Image by Todd Christensen from Pixabay 

Are you thinking of starting a business? If you are, one of the ducks you need to get into that proverbial row is improving your credit score. In this post, we offer some tips that can help.

RELATED ARTICLE: GET YOUR BUSINESS LOAN APPROVED: 6 GOLDEN RULES TO FOLLOW

If you’re trying to improve your financial health you’ve likely heard that improving your credit score can help you. While it can be something of a buzzword in the financial world, a credit score can at first seem mysterious.

Therefore, it can be a good idea to read up on the basics of what a credit score is and how it can work for you (or against you) depending on a variety of factors.

The basics are easy to pick up. Understanding your current score can be the first step to getting better loans and credit opportunities down the road.

What Is a Credit Score?

Your credit score is a number that falls anywhere between 300 and 850. Lenders use it as an indication of how reliable you are at paying off debts, or your creditworthiness. An improved credit score can affect your ability to take out a loan, apply for a credit card, or perform other tasks.

If you have a higher credit score, it indicates that you are a dependable borrower. This can encourage banks or other financial institutions to be more enthusiastic about working with you.

Generally, lenders consider scores higher than 670 as good. If your credit score rises above 750 lenders may even be consider it excellent. The score is a reflection of your habits and past decisions. Issues such as late payments on loans or credit cards can cause your score to drop. The average score is around 690, but this can vary greatly among age groups and other demographics.

How Is It Calculated?

Your history of loans and payments can be a big part of the number you receive. However, factors that determine your credit score go far beyond your payment history. The different types of loans or credit you’ve used can also play a role. For example, if you are making a wide array of different types of payments, your score will be considered differently.

Some of the different types might include car loan payments, credit cards, and mortgages. In other words, if you have a versatile credit history with well-paid accounts this will improve your credit score.

Other considerations are how much credit you have. If you have maxed out your credit, that can cause your score to be lower. On the other hand, smaller amounts of well-managed credit can raise it. Known as your credit ratio, this can have a much bigger effect on your credit score than you might expect.

In fact, your credit ratio is almost as important as your credit history and can yield around 30 to 35 percent of your final score. Finally, your history of applications, that is, how many times you’ve applied for different types of credit, and how long you’ve used credit end up affecting around 25 percent of your score.

While some people have concerns about rent payment, taxes, and utilities affecting their credit score, these are usually not brought into the picture. The exception can be if a person has an extremely low score. In such a case, rent and utilities may occasionally be considered.

Who Calculates Your Credit Score?

Credit reporting agencies play a major role in condensing all of your credit information into a single score. In this way, they serve as an intermediary between you and any loans or credit you apply for.

There are three main agencies that report scores:

• Experian
• Equifax
• Transunion

These three organizations are private companies that operate with banks and other financial institutions. The government does not control credit reporting.

Credit reporting agencies play an important role in standardizing the way potential customers of loans or other types of credit are considered. Credit reporting agencies benefit customers by ensuring that individuals who have worked to make payments on time can almost always receive opportunities for better loans over time.

How Can You View Your Credit Score?

Luckily, a credit score is not a fixed number. It can be improved by adjusting your spending habits. The first steps to improving your credit score are to be aware of what it is, then track how it changes.

In order to view your credit score, you will need to request to view it from one of the three scoring organizations. This is known as a soft inquiry of your credit. This is because the score is being used for personal reasons rather than as part of an application process for new credit.

Requesting your score is a process that can be a bit of a hassle and may include paying a fee. However, there are other options. Some organizations work with credit agencies for you and can even give you a free credit score. They can be a good option for anyone who is busy, trying to save some money, or both.

How Can You Improve Your Credit Score?

There are many reasons a person may suffer from a low credit score. If you’re a young adult just starting out, your score will likely be low due to a lack of credit history. If you’ve struggled with credit and loans due to life circumstances, you may also find you’re starting from a low point. Regardless, the most important part of improving your credit score is never to give up. It can help to remember why you’re doing it.

Improving your credit score is a process that involves getting your overall financial health in better shape. So put an effort into budgeting. Then you’ll be able to make bill payments on time. Also, focus on paying off your current debts before taking on any more.

One important strategy is to keep your credit card balances from going beyond the amount you can pay each month. If you really put effort into better managing your debts, you should see serious improvement in your scores over time.

Work on Improving Your Overall Financial Health

While there is no instant solution to a low credit score, it is something you can build up over time. Having a better credit score indicates better financial health overall. You may find that many of the actions you take to raise your credit score will also improve your money habits as a whole. It is a truly worthwhile undertaking that can have many benefits for you, your business, and your family.

The post Understanding and Improving Your Credit Score appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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In a robust community of leaders, Greg Blatt has showcased his ongoing ability to thrive in leadership roles with various internationally renowned companies.

Within businesses of all sizes, across all industries, illustrious leaders must confront adversity. They boldly lead teams to new heights, facilitate growth, and proactively foster their company’s messaging. Through fledgling growth periods, IPO preparation, product launches, or even the occasional faulty acquisition, effective leaders look inward to provide effective guidance, assistance, and direction.

