Ali Ata has spent his career in real estate investment, he began working as a real estate agent in his younger days and in the last decade he has switched his focus to the buying and selling of luxury real estate. He is then the perfect person to offer advice to beginners who are just about to embark on their real estate investment career. Real estate investment is a great way to put your money to work and it offers a stable and diverse market for investors. Before you get started, here are some tips which Ali believes you should pay attention to before you part with a single cent.

Homework

Because of the large amounts of money that are involved in real estate investment, you can’t afford to make any mistakes and that is why now is the optimum time for you to get researching. Expect to spend at least 3 months learning about this industry and how you will operate within it. You should be looking at the market in various locations, which impacts the price of houses and how the market moves. You should also focus on what trends there are at the moment and which real estate property types are the easiest to sell and rent out. The more information you gather now, the better your chances are of success once you get started.

Making Contacts

Once you get started in real estate investment you are going to need to call upon many different services with regularity and that is why it is important that you use this time to make some contacts. For example, you will need lawyers and a solicitor on your team, you may also need workmen and construction companies and these services are going to give you much more favorable deals and prices if you have a relationship with them.

Understanding What Type of Investor You Will Be

There are many ways to make money in real estate and knowing what type of investor you plan to be is also going to be helpful once you get started. For example, you may wish to flip properties that involve buying them cheap, investing money to get them up to scratch and then selling them on for a small profit. Alternatively, you may wish to look for a long term investment and rent out the property or properties over a number of years. The choice is, of course, yours but deciding now will help you to get an idea of how to get started.

Cash

Finally, you have to align your finances and know exactly what you can afford to spend on your first property. Plan well as that cash will be tied up in an asset and you don’t want to restrict your ability to invest capital elsewhere. Make sure that you always leave money in your account as in this game there are always additional things to pay for which you may not have foreseen.

 

The term ‘below the fold’ describes the portion of a web page that can only be seen once you’ve scrolled down. The digital marketing conventional wisdom is that above the fold content gets more attention and is therefore more valuable than below the fold content. Positioning of content on a web page affects the way users interact and engage with it. Content which is below the fold is hidden to the user at the time when the page first loads. So, if they leave the page before they scroll down, they will never see it.

Data generated from several studies indicates that the placing ads and content below the fold on a webpage radically reduces the likelihood of being viewed. Digital marketing advertisements which are above the fold have approximately a 73% viewability while ads that are located below the fold have a 44% viewability. In the advertising and digital marketing world, an ad is deemed to be a ‘viewable impression’ if no less than 50% of its pixels are seen on a user’s screen for at least one second. Owing to its reduced visibility, ads which are placed below the fold typically generate less ad revenue as opposed to those that appear at the top of the page.

Businesses which sell advertising on their websites typically charge a discounted price for placement below the fold because of its lower visibility.

The online advertising has been sluggish in adopting technology that ensures an impression is actually an impression – in other words that a real live human user has viewed the creative. The challenge with counting impressions, with no thought to taking viewability into account, is that the advertiser is regularly paying for inventory that isn’t being seen by people.

The notion of viewable impressions provides a superior metric that captures how many ads are being seen in a better format. Recognising that the ad is being seen gives advertisers the option of more precisely measuring ad performance. The move from impressions served to impressions viewed indicates that ad placement and ad performance are essential metrics for publishers to keep track of in order to maximise their advertising marketing revenue.

How Is Below the Fold Calculated?

It is not possible to define the exact placement for the fold on a webpage as its exact location can change according to screen resolution, browser and screen sizes for phones, tablets as well as computer monitors.

When gauging an average fold placement, most web designers are still in agreement that the fold line is at roughly 1 000 pixels wide and 600 pixels tall. This is the ideal scenario for the most common monitor/browser combination of 1024×786 pixels when the browser window maximised and there are no installed toolbars at the top which will push the content down.

Does the fold really matter these days?

If one takes a look at few of the largest e-commerce website’s mobile versions, it is possible to see how they handle the fold. For a good many years the most common dimension for websites was 1024×768, as we’ve mentioned previous in this article. With the increase in popularity of mobile devices (more than half of Google’s traffic comes from mobile devices) new dimensions are becoming ever more common, such as 320×568 in addition to 360×640.

