Author: Pamela Miller

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Market Research Companies in the USA to Help Your Business

This is critically important and should be used in getting your target customers properly engaged. It helps in knowing the parameters of the market and knowing how you could confidently invest. Getting the right partners for your needs could be strenuous, so here are some firms to help get you started.

3 Market Research Companies in the USA To Help Your Business

Adloonix

This is a marketing agency that is digital and it is based in Ukraine. It started in 2018 with a team of about 60 employees. They usually work with clients from different firms. They specialize in strategizing digitally using market research, PPC, SEO, and social media marketing.

It was known for helping a marketing company that wanted to increase the number of leads that were gotten from their social media platforms. They also helped in performing market analysis, also in the creation of online adverts, and shifted using this strategy to improve results.

Their professional work helps in increasing their leads higher than twice with the time they have worked for this company. The sales have increased by about 62%, and it helped in reducing the cost per lead. They were surprised by the rate of success and satisfied with it as stated by the co-founder.

Fresh Squeezed Ideas

This is a global research consultancy that has its headquarters in Chicago and an office in Toronto. From 2006, it has a team with 25 members who specialize in marketing strategy, market research, and branding for clients in the healthcare and consumer products field.

Fresh Squeezed Ideas has helped in conducting market research for a chocolate company. The work was available to add muscle to the position they were in among the brands available. The stakeholders of the company responded positively to the ideas from this market research company.

Emerging Strategy

This is a strategy consulting firm which is based in Arlington, Virginia, and was founded in 2006. Their team had 23 employees and it specializes in business consulting, market research, and marketing strategy, which is used for basic clients in education, healthcare industries, and business services.

The emerging strategy is mostly known for how it handled marketing research for an educational company. They conducted basic market research, which included customer and stakeholder interviews, and they got a secondary analysis report on the global education industry. The client reported that they got a high level of insights from the workers in the firm in less than a month.

These market research companies are available to help your businesses grow in the USA. Which one will you choose?

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How Do I Add Participants to a Zoom Meeting?

If you have a very important presentation which you need to layout for people who are in charge of your firm or your organization, but you do not know how to add participants to your Zoom meeting, then this article is for you. From this article, you will learn how to create and host a screen-sharing conference using video chatting within the Zoom app.

Instructions on Adding Participants to a Zoom Meeting

First, you need to have downloaded the Zoom app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer and start the following processes.

Step 1: Open the Zoom App

If you need to host a meeting immediately or organize a meeting for another time, go to one of these following sections :

·       Host a Meeting

·       Schedule a meeting

Step 2: Host a Meeting

Touch either the Start without video or use the Start with the video button, which depends on your needs.

Step 3

Touch the Invite button at the bottom of the meeting window.

Step 4

You can share invites in a few different ways to all the people you want them to join you at the video conference:

·       Touch one among the email service buttons. Your chosen mail service will appear with an invitation.

·       Touch the Copy URL button, next, paste the URL into an email to the people you want to invite.

·       Touch the Copy invitation button, after that, paste the message into a mail to the participants you wish to invite.

Step 5

To schedule a meeting, touch the Schedule button.

Step 6

Enter a meeting title, in the Topic field. This meeting title has to do with the reason you are inviting the participants into the video conference.

Step 7

In the When options, enter:

·       Start time ( which is the time you want the video conference meeting to begin)

·       Duration (maximum of 45 minutes for Basic accounts)

Step 8

Select from the following options:

·       Video: Participant and Host video appearing when about to join a meeting

·       Audio: Telephone, VoIP Only or Both

Step 9

Select additional Meeting Options, including Require meeting password, if desired.

Step 10

Select which type of calendar you wish to create the invitation with. If you choose other calendars, you’ll be able to copy and paste the information of the meeting into the calendar programs of any other type as you desire.

Step 11

Touch the Schedule button.

Step 12

Your meeting will be scheduled.

From this point, you should touch the copy to clipboard button then take the information and paste it into the calendaring program so you would be able to invite other participants to your Zoom Meeting.

And there it is. Very simple, easy ways in which you can join your friends, managers, colleagues, co-workers, lecturers, and any other person you want to be in a Zoom meeting with you. This could be done using any device that can download the application with good Internet connection for the video conference to be clear and so you would be able to see everyone without problems from the service provider.

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How to Set Up a Healthy Home Office Space

Freelancing or working from home most times requires you to create a healthy home office space. For people who spend a lot of time on their mobile phones or laptops, making a workstation must follow healthy guidelines. Here are some tips to help you get started.

