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How to Promote Gender Equality in the Workplace [Infographic]

August 20, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Info graphic courtesy of Fundera

Gender equality is achieved when there is an even playing field in terms of opportunities for either gender in workplaces around the globe. And while our society has taken huge leaps in recent years to help bridge this gap, there is still a lot of work to be done. Inequality can be seen in a variety of industries in things like a pay gap, sexual harassment, gender biases and an absence of women in managerial roles.

For instance, did you know that while companies that have high levels of gender diversity are 15% more likely to outperform their competitors, only 38% of managerial roles are held by women? Data has proven that both companies and their employees benefit when women are given more of an equal say and help to lead the company in the right direction. But many companies are still behind when it comes to actually implementing best practices for inclusion.

In honor of equal pay day just around the corner (August 26th), the team at Fundera took a deep dive into the issue of gender inequality in the workplace, what employers can do to help mend this systematic issue and lessons women can learn from inspiring women who have climbed the corporate ladder in spite of all the roadblocks in their way.

 

Gender Equality In The Workplace

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Filed Under: Guest Post, infographic Tagged With: Fundera, gender equality, infographic

Debunking the Myth of Overnight Success [Infographic]

August 8, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Entrepreneurial achievement is a hot topic for many business publications. In fact, it can sometimes seem like the business world is obsessed with the extraordinary stories of overnight success. That’s why it’s important to remember that these stories are indeed unlikely and that we often don’t hear about the preparation work or even the multiple failures that successful entrepreneurs face before making it big.

Things change quickly in small business, as many founders will tell you. While startups offer opportunities for accelerated success, they also come with a high chance of failure. Though the emphasis is often put on the quality of the idea, the reality is that sudden success is usually the result of years of hard work—and failures.

The team at Credit.com retraced the journies of some of the most high profile entrepreneurs in the world. They found that many successful businesses began as humble ideas and went  through multiple iterations before becoming profitable. This might come as an ecouraging reminder to entrepreneurs to keep working, create realistic timelines, be flexible, and learn from each failure.

 

Overnight Success

Infographic courtesy of https://www.credit.com/

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship & Business, Guest Post, infographic Tagged With: entrepreneur, founder, infographic, overnight success, startup

11 Ways Your Small Business Can Avoid The Summer Slump [Infographic]

August 7, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

During summer months from June through September, 53% of workers report feeling distracted. This phenomenon is so common, it now has its own name — the summer slump.

The slump kicks into high gear as high temperatures and summer vacations become office commonplace. 25% of employees report actually feeling less productive during summer months, as they get weary and lose motivation.

Summer also marks the mid-year point, so employees who don’t have a vacation on the horizon will begin to experience burnout. Consequently, a majority of American employees report that they don’t think their employer does enough to prevent this burnout.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, your business productivity can really suffer if you don’t actively engage your employees with nontraditional leadership ideas. Thinking outside of the box will pay off in the long run, so don’t be prepared to switch up routine and take risks during summer months.

Some unconventional tips include:

  1. Increase flexibility during summer months: Consider remote work days and summer hours.
  2. Relax your in-office atmosphere to reflect the slow season: Casual dress code, pet policies, and more can help your employees relax!
  3. Ditch tradition: Consider planning weekly events you wouldn’t have time to do in fall, such as offsite meetings and team building activities.

If you do see a decline in your workers productivity this summer, don’t panic. Remember that this phenomenon is common — but start taking steps to avoid it today. Read on for 11 tips from Fundera to avoid the summer slump.

 

11 Ways Your Small Business Can Avoid The Summer Slump

From Fundera.com

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Filed Under: Guest Post, infographic Tagged With: Fundera, infographic, productivity, summer slump

How to host an eco-friendly conference by Anja Dolphin at @IDentilam

August 6, 2019 by Guest Post 1 Comment

Registration at TED2017 – The Future You, April 24-28, 2017, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED

by Anja Dolphin

Each year about 18 billion pounds of plastic enters the world’s ocean. Let that sink in…

Our throwaway society is having a serious negative effect on the environment and the only way we can make a change is if individuals and organizations start acting to reduce the amount of plastic and waste that they produce.