Mobile devices offer a wide variety of screen sizes. The user’s needs for each of these devices and screen dimensions have its own unique set of requirements as well as limitations.

Another consideration is that mobile phone users generally browse in portrait mode as opposed to in landscape mode. Users on tablets and computers usually browsing in horizontal mode. With so many individuals accessing web pages using such a variety of devices, current website design practices entail making use of responsive design like making use of flexible layouts, images as well as cascading style sheets.

What is responsive web design?

With responsive design, page layout is not fixed. Content reflows to any-sized screen and responsive web pages respond to the environment where they are consumed or browsed. While the significant content still needs to be higher on the page, today the pages should be designed to entice users to scroll in order that they don’t miss out on valuable content.

Heatmap programs can be useful to determine scroll-depth (in other words how far down users scroll) in addition to where your users are clicking on a page. Once you understand how users are navigating your site, it is possible for you to then begin A/B testing as well as experiment with different layouts in order to improve your user experience and maximise your conversion goals.

 

Are you regretting your choice to hire that new receptionist? After the long training period, the holiday hours and cost of benefits, and the extra expenses in office equipment, this feeling is completely understandable. If you’re feeling this way, it might be time to hire a professional answering service.

Questions to Ask to Decide if an Answering Service is Right for You

Before you can decide on the right type of answering service for you, you must first decide if you need an answering service at all. The best way to determine that is to answer these 5 questions:

1. Are phone calls going missed outside of your normal business hours?
2. Do you have an enormous amount of voicemails each week?
3. Is the high call volume keeping you or your receptionist from performing other office tasks?
4. Is call volume high in general?
5. Do messages go unaccounted for, leading in loss of business?

If you answer yes to any or all of these questions, it’s time to hire a professional answering service.

The Benefits of Investing in an Answering Service

In addition to solving the problems mentioned in the questions above, there are so many perks to hiring a service to man your phones. The most significant one is that all of your customer calls will be answered no matter what. Answering services work 24/7, 365 days a year, meaning your phone calls will always be answered even during non-business hours. This has been proven to increase sales and improve customer retention rates.

Another benefit of an answering service is the reduced company cost you’ll experience. You won’t have to pay a receptionist salary and there’s no need for added expenses for employee holiday hours, benefits, and overtime. You also won’t have to pay for office expenses or training costs. You’ll save tens of thousands of dollars with an answering service.

Types of Answering Services

Now that you’ve decided that an answering service is right for you, you must decide on which type you’d like to invest in. Here are the 4 main types of answering services used in businesses around the world:

• Live answering service
• Automated answering service
• Internet answering service
• Call center service

Why Choose a Live Answering Service

HowStuffWorks says that “live answering services give callers the opportunity to talk to someone who may be able to meet their particular needs better than an automated service. The operator also can decide whether the call is urgent enough to send through immediately.” Also, having a “robot” answer your phones – as is the case with an automated service – can seem impersonal and be a turn off to current and potential customers.

With a live service, the representatives have been thoroughly trained on better serving your customers. They won’t just help with answering phones and redirecting calls, but they’ll also take appointments, handle scheduling issues, process orders, and handle urgent customer service matters. All in all, you can’t go wrong with hiring a live answering service for your company.

 

Search engine optimization is one of the top marketing strategies for small businesses. In fact, it is not just a good idea to invest in the services of an SEO agency, but rather it is an essential step if you wish to see your company thrive and prosper.

Maybe you already know the ins and outs of SEO and have been practicing DIY SEO for your company’s website. Performing SEO strategies on your own is a great way to save money, but it is also extremely time consuming. If you’re concerned about dishing out some cash and hiring a service, just think about the high rate of ROI you’re likely to see when you hire a professional SEO service.