The professional leadership quest may be easy at times. However, unforeseen circumstances may sometimes cause even the most seasoned leader to falter. Such leaders may question their approach, or even second-guess their management. However, in every uncertain situation, proactive leaders can draw upon their peers’ insights, experiences, and advice. Therefore, they effectively navigate unprecedented circumstances, potential issues, and moments of uncertainty.

In this robust community of leaders, Greg Blatt has showcased his ongoing ability to thrive. He does so in leadership roles with various internationally renowned companies. The attorney, former executive vice president, and former CEO has successfully engaged in a multitude of leadership roles.

Also, he has garnered the pertinent experience needed to effectively navigate roles that dictate a company’s trajectory. For professional leaders looking to boldly steer forward, following Blatt’s guiding forces can provide inspiration and resolution. He imparts a way to boldly succeed within high-pressure professional assignments.

Seek Professional Fulfillment in Leadership

In order to be an effective leader on a long-term basis within any industry, passion must drive performance. Without inherent interest, fulfillment, and motivation within a particular assignment, leaders cannot sustain the level of commitment needed to excel on a long-term basis.

Thus, at the cornerstone of any successful leadership position lies inherent interest, passion, and dedication toward excellence. If not inherently found within initial assignments, leaders can pivot the trajectory of their professional scope. In doing so, they ensure that the resulting assignment is personally fulfilling. 

Photo by Rebrand Cities from Pexels

In Blatt’s case, the consideration for passion drove him to pivot his career slightly. After attending the esteemed Columbia University Law School, young Greg Blatt began his professional trajectory in corporate law.

Though he excelled within his associate position at New York City’s coveted Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm, Blatt swiftly discovered that the world of mergers and acquisitions was missing the creativity he sought within his professional life. Seeking to merge into a creative field that still allowed him to practice law, Blatt entered entertainment law. His first foray was via assignment as General Counsel and Executive Vice President of the newly formed Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

This shift wasn’t a complete career overhaul. Still, exploring this aspect of law provided Blatt with the opportunity to work in a generally more creative space. The new venture provided him with the daily creativity needed to remain passionate within his assignment. From there, Blatt successfully leveraged these initial experiences to grow professionally. Eventually, Blatt became the CEO of multimedia giant IAG, the CEO of Match Group, and CEO of Tinder.

Leaders Recognize the Future, Move with the Trends

In any industry, advancements in culture and technology dictate trends. They also determine the relative success of new products, business models, and ventures. While certain businesses may change rapidly, others remain somewhat more stable.

The ability to recognize imminent changes in consumer demand, and successfully adapting to those changes, is integral to long-term success. For effective leaders, this may equate to having to restructure a company’s offerings or pivot other aspects of the business.

It may also require leaders to make executive decisions about aging, obsolete, or otherwise redundant portions of their company. Often, this procedure saves the company on operational costs and allows the company to search for innovative new ventures.

RELATED CONTENT: TOP 4 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS THAT COULD DRIVE BUSINESS GROWTH

During Blatt’s time with IAG the world changed. This parent company birthed several fast-growing businesses. The proverbial Golden Age of the Internet and the swift advent of app-based technologies shaped the company’s direction.

Jettisoning outdated concepts, in Blatt’s case, allowed for IAG to focus increasingly on the growing online dating world. Recognizing the growing consumer demand for app-based dating platforms, the company’s trajectory focused on dominating the sphere. Acquiring dozens of online dating platforms accounted for roughly 75% of the company’s 2011 revenue of $2 billion. 

Create Change to Spark Interest

For marketing and advertising professionals targeting growth for a specific product, brand, or service, inciting interest may face risks. With rapidly changing audiences desiring fresh messaging to capture their interest, bold moves can trigger growth in a meaningful way.

Thinking outside of the proverbial box may incite some initial push back. Still, this can be minimized through a well-considered approach. Utilize anticipated metrics, consumer studies, or other analytics showcasing the potential success of such bold moves. 

After joining the Match Group, Blatt reinvigorated the dating juggernaut’s previously flat-lined revenue through a bold ad campaign. Without the use of a professional agency, this reality-based ad campaign featured real people and lent a sense of authenticity to viewers, fans, and users of Match.com.

Audiences were able to relate to the advertisement’s content in a raw, unfiltered manner. They recognized Match as a product that could fit their bespoke needs in an honest, transparent, and down-to-earth manner. This visage was a direct descent from the previously glossy, perfect, and manufactured feel of competing dating platforms, a reality which consumers found to be somewhat impersonal, daunting, or otherwise unappealing to their unique preferences.

The post Bold Leadership Advice from IAC’s Former CEO Greg Blatt appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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There has never been a better opportunity to start an eCommerce shop than right now.

With everybody stuck indoors, many will be heading online to keep themselves entertained on games, apps, and social media sites. However, there will also be many that are looking at online stores to find both essential and non-essential goods. As you know, people are trying to minimize their time out in public, and all non-essential shops are being advised to close.

This means your new eCommerce shop will have a vast target audience ready and waiting. You won’t be the only one trying to take advantage of the opportunity here, however. If you want to ensure success when it comes to setting up your eCommerce shop, pay close attention to the following points.

