Mohit Tater's Blog, page 507

6 Ways your Small Business can Reduce its Carbon Footprint

If you run a small business, then reducing its carbon footprint will not only help the environment but could also help you save money. Due to the number of customers switching to business who are more eco-friendly and have greener work ethics, it may also attract additional custom. Here are 6 ways your small business can reduce its carbon footprint.

Switch off policy

Regardless of its size, implementing a switch-off policy within your organization is an easy way to help the planet. Printers, laptops, and copiers don’t need to be left on at the close of business each evening, so get into the habit of switching everything off. If you have employees, make sure they implement this too. Before long, it will become second nature and could reduce energy usage by upwards of 25%.

Go paperless

Paperless offices are very much the norm these days, and when you see the statistics it’s easy to see why. The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that the environmental impact of producing 10 million sheets of paper is estimated at:

2500 trees56,000 gallons of oil450 cubic yards of landfill space595,000 kilowatts of energy

There are many organizational benefits to going paperless too such as cost, filing system efficiency and accessibility, and faster workflow. If you haven’t already gone paperless, it might be time to start.

Solar Power

If you don’t already have solar panels installed on your business premises or home office, it’s worthwhile looking into. According to Harvest Power, a solar power installer in NY, their customers alone have saved over 1,000,000 tons of coal since 2008. Solar energy is not only a far more eco-friendly option but could save your business thousands over its lifetime.

Encourage cycling to work

Reducing the amount of time we spend driving can do wonders for the planet. If you currently drive to work and cycling is an alternative, consider making the switch and encourage your employees to do the same. Not only will you get fitter but will be reducing the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. If you do need to drive, switch to an electric or hybrid car where possible. 

Recycle 

If you don’t already have a strict recycling policy, implement one. All businesses generate some form of waste, and it must be disposed of correctly. Provide multiple bins for different waste types and make sure they are clearly labeled. Recycling is one of the most basic tasks that a company can carry out, so there is no excuse not to.

Go greener in the kitchen

If your office kitchen is awash with paper plates, plastic cutlery and polystyrene cups, switch to standard crockery and cutlery. If you don’t already have a microwave, they heat food far more quickly than a conventional oven and will save energy. Most electrical items of this nature should have a star rating to let you know how energy efficient they are. Small changes can make a big difference.  

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Digital Marketing Tools and How Product Managers Help with Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the new wave of marketing. The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives and we use it to perform a lot of our tasks. This is why companies are looking to get their products seen on various websites and social media platforms. Digital marketing has a number of advantages over traditional marketing strategies as it allows you to reach a much wider audience in a much shorter span of time. 

Since digital marketing is being taken so seriously by many companies and professionals like product managers across the globe today there are a number of other companies that are creating software applications and services to bring some of the best digital marketing tools to the market.

What is a Digital Marketing tool?

A digital marketing tool is a software or a service that optimizes your digital marketing strategy and provides you all the valuable data you need to make your marketing strategy more effective. These tools come packed with features that will help you automate large portions of your strategy and will provide you with data to improve efficiencies. 

Features of a Digital Marketing Tool

There are a number of features that different digital marketing tools offer, but some of the most commons are:

SEO Tools

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a fairly new field within digital marketing and looks at how a search engine catagorizes and selects items that are relevant to a users search. This allows digital marketers and product managers to place their products on the internet in a way where they get the best results. SEO is usually used by smaller companies that do not have a large budget to run large scale CPC campaigns or other social media or digital marketing campaigns. Results from SEO are not instant and take a little time to see, but once positive results start appearing they tend to stay positive.

Social Media Campaign Automations



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Social media is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience. With the sheer number of social media platforms your can use to engage your customers today it is quite an important portion of any digital marketing campaign. A digital marketing tool that can help you automate certain portions of your social media campaigns can be quite helpful as it can become a little difficult to track each platform. These automations also help product managers and digital marketers save time and use it on other more pressing tasks.

Email Marketing Automations

Email marketing has proven to be 40 times more effective than social media marketing. This is because usually when a person opens an email, they do this with an intent to explore. A digital marketing tool that automates your email marketing can save you a lot of time and effort. These automations can provide customized messages for your potential customers depending on their interactions and will try to convert them to customers within a short span of time.