Before you choose an agency or individual to start optimizing your website to its fullest potential, you should know a bit about common SEO practices so that you can partner with an agency that will show results.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

First thing’s first, before you can hire a top agency you need to have a basic understanding of what SEO actually is. SEO is short for search engine optimization, and that pretty much says it all. This marketing strategy is centered on one sole purpose: to optimize your website for search engines. But what does this even mean, you ask.

When internet users visit Google or another search engine, 90% of the time they don’t have a specific website or URL in mind. These users are on the hunt for something, and they have a general idea of what that is. This general idea comes in the form of keywords, which are then typed into the search bar and Google spits out the top results.

In order for your site to show up as one of those top results, you need search engine optimization. Google uses a series of algorithms to rank web pages based on their value and relevance. There are many strategies involved in SEO to be seen as valuable and relevant in Google’s eyes, including things like keyword optimization, link authority, and valuable content throughout your website.

Why is SEO Important?

We’ve basically covered this, but let’s get into the specifics. Google as well as other search engines (but mainly Google) is the #1 resource for consumers. Consumers trust Google, maybe a bit too much, but what Google says often goes.

Studies show that if an internet user is searching for a specific product or service, that user will choose a company that shows within the first page of results 95% of the time. If you aren’t on the first page, you have very little chance of landing a new customer from organic internet searches.

The Time Frame for Seeing SEO Results

If you do end up hiring a professional to perform SEO for your website, try to be patient. Optimizing your site can not be done as a quick fix. It takes time, typically taking at least 3 months but it is more likely that you’ll see results after 6+ months of strong SEO practices.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below, or contact us at This Homemade Life!

The importance of a company’s reputation is often underestimated, until of course something happens to tarnish a once sterling reputation. If this has happened to your company, you and your fellow team members have probably been working frantically to clear that bad rep up to make it whole again.

Maybe you’ve even considered hiring professional reputation management services. Deciding on whether to go at reputation management alone or hire someone to help is the first step, and it’s not an easy decision to make. There are several factors to consider if you’re on the fence about it.

There’s a lot more involved than you’d think

There are a lot of moving pieces to reputation management and many factors involved that you might be surprised to hear about. Reputation management is all about getting your brand name out there to the public in the most positive way possible. This is done through several means, including social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram as well as search engines like Google.

If you want to go about reputation management as successfully as possible, you’ll have to focus on all – rather than just one – of these moving pieces. A common mistake is to only set your sights on managing your social media rep, but there is so much more involved that just Facebook comments and criticisms.

Brand reputation management is time consuming

You might think that you can squeeze in a few of your newfound reputation management strategies and practices here and there, but it is technically a full time job. If you stay on top of it from the very beginning of your company’s creation, you might be able to handle it on your own. Otherwise, you’ll need someone working on it full time.

Experts know the importance of all 3 aspects of a brand’s reputation

The main misconception about reputation management is that it is only necessary in the face of a reputation-related crisis. This is not the case, not at all. In fact, even when your reputation is seemingly flawless, you still need to put some effort into reputation management practices. If you’re company is large enough and experiences high sales volume, you might even consider hiring a full-time staff member to specialize in reputation management.

Professionals understand that it isn’t just about fixing what has been broken, it is also about maintaining what’s already there – and building what isn’t. That said, there are 3 main aspects of solid brand reputation practices: build, manage, repair.

The first step is to build it up with practices like social media marketing and search engine optimization. Then you must maintain it with review management and strong customer support. In the face of a reputation crisis, rebuilding must be done so that your company’s profits don’t take a huge hit.

As you can see, implementing a reputation management strategy for your business it will be extremely difficult to do on your own. If you are a small business or just starting up, go ahead and give it a try. Otherwise, your best bet is to hire professionals to work their magic.

 

It doesn’t matter if you’re simply making a few changes to your current resume or creating one entirely from scratch, the task of resume writing can be extremely daunting. Luckily, you don’t need to go at it alone – there are dozens of reputable resume writing services to choose from.

The decision on which one you hire should not be one to take lightly, though. There can be some major disadvantages to hiring a service, especially if you choose one on a whim. It is important to do your research, and here’s why.