RELATED ARTICLE: SHIPPING CHOICES FOR ONLINE BUSINESSES

Your Brand Matters, So Define It

Even in times such as these, your brand matters. In fact, it is more important than ever, as people want to ensure that you aren’t a scam website that will waste their money. If you don’t instill trust in people, you won’t be able to make the sales from your eCommerce shop.

Therefore, you need to work on a brand for your company that says who you are, shows what makes you different, and why customers should use you. Is it because of your high-quality products or your prices? All this and more will aid you in your marketing efforts and build up a loyal customer base for your eCommerce shop.

Choose the Right Platform for Your eCommerce Store

You need to choose a platform for your ecommerce shop that will give you the best opportunities. This will require research into where your ideal target audience shops the most. You may discover that it is on Amazon, for example. Therefore, you need to put your focus onto this platform rather than other eCommerce platforms.

Profit from Consultant Advice When Starting an eCommerce Store

Once you have discovered where your customers shop, you then need to set about making your eCommerce shop. This isn’t always easy to do when you have little experience in doing so. However, while you may not be an expert, there are people out there who are experts with eCommerce stores, and they stand ready to help.

If you discover that your customers shop mainly on Amazon, for example, with the help of eCommerce consultants and their strategies, you can start to maximize your Amazon presence. This ensures your customers find you, which improves sales.

You can also increase your reviews, boost your advertising ROI, and decrease your spending on any advertisement, too. This is ideal when you are just starting an eCommerce store and you want to boost your online presence.

Put Customers First in Your eCommerce Store

Customer service is an incredibly vital area for your eCommerce store. People today want more than a good product. They also want an eCommerce experience that will persuade them to come back and buy more from your online shop. So make sure any queries they have are answered in a timely manner. Also, be sure to make refunds or exchanges possible, and show appreciation for their loyalty.

Consider Your Prices Carefully

Everybody is going to be warier about spending money in this current climate. Therefore, carefully assess the prices of your goods. Look at your competitors’ prices for similar items. This will give you an idea of what prices should be in your eCommerce shop.

For example, if an eCommerce customer finds your competitors’ products and sees they are cheaper than yours, they will not return to your store. This loss of customers can continually build. Therefore, carefully consider the cost of your products before you launch. Doing so will increase the chances of success for your eCommerce store.

About the Author

Ryan Flannagan is the founder and CEO of Nuanced Media, an international e-Commerce marketing agency. Nuanced has sold more than $250,000,000 online, and Ryan has built a client base representing a total revenue of more than $1.5 billion. Ryan is a published author who has contributed to numerous publications. To connect with Ryan, check out @Ryanflannagan on Twitter or via Linkedin.

The post How You Can Ensure Success from an eCommerce Shop appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, the world’s countries begin to deal with its economic aftereffects. In this post, we examine the current situation.

RELATED ARTICLE: BUSINESS INFORMATION UPDATES DURING COVID-19 BREAKOUT

The Pandemic Begins: China

The first known cases of the new coronavirus were detected in China. Accordingly, China’s leaders have received a great deal of criticism for their initial handling of the outbreak.

Li Wenliang, a physician at Wuhan Central Hospital, first blew the whistle about the outbreak to his colleagues and loved ones in December 2019. Consequently, he was accused of spreading false information. He was forced to sign a waiver that prevented him from involving others in his cause. Regrettably, Wenliang contracted the illness himself and died on February 7.

Wuhan authorities hid the virus, soon to become a pandemic, from the Chinese government. Once they learned of the virus, the Chinese government then withheld information from the World Health Organization. This remained the case, even as they began to understand that the virus was becoming a full-blown pandemic.

However, to their credit, once the government of China understood the magnitude of the problem, they locked the country down. This slowed the progression of the pandemic within their borders. Accordingly, China’s economy is expected to take a less significant hit than that of many other countries.

South Korea Takes a Scientific Approach

Test, test, test. South Korea is one of the few countries that quickly flattened the curve of the pandemic within that country by responding immediately with widespread testing.

As early as December 17, two dozen South Korean infectious diseases specialists investigated a South Korean family that had contracted an unidentified disease on their trip from China. The disease quickly spread among their family members and the medical workers who treated them.

That mysterious disease turned out to be the recent coronavirus, igniting a big early outbreak in January. However, South Korea rolled out widespread testing within days of the surge. They even provided tests for those who had no symptoms.

Rapidly emerging cases in the country initially earned raised eyebrows worldwide. However, the South Korean government’s quick response won praise. They contained the virus’s spread without implementing strict lock-downs to control the pandemic.

Moreover, despite its small size, South Korea remains a big contributor to the data about the novel coronavirus so far. This helps scientists learn more about the virus’s behavior. Therefore, they learn more about how to control the pandemic.

Experts expect South Korea’s economy to lag somewhat because of a drop in tourism. However, manufacturing remains strong, and the South Korean economy is likely to remain fairly stable.

Europe Displays an Array of Approaches to the Pandemic

The Czech Republic

“I protect you, you protect me.” This was the stance of Czech Republic. Their empathetic approach to the pandemic significantly slowed its spread in that country.