4 Ways to Set up a Healthy Home Office Space

Set Up the Home Office Space

Most times, we start little by little while we work from home, and before we know it, we are spending our entire time in a poorly designed home office space. It is best to start by getting the appropriate work desk, and make sure you don’t convert just any desk around to a work desk. The height of the desk is important in knowing your posture while you work. A short desk will make you hunch in a fashion that is not healthy. A desk that is too high would cause shoulder and wrist issues. The standard height should be around 34 inches. This could be altered to the specific requirements of your type of body.

Get a Proper Work Chair

Getting the chair necessary for your desk is as important as getting the desk itself. Some might be too expensive, while others could demand an environment that seems too serious. Try to get the best work seat you can afford, because the level of quality affecting your work productivity is related to the type of chair you get.

Get Rid of the Noise

Imagine working in a home office space with distractions and  noise. That kills off the work vibe, especially for those that are involved in creative fields. Even a hint of noise could change your train of thought and destroy whatever creative plans your mind had.

Without noise in your home office space, you get a healthier environment and a more efficient working environment. That’s why real offices have sliding glass doors and bi-fold doors. You could also keep an eye on the little ones with everyone being quiet as you work without being disturbed.

If you can’t get a quiet home office space, then your basement, attic, or den would be the next best thing. They can create a home office space that feels like it is not a part of your home anymore.

Try Good Ventilation and Natural Lighting

Natural light is a very important element that is necessary for your home office space. Mixing task lighting and ambient in your home office serves as the way forward to enjoying the combination of both. Nothing matches the benefits of natural lighting, not even a combination of all the artificial lighting around. Make sure the windows are airy for cross ventilation. The natural breeze is also very important. To support relaxation and mental focus, try essential oils in an aromatherapy diffuser from NOW Foods or Dr. Mercola.

These are the simple ways you can create your very own healthy home office space.  Good luck!

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Top Business Aspirations You Can Actually Achieve

Having aspirations is vital to human growth. Without growth, we become relegated to a rather meaningless life. Things need to move to stay healthy. If a stream stops flowing, the water becomes murky and dirty. The same thing applies to humans – once we stop flowing, moving and growing, we are not truly living. You should have aspirations for your personal life, relationships, and also your career. Here are some business aspirations you may choose to pursue.

Dream Big

Business aspirations are simply goals you have for your business, and they are quite tricky. Yes, it is important to dream big, but you must remember to put in the effort else you are simply setting yourself up for disappointment. To build proper business aspirations, you must first define them.

There are several ways to go about defining your business aspirations. The steps you can take to define your business aspirations are to have a mission and a vision. Try making a vision board and then setting clear priorities.

What these steps do is create an outline that you can build on and follow. Without defining your business aspirations, you won’t achieve much, because your goals aren’t clear. It makes it hard to focus and work towards a certain stage, because your intentions are unclear. Once again, you need to define your goals before you begin to aspire.

Once that is done, if you still aren’t clear on your business aspirations, here are some aspirations you can personalize to work for you and your business.

4 Business Aspirations for Your Company

  1. Develop a brand – This is a basic business aspiration. Having a brand means having a niche of customers to offer your services to. Developing a brand is one of the first business aspirations you should try to attain. It’ll help your business grow a lot faster if your business is known for a certain quality. For example, let’s examine luxury fashion brands. Their clothes are sought after, because those companies have a brand that their consumers are familiar with.
  1. Upsizing – As your business grows, the next step is to upsize. This means employing more people to cater to your growing number of customers or working with more manufacturers if you sell products. If you run an online store, perhaps it’s time to get a physical space for administrative work. Upsizing is a product of growth. If you’re not sure whether you should upsize or not, ask yourself these three questions. Do I have more customers? Am I doing more than I used to? Am I working overtime in situations I never used to? These questions will help you make your decision.
  1. Executive team – Now that you have more employees, perhaps you should look into giving some of these employees the power to delegate responsibilities. Building an executive team gives you more time to focus on product design, customer satisfaction, and other aspects you’d like to pay attention to.
  1. Profit and value – This is a business aspiration that lasts as long as the business. Once your business is successful enough to bring in steady profit, you have to find a way to maintain that profit and increase your value without diminishing the quality of the product. This is a tricky step, and it may take years to perfect; therefore, you must remember to exercise patience.

