There was a time when having a website was the new thing in marketing. In 2010, there were just 255 million websites worldwide. That number nearly quadrupled to 966 million in just six years.

As a marketing professional, this trend tells me two things: websites are a major factor in strategy planning and websites have to deliver more in order to rise above the crowd.

At first glance, you might say that I have only to worry about the first and leave the second to website designers. However, website designers tend to focus more on how a website looks than how it works and that can be problematic for marketers when the website design has a negative impact on the user experience or UX.

As Steve Jobs said, “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But, of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” That is exactly what it means to have a website with good user experience or UX.

A Marketing Approach to Your Site’s UX design

The UX was not always a big issue, which is why there is a divide between marketing and website design. People, back in the day, were more patient and willing to overlook a cumbersome website if they could get otherwise inaccessible information.

That is no longer the case today.

Now, users have higher expectations when it comes to website performance. Since they have a wider option of obtaining what they want from other sources, they are more likely to leave a site if it has a negative UX design.

The factors that influence website UX include accessibility (loading speed, working links), usability (navigation), findability (SEO), value (content relevance and credibility) and desirability (design and layout). When a website lacks one or more feature, it results in a negative UX.

How does this impact on marketing?

Well, consider that the average user in 2017 will wait only a few seconds for a page to load and about 80% of users are less likely to use a website with poor UX. This means fewer conversions and that’s not good from a marketing perspective.

Marketing and UX Pairing

The question then is how marketing can improve the UX. The answer is simple: the two sides have to work as a team.

Sales and marketing professionals routinely deal directly with people, unlike website designers. As such, they have an in-depth knowledge of what people want and need when they visit a particular site.

For example, if you sell clothes online, the people that go to your site need to buy clothes. How can you provide them with a solution to their problem? The answer is to make it easy for them to find what they want.

Marketing professionals can provide valuable insight into buying behavior and psychology, which may not make much sense to web designers. On the other hand, marketers have no idea of the principles behind website design. They may know how to sell but not how to present it to the user effectively.

In other words, marketing and UX design have to forge a working relationship. Below are some brilliant ways marketing and UX design can boost your site’s conversion rate together.

Coordinate marketing efforts

One of the biggest challenges for many companies today is coordinating different marketing campaigns to benefit the company as a whole. One study shows that nearly two-thirds of companies identify marketing silos as a barrier to communications, productive and effective execution of a cohesive marketing strategy.

Collaboration with the UX design team can break down these silos and improve communications because it establishes a common ground to work on. Working with the UX design team makes any breakdown in communications among marketing glaringly apparent, so it necessitates agreement among them on major goals. When there is a cohesive message and approach, the UX design team can produce a better website. It’s a win-win situation.

Carry out user testing

Marketers may know people but, ultimately, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. UX design teams have access to information that reveals how users actually interact with the website through user testing tools. These provide valuable insights to marketers about what the users want so they can refine their marketing campaigns and maximize conversion.

This, in turn, will guide marketers on what they need the UX design team to fix on the website so that they can improve and create the ideal UX. This entails a certain measure of trial and error but it is a very effective method of designing the perfect website in the long term.

Unify campaigns across different channels

Websites often serve as the anchor for campaigns and the average company uses about eight different channels for their marketing efforts. While marketing strategies for each channel optimize user response, they don’t necessarily dovetail neatly into your conversion funnel.

You need to make sure your email campaign is in line with your mobile app so that they end up generating leads or sales for your company. The best way to do this is to design your website to be the pivot or hub for different channels so most of your leads can conveniently navigate across channels.

Actionable plans

Now that you know how marketing and UX can work and complement each other, your next step is to take action. Here’s how to do that:

• Do initial research

Designing a site for a kick-ass UX all begins with gathering information about your user. You need to find out who they are, what they care about and where they come from. You also need to know how they spend their time before you can even think about your site design. Learning about your target audience is essential for success in developing your website UX. After all, it is the user experience.

• Monitor users

Your initial user research will give you a good idea of how to design your website. However, until you take it out for a test drive, it is just an idea. Once your site goes up, you should monitor how users are actually interacting with your site and use tools to monitor and analyze their behavior.

Before you do that, take note of your own expectations on user behavior to serve as a benchmark for future observations. This will prevent you from “hindsight bias” and help you figure out gaps in your user research.