Early on, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis urged the Czech population to use face masks whenever they went out. In fact, he began requiring Czech citizens to wear face masks. Those who refused faced the threat of a 20,000 crown fine.

Making implementation more difficult, the country had a massive shortage of face masks. So people began making homemade masks and gave them away for free. Retirement homes, theaters, and other organizations within the country became sewing stations for masks in efforts to control the pandemic.

Some organizations made as many as 400 cotton masks per day. Those organizations’ drivers distributed them to people who couldn’t leave their homes without them.

During those same early days, however, the World Health Organization held an opposing view. They said that face masks might not effectively suppress the virus’s spread.

However, numbers don’t lie. The results that have since emerged from the Czech Republic show that wearing masks, even homemade ones, helps to suppress the spread of the virus. This fact has become even more evident in areas where everyone followed that ruling.

Sweden

The Swedish government has taken a more casual approach.

For example, universities and some other establishments were obligated to close. However, life in Sweden goes on pretty much as normal. Some schools remain open, and its borders still welcome visitors. Most cafes, restaurants, and shops are also still open for business and thriving.

However, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven did recommend that citizens avoid nonessential travel. Those who are ill or over the age of 70 were also asked to stay home as much as possible.

Nonetheless, the government has yet to implement strict quarantine measures like its neighbors Denmark and Norway. This remains the case as of this writing, with more than 19,621 infections and 2,355 deaths in the country to date.

Local scientists say that the keep-cool approach is the government’s effort to lessen hospitalization. Swedish authorities believe that one out of five of those infected won’t even have symptoms. Therefore, they won’t need hospitalization anyway.

The country’s leading epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, says the approach to the pandemic is more sustainable as it relies on herd immunity while keeping the country’s economy afloat.

The United States Implements Strong Economic Measures

As the most financially powerful country in the world, the United States has a responsibility to keep a steady hand on the global economy in the face of the pandemic.

To this end, the US Federal Reserve slashed bank lending rates down to zero. This injected billions of dollars into the US economy and allowed funds for banks to make emergency loans to businesses of all stripes and sizes. Additionally, it to helps state and local governments that are running out of cash because of the pandemic.

Lower interest rates will allow businesses to more easily pay back any emergency loans they take out now. Additionally, the Fed is looking at other actions that could help US citizens to survive and even thrive economically despite the pandemic.

These actions continue to ignite a wide variety of opportunities that will keep businesses afloat until the end of the pandemic. Also, his decision to print unlimited money was one of the loudest wake-up calls in the face of the pandemic, encouraging other countries to follow suit.

The Global Economic Outlook in the Wake of the Pandemic Remains Uncertain

Doubtless, the pandemic will leave the global economy worse off than before. As an individual owner of a small business, this leaves you with the simultaneous challenge and opportunity of being more creative than ever before. Also, kindness and compassion for one another may be our last best hope. Through this uneasy and uncertain time, it’s important to remember that we really are all in this together.

For more articles about keeping your business thriving during and after the pandemic, be sure to browse our blog often.

The post The World Responds to the Economic Aftermath of the Pandemic appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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Everyone in B2B is talking about account-based marketing. And almost everyone is practicing it in some form — around 93% of organizations, according to SiriusDecisions.

“Not many are killing it though,” says Kelvin Gee. “That’s the problem. They start pilots … then they re-launch and learn from the mistakes. That’s just a natural maturation.”

This is a fundamental process in digital marketing, of course: test, assess, optimize. But in the Break Free B2B series, our goal is to help you fast-forward it by learning from the mistakes, successes, and revelations of your innovating peers in the field. And as the Senior Director of Modern Marketing Business Transformation at Oracle*, Kelvin draws from a deep well of experience at one of the powerhouse brands in enterprise technology.

Walking the walk is different from talking to talk, but it’s easy to see why companies across the spectrum are seeking to do both.

“Companies do need to be more customer-centric, deliver a better customer experience, personalize the content, align with sales, and measure themselves differently,” he observes. “I call account-based a strategic glue that pulls all that stuff together.”

In his conversation with TopRank Marketing’s Josh Nite, filmed in Arizona during B2B Marketing Exchange in February, Kelvin shares his perspectives on what it takes to actually make ABM work, and how Oracle empowers its people to thrive within this framework.

It comes down to a fairly simple and repeatable model: standardize, evangelize, train, enable.

[bctt tweet=”“Standardize, Evangelize, Train, Enable,” @kgee’s model for implementing #ABM at scale in large organizations like @oracle. #BreakFreeB2B. — Kelvin Gee” username=”toprank”]

During an expansive 25-minute interview, Kelvin unpacks the inner workings of enterprise ABM, from getting buy-in to rethinking attribution to developing meaningful metrics and beyond.

Break Free B2B Interview with Kelvin Gee

If you’re interested in checking out a particular portion of the discussion, you can find a quick general outline below, as well as a few excerpts that stood out to us.