Think of the amount of waste that is produced from the thousands of conferences and events that are held every year. That’s a significant amount that could easily be reduced if conferences were designed with sustainability in mind.

Even small changes can make a big difference so when you’re planning your next conference here’s a few ways you make it eco-friendlier.

Choose your venue wisely

The venue where your conference will be held is perhaps one of the most important things to consider. You need to make sure that it has everything you need to make your conference a success and that it is the right size for the number of attendees. This doesn’t mean you can’t be conscious when choosing your venue though. Searching for venues that are committed to reducing waste and recycling is a good place to start. If the venue is devoted to being sustainable already, you will be able to work together seamlessly to create the perfect eco-friendly conference.

The location of the venue should also be thought-out and a local venue that is centrally located should be prioritized. This means attendees, suppliers and employees won’t have to travel as far thus reducing carbon footprints. Of course, this will depend very much on the number of attendees and where they are coming from.

Go digital

Conferences and similar events are known for excessive use of paper and materials. Whether it’s floor maps, programs, name badges, brochures or general marketing materials the industry tends to overdo it on the tangible resources.
With sustainability in mind when planning your next conference things such as reusable name badges, recycling materials from previous events, digital invitations and creating resources from recycled materials will all help in creating a green event.

Rather than using traditional marketing techniques change your focus to digital marketing to promote your conference. Social media, a dedicated website and email marketing works just as effectively as well as being faster and cheaper. A bold move such as going paperless and taking everything online will instantly make your event eco-friendlier.

Choose sustainable catering

Some may say that picking the perfect caterers is just as important as choosing the venue itself and they might be right. Food production involves a huge amount of materials and waste so it’s important, to make your conference truly green, that you pick a caterer who ethically sources local food and is dedicated to sustainability.

Using biodegradable or reusable plates, bowls, cutlery, cups and food packaging is also essential. These items are so readily available these days and it doesn’t mean that you have to forgo style or practicality.

Use solar power

Conferences use a huge amount of energy in lighting, sound and staging but using solar power can be a fantastic way to save energy. Most sound and lighting equipment can be run on solar power and an increasing amount of organisations are now using solar energy to power their events. Looking into implementing solar panels will take your eco-friendly conference to the next level.

Recycling bins

It may be the most obvious thing to think about but it’s vital to ensure that you have recycling bins scattered around your conference venue. Set up clearly labelled recycling stations making them unmissable so that attendees understand that sustainability is an important part of the conference.

It’s all well and good organizing a sustainable event but thinking about the aftermath and how you’re going to recycle the waste after the conference is just as crucial. Make sure you plan to send your waste to be recycled in advance.

Creating an eco-friendly conference is the perfect way to make a positive impact and encourage everyone to give back to the environment. Show your commitment to the cause by making it a dominant theme throughout the marketing for your event and whilst the conference is being hosted. If your attendees are aware of the sustainability policy they should hopefully turn up willing to help you make your green event a success.

 

Anja Dolphin
Digital at Identilam – the badging company

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Filed Under: Conferences & Events, Guest Post Tagged With: Anja Dolphin, conference planning tips, eco-friendly, eco-friendly business, go green, Identilam

5 Things To Measure To Make Sure Your Web Strategy Is On Track by Tavasya Agarwal of @digitalpart

July 31, 2019 by Guest Post 1 Comment

by Tavasya Agarwal

It’s great to see what’s working but also why it’s working. This is why analytics tools are vital to the success of your digital marketing success. They tell you everything you need to know, such as how customers behave on your website, success from social shares and open rates from emails.

However, with all this information available, it can be easy to get lost in the data and end up using it wrong. What was once a source of great content can turn into an irrelevant resource, leading to increased exit rates and decreased traffic.

