veterans, so garnering respect sooner rather than later is fundamental. The ways you achieve this will likely vary depending on your team. As such, we can’t offer you a guaranteed solution to respect. We can, however, tell you that you should avoid the following mistakes at any cost if you want to garner positive, and importantly respectful, employee relationships moving forward. 

Mistake 1 - Falling into the fear trap

Like that frightening teacher at school that no one dared cross, many managers still assume that fear is the best path to respect. A new manager in an existing setup, especially, may feel the need to shake things up and show everyone who’s boss. But, this a very different setup to school. Unlike unruly teens, your employees are trying to do their best in careers that they’ve likely spent a long time building. They’re here because they want to be, so your job is all about ensuring that doesn’t change. Shouting or throwing your dummy out of the pram right away isn’t going to achieve that. Instead, remember that managerial respect is primarily based on critical qualities such as approachability, level-headedness, and mutual footing. 

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Mistake 2 - Boasting about your experience without putting it into action

Right now, these team members don’t know much about you, and you might feel the need to let them know how well qualified you are for the job or how many positions you’ve had in the past. We get it, but look – your position in this role is testament enough to the fact that you deserve to be there. Bragging about this is never going to get an already skeptical team onside. Instead, earning respect is about keeping quiet, and getting your head down to ensure that the Master’s you completed in how to become a construction manager or how to run an office speaks for itself. This more modest approach is still going to prove to your team what you can do, but without any annoying, and ultimately ineffectual boasting. 

Mistake 3 - Acting like you know best

Along the same lines, you also want to avoid acting like you know best. Remember, you’re the new kid here. You can have all the qualifications and experience under the sun, but the simple fact is that these people know this job better than you do. Period. Instead of ignoring that fact, rubbing feathers the wrong way and, in all likelihood, making stupid mistakes as a result, acknowledge your knowledge gaps. Be humble and accept that this team can guide you. Ask questions, admit what you don’t know, and more importantly, show that you’re willing to learn even though you’re at the top of the food chain. It’s amazing how much this alone can be a fast ticket to respect that you’d simply never earn if you didn’t just take a step back and accept your position for what it is. 

Mistake 4 - Failing to connect with every member of your team

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As a manager in a new role, you likely have a lot on your plate – sorting out the old manager’s mess but also getting to grips with your daily tasks and clients. With all this being said, many new managers make one single fatal mistake – failing to connect one-on-one with each team member. In some cases, and especially in large companies, managers fall into this trap so severely that it can be months before they even speak to some employees. This is a significant omission that will leave respect very much off the table, at least for those you haven’t bothered with. Avoid this, by taking the time to schedule a brief chat with every member of your new team, enabling you to improve company motivation, get on top with who does what and why, and also prove to everyone why you’re a manager worth working under. 

Ensuring Your Business Premises Impresses On All Fronts

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Every element of our business speaks to our branding as a whole, but that’s perhaps no more true than in your physical presence and in how you curate your own home base. Your business premises, from its upkeep to its utility, showcases who you are as a firm. Of course, that’s not to say you’re any lesser if you use rented offices or you are a startup working out of retrofitted garage space - what matters is how you utilize this environment, what it looks like, and if your customers or partners are introduced to it.

For this post, we’re going to be giving advice to those who may own a building, no matter how small, listed as part of the assets registered by a company. Inviting potential clients to your firm, recruiting possible staff, or simply increasing your workforces’ career satisfaction can all be influenced by how your premises shows itself, what design decisions you make, and of course, how the little details speak to the quality of your brand.

Let’s consider what that may mean, below:

Private Road Condition

Not only does the condition of your premises curate the first impression you’re liable to get, but the road leading into your parking arrangement will also speak to the quality of your brand. With the best Asphalt Paving Company, you can make sure premises roads, parking environments and other car-accessible areas are in the best condition, limiting the chance of chips and vehicle damage, while also making sure the visual formatting of your outside space is well defined and cared for. This can truly update not only the functionality but the visual competency of your brand.