• Do a survey

According to TermLife2Go, after you have observed your users and identified certain behaviors you want to understand, do a survey to get the answers from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Most of e-commerce websites are doing actionable plans to enhance users shopping experience. They send specific questions to ask why users bought an item or why they clicked on a certain option. Your intention is not to be nosy, but to increase your understanding of how your users think. That way, you can improve the website UX as well as your marketing campaigns.

Conclusion

A marketing approach to website UX is simply about integrating two important elements of your conversion funnel. If you can manage to do this successfully, it will maximize your marketing efforts to an incredible degree.

See Also: The 5 Internet Marketing Trends That Will Dominate in 2017

 

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As communications become more convenient, it also becomes easier to immerse yourself in work and never look up from it.

If you are like me, you find yourself checking e-mail at all hours and addressing mid-level professional concerns via email or on the phone when on vacation, out with friends or even playing with the kids. This is not just a bad habit but it is detrimental professionally, psychologically and physically, too.

Who is to blame for this condition?

Is it your superiors who need your council at all hours of day and night? Is it your own sense of inflated worth? Are you really needed every moment? Or is it your needless guilt in saying no to projects that you should really decline?

At this point, you are probably cursing under your breath at an article like this, thinking that as part of the gig economy. You can’t just stop and unplug because you might jeopardize your livelihood. Perhaps, you are working several jobs and need that financial support to survive.

Though that may be true, overwork is actually setting you up for failure. Creating positive and selective work habits, however, will allow you to reduce stress and be more successful.

Overworking is Bad for Business

Ultimately, it has been shown that those that claim to work huge volumes of overtime are less productive than those that work less hours but with more sustained and focused time.

The 40-hour work week was originally put in place because it allowed for the best possible work to get done without jeopardizing products. Studies showed that workers who toiled for ten hours a day compared with eight had the same level of output. Basically, that means that employers were paying overtime for no return.

The same is true of any job. We only have so much ability to get things done before losing focus or being dazed by overwork and lack of sleep.

What To Do

To make sure that your work time will be productive, take the hours off that you are supposed to.

• Lunch away

Be sure to take your lunch away from your computer and plan to leave work on time. Setting that deadline for yourself will force you to stay on task rather than procrastinate.

• Take vacation

You are more productive if you have time to unwind and return to work fresh. Do not leave your vacation time on the table.

• Keep personal time personal

To keep professional resentment at bay, make sure that you have the time you need for your family.

• Ask about a revised schedule

In the digital age, more people are working on a flexible schedule. See if this is something your employer would consider for you. After all, who cares when your work gets done as long as it’s done?

Overworking is Bad for Your Brain

Psychologically, working without a break can lead to depression, sleep deprivation and even cause memory loss. These things can surely affect your effectiveness at work. Research into this phenomenon have revealed even more unsettling results.

For example, a Norwegian study from 2014 looked deeply at the relationship between psychological disorders and overwork in over 16 thousand workers . It found out that those that were classified as workaholics were about three times as likely to show symptoms of ADHD, OCD and clinical anxiety and four times as likely to show signs of depression.

What to do

If you find yourself feeling off because of overwork, take some immediate steps.

• Catch more sleep

Want to be more useful at work? Sleep is key. Though this may cut into your “leisure time” a bit, more sleep will allow you to process effectively, help your memory and keep you focused. Think you are just one of those people who don’t need as much sleep and can go on 4-5 hours or so and be productive? Think again!

See Also: Get Strong, Sleep, Repeat: The Importance Of Sleeping

• Get deep

Deep work is a strategy that actively cuts down on distractions in favor of a protracted amount of focused time. If you feel like your multi-tasking is out of control, it might be time to detox on distractions and see if deep work concepts are right for you.

• Ask yourself if there may be a larger problem

If you find yourself increasing your workload, make sure you ask the question: Is this because of drive or a more deep-seated psychological issue?

Overworking is Bad for Your Health

There are many studies that show that overwork is bad for you physically. It can increase your likelihood of causing conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and increased fatality. Like a watch, we need to be wound down or our springs will start popping out.

Working more than 55 hours a week, says one study, gives you a 30% higher risk of stroke and 13% higher risk of heart disease as well as increased dangers for diabetes.

What to do

To protect your health, consider the following actions.

• Find time for exercise

Obviously, this is easier said than done. Make sure you take time, even if it’s just a walk at lunchtime or getting up to talk to someone on another floor rather than sending an email. And when you go there, take the stairs.