Lead Management

Lead management is one of the most important parts of any marketing campaign. When managing leads you need to ensure that you are in constant contact with them and they have not forgotten about your product, this also requires you to keep your customer’s attention on your product or service. Digital marketing tools come with onboard lead management programs that will help retain your leads and will generate new ones as the campaign progresses.

Client Servicing

Some digital marketing tools include features to help you service your clients better. This can be done by the tool sending you alerts or notifications when your client makes a request so that you can attend to them as soon as possible. As important as increasing your sales and onboarding new clients is, it is also crucial to ensure your existing clients are being serviced in a timely manner to ensure you retain them. Some product managers and digital marketers would even say that client retention is more important than client acquisition, because an existing client leaving your product for another due to poor service can reflect quite badly on your product.

Analytics

While you are using a digital marketing tool to run your digital marketing campaign, the tool is constantly evolving and collecting new data through trial. This data is one of the most valuable things that these tools offer. The data can show you what your customers are most responsive to and what campaigns work best for your product or service, allowing you to streamline your digital marketing campaigns and bring new levels of efficiencies.

What is Responsible for a Digital Marketing Campaign?

In most companies there are one of two people that will be responsible for running a digital marketing campaign, a digital marketer that has been brought in for this specific task or a product manager that handles the development and deployment of the product or service. A digital marketer is more specialized in creating campaigns and figuring out the target audience for a product or service and studies the market carefully to gain insights on how to efficiently run a digital marketing campaign, but will not necessarily have the depth of knowledge about the product or service as someone who is working directly in the research and development of the product.

A product manager has a much more in depth knowledge of the product or service in comparison to a digital marketer. Securing a job as a product manager is no easy task and some of the product manager interview questions can be much more technical than the questions you would ask a digital marketer. A product manager will need to have good technical knowledge as well as market knowledge. The technical knowledge will come in use when advising the developers to make changes to the product or service in accordance with the demand in the market and the marketing knowledge will help the product manager target the right audience at the right time.

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The Perfect Pitch: 4 Top Business Presentation Tips

When executives of a company want to find top people to join them, they’ll want to hire people who are well versed, knowledgeable, experienced, and professional. In order to do this, they use everything from PowerPoint presentations to stand-up testimonials of how well other employees who just joined the company like being there.

Sometimes, presenters forget that there should be a personal point to their presentations. Looking attendees in the eye, smiling at them and being congenial is extremely important. Just about everyone has attended a conference where the presenter was snooty with a stand-offish attitude that some all-important presenters portray.

Number ONE: A Good Attitude is the Most Important Ingredient to Holding a Perfect Presentation

It’s not unusual for a presenter of the business at a conference to be nervous, but the key is to present a top-notch attitude to everyone in the room. While many presenters opt for a screen in front of the room and possibly animated figures showing what their business is about, nothing tops a person who’s easy to listen to and who smiles at their audience. Attendees would much rather listen to a knowledgeable presenter than watch cartoon characters on a screen.

Number TWO: Building Enthusiasm Creates a Desire

When a presenter is totally professional and committed to their position at their company, it’s much easier to convey that enthusiasm to the attendees. If they like where their career is taking them with the company, others will see their enthusiasm and feed on it. If they’re making a decision today to join the company and work with it, knowing that their presenter has already gone through what most attendees have been dreaming about will create an intense desire to do the same.

Number Three: Offering Good Reading Material in Exquisite Folders

Everything the presenter does at the seminar should evoke a truly fine representation of the company they’re presenting, from the various brochures the attendees are following along with, to the documents they may sign. Log onto filmsourceinc.net to get ideas on many products that are needed by presenters. Many corporations order products beforehand for their presenters to hand out, such as T-Shirts, pens, folders, and products that are laminated.

Number Four: Building Up to a Terrific Ending

Once the presenter has talked about their own personal story, the history of the company and where it’s going in today’s world, they are now building up to a terrific ending. They have called on people in the audience asking them to tell why they’re here today and what they expect to gain from this seminar. They are passing out extra materials attendees can take away with them that will create more enthusiasm for the information they just heard. Many people leave with so much excitement they will join the company immediately.