Windows Cleaning

Dirty windows are noticeable, and not only from the outside. A dirty window will often lead to limited natural light within your interior, which means that staff are liable to feel less alert, happy and generally upbeat within your office space than they could have been. Window cleaning not only helps your building look pristine (especially if the birds have been artful recently), but it shows your willingness to keep up appearances and to pay close attention to each detail. In that respect, your brand looks proud, no matter the architectural design of your business.

Signposting & Brand Confidence

Large signposts embedded or embossed into or against the wall can be a tremendous way of proudly stating your presence. This also goes for your placard outside the building, or just where and how your signposts are placed. The last thing you need is for a visiting business partner to get confused as to the parking situation of your outdoor environment, instead of finding themselves in a loading bay or driving down the wrong direction of a parking lane. With careful signposting, even your new guests will find their way around much more easily and professionally.

With this advice, we’re sure your business premises will impress on each and every front.

Top Tips for Improving Company Motivation

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As an employer, you need to make sure that you always have a team that is motivated and ready to work hard. There are so many little things that can affect a team’s mentality and productivity, so having a good plan that can be used to push motivation when it is needed is a must.

Offer Benefits

Many businesses offer their employees benefits nowadays. While a paycheque would have been enough a few years ago, now many employees appreciate things such as a day off for their birthday, discounted travelcards for commutes, gym passes, and a range of other benefits. 

If you want to introduce such a system to your business, you need to make sure that it is placed in the hands of your employees so they can dictate the types of benefits they can opt for. By using an employee benefits platform, they are going to be able to take a look through some of the benefits that you might offer and will be able to track the ones that they want to use. 

Be Flexible

Nothing in the workplace is ever plain-sailing, and you need to make sure that you are offering a working environment that is flexible for everyone. This can mean that you allow people to work from home if needed, or that they are allowed to take a half-day if they are willing to make up the time elsewhere.

Life can be a little difficult to arrange sometimes, so allowing your employees to shape their working schedules around other aspects can lead them to being incredibly appreciative of the company. So long as their tasks are being finished to the same high standards as always, there is no reason why you should not consider flexibility as a form of motivation. 

Add in Fun Activities

You need to make sure that you are adequately rewarding your team for their hard work. While the classic scenario is the office Christmas party, there are plenty of opportunities in the rest of the year for you to give something back to those who work for you.

Arranging fun team-building days is a great way to bring everyone together. They can unload and unwind while also learning a little more about each other so they can come together as a team more effectively back in the office. You could also choose smaller things, like a breakfast club on Mondays to start the week correctly or drinks on Fridays after work. There are so many little things that can be used to improve company motivation, and each one can bring some fantastic benefits to your company.

Listen to What Your Employees Want

If you have noticed some issues with motivation, it is important to speak to your employees to find out how they have arisen. Trying to fix things blindly means that you could miss the heart of the issue and not actually make any changes for that employee.

Make sure you give them the opportunity to voice what they would do to make a difference. Good ideas can come from any source, and they could be able to offer a solution that you had not yet considered.

A motivated workforce should be willing to take on any task that is thrown their way, and as a company owner, you need to make sure that you are working towards such an environment. Take a look at how your staff is motivated at the moment and see where some changes can be made. It might take just a few small adjustments for your team to be more motivated, and more capable of taking on their workload.

Creating A Successful Unboxing Video Campaign To Promote Your Product

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Unboxing videos have grown in popularity over the last decade and even though it might seem like a strange thing to watch online, people love it. When there is a lot of excitement about a product, people enjoy watching videos of influencers receiving and opening a new product. It serves as a review but it also brings the viewer into the experience and excitement of opening a hotly anticipated new product.