These four models are not in any way the only business aspirations you should have. Business aspirations vary from business to business. That is why we provided a generalized model that you can customize to fit your particular company. Remember, Winston Churchill once said: “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

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Starting an eLearning Business? Here’s What You Need to Know

Starting a business can be an arduous task, but when it is done well, it is worth all of the hard work and effort. Just a few decades ago, businesses had to be purely physical, with employees and a physical space to be considered valid; however, with the invention of the internet, things have changed very quickly.

The most successful businesses today cater to an online service or have a huge database online. This is because having a business on the internet gives you more opportunities than you would normally have if you were to remain in your local environment.

Services like stores where traditional buying is done tend to be the ones that work best on the internet. For example, fashion stores have a huge audience online. Another service that works well online is eLearning, or electronic learning. It is a situation where people acquire a more formalized education online. If you’re interested in an eLearning business but not sure of how or where to start, check out these five tips.

5 Tips to Start an eLearning Business

  1. Pick a Field – If your eLearning Business is completely brand new, you might want to start off with just one field. It can be easy to give in to the temptation of offering education in many fields, but you shouldn’t. You have to take into consideration the amount of work it’ll take and whether you’ll be able to sustain that level of production. Start small and eventually branch out.
  1. Specialization – This is where you pick a niche of your own. You have a better chance of success if you pick an aspect you’re exceptional in and capitalize on that. Having a niche will build you a more loyal group of customers who will turn invite other people to patronize your eLearning business.
  1. Meet a Need – In each field, there are areas where the need is greater, areas where the supply is not sufficient for the demands. Do your research by asking interested friends and people in that field what they struggle with. Read the comments concerning your field on social media and very soon certain problems begin to show up quite often. Pick one of these problems and solve it.
  1. Extensive Product Research – Compare the designs of already established eLearning businesses and see what they have in common. This does not mean that you should copy them, but if you study their interface, production, and the portrayal of their classes, you’ll understand why they are so successful. You should also take into consideration what the customers want. Read the low ratings of these platforms and work on avoiding their mistakes. This will help you create a product that people will want to purchase.
  1. Create your Website Platform  – The next thing to do is create a platform that best suits your eLearning business. You can opt to do this yourself or pay a professional.

These are the five steps to successfully starting an eLearning business. Once this is done, you invest in strategic advertising. If you have any questions or extra tips, share them in the comment section below. Thanks for reading.

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Natural Ways to Clean the Kitchen at Work

Cleanliness is vital for all-around good health. A dirty environment is more susceptible to germs and diseases; therefore, to protect yourself from unwanted germs, you should practice cleanliness. Once you’ve made this decision, the next step is to find a good cleaning agent. Cleaning agents are mostly used to remove dirt from surfaces. The use of cleaning agents is easily the most popular method of cleaning. However, most cleaning agents are extremely harsh because they are created to “kill” germs. They are effective but they can also be harmful to your health.

Your choice of cleaning agents becomes even more important in places like a kid’s room, pantry, and most especially the kitchen. For example, using an intense antiseptic soap to wash the dishes could be harmful to you because the chemicals used in making these soaps are not for human consumption. You can argue that you’re not actually consuming these cleaning agents, but the residue which lingers on cutlery and plates can cause harm. In situations like this, we must be more cautious. You can continue to use traditional cleaning agents for your countertops and other surfaces but for the cutlery, pots, plates, etc., you should opt for more natural alternatives.

4 Natural Ways to Clean the Kitchen at Work

There are several natural ways to clean your kitchen and here are some you can try out.

  1. Lemon Juice – The benefits of lemon juice are numerous. Not only is it good for consumption but you can also use it to clean hard surfaces such as wooden floors, tables, and the likes. Lemon juice is especially great for this, because it removes grease from wooden surfaces. To do this all you need is half a cup of jojoba oil and a quarter of lemon juice. Mix and spray onto the intended surface.
  1. Vinegar – White vinegar is a great cleaning agent. You can add it to your fabric softener, use it to whiten your toilets and wipe down smooth surfaces in the kitchen. To do this all you need is an empty spray bottle. When the bottle is clean, you mix one or two cups of white vinegar with one or two cups of water. You can make larger quantities but it’s better to start with smaller quantities. Once your mixture is complete, you may proceed to use your all-natural cleaning agent.
  1. Baking Soda – Baking soda is highly effective for cleaning sticky or stubborn stains on smooth surfaces. Unlike the previous alternatives, baking soda works better as a thick paste or when it is sprinkled onto the surface you intend to clean. You can use baking soda to clean your toilets, bathtubs, sinks, and tile or marble floors.
  1. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day – If none of these alternatives seem convincing to you, then this is the cleaning agent for you. Unlike other harsh cleaning agents, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and a similar all-natural brand called Rebel Green both use healthier ingredients that are not abrasive or tough on the human body. They are a perfect alternative if you’re searching for greener cleaning agents. Natural cleaners are better for you and the environment. Consider these alternatives today!
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Tips on Encouraging Leadership in Young Business Associates