To prevent this from happening, this article will show you 5 things to measure in Google Analytics to make sure your web strategy is on track.

While there are plenty of other analytics tools available, Google Analytics is available to anyone, so everyone reading can see the best metrics to track.

 

1. Conversions

This is arguably the number one reason why you are using analytics in the first place. Conversions are important to measure because you can figure out where your traffic is coming from and where it is heading to.

Tracking conversions will help you make better marketing decisions. You can identify the keywords associated with your business so you can improve future campaigns, increasing your sales over time.

A conversion event is recorded in Google Analytics when a visitor takes the exact action you wanted to achieve. This can be loading up a specific webpage or purchasing a product from your store.

Google Analytics lets you track all sorts of conversions, including those mentioned above and custom events. To enable Google Analytics to track conversions, you must first set up goal tracking.

Which brings us to the next metric:

 

2. Goals

Goals in Google Analytics measure how well your website meets your target objectives. Examples include when a user watches a video for x-number of minutes or downloading a free eBook or PDF from your website.

Defining goals is important for any web strategy. Configuring them correctly can provide you with valuable information like the aforementioned number of conversions and also conversion rates and bounce rates.

Without this information, you cannot evaluate how effective your marketing campaign is.

To set up goals in Google Analytics, select Conversions > Goals > Overview > Set up goals. You’ll be taken to the Admin tab.

From here, you can either create your own goal or choose from a selection created by the community. There are thousands to choose from so you’ll likely find one that is relevant to you.

 

3. Traffic Sources

Another useful analytics metric, Traffic Sources shows you where all your traffic is coming from. It includes organic search traffic, traffic generated through paid advertising, referrals and social media. In this section, you can compare how each channel fares at generating visitors to your website.

Knowing where your traffic is coming from allows you to make adjustments to your web strategy. If you are doing well through one source, you can increase your efforts to make it even more effective at bringing in leads.

If you aren’t generated much traffic from another channel, you can investigate why this is and make improvements. This could be as simple as replacing the type of content shared through that medium or making a change to the entire approach.

To access Traffic Sources, select Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium. You will be presented with a list of exactly where visitors are coming from and how they arrived there.

Engagement is key to success from marketing and this section can provide a lot of useful data to make sure your web strategy is on track.

 

4. Bounce Rate

This was touched upon briefly earlier in the post but here’s a more detailed look into it. Bounce rate represents how often a visitor enters your website and then leaves shortly after.

Generally speaking, Google penalizes websites with high bounce rates. It’s a sign that the website is either not relevant to the search query or that the content on the website is low-quality. This means that it’s important for each landing page to contain high-quality content to keep visitors engaged and satisfied.

However, bounce rate will vary between the different types of websites. For example, if your landing page instructs someone to call you and they do but they also leave your page, you will have a high bounce rate but still get a lead.

For the most part though, it’s important to keep an eye on your own to avoid dropping in Google’s search results.

You can view your website’s overall bounce rate by selecting Behavior > Overview. Bounce rate is displayed directly below the main graph. From here, you can narrow down to each individual page and discover its own bounce rate.

 

5. Behavior Flow

This final thing to measure to make sure your web strategy is on track is one of the most exciting features of Google Analytics. Behavior Flow lets you see the exact journey the visitor goes through once they have arrived at your site.

This is great information to have because you can see how customers are flowing through your marketing funnel. You can see which content is best at converting customers and which has a large drop-off rate.

For content that does well, you can push to promote this more to increase traffic and get more leads. For content that struggles with high drop-off rates, you can go back and make changes which will improve your funnel, reducing the drop-offs and start collecting more leads and conversions.

In Behavior Flow, this is all displayed in a flowchart. To get there, select Behavior > Behavior Flow. You’ll be presented with the flowchart automatically.