These unboxing videos get a lot of views, so if your product features in them, you will see a big increase in traffic to your site and the conversion rate from these leads is high. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses underestimate the effectiveness of unboxing videos and they don’t incorporate them into their social media marketing campaigns. If you are launching a new product soon, here’s how you can build a successful unboxing campaign. 

Create A Desirable Product 

Before we get into the specifics of how to create an unboxing campaign, it’s important to highlight that the product needs to be perfect. Most influencers won’t back a product that they don’t really like, and their audience won’t be excited about the product either. So, before you do anything else, work hard on the product design process and spend time understanding what your audience wants. If you can create a desirable product that people get hyped about, the unboxing videos will naturally get a lot of hits. 

Focus On Amazing Packaging

Unboxing videos aren’t just about the product itself, they are about the whole experience of unpacking it. So, even though the latter portion of the video will be all about product features, like a standard review, the initial portion will be all about the packaging. Good packaging contributes to the overall product experience, and it helps strengthen your brand too. People will also comment on the quality of the packaging, whether there is too much packaging, and how durable it feels. Using thermoformed plastic packaging (visit https://globalthermoforming.com/ for more info) is ideal if you want something streamlined with lots of great branding on it. If you are using cardboard packaging, there are some great opportunities to create boxes with clever opening mechanisms or packaging that can be repurposed. 

When you are putting the package together, it’s best to put it inside a slightly larger branded box and pack it with other items. This adds another layer of unpacking to the video and you can put in some branded items like stickers or keychains as free gifts. This makes it more of a rounded unboxing experience and gives you more branding opportunities. 

Find The Right Influencers 

Once you have the product and the packaging right, it’s time to start finding influencers (check out https://shanebarker.com/blog for a great guide). Youtube is the best platform for unboxing videos, so start by looking through different channels. If you do a quick search for products similar to yours with ‘unboxing’ in the title, you should get plenty of hits. Search for influencers that are likely to have a similar target audience to you. 

There are a few things you should look for when comparing different influencers. Firstly, enthusiasm is key. The unboxing process is meant to mirror the excitement when receiving a new product and make customers envious, so they head straight to your site and buy one for themselves. If the influencer making the video doesn’t get that enthusiasm across, your unboxing videos will fall flat. 

You also need to look at the way they talk about the product. After the initial unboxing portion of the video, there will then be a review-style section where they run through the features of the product. Enthusiasm is still important here but they also need to be able to explain things well so the viewer can get a good sense of why the product will be useful to them. 

Finally, look at the production values on the video. Remember, when you partner with an influencer, they are a representative for your brand, even if it’s just for a single video. If they make low-quality videos with poor production values, that reflects badly on you and makes you appear unprofessional. 

When you have a shortlist of potential influencers, you should start contacting them. It’s important that you work with people that actually love the product. Tell the influencers about the product in great detail so they can make a decision about whether they are interested or not. If they are, you can then offer a free product in exchange for an unboxing video. Ideally, you should avoid working with influencers that want to be paid because they will create videos for any product, regardless of whether they like it or not, and the genuine enthusiasm won’t be there. 

Use Social Media To Boost The Reach Of Your Videos

Once the unboxing videos are filmed and posted on Youtube, you need to use social media to boost the reach. Start by sharing them on all of your own social media channels so if any of your followers haven’t found them yet, they can watch them too. 

Check in on the videos regularly and respond to comments and likes. This is a great opportunity to boost engagement and drive more people to your website and your other social media platforms. 

You should also start a hashtag campaign to go alongside the unboxing videos and use it when you share them. If the videos are a hit, this will then encourage new customers to film their own unboxing videos and share them too. This is another excellent way to encourage engagement and organically generate more content to promote your product. 

Getting an unboxing video campaign right can be tough, but it brings a lot of benefits along with it. There are unboxing videos for almost any product these days, so no matter what your business is, you can benefit from this strategy. As long as you create an amazing product with innovative packaging and you work with the right influencers, you should see a big sales increase as a result.