• Stand up for yourself

Prolonged sitting is pretty bad for your cardiovascular health – make sure you take a couple of minutes every hour or so to move your joints and get your blood flowing.

• Eat right

Overwork can lead to some strange eating habits (ever heard of Soylent, for example?). By planning your meals and investing in bringing healthy snacks, like fruits and veggies, to work, you’ll be able to lower your cholesterol.

Perhaps the best way to start balancing life and work is to be honest with yourself about what is possible to accomplish in the time you have allotted for work.

Most of those who end up being overworked do so because they have said “Yes” to too many projects. However, there are ways to say no to your boss or peers that will make you look both smart and sensitive, rather than a basket case or a slacker.

See Also: 7 Signs Of Overworking (And What To Do About Them)

Check out this infographic from GetVoIP to learn more about how to respectfully say no at work and avoid overworking yourself.

SOURCE

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Do you get annoyed when people keep writing “there” instead of “their,” “its” instead of “it’s” or “ affect” instead of “effect”? Do your friends sometimes call you a “grammar Nazi” (in the sweetest way)?

If so, then you are probably the right person to start a proofreading business at home.

Before you entertain this thought, it should be something that you really want to do. This is because this business is only for those who truly enjoy looking into little details, bugging people about word order or reading the same text over and over just to make sure that “it flows.”

Otherwise, you won’t survive there for too long!

Now, you might be wondering about one thing: How can you start a proofreading business at home?

We know the answer and we will show it to you in a second. But, before that, make sure you know these things about the market:

1. Getting into the market will take some time as there are many people like you trying to top the list of successful business owners in this niche.

2. You will need much patience when trying to build your own network and get your first orders.

3. People in this niche need to take courses and do research on their own to make sure their knowledge is still relevant.

4. You will have to start at a lower rate, so don’t expect high revenue at first.

5. All business people need to be good marketers (or hire the latter to work for them), as that’s the only way, besides networking, to land new orders.

6. This market changes a lot and you will have to catch up with it all the time.

7. Select your specialization as an “I will proofread anything” approach does not sound professional enough to attract new customers.

We hope we painted quite a picture for you here. Now, let’s move to the actual steps on how to start a proofreading business at home.

See Also: 9 Ways How To Earn Money Online

How to start up your own business in proofreading niche

Develop a proper mindset

When you start a business, remember that it is YOUR business. You do not have a boss to blame for a weak marketing strategy, a supervisor to delegate all tasks to, or a director who will cover any financial loss.

You are in charge of all these things. So, before you start acting, think twice. Choose targets carefully, research every step before even making it and search for solutions only after seeking the assistance of experienced business people.

And also, start with a professional business plan, license, checking account, email and a phone number. Be professional on all stages!

Evaluate your financial situation

You need to make sure that you have the funds to start your own business. You will need to support yourself for some time, purchase professional tools and pay salaries if you want to hire more employees to work for you.

So, be realistic when it comes to your financial state and calculate all the possible outcomes before even starting.

Polish your skills

As a proofreader and an editor, you will have to work hard not to lose your skills in the midst of all the marketing campaigns, networking and other business issues that are not particularly related to the actual proofreading.

Besides, there are so many freelancers out there so you will have to work hard to strengthen your presence in the market.

Analyze your target audience

Who are the people you want to deliver your services to? What are they genuinely interested in? What are their core values?

It is important to have a clear customer’s portrait from the start. It is a huge help both to your marketing strategies and customer satisfaction.

Know who you are aiming to reach out to and adapt your strategies exactly to their needs. For instance, students might need an additional plagiarism checker and if you offer this service for free, they will be very grateful. Your success is only one market research away.

Build your portfolio

People want to see results. Therefore, getting testimonials from your former employers, clients or the people you helped before can be a huge step forward.

Boast.io states that “Customer testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics, identified by 89% and 88%, respectively, of B2B marketers.”

Besides, remember that competition is huge and to have new customers come and tell you to just take their money, you need to go over and beyond with your business ideas.

Establish your rate

Yes, you need to establish your rate. There is no one common formula to help you calculate a perfect rate. However, you need to remember that as your reputation and skills grow, your rate will grow, too.

Research the pricing of your business rivals in the same services and make your rate somehow close to theirs. Remember that you should also have a loyalty program and bonuses to those who leave their testimonials, bring friends, or recommend your services.