 

Conclusion

Analytics can be tough to get your head around, especially if you have never used them before. While there is lots you can learn, these 5 metrics within the easy-to-use Google Analytics tool are worth measuring by every marketing team to ensure the web strategy remains on track.

 

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Tavasya Agarwal is an analyst for Digital Authority Partners, a marketing and digital strategy company headquartered in Chicago.

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Filed Under: Guest Post, Leadership, Sales & Marketing Tagged With: Leadership, marketing, Tavasya Agarwal

Women in eCommerce: They Nailed It, Can You? Part II by Veronika Vaghina of @x_cart

July 30, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

by Veronika Vaghina

A month ago or so I’ve written a post about successful women-owned eCommerce businesses and I’m so happy and proud that people still keep retweeting it.

At the IRCE conference in Chicago women came up to our team (I currently work at X-Cart) to chat about the post and our company policy: we do not make any difference about our client’s gender. We work with people.

So, I don’t feel like I have to stop with a single post: X-Cart has so many examples of women in eCommerce in store for you. And I’ve got this feeling that I just have to share their experience today to have more stories in the future. I hope the success stories will inspire you not to be afraid of selling online.

Ann N Eve

Anahid Sarkissian is the founder, owner and designer of Ann N Eve eCommerce store, selling Western Wear apparel and accessories for over 30 years, 15 (!) of them online.

Anahid handles all the operations and decisions herself — it’s her business, after all.

Anahid is a lucky woman: she adores her job. What is her job by the way? She’s creating exclusive one-of-a-kind designs for special occasions and also does wholesale and retail (even for celebrities).

Ann N Eve is a unique eCommerce store as Anahid mostly sells her own designs, and the prices are quite affordable. 😉 She is successful as she listens to her customers: they can request a longer or shorter length, color, waist size and such.

Anahid shows us that it’s possible to become demanded in every niche. But! You should love what you do.

 

mix4max

Annelies Liemburg, the owner of mix4max.com, has been in various types of businesses for more than 30 years, and mix4max.com is not her first online business.

Annalies sells all possible types of kitchenware. She doesn’t have a huge team. So all the members do what is necessary for the business: buying, calculating, writing descriptions, adding images, contacting customers, etc.

It is important for Annalies to provide customers with honest information and good customer service.

 

Trading Phrases

Morgan Battisti is the owner of Trading Phrases, an online store selling decals (check them out!).

Morgan and her business help people express their personality — both at home and in the office. You can find over 5,000 decals in the online store. Got an idea? Custom design is available, too. Contact Morgan’s team and create something unique together.

What is Morgan Battisti unique selling proposition [ https://www.x-cart.com/blog/unique-selling-proposition.html ]?

At Trading Phrases they offer a money-back guarantee — people are not afraid of purchasing from this store. They know they can get their money back in case they are not satisfied with what they buy.
Personal approach — custom design is available. Trading Phrases helps clients express their individuality.

 

I’m proud to be a part of these stories and, hopefully, once I’ll be sharing yours.

If you feel like you have something to share — feel free to contact me via Twitter. Let’s tell your story together.

 

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Veronika is a Marketing Manager at X-Cart. The company provides X-Cart, an open-source eCommerce platform, along with the full range of services for online business. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and reading.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship & Business, Guest Post, She Owns It Tagged With: Ecommerce, ecommerce tools, female founder, female founders, women in ecommerce

17 Signs That You are Ready to Leave a Corporate World Behind and Start a Business by @Tetyana_Art

July 12, 2019 by Guest Post 1 Comment

by Tatyana Artemova

A job isn’t just a job, it is who you are.

Imagine this: You have a highly paid job, nice and friendly colleagues, and everything seems just fine. For others. But not for you.

You are feeling irritated and unsatisfied with your job more and more often. You really hate the company bureaucracy and limitations at work.

But why?

Most people feel comfortable with all that stability and safety, but not you…

Don’t worry, you are OK. Probably it is time.

It is time to think about quitting your 9-5 and start building your own empire.