Leadership skills are very important for day-to-day operations. Leadership skills are not limited to or strictly meant for leaders or who we perceive as leaders. Leadership skills teach people to be more confident, to take responsibility, and to make better decisions. These are all skills we need to improve our quality of life whether we are leaders or not.

These skills are even more needed in the workplace, but on some occasions, one’s employees or associates do not have these skills. It takes a great deal of patience to nurture the spirit of leadership, but the end result is always worth the effort. If you’re a young adult looking for tips on leadership, or a supervisor or CEO trying to encourage leadership amongst your employees or business associates then try using these tips.

  1. Lead by example – This may seem like commonplace knowledge, but it’s more than just that. This is the first step you take before doing anything else. If you are going to encourage leadership amongst your associates you must lead by example. This means you have to show them what it is like to be a true leader. Show them how good leaders behave, so that they have a blueprint for guidance.
  1. Nurture teamwork – Leadership does not mean forceful dictatorship or one person holding all the power; that always leads to a revolt. From the onset, you need to make sure they know that teamwork is vital for success whether you’re an employer or an employee. Teamwork also teaches how to delegate efficiently.
  1. Teach negotiation and decision making skills – Negotiation and decisions are two things that take a lot of time to discuss. More often than not that time could be used to pursue other fruitful endeavors. Teach your associates how to negotiate and make effective decisions based on the objectives and not their emotions.
  1. Communication – Communication is extremely important in all aspects of life. Educate your team on the importance of communication. Proper communication can help to speed up the negotiation and decision-making process. It is vital to learn how to communicate and to do it confidently. In this situation practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
  1. Responsibility – Learning responsibility is one of the most effective ways to encourage leadership. Encouraging leadership means teaching responsibility and the importance of taking responsibility for your actions and decisions.
  1. Encourage optimism and perseverance – A huge aspect of being a leader is thinking positively regardless of the situation. In most cases, leaders can’t choose to ignore the problem or find a quick fix. These are unsustainable short term solutions. A leader has to persevere despite the odds, because giving up is not always an option.
  1. Empathy – This tip may be the last but it is certainly not the least. Empathy is extremely important when it comes to encouraging leadership. You have to understand what they feel and they will, in turn, be able to interpret the emotions of others. Empathy is vital, because it creates a spirit of oneness in teams which improves efficiency and productivity.

As earlier stated, encouraging leadership takes a lot of patience; therefore, you have to be ready to show and not tell. Let us know if you have any other tips for encouraging leadership. Thank you for reading!

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Avoid These Signs for Weakness of Leadership in Business

A lot of business leaders need to have some skills if they are to succeed in the business world. They have to be able to take care of the issues that are common in the workplace. They should be able to motivate their workers and even communicate with those that work with them.

The fact that they have a lot of things to do has made the weakness of leadership a common issue in many business leaders.

If you have decided to succeed as a business leader, you need to beat the weakness of leadership that is common in some leaders. Successful leaders know that a positive management style is important and they nurture it, while they avoid creating negative leadership characteristics.

4 Weakness of Leadership Traits

They feel they know it all.

This is one weakness of leadership some leaders possess. Everyone will tell you that they dread working for a leader that feels that he or she knows it all. It is all shades of annoying. This human being thinks that everyone should do what he wants whenever he wants it.

Successful leaders understand that they do not know everything, and they make use of the knowledge and skills that their workers possess.

They allow their workers to share their thoughts. They ensure that those that they work with are properly engaged. If you think that you know everything, how then will you enjoy the skills and expertise of your workers? Working with a team and allowing them to show off their skills is definitely out of this world. Every successful leader understands this.

They underestimate the importance of communication.

Some leaders tend to ignore the fact that they have to communicate with their workers or colleagues. They feel that their colleagues may not need to know things, which is wrong. You have to ensure that your colleagues are in the know by communicating with them regularly. You don’t want them to be confused.

No company succeeds well in turmoil.