Have a set of essential tools to use

Before you launch your business or start your first marketing campaign, you need to ensure that you have all the necessary tools you need to run the business. Thus, you might want to buy some grammar checkers to save your time or your own domain to run the business on.

All this has to be established and tuned up before the first clients fly in, as managing organizational things on the go is not easy if you are a newbie to this area.

Start the advertising campaign

Finally, the time has come to launch those marketing campaigns. Start with Facebook ads as that is where most people spend time daily. Besides, they are easy to set up and analyze so not using them is almost a crime!

Then, consider running special campaigns on Google or elsewhere. You will probably need help with writing all the texts right and pushing the right triggers there so be ready to pay for the services of real professionals here.

See Also: The 5 Internet Marketing Trends That Will Dominate in 2017

Network

Networking is powerful. People find jobs with the help of their friends’ recommendations and you can easily find new customers in the same way. Simply ask your friends if they know anyone looking for proofreading services. It never hurts to ask and you might get new clients in no time.

And also, leave your business cards wherever you go. They might do the job for you, too.

Work on your people skills

Every business is all about relationship. Unless you know how to find a key to every individual person out there, you are at a risk to fail.

So, master the art of being a friendly business as that is your key to success. People like businesses with a soul behind it. Be that kind of business!

Learn how to deliver the best client service

Finally, you need to be ready to deal with the complaints of any frustrated customers. Make sure that they will be left with nothing but a good impression of your business in the end. You can either hire a professional to deal with frustrated customers or learn how to be the perfect fit yourself.

In summary

Running a personal business is a dream come true for many. However, to make sure that your home-based proofreading business will last and prosper after years of struggles in the market, follow our simple tips.

 

 

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A healthy marriage comprises of many different roles. On any given day, you may be the sexy lover, the secret keeper, the playmate or the best friend. This plethora of roles you play contributes to the quality of your marriage.

Being friends with your spouse is guaranteed to make your marriage more fun for both of you. It will help deepen your bond as well. Being friends with your mate means more shared activities, free and open communication and a marriage that is the envy of all your friends.

Wondering why friendship in marriage is important? Here are 10 good reasons:

You get to enjoy similar hobbies

Many couples get together because they like each other’s company and there’s physical attraction. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean they enjoy each other’s hobbies. When you have already established friendship, you likely have a hobby in common with your partner.

This opens the way for more interesting date nights as a married couple. Instead of going out to dinner, you can head out for a Sunday morning surf, try golfing, play video games all afternoon or go on a photography hike. Having similar hobbies means more bonding time for you as a couple.

See Also: 6 Hobbies For Couples That Can Strengthen Your Relationship

You’re over each other’s past relationships

By being friends with your partner, you have probably already heard dozens of stories about his ex-girlfriends. You may even have been friends with some of them! Not only does this give you full disclosure about your mate’s romantic past, it can also make you feel less jealous and more secure in your relationship.

Your marriage is enviable

Doesn’t it tickle you on some level when your friends watch you and your spouse interact and then wistfully exclaim: “I wish I had that!” Not that you’re concerned with what other people think of your marriage, right?

There will be less damaging fights

As friends, you’ve had your share of ups and downs. This also means that you’ve probably had your fair share of arguments, too.

By establishing friendship in your marriage, you’ll know how to communicate in a disagreement with your partner and you won’t be afraid to apologize when you are wrong. You know how to consider your partner’s feelings and put yourself in his shoes.

This is friendship at its best. This makes marriage more fun since there’s no pride getting in the way of doing the right thing, particularly when it comes to apologizing, admitting wrongdoing and making up with your lover.

Furthermore, there isn’t that looming fear of this ‘D’ word when you already have a long history of friendship together. This allows you to be open with one another without worrying what effect your honesty will have on your relationship.

You set an excellent example

Your children will depend on you for many things, like food, emotional support and someone to entertain them. They’ll look up to you as an example of how to behave and what standards to expect from life and love. This bodes well for those who have made friendship an important part of their marriage.

Your children will consider your marriage as the basis for what they can expect from their marriage in the future. Your friendship and fun-loving attitude towards one another will set an excellent example for your little ones.

There’s transparency

Does transparency in your marriage make it much more fun?

Since you are already friends, you have already heard the best and the worst experiences the other has gone through. From crazy exes to not-so-dignified behavior, you know your partner’s dirty history in and out. This takes a lot of the guess work out of your relationship and leaves more time for you to enjoy each other’s company. You’ll be able to share your problems without fearing what the other person will think.