If you have doubts, check the list of 17 KEY signs that you are ready to leave a corporate world behind and dive into the exciting world of entrepreneurship:

  1. You wake up with negative thoughts about what you do

Each morning you have to put all the efforts to get prepared for a new working day and force yourself to go to the office. Not a very positive start, agree?

  1. Any thought about a corporate world is a nightmare

You feel depressed every time you get an email or a message in chat related to your daily job. Definitely, it shouldn’t be that way. Such feelings can lead to soon stress.

  1. You have no inspiration at work

New tasks and projects do not inspire you anymore. The only thought you have in mind when getting a new task is “Again to handle this…” If it happens, you should quit.

  1. You don’t have a desire to generate new ideas and solutions

You are ambitious and creative enough but no new ideas are coming to your mind when it goes about your daily job.

  1. You are waiting when the working day is over

Every morning you start thinking about the evening. You wait for an opportunity to leave this boring office atmosphere and spend time generating new ideas, writing your blog, reading books, mastering skills, listening to online courses, and just dedicating time to self-growth.

  1. You don’t understand your top management

You are told that you have all the freedom to implement your ideas, but in fact, it is not really so. The vision of your bosses differ from what you have, so there is no reason to stay there longer. It is time to become the boss of your own life.

  1. You never feel appreciation on what you do

If you do not feel valued and your work is not appreciated, you will never have the desire to do more for this company. So, think about the change.

  1. No rest even during the day-offs

If you often feel stressed at work and cannot recharge your batteries even after the weekends, this can result in psychological disorders. There is no job in the world that should harm your health and bring negativity to the daily life.

  1. You are not getting new skills

If you spent a year or more at the company and there is no development and self-growth for you, it is time to leave and start developing new skills, mastering new languages and growing.

  1. You are not productive

Productivity at work is closely connected with positive thinking, motivation and personal goals. If you don’t have all these, your productivity will be low and you will hardly enjoy the process. In this case, you are ready for a change!

  1. You work hard but see no results

Have you noticed how much efforts you put to your work, but see no results? Definitely, it depends on the goals you have, but without regular results, you can burn out quickly and see no light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe, you feel tired or just doing something that is not your calling.

  1. You don’t have a private life

You forgot about the time you spent with family and friends because of your job. You feel stressed about no private life at all. This is the sign that you should change your life completely.

  1. Your goal is to bring more value rather than get the status “Employee of the month”

If values and principles mean more for you than money and status you should definitely move forward and create something great outside of your current corporate structure. Probably you’ve already started to share useful content on your social media or even run your own blog, so it is time to think about scaling up.

  1. You don’t feel happy doing what you are doing

If you don’t enjoy the process and do not invest energy in what you are doing daily, you will never feel happy at work. So, why to continue this?

  1. The atmosphere at the company is negative

If the atmosphere at the company is depressing, people are constantly complaining and the only talks with colleagues are about negative aspects of work, there are two possible ways out – either to improve the situation and start an inspiring team or quit the game and leave the company.

  1. You dream about financial and personal freedom

The more you work the more you feel imprisonment and think about new opportunities, dream about traveling and planning your life the way you want. You can control your life, just take the first step and you’ll see the results.

  1. You are always inspired thinking about your own business

If you get energy talking to people who create, if you dream about your own project where you can control everything, take the first step to start your own business.

And finally…

If you feel inspired by entrepreneurship, business ideas, and bringing value to society – unlock new horizons and start building your company in order to make this world better.  Always believe in yourself because you were created for something BIG!

 

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About the author:

Tania Artemova is a Founder at IStartHub, an online platform for entrepreneurs where everyone can find coaches, business ideas and inspiration.