Not all resume writers are as qualified as they say

Don’t trust every single claim made by a resume writing service. Do your research to see if the agency employs qualified writers with college degrees. The top agencies require all of their writers to have at least a bachelor’s degree and also require certain certifications relating to resume writing to be obtained.

The fine print of a resume writing agency can be very misleading

It is common for a resume writing service to make promises, like guaranteeing that you’ll land an interview within 30, 60, or 90 days of hiring the service. However, always read the fine print to see if there are any specific stipulations or circumstances. Many companies come off as honest and sincere, but the fine print of the Terms and Conditions is riddled with things that go against their previously-made promises.

You might not need to hire a service at all

There are tons of perks to hiring a qualified resume writer, but there’s a good chance you don’t need to. Although the task can be very daunting, going at it alone is entirely possible as long as you meet this criteria:

• You are qualified for the position you’re applying to
• You have solid knowledge of language and grammar skills
• You are searching for a promotion or pay raise

If you are underqualified for the job, then you probably shouldn’t be applying to it. Keep in mind that a resume writer is not a miracle worker. No matter how great your resume is, you have to meet the necessary skills and qualifications of the job in question.

A major reason to hire a resume writing service is if you are lacking in the Language Skills department. Let’s face it, not every human is great at spelling, punctuation, or verb tense. If you fall within this category, writing a strong resume can be difficult. This is an instance when outsourcing the job is a good idea.

Another reason to hire a professional resume writer is if you are changing career paths or job titles all together. This means you might have to scrap your old resume and start from scratch. However, if you are just looking to move up in the same field or are in search of a pay raise, hiring a pro might not be a necessity. In this case, you simply need to make a few adjustments to your current resume to show your value within the industry.

For more career and business tips from This Homemade Life, click here!

As you’re probably aware it is possible to create videos using screen recording and by capturing video footage from your screen. However what you may not realize is the full scope of its potential, and the different types of videos that you can create using it.

To give you a better idea of what screen recording is capable of, there are a few ideas that you can use to create different types of business videos:

• How-to guides and tutorials

Undoubtedly the most popular type of video that businesses create using screen recording are video tutorials. The fact that screen recording can capture video footage from a screen will allow you to ‘show’ each step in the tutorial being performed if it involves digital products.

More often than not the video tutorials that businesses create are software-related, but they could include other types of digital products as well such as eBooks, online services, websites, digital art, and more.

Other similar videos can be created in this way as well, including product demonstrations or reviews.

• Expert interviews

Although expert interviews are mostly recorded face-to-face, screen recording provides an alternative that is more convenient: Capture expert interviews via video calls.

Not only is it easier to arrange such interviews, but the logistics involved and budget that is required will be more manageable. The only caveat is that you may need to take steps to improve the quality of the video call – on both ends.

• VODs of live videos

Many businesses nowadays are starting to create live video content and stream on Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks. With screen recording you can capture the live videos that you produce and publish them as VODs on other platforms – or repurpose them into other types of content.

It should be noted that on some livestreaming platforms it isn’t necessary to record the videos separately as there will be an option to download the VODs. However not all platforms provide that option, and so screen recording can be used to fill the gaps.

As you can see there are lots of ways that screen recording can be used as a tool to create business videos. The ideas listed above are really just the start however, but they should help you to see how varied its use can be.

If you don’t already have a screen recorder you could use Movavi Screen Recorder for Mac as a place to start. It will let you record streaming video Mac or capture video footage of digital products to create business videos. More importantly you’ll have full control over the recording parameters, including the capture frame, audio sources, volume levels, frame rate, and more.

At the end of the day screen recording can help you to create a diverse range of business videos quickly and easily. It is certainly less involved than it is to record conventional videos, and you will be able to come up with content reliably using it.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

 

You prepare a lot of things before joining a trade show. It is your chance to speak with many people and advertise your brand. You do not always receive the opportunity to engage with these people directly.

The first thing to prepare is the pop up stand. You want people passing by your booth to know about your business through the information presented on the display stand. If they think the information provided is not enough, they can redirect to the website using the links or QR code on the display stand. When they on the site, they will find more ideas about your business.