It keeps things interesting

Friendship makes a marriage more fun by keeping things interesting. When you are friends on top of being lovers, it will keep the relationship from feeling stale or routine. Having fun and laughing together bonds you as a couple and heightens your desire to spend time together. What could be more interesting than taking up new hobbies with your best friend in the world?

See Also: 3 Ways To Inject More Humor Into Your Relationship

You have a comfortable silence

Is there anything worse than that clunky, uncomfortable silence that comes from not knowing a new friend well enough? Never fear! This will never happen when you have friendship in your marriage.

You can feel completely comfortable with any silent gaps that appear in conversation with your partner. You won’t feel the need to search for old, embarrassing instances from your past to fill the void. Instead, you’ll simply bask in the glow of one another and enjoy those extra moments of silence that you have together.

Your partner knows how to be happy for you

When you’re good friends with your spouse, you and your partner both know how to be excited for each other. There is no secret jealousy or looming resentment. When you achieve something great, your partner will be right there celebrating with you. They can show you full support and make you feel special.

You’re less stressed out

Being in a close relationship means there is more oxytocin flowing through your body. This “love drug” makes you feel accomplished and appreciated. It raises your trust and lowers stress and anxiety. The happier you are, the happier your marriage will be.

Conclusion

Friendship makes marriage more loving, more comfortable and more fun to be in. It is an aspect of marriage that needs nurturing to stay fiery and alive.

So, make time for your mate every day so you can nurture your relationship and make your marriage as fun as it can be.

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Are you planning to go on a vacation soon? Do you have an urgent business trip coming up shortly?

Leaving your home and going for a vacation can sound fun. But, without proper preparation, it can easily burn holes in your wallet.

If you’re like me, you want to save money whenever you can. Unfortunately, things always cost more than you plan for them to, especially when you are on vacation. This is why it helps to research first where you’re going before you make your hotel reservations and start packing.

In this post, we’ll take a look at seven ways to save money while traveling so that you can come back with money in your pocket!

7 Tips for Saving Money When Traveling

Below are seven ways to save money while traveling. See which ones you might benefit from when planning your next trip.

Start with saving at home

One of the things that can help you have more money for your vacation is to start saving money at home. Set aside a little money every month and set a goal you want to meet. In setting your goal, make sure it will meet the total expected cost of your trip.

One thing I sometimes do is to put spare change in an automatic ATM coin bank. You may think it’s just “pocket change” but it adds up quick! If you deposit a few quarters every week from the change you get back from small transactions, you’ll get a lot of money over time which you can use for your vacation.

Some online banks offer a way to put aside money specifically for various purposes. I’ve often used my mobile banking “goals” option to save for a vacation automatically.

Join a discount membership service

You know the offers I’m talking about. You probably see them in magazines or newspapers. You may even get calls about some of them. Some are scams, but some are true values that you should look into.

Discount travel booking sites, such as NextVacay.com, can save you hundreds of dollars on vacation costs, airfares and more. If you are planning on flying somewhere in the near future, take a moment to visit their site and select your flight location from their quick pull down menu and instantly see which travel deals match up best with your local and final destination. If you are short on ideas for where you might like to travel next, be sure to check out the bottom section of their site to see where the latest deals were purchased from other customers.

Unlike other “discounted travel sites”, NextVacay was actually created based on the needs and experiences of real-life travelers. The story of the site was recently shared on The Ringer, where it went on to say “Naveen Dittakavi and his wife started Next Vacay after catching the flight-hunting bug. They’d seen a friend’s Facebook post about a $300 round trip from D.C. to India and they were sold. Friends noticed the couple’s frequent travels and asked how they were managing this. From that, Next Vacay became a subscription service that costs $25 a year and is personalized to members’ origin airports.”

Find a debit card without foreign fees

If you are traveling abroad, you will want to find a debit or credit card that doesn’t charge you extra fees for foreign transactions. These fees can add up to large amounts of money that can cost you far more than you bargained for.

One card that allows you to avoid these fees is the Charles Schwab card. There are actually a lot of credit cards with no international fees if you just do your homework.

NerdWallet has a great article on the best credit cards without foreign fees attached to them. The last thing you want to do is to travel while feeling limited by every purchase you make.

Get a job!