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/istarthub/

Gravatar email – art.tetyana@gmail.com

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6 expenses solopreneurs should track for taxes

July 11, 2019 by Guest Post 1 Comment

by Paul Koullick

As a solo-entrepeneur, you’re juggling a lot of balls at once — sometimes flaming torches — and so expense tracking often falls between the cracks. It isn’t until April 14th at 11 pm that you really start kicking yourself because “I’m sure I’m forgetting something!”. At Keeper, we’ve helped thousands of freelancers through tax time, and we’ve seen some patterns. Last tax season, Keeper ran a study to discover the most often missed tax write offs.

The resulting list, below, represents the tax write offs that are most often forgotten. The smart thing to do is to keep track of during the year, so that when tax time comes around, you’re not giving Uncle Sam more than he deserves.

 

Rideshare trips

Uber / Lyft rides on the way to a work event are considered tax deductible transportation expenses. Unfortunately, since these services offer no physical receipts, it can be difficult to keep track of them during the year. At tax time, remembering whether a particular ride 8 months ago was work-related is near-impossible. That’s why marking trips down when they happen is critical and will save you a huge headache at the end of the year.

 

Software expenses

Like rideshare trips, digital purchases often don’t leave a paper trail. That means it can be hard to keep track of them. Whether it’s buying a stock photo, paying for a domain hosting software, or other work-related software purchase, it’s important to keep track of it so that you can get a discount at tax time!

 

New phone or computer

With the pace of technology updates, most people buy new electronics every year. Whether it’s a phone upgrade or a new laptop, these are large expenses that are also easy to forget about at tax time. Think about it this way: by remembering to claim it on your taxes, you’re effectively getting a 30% discount. That’s a lot!

 

Home office expenses

Many solo-preneurs work from home but forget to claim the home office deduction. You don’t need a separate room in your home to claim this massive tax deduction. Also, it’s important to record actual home expenses rather than just relying on the “standard” square footage method. The vast majority of solo-entrepreneurs will save more on taxes by claiming actual home expenses.

 

Business meals

You don’t need to be eating filet mignon at a white tablecloth restaurant in order for a meal to be considered a “business” meal. As long as you discuss work and learn something valuable for your work, you can write it off on taxes. Over the course of a year, it really adds up!

 

Miscellaneous car expenses

When it comes to getting money back on your car expenses, there are two options: you can track miles, or you can add up your actual car expenses. If you don’t already have a mileage tracking habit, the easiest thing to do is to just track miscellaneous car expenses and then go back and add in gas expenses at the end of the year. Maintenance, registration, parking, tolls, and so on are all tax deductible expenses!

 

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Paul is the co-founder and CEO of Keeper, a service which automates expense tracking for solopreneurs. In his free time, he loves running marathons, and spending time with his family in San Francisco.

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Filed Under: Accounting, Entrepreneurship & Business, Guest Post Tagged With: solopreneur, solopreneur accounting, solopreneur taxes, taxes

How I gave up my corporate marketing career for world travel an entrepreneurship by @symphonyvas

July 10, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

For seven years, Stephanie Conway worked in public relations and marketing for powerhouse brands like Samsung, Audi & T-Mobile at agency level in both the US & UK. Corporate life gave her everything: financial stability, an enviable Instagram feed, Glamorous party invites, Sleepless nights.. Until eventually, the lifestyle caught up with her and at just 28, she felt burnt out. So in 2019, she quit her stable agency career to give into her wanderlust and explore the world.

Now, the Northern English girl with both UK & US passports has rebranded herself as a marketing virtual assistant and digital nomad, currently residing in beautiful Bali. Her IG handle @symphony.va, has over 5 thousand dedicated followers and a feed that shouts #travelgoals. Here, Stephanie tells us how she learned to quit her 9 to 5 and live her best life on her own terms.

I grew up in the UK, then at 18 got accepted into a university in Los Angeles. After graduation, I loved the weather and lifestyle so much that I forged a career for myself in brand marketing and events, working on global marketing campaigns for brands and celebrities.