• 1:00 – Kelvin’s definition of modern marketing
• 1:45 – Scaling account-based marketing
• 2:15 – Strategic adaptations in the evolution of ABM
• 3:30 – How does an organization adopt a new marketing philosophy?
• 5:00 – Who should lead the charge for transformation?
• 7:15 – Metrics Oracle looks at to measure ABM success
• 8:45 – Overcoming traditional friction between sales and marketing
• 10:30 – Is there a need to redefine success and “credit” in order to achieve alignment?
• 12:15 – Operational structure: should sales and marketing converge?
• 13:30 – Challenges and opportunities in the industry
• 15:45 – Oracle’s tech stack
• 17:45 – How to filter out data that matters and makes a difference
• 18:45 – What will marketing look like in five years?
• 21:15 – Humans versus robots, and their roles in marketing going forward
• 23:00 – What can marketers do to break free?

Josh: What kind of metrics does Oracle look at when measuring ABM?

Kelvin: We actually look at account engagement as an early indicator on whether your program is performing or not, because if you’re not seeing an increase in engagement from a snapshot that you might have taken before the campaign started, that probably means it’s not working. Either the personalization isn’t there, the tactics aren’t working, you’re not at the right watering holes, or the orchestration might not be right.

[bctt tweet=”“If you’re not seeing an increase in engagement from a snapshot of before the campaign started, that probably means it’s not working.” — @kgee of @oracle on measuring #ABM success. #BreakFreeB2B” username=”toprank”]

So that’s the early indicator whether it’s working or not. Once you’re past engagement, what truly matters to sales, of course, is conversations. They want conversations with these target accounts, so that’s what we really looked at and that’s really measured by a target account pipeline, or “TAP,” as we call it. But when you look at growth in that pipeline, regardless of crediting who sources that pipeline, whether it’s marketing or sales, we don’t care because it’s a team sport. And you can see that growth. Again, you compare this with a snapshot you’ve taken of those target accounts before the campaign begins, you will see success, and that’s how you measure some of those programs.

Josh: I know that Oracle is a data corporation, and you live and die by data. Can you give me a little peek into what your tech stack looks like?

Kelvin: Yeah, I’ll give you some broad strokes but obviously we drink our own champagne, right? So Eloqua is our marketing automation platform and our analytics engine is all on Oracle analytics, but the important thing to understand is: We believe that data is the future of B2B marketing. Because we’re not gonna have less data, we’ll probably have more data in the future, so if you believe that and you also believe that most organizations — especially enterprise organizations — have data silos, and if the goal is to deliver a better customer experience, you’ve got to break down those data silos.

[bctt tweet=”“We believe that data is the future of B2B marketing. If the goal is to deliver a better customer experience, you’ve got to break down those data silos.” — @kgee of @oracle on #BreakFreeB2B” username=”toprank”]

So I always used the Marie Kondo analogy, right? Where she goes into your house and then she tells you to, you know, pile all your clothes from all your different closets onto your bed. And she tells you that for a reason, because only when you see all the piles of clothes on your bed does the light bulb go off and you say, “Oh my God I’ve got a lot of clothes.” It’s the same thing with your data. Once you consolidate all your data silos onto one bed, so to speak, in this case a customer intelligence platform or customer data platform or whatever you want to use, once you combine all that data, that’s when you start to see all the insights of your customers. And for us, we think the future of B2B resides in a data lake of some sort. And that data lake is your single source of truth and when an account surges or rises, it’ll rise simultaneously in your marketing automation platform and/or your CRM, and so that’s really the important construct that we think is going to be more representative of a better customer experience in the future.

Josh: What can marketers do to break free?

Kelvin: I’ve always believed that all marketers should have empathy. I think empathy is a super important value that we all need to possess, because we all talk about customer-centricity, how we need to be more customer-centric blah, blah, blah. But what drives customer-centricity is empathy so, I always try to train all of my marketers, especially the young ones who are just coming out of college and learning that they have to develop the empathy muscle. And actually, I do this little “E” test in my workshops, and that is, I ask them to draw a capital-E on their forehead and then I watch them, and they struggle for a few seconds, because they realize there are two ways to control that “E” — they could draw it where it’s facing the right way for them, but backward to the person facing them, or it’s the other way, where it’s backward for them but rightward-facing for the partner. And I asked how many people in the room draw one way or the other and it’s usually a 50/50 mix, sometimes I’m surprised by 80/20 drawing it the right way, the right way being that it’s rightward-facing for your partner. So I call this “E” test for a reason, because the E stands for ’empathy’ because you’ve taken the time to think about the other person and make sure they see it the right way. So that’s just a quick little parlor trick to show the importance of empathy in the world of marketing.

Stay tuned to the TopRank Marketing Blog and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Break Free B2B interviews. Here are a few interviews to whet your appetite:

• Break Free B2B Marketing: Gary Gerber on Scaling ABM without Losing Focus
• Break Free B2B Series: Jon Miller on How ABM Can Help Marketers Keep Their ‘Ship’ Together
• Break Free B2B Series: Adi Bachar-Reske on Taking the Lead in the Evolution of B2B Content Marketing

* Disclosure: Oracle is a TopRank Marketing client.