We go on a vacation to get away from work, right? But, there are many foreign countries that love to hire travelers from other countries to improve their perspective on things or get ideas from other cultures. Look into this and see if this is something you might want to do to increase the money you have available for your vacation.

If you have the time to spend working on something while you are on vacation and don’t mind trying something new, look into working abroad for a day or two per week to earn more money for your trip. Just make sure you understand the foreign exchange rate and how you’ll be paid before you take on such an opportunity.

Visit discount websites for airfare and taxi service

One way to save money while traveling is to watch your transportation budget. Paying for transportation, such as taxis and airfare, can get expensive when you are on a vacation.

It pays to hunt for transportation discounts on the Internet that can save you money. If you can save money on your travel fares, you’ll cut down your expenses substantially. In essence, you’ll have more money to spend on things you want to enjoy.

Use mobile apps to find deals

Many vacation and travel-related companies are creating mobile apps that allow you to find great deals to help you save money on food, shopping and recreation. Google can help, too. It can help you find great deals according to your location.

Apple users can use Safari to locate similar opportunities as they travel. These are onboard programs on the Google and Apple platforms.

In addition to those two, there are plenty of other apps available for travelers who want to save money while on the road. Gate Guru by Apple is one good example. It’s a mobile app that can help you locate restaurants, local hot spots and other shopping opportunities near your area when you’re traveling.

See Also: 21 Top Travel Apps and Tools 

Use the hotel extras to save on little things

Hotels leave toothpaste, soap, shampoos and body wash bottle in your hotel room. Many even leave free mouthwash and other items. There’s no need to buy toiletries like those if you’ll have them in the hotel. So, check to see what your hotel offers and leave some things at home and pack lighter.

In addition to the extra bathroom and toiletry items, some hotels offer free breakfasts that are better than some of the local restaurants. If you get up in time to enjoy it, you can save $20 or $30 per meal by eating in your hotel. Ask your desk clerk when you make reservations to see what the policies are for dining and free food.

How to Make the Most Out of Your Next Big Trip

Planning ahead is really what we’re talking about. When you look around for saving and budgeting opportunities all of the time, you’ll find lots of ways to save money. So, when you are ready to go on vacation, you’ll be ready.

Read our other travel articles to learn more about great tips on saving money when planning your next vacation. You can also run through these travel checklists for helpful tips on ways to save money while traveling abroad as well as domestic traveling tips.

Remember, when you save on airfare and travel expenses, you’ll enjoy your vacation a whole lot more. You may even have enough money left for a cool souvenir, too!

See Also: 7 Ways To Save Money When Traveling In South Africa

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Fresh fruit and veggie-based juices are the perfect way to get your daily dose of nutrition without the extra calories. While juicing won’t give you the figure of your dreams overnight, it’s a great way to enhance the effects of a proper diet and exercise program.

How Does Juicing Help You Lose Weight?

Here’s how fresh fruit and veggie juices can help you lose weight:

• You’re delivering vital nutrients to your body in an efficient manner, allowing it to directly absorb vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
• Raw fruits and veggies are typically quite high in water content to keep you hydrated. They help control hunger, too.
• Raw fruits contain tiny amounts of fructose. When you juice with 75% veggies and 25% fruit, you won’t be overdoing the sugar.
• Green leafy veggies are high in protein to help build muscles while other ingredients can help with digestion and blood sugar regulation.

5 Juicing Recipes For Weight Loss

Green Gut Buster Detox

Packed with the goodness of raw fruits and green leafy veggies, this detoxifying drink helps to counter the effects of junk food, holiday binges and parties. This recipe is rich in vitamin C and health-boosting polyphenols which make it one of the best juicing recipes for weight loss.

To make this Detox juice, put the following ingredients in your juicer:

• 10 kale leaves (stems removed)
• 2 celery stalks (leaves removed)
• 1 1/2 cucumber
• 2 green apples (cut in half)
• 1 lemon (peeled)
• 1 2 inch piece fresh ginger

Preparation Tip – Increase or decrease the amount of apples to add or reduce the sweetness. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Fruit Punch Energy Booster

This sweet and tangy juice is the perfect way to start your day since it wakes you up and gives you the energy and nutrients you need in the morning. Loaded with vitamins and minerals from fruit and greens, it’s also the ideal pre-workout fuel for your body!