I spent several years living and working in LA living my best life, eventually became a US-citizen. But a death in the family brought me back to the UK to support my family whilst everyone emotionally tried to get back on their feet. I had such a strong resume that I managed to secure a marketing job within the first week of coming home. But after living in constant sunshine for so long, the English winter weather really slowed me down. I woke up in darkness to go to work, then came home as the sun was setting. I felt like a vampire and my body went into shock from the lack of vitamin D.

“Why not me?”
Through my job, I worked on campaigns with top influencers, securing brand partnership deals, helping them make a ton of money to travel and be fabulous. I was constantly watching social feeds filled with beautiful digital nomads living their best lives on beaches whilst I was stuck in an office with unflattering fluorescent lighting, wasting away. “Why can’t I be where THEY are?” I constantly thought to myself.

Whenever I’d have a bad day at work, I’d fantasise about taking off to Bali, sitting on a beach and enjoying a refreshing coconut. Eventually, the living in constant darkness pushed me over the edge. I asked myself, ‘Why don’t I just bite the bullet?’ I had no dependents, my family were all doing well and I didn’t need to be in the UK. So I began to learn about how to translate my marketing skill set to working freelance for small business and entrepreneurs. This would enable me to live a laptop lifestyle and travel to whichever country I desired. I had already moved to the US by myself. I just knew I could do it again.

I knew that people would try to talk me out of it. I didn’t tell anyone I’d quit until I booked my one way ticket to Bali—only a couple of friends at the time knew. I was the most nervous to tell my mum. I worried that from the outside looking in, what I was doing seemed crazy and irrational. Tears welled-up when I told her, but she was so supportive. She always has been, and I don’t know where I’d be without my mum’s love and support. She’d witnessed the burnout happening and knew I wasn’t happy. With a mumsy, “Well, you’re still young and it’s your life” she approved.

Since setting up @symphony.va, I have made my way around different countries within South-East Asia. My personal favourite is the Indonesian archipelago for the pristine beaches and ease of access to fresh coconuts! Plus there’s such a low cost of living, which has allowed me the time and space to grow my company authentically and organically.

Travelling around South-East Asia has taught me a lot about other cultures and I’m constantly overwhelmed by the hospitality and kindness of the local people that I meet here. There’s such a beautiful sense of community that I’ve never experienced before here, and I can only hope that it has made me kinder.

As I navigate this new life, however, I’ve made some adjustments. When you leave something that’s as stable as a regular pay-check, you take a risk. It’s scary, but you have to have faith in yourself and your ability to build your brand. I’ve also had to find ways to make new friendships while maintaining the ones back in the UK & USA. I’ve even started weekly #girlboss meet-ups to help fellow digital nomads meet up and set goals to hold one another accountable and make new friends. I’ve also learned to be patient as I’ve realized that creating a brand, while trying to live off my passions of traveling and marketing, takes hard work. Plus being in Asia, you never know what’s around the corner, which is always so exciting.

Most importantly, I’ve learned that I don’t have to follow in anyone else’s footsteps to consider myself successful. It’s better to try and fail than to spend your life wondering “what if?” Our successes and failures are all part of the rich tapestry of life!

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Stephanie Conway is a digital nomad who gave up her 7 year corporate career working on global marketing campaigns for powerhouse brands like Samsung, Audi & T-Mobile for world travel. She founded Symphony Virtual Assistant Studio, which provides marketing virtual assistance for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Stephanie currently resides in South East Asia, runs a goal-getter meet-up for digital nomads in Bali and was recently featured in Forbes for her journey to becoming a digital nomad. When not living the laptop lifestyle, Stephanie loves yoga, diving and surfing her current tropical home of Indonesia.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship & Business, Guest Post Tagged With: digital nomad, Entrepreneurship, Stephanie Conway, Symphony Virtual Assistant Studio, travel, virtual assistant

How to Slay Blogging Overwhelm by @marissamonline

July 9, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment


Photo by Eugene Chystiakov from Pexels

by Marissa McDaniel

So, you decided you’re going to start a blog and you are pumped! Blogging seems like a great way to express yourself and maybe you’ll even make a little extra money with your blog. You start your blog, thinking it’s going to be super easy and fun and then it hits you.. Blogging is hard.