If you want to succeed, you should consider being a good communicator.

They are not interested in listening to others.

Employees hate bosses that do not allow them to speak up. This breeds up hatred for their bosses and even the company that they work in. They feel that their opinions won’t be heard, so what is the need. Active listening is important for any leader to succeed.

If you want to earn the trust, condolence and loyalty of your employees, you should consider listening to them.

Ignore the fact that emotional intelligence is important.

A lot of bad leaders do not understand emotional intelligence. They ignore the fact that there are consequences is they allow their emotions get the best of them.

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How to Start a Remodeling Business

Are you thinking of starting up a remodeling business, you are in luck, as we have got you covered. You may have found out that remodeling business is an awesome business, hence you are wondering how to start a remodeling business. We have put together some steps that will ensure that you start a remodeling business in an awesome manner. Follow this guide and you will be in business in no time. Isn’t that cool?

It is important to note that you can’t start a remodeling business without registering it. Here’s how.

5 Steps to Start a Remodeling Business

Phase 1: Have Your Business Planned

If you have decided that you want to succeed in this business, you should consider formulating a business plan. This allows you to create the specifics concerning the business and find out the unknowns.

You tend to find out what the startup and ongoing costs are. You find out what the target market is. You find out how long it will take you to break even.

You decide what your business name will be.

Phase 2: Create a Legal Entity

If you don’t want to be personally liable if your business is sued, you should consider creating a legal business entity. It won’t be a bad idea to create an LLC. You will be thankful for this. There are a number of business structures that you can go for. Some are DBA, LLC, Corporations, and so on.

It won’t be a bad idea to get an agent service to ensure that your privacy is protected.

Phase 3: Register Your Business for Taxes

Before you can run that remodeling business, you are expected to register for a number of federal taxes, as well as state taxes.

Before you can register for these taxes, you need to have an EIN. Register for it. You can easily get your EIN via an IRS website. It can also be gotten through the mail or fax.

Phase 4: Create a Credit Card and Bank Account for Your Business

If you want to protect your private asset, you should consider making use of dedicated business banking and credit accounts. You will be thankful for this.

Problems usually creep up when you mix hour business and personal accounts. If your business ever gets sued, you will be personally liable. What this means is that you have pierced your corporate veil. Avoid the urge to do this.

Apart from that having your business can’t account ensures that accounting and tax filing is a lot easier.

Phase 5: Create Business Accounting

If you want to understand if your business is doing well or not, it is important that you properly record your income and expenses. You should have a well-recorded account that ensures annual tax filing can easily be done.

This will do you a lot of good.

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Strategies for Year End Business Planning

When the year comes to an end, you start to wonder if your business fared well during that year. You may be wondering if you need to change your year end business planning. What parts did you succeed in? What aspects did you fail in? Are there opportunities that you should have embraced? What are the threats in this business that could end your business? At this point, you need a lot of year-end business planning if you are to succeed. Keep reading to learn more.

Year End Business Planning Tips

You end up reviewing your accounting to see if you made gain or loss. You check out your inventory to see that they are complete and properly recorded. You add up your expenses to see if there were unnecessary expenses that could have been ignored. At the year-end, every business needs intense attention. This is because the owner wants the business to start out the next year with an awesome bang.

You want to know if any goals have been met or if you had to do more to meet them. It is important to note that year end business planning can’t be over flogged if you want to meet the next goals that you set for the new year.

We have put together some year end business planning tips that your business will enjoy.

Where do you stand now?

To do this, you need to check the financial position of your business. This is one reason that you should have properly recorded financial statements. They allow you to know the performance of your business and see if the goals that you had set had been met. You need to assess each aspect of your business. Are your employees doing well? What of the accounting aspect?

When you do this, it becomes easier to know what went wrong, which aspects you need to improve, and how you can succeed effortlessly.

You should consider doing the following:

  • Write out your achievements during that financial year.
  • Look at how your employees performed and if they met the goals set out.
  • Analyze how much was spent in a year and see if you can cut out on some expenses.
  • Look at your financial goals.

One aspect of your business that you should thoroughly examine is your financial goals. The aim of creating any business is to make money and if you are not making money, the purpose is defeated.

You need to ensure that your business is effectively utilizing its monetary resources. You need to know what aspects you have to invest your money in and those aspects that shouldn’t see a cent of your money. You want to be able to handle your debts effortlessly.

Look at your proving strategy, are you perfect exploiting the market? You should consider possessing a sustainable business model.