To make this Booster juice, put the following ingredients in your juicer:

• 2 cups of spinach
• 2 apples
• 1 cup cucumber
• 2 cups pineapple
• Juice of 2 limes

Preparation Tip – Add lime juice and ice after juicing the other ingredients to prevent oxidization. Increase or decrease pineapple and apples as per your taste.

Tropical Carrot-Apple Tummy Tucker

Carrots are rich in beta carotene (which helps your body process vitamin A), B vitamins, vitamin K and potassium. In this recipe, the sweetness of carrots is perfectly balanced with the tangy flavor of apples. It’s a drink that’s both nutritious and delicious.

To make this Tummy Tucker juice, put the following ingredients in your juicer:

• 3 large carrots (chopped)
• 2 cups pineapple
• 1 apple
• 2 pieces fresh ginger

Preparation Tip – Use firm apples to produce a clear juice and add green apples if you want more tartness.

Sneaky Green-Berry Metabolism Booster

If you don’t tell anyone that this drink has leafy veggies in it, they will never know it’s a green smoothie. Mixed berries add a rich flavor as well as a gorgeous color to this juice, masking the “green” flavor and color of spinach.

To make this Booster juice, put the following ingredients in your juicer:

• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 cup blueberries
• ¼ cup raspberries
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup coconut water

Preparation Tip – Adding a few chopped beets will intensify the color and mineral content of this drink.

Flat Belly Antioxidant Delight

This drink delivers a huge payoff in terms of antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals from fresh carrots, citrus, and green vegetables. Carrots also help to regulate blood sugar.

This juice is so tasty that even veggie-hating kids will love it!

To make this Antioxidant juice, put the following ingredients in your juicer:

• 1 carrot
• 2 oranges
• 2 cups broccoli
• 1 stick of celery
• ¼ head of cabbage
• ¼ head of lettuce

Preparation Tip – Juice the oranges and add to the smoothie container with ice before juicing the other ingredients. Stir well before serving.

See Also: 4 Best Teas To Help You Lose Weight

Pro-Tips for Proper Juice Storage

There are simple tricks to help keep your juices longer.

For one, you can add lemon to slow down oxidation. You can also use a proper smoothie storage solution if you want to make larger batches of juice at a time. While green smoothies and juices can be whipped up in a jiffy if you have the ingredients at hand, it can still be a hassle to make them each time you want a guilt-free snack or healthy drink.

Smoothie bottles that pump out excess air will help keep ingredients fresh and preserve their health benefits, so you can just grab one from the fridge before leaving the house or when you want a quick snack!

See Also: 8 Bad Food Habits That Are Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Goals

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Money is a part of life. Whether we love it or hate it, money is a necessity. It provides food, shelter and health care. It also gives us freedom, opportunity and decision-making flexibility. In addition to those, money allows us to pursue our passions or philanthropic desires.

As much as we may wish it weren’t the case, money plays a huge role in our lives so the attainment of wealth is often on our radar.

During my own journey to wealth, I learned a few distinctions that deepened my relationship with money and allowed the idea of getting rich quick to be a real possibility. Of course, with these terms, there are qualifiers.

Getting rich quick can often refer to a scam or gamblers mentality. That’s not what I’m referring to. Becoming rich is not an event that happens to you. It’s a process that takes place over time. Whether that time period is short or long, that depends on your approach.

I became rich quickly and I was the most unlikely candidate – a high school dropout, blue-collar mechanic. I had a light bulb moment when I realized people could get rich on purpose- not by accident or luck, but by educating themselves how. If they could do it, so could I. And I did.

Let me clarify by saying nobody can tell you how you are going to achieve it. This is an entrepreneurial step and you need to take personal responsibility for it. But, yes, you can learn how to get rich quick and there’s a process you must go through.

You must change how you think about money.

The average person looks at the average income around them. They work hard to earn that because it is their obtainable reality. They believe that to gain greater wealth, you must have to work harder, be smarter or luckier. But, working hard is not a determining factor at all.

The fundamental ingredients of how to get rich quick are: believing, purpose, knowing for yourself and following through no matter what.

Believing

When you make the mental leap of believing that getting rich is possible, your mindset has shifted. Once you know great wealth is obtainable for you right now, THAT is the golden first step. Every person who has ever obtained wealth quickly has accomplished this belief first.

Purpose

HOW you choose to obtain your wealth is the responsibility of every entrepreneur. There are so many different types of business vehicles and you have to pick one that aligns with your passion, that excites you and that motivates you. You must be working towards a vision.