You start with the web hosting and before you know it you’re dabbling with web design, branding, actually writing and coming up with blog post ideas, email marketing, affiliate marketing, legal disclosures and your to-do list of blogging tasks is suddenly extending all the way down the street. At this point you’re wondering what you got yourself into. You realize you have no idea what you’re doing and you’re seriously thinking about throwing in the towel.

Believe me, I’ve been there and so have thousands of other bloggers! I’m here to tell you not to throw in the towel just yet. There is hope and there are ways to combat the overwhelming feeling that you can’t seem to shake.

Check out these 4 easy ways you can start slaying the overwhelm today!

 

1. Goal Setting

 

One of the biggest ways to combat blogging overwhelm is to create monthly or even weekly goals. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you have a massive list of to-do’s but by breaking these to-do’s down into goals with a specific time frame, they can become manageable. Try setting realistic social media goals, writing goals, traffic goals and income goals. This will help you assess exactly what you should focus on, what progress you are making and what areas might need a little extra help.

 

2. Automation

 

Thankfully there are some ways you can automate your blog and social media processes. For starters, you can automate all of your social media posts with a variety of social media scheduling tools like Tailwind, Hootsuite and Buffer. With the help of scheduling tools, you can schedule your social media content for a week or even a full month in the matter of a couple hours. This is a great way to save you tons of time while creating a social media presence and increasing blog traffic.

As for email marketing, you can also create autoresponders and email sequences that will be sent out when someone purchases a product, downloads a freebie or joins your email list. This is a great way to introduce yourself to new email subscribers, to provide an offer and build trust with your audience. Autoresponders are also a great addition to sales funnels if you have any products you are aiming to sell. Once you your email marketing set up, you can create unique sequences, automations and more to create a unique experience for each subscriber.

 

3. Schedule

 

It can be so easy to get wrapped up in creating as many blog posts as possible when first starting out, but this can make the overwhelm even worse! Instead of trying to publish a ton of content, create a content calendar. If you want to publish blog posts twice a week then make it a point to publish a blog post every Tuesday and Thursday. Come up with a schedule for your blog posts and content so you know exactly what you need to be working on and when. This will also help your readers know exactly when to look for new content on your blog and can promote returning visitors.

 

4. Connect With Other Bloggers

 

Other bloggers can be a great resource! They’ve all been through the process and they understand how overwhelming blogging can be. Communicate with other bloggers, ask them how they solved certain problems or handled a certain situation. The blogging community is extremely supportive and is always willing to help out whenever they can. Not only that, but many bloggers are always looking for ways to save time and make life easier so connecting with another blogger might allow you discover a new product or tool that just might change your life.

By setting goals, automating your processes, scheduling content and connecting with other bloggers, there’s no reason you can’t slay the blogging overwhelm! These strategies will also save you time and help you create some clear blogging plans so your blog can grow and thrive.

How do you slay blogging overwhelm? Do you have other suggestions? If, so share them in the comments!

 

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Marissa McDaniel is the founder of Marissa McDaniel Online LLC which is a blog and online business focused on helping women ditch their 9-5’s and create a life of financial freedom. She frequently writes about blogging tips and tools, online money-making opportunities and offers her very own online course to help other bloggers create passive income streams using online courses, sales funnels and affiliate programs.

Marissa resides in the Denver, Colorado area with her boyfriend and two hiking cats. When not spending time on the lake, she’s likely reading a motivational book, eating a snack or working on her next business endeavor.

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Guest Post

Filed Under: Blogging, Guest Post Tagged With: Better Blogging, blogger, bloggers, blogging, blogging advice, Blogging for Beginners, Blogging for Business, blogging schedule, blogging smarter, blogging tips, Marissa McDaniel

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