The post Break Free B2B Series: Kelvin Gee on Winning with Enterprise ABM appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

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In this post we uncover a few reasons why your link-building emails aren’t building your links. Also, we offer a better strategy for building high-quality links that last.

Some Background: What You’ve Been Doing Hasn’t Been Working

For the last 10 years—or longer—SEO experts have advocated the use of email outreach to get in contact with publishers and build backlinks across the web. You have probably read more than a few posts about link building that talk about ways of building a network of publishers through emails. Many also offer link-building email templates to help you make a beneficial connection with your first message.

RELATED ARTICLE: 6 TYPES OF ONLINE MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS

Yet, you might notice that email outreach for link building requires a significant amount of time. Moreover, the exercise rarely provides the results you and your business need. Here’s why that is and what you can do to fix it.

Reason #1: You’re Sending Emails to the Wrong People

In truth, you want your link-building emails to go to a very specific type of person. However, most often, you won’t succeed in getting your emails into that person’s inbox. The person you want to send link-building emails to owns and manages an authoritative website with high-quality content and happily accepts guest posts with follow links.

Unfortunately, there are a few ways this can go wrong. You might only manage to find contact information for lower-level employees who lack the power to yay or nay your request for link placement. You might only garner responses from websites that rank worse than yours and that lack relevant or reliably high-quality content.

And finally, you might send link-building emails to people who just aren’t interested in guest posts or outbound links, regardless of whether they are free or paid. If you are sending emails wantonly, you are more likely than not sending emails to the wrong people.

Professional link building services put you in direct contact with the movers and shakers who are willing to place links. However, identifying these people on your own is a major chore.

Reason #2: Your Link-Building Emails Are Generic and Boring

Next, even if your link-building emails get into the right inboxes, you could be failing to attract attention and interest.

You should know that business owners get far too many emails every day. They simply cannot invest time and energy into every single one. What’s more, the publishers you are sending link-building emails to are receiving emails from more people than just you. Only so many emails requesting links can be open and read per day. What’s more, if your emails aren’t enticing enough, you will never have the chance to build links. This will cripple your ability to improve your search ranking.

As tempted as you might be to rely on some email template you found online, you should try to make each link-building email you send as unique as possible. Your subject lines should stand out. Also, you should personalize the body of your emails to the individual publisher to whom you are writing.

Because few people put so much thought into emails about building links, even small tweaks to your emails could result in much higher levels of engagement. This is sure to lead to more high-quality links for your site.

Reason #3: You Aren’t Giving Recipients a Unique Value Proposition

You want a natural link leading back to your website. But what does the publisher get in return? You need to be able to sell your link as though it were a product that the publisher needs. This means you need to be able to offer publishers something unique, something they can’t find anywhere else.

Unfortunately, standard content isn’t unique, and it isn’t particularly valuable, either. As stated above, publishers receive hundreds of link-building emails each week asking for links and offering guest content, most of which is of a similar quality to what you can provide.

You won’t be able to get publishers enthusiastic about your links if you can’t give them something over and above what they can obtain from any other link builder. Therefore, you need to work on developing a unique value proposition for your links.

Solution: Build Relationships with Link-Building Partners

Undoubtedly, link-building emails can work—but they don’t work terribly well. A much better strategy is cultivating relationships with a variety of other website owners within your industry. This should include other businesses, content creators and publishers, social media influencers, and more. Once you have a network based on trust and respect, you can begin swapping links among yourselves to improve your ranking as an authoritative group.

No one ever said building links was easy. But relying on mass link-building emails is a good way to make the process of building links especially hard. If you want high-quality links that work wonders for your SEO, you need to make sure you aren’t making any serious email mistakes. And you might need to revolutionize your link-building strategy entirely.

For more tips about developing your SEO strategy, be sure to browse our blog often.

The post Your Link-Building Emails Aren’t Working? How to Fix That appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Trying to keep your business afloat during difficult economic times is no easy task. Here we offer a few tips to help you scale your company’s budget.

Keep Your Business Afloat in Lean Times by Scaling Your Company’s Budget

Running a business can be rewarding. But it can also be difficult. When you run into tumultuous times, you’ll be forced to make difficult decisions. These decisions won’t be fun, but you may have to make them anyway if you want your your business to survive.

For example, you need to take note of whether or not your business is bringing in enough revenue to cover expenses. If you’re losing more money than you’re making, you’re doing something wrong. That must change immediately.

However, you will find that there are numerous ways to scale your company’s budget in times of need. In this guide, you’ll find ways to minimize your expenses when your company is struggling to make a profit.

RELATED ARTICLE: BUSINESS INFORMATION UPDATES DURING COVID-19 BREAKOUT

Negotiate with Suppliers

Your company likely has partnerships with several suppliers, relationships that may have lasted for years. You don’t want to lose these partnerships. Rest assured, your suppliers feel the same. Therefore, they might be willing to negotiate with you for more favorable terms for your business.

Work with them to let them know they can help you scale your company’s budget now. Then your business can survive, and you can remain their loyal customer in the years to come.