Many presentations are done in large hotel rooms or in restaurants. The presenter may be a highly qualified person working with a vitamin or cosmetic company that’s searching for people they can sponsor to work with them. They may be an executive of a corporation that’s been sent out to search for people they can train to take over certain regions of the country. Regardless of the type of presentation the presenter decides to undertake, the four tips above will help them achieve their goal.

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Getting it Right: Why You Need to Think About Taxes from Day One of Your Business

One of the most important tasks for new business owners is learning about taxes. Businesses are taxed much like individuals. Further, the structure of the business often dictates the amount of taxes that will be paid. One way to learn about taxes and business is by hiring an accountant. A good accountant helps owners get it right from day one.

Getting Started

Most businesses need a federal tax identification number or employer identification number. This number identifies a company as a social security number identifies a person. It’s preferable to obtain a tax i.d. number rather than using your social security number for business documents. Visit the accountants at bswllc.com to learn more. A business owner definitely needs to consult with an accountant about whether to operate as a sole proprietor or to form a corporate structure.

Sole Proprietor

Sole proprietors put themselves at risk because they are personally liable for business debt, losses, and other liabilities. Incorporating creates an identity for the business apart from the owner. In addition, sole proprietors file business and individual tax returns together. On the other hand, there are some advantages. Sole proprietors pay the lowest tax rate of any business structure. Further, it takes less time to get the business running.

Partnerships

A partnership occurs when two or more people share ownership of a business. The partners are equally responsible for profits and losses. Partners must file a tax return for themselves and the business, which can be tedious. Another disadvantage is that partners are responsible for the debts of other partners.

A limited liability corporation (LLC) is a hybrid between a partnership and a corporation. Owners are called members. An LLC can have one or more members who file taxes on their personal returns. One of the main advantages of an LLC is having the flexibility of a partnership and the protection of a corporation.

Corporations

C Corporations have their own identity and are owned by shareholders. Owners are protected against legal and financial liability. Corporations must file income tax returns. Shareholders may have to pay taxes on money twice. They pay when the corporation makes a profit and when the profit is disbursed. Profits and losses are reported on the personal tax returns of S corporation owners. Specific criteria must be met to form an S corporation.

Different Types of tax

Businesses pay a variety of taxes including employment taxes. Owners pay FICA (Social Security and Medicare) for employees as well as federal unemployment taxes. The owner pays all unemployment taxes and half of FICA. In addition, some owners pay tax on the gross receipts of a business. Sole proprietors may be exempt from gross receipt tax. However, corporations and LLCs are most likely to pay a gross receipt tax.

Sole proprietors pay self-employment tax which is their contribution to social security and medicare. Owners pay self-employment tax if net earnings are greater than $400.00. Additionally, partners may have to pay this tax. Many business entities pay estimated taxes throughout the year. These taxes are paid periodically by those who expect to owe on a federal return. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and S-corps pay estimated taxes.

Business structure has a lot to do with what taxes are paid and when. That’s why it’s important to have an accountant in your corner. Accountants recommend organizing a business so the least amount of taxes will be owed.

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Should Tech Businesses Continue to Outsource Production to China

COVID-19 has impacted the technology supply chain as the pandemic rampages countries around the globe. In addition to other concerns with manufacturing in China, now businesses don’t know when or if their orders will arrive. There are still positives and negatives to outsourcing production to China. Companies need to look at all the factors and decide on the best option based on their specific products and customer base.

On February 27th, 2020, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, announced factories in China would finally reopen. However, their supply chain has been severely disrupted by the health issues in China, and products won’t be available as they normally would. There’s no doubt Apple’s annual profits will take a deep dive. Apple isn’t the only tech giant facing supply chain issues.

Not only is China a supplier of tech goods but also a major consumer. The pandemic in the country is certain to disrupt business on two fronts. United States tech companies are rethinking their outsourcing strategies after seeing how deeply impacted their brands might be by this latest scare. However, deciding to outsource or not isn’t an easy decision. There are many factors to consider.