You need a display stand that looks outstanding and easy to understand. You need a few details about your business, but not all of them since the display stand will look boring. Once you are ready with the display stand, you also need to think of the decoration for your booth. You want to grab attention by making the place look festive. Choose your most creative employees to help with the decoration.

You also need to send some of your employees to the event. They are going to represent your business and engage with your target audience. You can have employees dedicated to this job alone. However, since you are not present at trade shows all the time, it does not make sense to designate someone to do this task. Instead, you need to ask some of your employees to attend the event on behalf of the company. Make sure that you pick the best people for the job.

Energetic

You want people who are dynamic to be there for the event. The trade shows could last the entire day and could be tiring and frustrating given the crowded space. Therefore, you need someone who has energy that could last for days. It is crucial that the employee does not show signs of exhaustion or anger during the event since it will make people feel scared to come close.

Knowledgeable

You also need someone who knows your business. It is not enough to send someone with a great personality since people will be asking questions. You need to have an employee who can give an accurate response. You might have to choose someone from your senior staff to come along. They have been with the company for quite some time, and they know how to respond to tough questions.

Friendly

Trade shows could have people from all walks of life. They also have different personalities and temperaments. You need someone who will remain friendly even when faced with the most difficult person to deal with. If your employee snaps, someone could record what happened, and it will go viral. Since the employee is representing your brand, your reputation could be on the line.

Prepare for the event by training your representatives. Tell them what to expect. You can even conduct a mock trade show to prepare them.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

A professional can work from any space in the universe. However, a workspace that promotes efficiency and productivity is often difficult to secure. Moreover, office space that can help with the more social parts of the workspace that makes business relationships gel is also another important factor in building a business.

Coworking is one of the few workspace solutions that can offer businesses a place to work that has basic amenities but also offers intrinsic rewards. In the UK, these rewards include being able to work out of premium office space with sophisticated professionals from a variety of industries. One example of premium coworking space – Servcorp UK who provide a quality office space while building the foundation for business growth.

Let’s take a closer look at the ways in which a great coworking space can propel your business forward.

Organised And Fluid Space

The coworking space can bring order to your home office or remote-working platform. When working in an environment outside of an office, it is easy for our personal stuff to get mixed in with our professional work lives. The coworking space reduces this mix of personal and professional by establishing workspace that has clear boundaries. With a defined space to work, professionals can focus on the primary task of working.

The coworking space also provides businesses with very fluid space in which to work, and this encourages social interaction. Go into any coworking space, and you will find that these offices have very few walls or boundaries. Typically, these offices are separated into workspace areas, areas where people can collaborate with each other, and then, of course, break areas. This fluid space makes it possible for professionals to be more accessible to each other.

Re-Invest Cost-Savings

In terms of saving money, the coworking space is one of the best ways to reduce costs associated with leasing office space. This money can be re-invested in your business or it can be used to engage in the numerous activities that go into building your brand. Whether it is pouring your money into building a brand identity or engaging in modern day online marketing, this money can be used to contract with professionals who can help you forge an identity and a brand for your business. In many cases, the coworking space is a marketplace where professionals can trade skills at a lower cost.

Freedom To Travel

The coworking space presents businesses with the freedom to travel around the country and world. In many ways, the coworking space doubles as office-lite in that professionals only need to sign a leasing contract to gain entrance into a fully-furnished and staffed office. While a professional can run into the gamut of workspaces, coworking spaces are typically in some of the nicest fit-outs.

Because they are provided with a fully-furnished place to work, they can travel freely without having to worry about the hassles of moving to a new workspace. If the coworking space has offices in other locations, the professional has access to offices in these locations. Sometimes, these locations are worldwide, and being able to secure office space in another country at a fraction of the cost of what it costs to reserve space is a great feature that can help a business build growth.

Quality Workspace That Works

Finding a workspace that works for your business is possible, as the coworking space is a great example. These offices provide businesses with the autonomy to choose bespoke business solutions that work for them. More importantly, with social interaction as the background to these offices, building growth begins with the first business relationships.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.