RELATED ARTICLE: WHY THE HUMBLE COURIER IS VITAL TO YOUR BUSINESS

In difficult economic times, your suppliers are likely having a tough time, too. It might be tough for them to find new customers now. Therefore, they will likely work with you. If they do, you’ll be able to maintain your supply chain while reducing your costs.

However, remember that they will likely want to increase their fees once the storm has passed.

Request a Rent Reduction

Most businesses are renting a warehouse, a manufacturing facility, a storefront, or an office space. If you fit into this category, rent is probably one of your biggest expenses. Moreover, if it’s a warehouse you’re renting, you will be in the unfortunate position of having to continue paying that rent, since your warehouse is probably stocked full of your company’s products.

On the other hand, however, you might be able to convince the landlord to reduce your costs for the time being. They won’t want to lose a tenant since it’ll be tough to find a new one, and they, too, are trying to survive in a difficult economic climate. Therefore, they might be willing to budge a little on their price to help you scale your company’s budget.

Find out if they’ll help you during your time of need. In most cases, they’ll lower their costs for a few months until you’re able to right the ship.

Reorganize Your Workforce

Reading the articles at Budgetable is good for finding ways to reduce your costs at home. Also, many of these techniques work for scaling your company’s budget as well.

All the same, you might have reached the painful decision that you must cut back your work force. In other words, you must lay off one or more of your loyal staff.

Naturally, you will only choose this course of action if it’s the only way to keep your company out of bankruptcy. And naturally, you’ll do everything you can to help your newly laid-off workers to find a soft landing.

Hire an Accountant to Help You Scale Your Company’s Budget

You might be missing out on cost savings that remain invisible to you. For example, you could be spending too much on rent, employee benefits, or taxes. Who knows? If you don’t have an accountant, there is a good chance some cost-saving opportunities are slipping through the cracks.

You don’t want that to happen. You need to economize all you can right now. So think about hiring an accountant. By working with a professional, you will be able to find ways to scale your company’s budget and reduce its expenses.

You can lower your taxes, reduce training costs, and cut down on supply chain expenses. The possibilities are endless, and you’ll likely find that the expense of hiring an accountant will be an expense that pays for itself many times over.

Turn to Split Advertising

While your business is hurting, you may want to slash your advertising costs. This is a good idea in some ways, but it can be a costly decision all the same. This is because if you stop advertising, you’re going to miss out on new customers. That can lead to additional problems in the future.

However, you don’t have to remain stuck in this conundrum. There is a way out.

Talk with the owner of a neighboring business and see if they would be willing to split advertising costs with you. A portion of each advertisement can be dedicated to your business and a portion to the other business.

This will help both of your to scale your companies’ budgets, as you’ll both be able to continue running ads without spending as much.

Scale Your Company’s Budget Instead of Closing Your Doors for Good

During trying times, you may feel like closing your doors and shutting down for good. Before you do that, however, look for ways to scale your company’s budget. There are ways to protect your business and weather the storm.

However, it’s important that you find ways to minimize costs in a hurry. Do that and your business will have a fighting chance of weathering an economic storm.

For more ideas about how to steer your business through an economic downturn, check out our blog’s newest updates frequently.

The post How to Scale Your Company’s Budget in Times of Need appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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10 B2B Tech Categories Gaining Interest Because of COVID-19
Telemedicine, electronic signature, online conferencing, and mobile app development were the most swiftly-rising B2B technology software categories, according to recently-released report data, showing rises of as much as 613 percent since the global health crisis began. MarketingProfs

Magnifying the Massive Growth of B2B Marketplaces
87 percent of B2B buyers and 97 percent of millennial B2B buyers purchase through online marketplaces, according to recently-released report data, also showing that millennials have preferred review websites and web search as top pre-purchase research resources. G2

Exclusive: Mary Meeker’s coronavirus trends report
Mary Meeker, publisher of the Internet trends report since 1995, recently released a special coronavirus trends update, which found that on-demand platforms and online marketplaces have been seeing big numbers and high growth, among other items of interest to B2B marketers. Axios

LinkedIn Is Working on Polls and a New Hashtag ‘Presentation Mode
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) has been testing poll and hashtag presentation mode features, items that could eventually become part of the professional social network for its 675+ million members. Social Media Today

Marketing Benchmarks and Trends Overview: The Surprising Impact of COVID-19 on Organic Search Traffic
Some 63 percent of marketers said that they are increasing their focus on SEO due to the ongoing global health crisis, while organic search traffic for overall B2B industries grew by 11 percent during the first quarter of 2020, according to new survey data of interest to digital marketers. Skyword

How Different Generations of Consumers Use Social Media [Infographic]
Gen Z is most likely to use Instagram to follow brands, while millennials and Gen X prefer Facebook, according to recently-released business and consumer survey data, which also showed that when it came to making purchasing decisions, YouTube was the leading social media platform for members of all three demographics. Social Media Today

Millennials, Gen Z Want Distraction—and Action—From Brands During Crisis
During the pandemic, baby boomers say that they want brands to support their employees and donate to the needy, while younger generations say they are paying more attention to how brands are advertising, according to recently-released survey data. Adweek