U.S. Consumers May Not Buy

Some people are angry. At the root of that anger is fear over what the virus might do to the economy, to loved ones and self. Still, American customers may seek out items not made in China due to that anger and fear. Part of doing business is ensuring your customers remain happy. For some, that will mean looking for tech products made in places other than China for the time being.

Don’t Rule Out China, Though

This pandemic will pass, and China is still a vast untapped market with a ton of potential. Manufacturing is traditionally cheaper there, and the massive population provides enough workers to keep up with demand. One solution might be to keep some of your facilities in China while moving others to the United States. 

China has its own customers and traditions. Doing business there means learning the ins and outs of the culture. Understanding China will also benefit your company if you plan to sell goods to Chinese citizens. You’ll have a deeper understanding of what drives them to buy.

Communication Isn’t an Issue

In the past, language and distance was a barrier to manufacturing in other locations. However, with today’s communication and teleconferencing solutions, the walls fall, and companies are better able to stay on top of changes in the industry and management of their product manufacturing. 

Most Chinese businessmen speak excellent English. Even if they do not, interpreters are easy to hire and utilize during remote meetings.

Industry Disruption

Most business experts agree that the U.S. tech industry will see the biggest sector disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic because it relies on Chinese manufacturing. No one has a crystal ball. What seemed like fast, cheap solutions for supply and demand were the best choice at the time. Unfortunately, your organization might hurt for a bit as you work out the kinks in the new supply chain changes from the disruptions.

While you can’t do anything about where your manufacturing is at this moment, you can work up a plan to move at least part of your production back to the United States. If there is ever another pandemic or similar catastrophe, you’ll be ready to ramp up production in your U.S. plant and still meet the needs of your customers. Having an option for a Made in the USA product may appeal to some of your customers, too.

Elements Impacting Your Bottom Line

There are many factors that make manufacturing in China cost more than in the past. New tariffs put in place happen when goods enter the country. The fees add to the overall cost of manufacturing in China. You also must weigh the additional cost of lengthy shipping. With COVID-19 concerns, your products might get held up in quarantine as well.

The cost of manufacturing in China isn’t as cheap as it once was. The cost of living has gone up in the country. Wages are higher, and manufacturing costs more than before.

While it’s likely still cheaper to product tech products in Asia, weigh out all the factors. The U.S. may temporarily ease import taxes to allow the import of medical supplies and other goods in high demand. However, there will come the point where those tariffs are put back in place, so plan for the future and not for today.

Other Disruptions in the Tech Industry

The Wuhan district of China was ground zero and production all but stopped for a while in the country. Wuhan is one of the top manufacturers of optic fiber pieces and is known as “Optics Valley.” For example, the lack of optics could impact 5G networks. The exports of electrical components from China to North America dropped 50% due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Lack of product may drive consumers to seek out other solutions and impact your company’s bottom line. Since the second half of the fiscal year is a time of rolling out new products and gearing up for holiday sales, the second half of 2020 may be a severe challenge to North American tech companies.

Should You Outsource to China?

Only you can answer the question of whether outsourcing to China is in the best interests of your brand. Keep in mind that there are other places you can manufacture products, both in the domestic U.S. and outside of it. If you currently have plants in the country, don’t rule out other solutions. Instead, take stock of where you are and if it would be best to diversify and have plants in a variety of places or move work back to the U.S. instead.

Economies around the world will suffer in the coming months as everyone tries to recover from the globe shutting down to contain an unseen enemy. There is something to be said for adding opportunities for jobs and bringing manufacturing back to your local economy. However, you also have to consider if the option is one that is affordable to you as a business owner and still allows you to run a profitable tech company.

Lexie is a digital nomad and graphic designer. If she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

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What are the Main Services Digital Marketing Companies Offer?

As
we move closer to a more prominent online world, the buying patterns
and behaviour of customers also tends to shift as more and more of them
get comfortable with making purchase decisions through the internet. The
new objective for businesses is to understand how to implement online
marketing strategies in the ever changing marketplace. 

All businesses will have to make this shift regardless of the industry they cater to in order to grow and expand their business operations. This is what digital marketing service companies specialize in, they provide businesses with the right marketing tools for the purpose of increasing brand awareness and to generate new leads while still retaining their loyal customers.

Digital marketing companies help existing and traditional businesses
transition into the modern day digital marketing techniques. They aid in
the process of enabling businesses to market their product on the
internet in order to increase their customer base and to generate
revenue as well as new leads. For this to be successful, the first step
is to establish an online presence, as this will be the first point of
contact for new potential buyers. Digital marketing companies provide
specific tools that are used for the purpose of advancing a product or
brand image on the internet.

Why Is Digital Marketing Absolutely Necessary?

To give you a better understanding of what digital marketing companies do, let’s look at some of the services they offer. The company WEBFX is a marketing firm that has been around since 1996 and is considered to be one of the first digital marketing agencies that achieved success.

They provide customizable marketing strategies based on what your
business does and the product you sell. Most digital marketing companies
will provide you with a highly qualified team of experts that consist
of award winning and well renowned designers and web developers so that
your business can increase its online presence. The first step is to
create a website that is easy to navigate and is clutter free. Some of
the most sought after services that digital marketing companies offer
are listed as follows.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Conversion rate optimization, website call tracking, programmatic
advertising services, page speed optimization, SEO audits and pricing,
competitor geofencing advertising and more. 

Creative and UX Design

E-commerce development, website cost calculator, landing page design,
user experience testing, ADA compliance services, UX website redesign
and website maintenance.

Content and Analytics

Social media design, voice search optimization, online review
management, email marketing management services, lead nurture pricing,
web video production, personalized web content, motion graphics and
infographics creation.

Apart from these, many digital marketing agencies also offer pitch
deck design, content creation and distribution, e-commerce web design
and marketing, social media advertising and marketing, logo creation,
branding and packaging design, Google Ads and Pay Per Click (PPC)
Advertising.

What is the Role of a Social Media Manager?

Social media marketing is another branch of online marketing that
specializes in creating, distributing and sharing content on social
media platforms in order to improve the brand image of a business and to
increase their online presence. This could be in the form of creating
and uploading pictures, gifs, text and videos on social media sites such
as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Mastodon, Tumblr and
YouTube. 

By doing this, businesses can engage with their customer base
directly as well as interact with new audiences by following up on their
replies, comments, etc. When new users like and repost content, they
also generate leads from their followers as well. This, in turn can lead
to new leads being generated and can increase the conversion rate of a
business at a faster pace.

There are many different types of social media platforms that a business can use, depending on who their target audience is. The 6 types of social media are listed as follows. Businesses who do not have a strong internet foothold or web presence can hire a social media manager online to ease the process. 

Some of the tasks that social media managers specialize in are brand
statistics and brand management strategies, content creation and
distribution, social analytics, competitor and influencer research, paid
advertising campaigns, copywriting, reputation management as well as
community management. Under the social media marketing umbrella, the
main fields are listed as follows.

Planning Social Media StrategiesSocial Media Influencer CampaignsGenerating Social Media Buzz and TrafficSocial Media Management



Community Blogs

Community blogs such as Medium, Tumblr, etc. gives users the
opportunity to express themselves, their thoughts and opinions. This can
help them connect with like-minded individuals, companies, brands and
products.

Discussion Sites

Online discussion websites can also be a good way to increase your
social standings. Websites such as Reddit and Quora are designed in such
a way where anyone can add, comment and share information on a
particular product or company.

If you are a business owner, it is advisable to approach the services of a digital marketing firm as well as a social media marketing consultant as they can give you a much better insight on the latest marketing strategies and social opportunities in order to ensure that your business grows a robust online presence which can have a direct impact on the revenue your firm can generate. Having a strong presence on the internet will give your business a competitive advantage and ensure that you stay well ahead of the curve.

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Start or Invest in a Defensive Company

While the timing isn’t perfect to either start a new business or invest in a business, it’s always good to prepare and plan for when the timing is right. The current state of the national economy in the US provides us with some insights on how to get through difficult times. Some companies are doing better than others and will continue to do so if the situation gets worse. Why is that?

What is a Defensive Company?

You can determine whether a company is defensive or not by looking at how publicly listed companies performed during the financial crisis of 2008 and smaller downturns in the last 12 years since then. A more recent example would be to monitor how companies are doing during the current coronavirus outbreak which is having a massive impact on the stock markets and private companies alike.