Facebook Is Testing Longer-Lasting Stories, With an Option to Keep Stories Active for 3 Days
Facebook has been testing an option that allows ephemeral stories to extend their traditional publishing lifespan from 24-hour to three days, a feature that could eventually attract more brands to Facebook Stories. Social Media Today

Google Ads Data Hub testing audience lists for display campaigns, adding new features
Google has begun testing an array of new features within its Google Ads Data Hub — changes that could bring marketers the ability to work with same-day impression data, new sand-boxing options, and more, the search giant recently announced. Marketing Land

Strength in Customer Journey Mapping A Distinguishing Factor for B2B CX Leaders
Mapping out customer journeys to learn key touch-points is the primary characteristic of B2B marketing customer experience (CX) leaders, according to newly-released survey data, followed by collecting and acting on Net Promoter Scores. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at urgency without clarity on digital transformation by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Facebook Employee Wastes Whole Day on Facebook Again — The Hard Times

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Why Personal Branding Is More Important Than Ever For The C-Suite — Forbes
• Lee Odden — 28 Social Media Experts to Learn From (Listed by Platform and Skill) — Social Agency Scout
• Joshua Nite — 10 Tips for Changing Business Strategies During Times of Crisis — Small Business Trends
• Lee Odden — Up next on Live with Search Engine Land: Content marketing during COVID-19 — Search Engine Land

Do you have your own top B2B content marketing or digital advertising stories from the past week? Please let us know in the comments below.

Thank you for taking the time to join us, and we hope you’ll return next Friday for more of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news. Also, don’t miss the full video summary on our TopRank Marketing TV YouTube Channel.

The post B2B Marketing News: The B2B Categories Rising During Crisis, New Search Traffic Data, B2B Marketplaces See Growth, & Google’s New Ad Features appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

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Photo by LumenSoft Technologies on Unsplash

If you’re planning on opening a new retail store, you may be feeling overwhelmed. Here are seven tips on how to start a retail business and successfully navigate the early days of trading.

RELATED ARTICLE: DO YOU HAVE A GOOD BUSINESS PLAN?

1. Know the Retail Market

Understanding your marketplace, your potential customers’ expectations, trends in your sector, and wider economic shifts are all important when starting a retail business. This can help you to decide whether to sell or not, what to sell, where to sell, and for how much.

2. Give Thought to Your Store’s Layout

The first impression is the last one. An effective and well-designed store layout helps in keeping customers in a retail store for longer.

The first thing a customer notices on stepping into the store is the “decompression zone,” or the “threshold area.” This is five to twenty feet of space, depending on the size of the store. It’s a crucial space because your customers make a transition from the outside world to your retail world in this zone.

At this point, customers make a pre-notion regarding the cost and quality of your products. Moreover, since customers are in the transition mode, there’s no point in keeping products at this juncture. This is because customers are likely to miss products, signboards, and even shopping carts placed at the threshold area.

The customer next moves to the right. According to several studies, people subconsciously turn right upon entering a store. Therefore, in this section, place a product that will help in creating a lasting first impression.

This is because it’s essential that customers stay longer in your retail store, as this will encourage more sales. Therefore, create “speed bumps” that force the customer to slow down. Speed bumps can be anything from signboards to a display of an ongoing sale.

Also, make it easy for the customer to buy your products. Explore the differences between a payment gateway vs. virtual terminal to learn more.

3. Understand Retail and the Law

Retailing comes with a unique set of legal responsibilities when dealing with customers. For example, the rules around pricing information can vary depending on where you sell goods to customers.

4. Apply Smart Promotions

Everything you do says something about your retail business. This includes the name you choose and the brand you design. It also encompasses the location of your premises, the look and feel of your merchandising, and the way you interact with customers.

As a start-up retailer, you may struggle to find money to promote your business through traditional methods, so think smart with your promotions.

5. Start Networking

Establishing your reputation with your peer group and local influencers is vital for a start-up business. Introduce yourself and your business ethos by attending (or creating) local networking events. Get involved with business support organizations.

6. Generate Positive Online Reviews

Online reviews are the second most used source for discovering new retail stores and are becoming more popular. Pay attention to all of the online platforms available for customers to leave reviews. And claim your business pages, especially on Google.

After setting up those pages, make sure you’re monitoring the reviews customers leave there. Have a strategy for responding. This shows you’re engaged and listening to your customers’ feedback, both positive and negative.

7. Promote Friends and Family Recommendations

Since we know that consumers are most likely to turn to other people for retail recommendations, you can encourage your friends and family to spread the word to their network and on social media. Thirty-eight percent of consumers said people they know are their go-to source for retail ideas, and twenty-nine percent of customers look to social media for recommendations.

Follow These Tips to Have a Successful Retail Operation

If you want your customers to keep coming back to your store, you need to give them a good reason. In fact, you need to give them more than just one, including having a store that’s easy for them to navigate and an assortment of products that will cater to their needs. Do that, and you can expect a more profitable retail store.

The post 7 Tips on Setting up a New Retail Shop appeared first on Business Opportunities.

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