You want to find companies whose sales and earnings remain stable under severe market conditions. Another good indicator is that sales and profits stay stable both when the economy is strong and when it’s on a downturn. The advantages of a defensive company usually stem from their stability. Typically, defensive companies make and sell products that are evergreen, no matter economic conditions, such as necessities that everyone needs or products that help people get through difficult times. A quick Google search will likely provide you with a list of strong defensive companies having a good track record of surviving in difficult times.

When you started identifying a couple of defensive companies, you can start drawing some conclusions based on common denominators, most often coming down to similar business areas or business models.

A Couple of Defensive Business Sectors

So, you will probably find that most defensive companies belong to specific business sectors and industries. We will go through a couple based on the risk profile from high to low.

Higher Risk Sectors

One of the biggest struggles for a company is to make people return to their product or service and remain as paying customers. You want people to get hooked and return to using a product or service again and again. Some products, such as online casinos are naturally engaging, where people return to play in the pursuit of winning money. There is a value proposition in online casinos where a person could wager as little as one US dollar and have the chance to get substantial returns by winning a jackpot on a slot machine. People have gambled since the beginning of civilization and today gambling is widespread and easily accessible through the internet and mobile devices.

The online casino industry is a relatively young industry, yet it’s blooming and it can be profitable even for small sized companies. We had a word with the PR representative of LiveCasinoKings, a small marketing company, operating in the online gambling industry. We contacted them to find out how smaller sized companies are dealing with the current situation. Even during these times of uncertainty, it’s business-as-usual for them and they continue to invest in the same marketing initiatives because people tend to continue to play even during financial downturns. Though he did advise that people do play to a lesser extent, they still continue to do so, and people with very strong private finances continue to play just the same. This enables smaller companies and larger operators such as The Stars Group to perform better than the broader market because they can maintain stable earnings and revenues.

Medium Risk Sectors

Businesses that deal with consumer goods such as food and beverage is pretty much the quintessence of defensive. People always need to buy food and beverages to survive despite current financial conditions. While people go out and eat less, spend less money on non-essential or more expensive food or beverage options, they continue to buy essential and cheap items.

One such company is Coca Cola, this company doesn’t need a lot of introduction. It’s good to know that they have extensive food holdings besides their beverage products, and their entire portfolio consists of over 500 different brands with availability in more than 200 countries.

After the market crash of 1987, a well-known investor by the name of Warren Buffett made a value play on Coca Cola. The company had taken a lot of betting, such as every other company. Warren recognized that it was a great brand, a  well-run company dealing with consumer goods that will always be in demand and had remained relatively stable earnings and was poised for recovery. So he took a bet and bought over 6% of the company for $1 Billion US Dollars in the consecutive years. The rest, as they say, is history.

Lower Risk Sectors

Infrastructure and utility are extraordinarily stable and low-risk options. We always need water, electricity, and internet service providers, for example. These industries tend to lag behind during economic expansions, but they do provide a lot of padding in economic downturns as the demand for services remains stable.

One such utility company is Aqua America, which is one of the largest water companies in the US.

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Organizing a Corporate 5k: Five Race-Day Logistics Challenges and How to Solve Them

So you’ve decided your company is going to put on a 5k running race. Whether it’s raising money for charity, celebrating a company milestone, or just supporting the community, a 5k can bring positive attention to your company and build teamwork for your employees while encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

Organizing a 5k has its challenges. The first ones that come to mind are deciding when the race will be held, the course path, and building a web page and advertising your 5k. But there are several race-day logistical challenges that you need to be prepared for in order to ensure that your event runs smoothly from start to finish and that everyone can enjoy the day.

Directing traffic

If any part of your 5k will be run on roads, you may need to get a city permit to ensure that those roads are closed during your race. At the very least, hire a police officer to direct traffic to ensure the safety of your runners. Another place you may need to direct traffic is in the parking lot of your race. If there is limited parking available, have a few volunteers to help guide athletes and spectators to maximize the available parking space.

Aid stations and finish line food and drink

Since a 5k isn’t very long, you can probably get away with having one aid station on the course at about the halfway point with water only. Part of the fun of running a 5k is the finish line food! If you can’t get a sponsor to provide you with food, try to have a variety of grab-and-go foods available at the end of your race. Things like bananas or bagels go over well with runners! Make sure you have plenty of water and sports drinks for your runners at the end of your race too.

Race shirts

One of the best parts of running a 5k is the shirt that you receive for participating. You can design your shirt from RushOrderTees or select a pre-made design. Be sure you include your company logo, the date and distance of the race, and the name of the event or charity you are supporting.

Directing traffic on the course

Even if your race stays off of city streets, if the course has any intersections at all it would be wise to not only have signs directing runners but have a volunteer stationed at each intersection or turn as well. Making a wrong turn in a race is a major let-down, so have both a sign and a volunteer to make sure you keep all the runners on the right path.

Course timing

To help with the logistics of keeping track of finishers, consider hiring a timing company. They can handle the details of setting up the start and finish lines, as well as providing real-time data to those ultra-competitive runners who want to know how quickly they finished the course.

A corporate 5k is a great way to stay involved with your community, build teamwork, or raise money for charity. Keep these race-day challenges in mind when you plan your race, and it’s sure to go off without a hitch!

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3 Things to Consider When Choosing an Email Service Provider

Once you’ve written your processes, designed your e-commerce store, and are ready to get trading, the next thing you’ll need to do is be able to communicate with your potential and current customers effectively. One of the tried and tested methods for doing so is by using email. It is a low cost and high deliverability solution for customer marketing and communication and allows for several benefits, depending on what you’ll be using the communications for. Let’s have a look at three things you need to consider before you choose an email service provider for your business email sending needs.

What Kind of Email Will You Be Sending?

Will your business be sending bulk email to your users and customers in the form of email marketing campaigns, specials, and newsletters, or will your email sending needs be more transactional, sending email based on your user or customer’s interactions with your company? This will have a big impact on the email service provider you end up choosing.

The complexity is added to this decision because most businesses will have the need to send both different types of email to their customers, and when you choose a service for email sending, you’ll need to make the call on whether you want one that will provide both bulk and transactional services for your business, or if you prefer to keep these separate. 

What is Your Technical Capability?

Some email service providers will have incredibly powerful and strong tools for software and web developers that can take advantage of their APIs, allowing you to customize every part of your email sending process within your business software. While these features are really useful if you have the technical ability, or if you employ software developers who can leverage off these advantages, if you’re looking for something simpler, you might not consider this an advantage. Instead, you might want to opt for a user-friendly console-based implementation that makes setting up and integrating the mail service provider with your online store quick and easy.

You Need Scalability

While scalability is the example we’ll use here, what we’re really suggesting is to make a full comparison of price plans offered by different mail providers. The two big players in the market, Mailgun and SendGrid, both offer quite different pricing options and plans for their services. It might affect your decision so you should learn the difference between the two offerings by making a direct comparison. You can do this easily on the PieSync website. One might offer the ability to send more emails in total per month but might limit the number of email addresses you can send a promotional mail to, so if you’re using the service for bulk email, it might not work for you.

Now that you have the information and knowledge that you need to make the correct decision on which email provider you should choose for your needs, you’re in a position to communicate effectively with your customers – whether they need confirmation of orders from your online store or you want to run customer retention campaigns.

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AudFree Tidal Music Converter Review

Tidal, a popular music streaming service,
which is famous with its HiFi quality of music. On Tidal, users can enjoy
better listening experience with lots of music. But you are only allowed to
enjoy Tidal music tracks with the Tidal app or web player due to the copy right
protection.

To rip the protection, there are many tools that can help. If you are looking for a more professional program, maybe AudFree Tidal Music Converter is the best choice for you. Now, let’s check out the full review of AudFree Tidal Music Converter below.

AudFree Tidal Music Converter Review

To use Tidal, you need to subscribe to Tidal Premium or HiFi plan, then you could listen to music on it. Although you can download the music from Tidal, you can’t get them to play on other devices. But with AudFree Tidal Music Converter, the protection from Tidal music will be removed and Tidal music will be converted as local files on your computer.And it allows you to convert songs, albums, playlists, etc. from Tidal to multiple audio formats, such as FLAC, M4A, MP3, etc. You can edit and manage ID3 tags, sample rate, bit rate, channels, etc. for Tidal music as you like.

Main
Features of AudFree Tidal Music Converter

As an all-in-one Tidal music downloader,
AudFree Tidal Music Converter covers all the required features that you
require.

Availability and Performance

AudFree Tidal Music Converter is just a 2MB
application, which can be downloaded and installed on your computer quickly. It
can work on both Windows and Mac operating system. And to use it properly, you
must have the latest version of the Tidal app on your Windows or Mac.

For using it on Windows, it requires
Windows 7, 8 or 10, while on Mac OS, it can run on Mac OS 10.8 or later. And
the common point is both your Windows and Mac OS must have 512MB or higher of
RAM with 1G Hz processor or above.

User-friendly User
Interface

When you open the AudFree Tidal Music
Converter, you will easily and quickly understand how does the program work. You
can get all the controls on the main interface since everything is shown on it.

Support Multiple Output
Audio Format

With AudFree Tidal Music Converter, you can
convert your Tidal music into 6 different kinds of audio formats, including
AAC, M4B, M4A, WAV, MP3 and FLAC. You could just convert the music to the
compatible formats for listening on other devices.

100% Original Audio
Quality

While using AudFree Tidal Music Converter,
you don’t need to worry about the audio quality it outputs. You can personalize
the output audio formats and other audio parameters as you want. Adjust the bit
rate ranging from 8 kbps to 320 kbps and define the sample rate from the range
among 8000 Hz to 48000 Hz.

Manage Tidal Music with
Ease

AudFree Tidal Music Converter can automatically save the songs by Songs Title, Artists, Albums, playlists, etc. so that you can easily manage and adjust the Tidal music as you want.

Verdict:
Although there are lots of powerful features of
AudFree Tidal Music Converter, however, there is no mobile version available and
it couldn’t work with the Tidal app from Windows Store.

Price
of AudFree Tidal Music Converter

AudFree offers two versions for users, the
free version and the paid version. Below are the details of the two versions.

Free Version:

With the free version of AudFree Tidal
Music Converter, you can test the program and use it to convert and download
Tidal song you want. But it only allows you to convert the first one minute of
each song.

Paid Version:

As for the paid version, there are three
plans for your choice. They are Single-User License, Family License and
Single-Bundle License. After using the full version of AudFree Tidal Music
Converter, you can convert and download the songs completely without any limitation.
And you can enjoy the lifetime free support and updates if there is any issue
with the program.

How
to Convert and Download Tidal Music

What surprises me is the simple steps to
use AudFree Tidal Music Converter to download and convert audio tracks from
Tidal. In this part, we will show the detailed tutorial on how does it work.

Step 1. Download and install AudFree Tidal Music Converter on your computer. Then open the program on your desktop and you will see Tidal app will launch in the background at the same time.

Step 2. Log into your account on Tidal app and find the song that you want to download. Once you find it, click the ‘three-dot’ icon > ‘Share’ > ‘Copy Track Link’ or ‘Copy Playlist Link’ to copy the URL of the song.

Step 3. Go to the AudFree Tidal Music Converter program and paste the copied link of the song to the search bar at the top of the main interface. Then click the ‘+’ icon to import the audio track.

Step 4. To define the audio settings, hit on the Menu icon at the top right and choose ‘Preference’ > ‘Convert’ option. After the setting, click ‘OK’.

Step 5. At last, touch on the ‘Convert’ button to start the conversion. After the conversion, you could find the converted Tidal music files by clicking the ‘Converted’ button.

Final
Thought:

Now, it’s time to make a conclusion. After
testing the AudFree Tidal Music Converter, it is obviously that AudFree program
is easy to use. With such professional tool of multiple features, you can
easily download and listen to Tidal music anywhere and anytime without any
restriction.

This being the end of the post ‘AudFree
Tidal Music Converter Review’. If you like to listen to Tidal music, then we
would like to recommend you to give a try of this powerful tool.

The post AudFree Tidal Music Converter Review appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.