Know for yourself

Most importantly, you have to see the numbers from any venture and know for yourself that there is an opportunity for wealth. You don’t have to invent the opportunity.

I was a mechanic working crazy hours to barely make ends meet when I saw a presentation for a Network Marketing opportunity. I didn’t know the industry at all but I saw beauty in the product offering AND the business model. It ignited something in me and I knew that it deserved my time and would absolutely lift my income. I did the math and saw it for myself. A couple of years later, I was a self-made millionaire.

Following Through

To become rich quick, you must believe it’s possible, keep your eye on that goal, follow through and it’s yours. If you’ve already decided it’s too hard to make a lot of money or you believe you don’t have the time to invest, then you’ll never see the opportunities that are right in front of you.

The number of times I’ve seen people give up right before I know they’re about to crack is so frustrating. You must be steadfast in your focus and productivity. Otherwise, you’re not really in it to win it. Commit half-heartedly and you will achieve half-hearted results.

There’s not a right or wrong way to make money. At the beginning, I didn’t have the idea, the means or the knowledge to create a venture of my own. I just had the mind shift that I COULD and the opportunity I saw wasn’t a mass produced product with a small profit, requiring huge sales. I saw a high-value product, offering high-profit with great leverage and I made a killing.

To me, that’s a great way to make money quickly in business. It’s not the only way or right way, it is just ONE way.

With lessons I learned from that business and a fire in my belly, I later went on to create my own business venture which was valued at US $170 million in its fourth year. And again, it was based on a high value, high profit product which was loaded with leverage.

That is a great equation for a successful business that has the possibility of creating wealth quickly.

See Also: Five Steps To Turn Doing What You Love Into A Successful Business

Part of the fundamental process of getting rich quick is to understand that thoughts create things. Believe it can be, find the opportunity, do the sums, follow through and you will achieve it.

See Also: You Can’t Miss Your Boat

 

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One of the most important components of achieving long-term financial well-being is increasing your income. In most instances, this will come in the form of raises to your salary. As you gain more experience and rise up the ranks, you’ll receive compensation adjustments.

But, do you know exactly how to get a raise?

In this article, we’ll discuss how to craft a compelling ASK which you can use to maximize your salary increase. This past year I used these techniques to increase my base salary by 10%!

Look at your work situation objectively

To start the process, you’ll first need to sit down and objectively look at your work situation. Have you been over-delivering on your project requirements? Have you been showcasing your leadership ability?

Sit down and write a list of 5-10 things that you’ve done to add significant value to your organization. If you can’t come up with at least a few things that you’ve done to add value, you may not be ready to ask for a raise.

If this is the case, don’t be discouraged. Use the situation as a motivator to improve yourself. Reach out to your boss and ask for feedback on what you can do to improve. Once you determine your areas for improvement, begin working towards your action items. Once you come up with 5 -10 talking points, it’s time to begin crafting your compelling ASK.

Crafting your ASK

You’ve done all the hard work of delivering results, now it’s time to talk about them. When developing your ASK, it’s important to determine how much of a raise you’d like.

Do you want a 5% raise? A 10% raise?

Be sure to research what an average raise for your position looks like and determine how much you deserve based on your performance. You’ll need to be prepared to justify this amount to your employer when you’re at the negotiation table.

Next, you’ll want to begin structuring your ASK appropriately. Start by thanking your boss for his/her time and express your appreciation for the opportunity to be a part of a great organization. This will help diffuse the situation and give you an extra positive boost when you begin your negotiation.

Next, you’ll want to highlight the 5-10 items on your list that have added value to the organization. It’s extremely important that you express the VALUE you’ve provided because, in the end, that’s what your employer cares about. Use metrics and other supporting data to solidify your case.

Once you’ve explained your positive results, close out by asking your employer for your determined percentage raise. Below, I’ve given an example of what a good ASK would look like:

“Over the past 6 months, my team and I have successfully delivered on project x & y, increasing revenue by $100,000 as well as reducing customer service average wait time by 3 minutes. I plan to continue to set the bar high for myself and my team so that we can continue delivering more results like these to the organization. As a result, I feel that my compensation should be adjusted by x% to reflect my performance”.

Practice your ASK in front of people to get comfortable delivering your request. This will most likely feel awkward at first, but practice can help you gain the confidence you’ll need to deliver. Now that you’ve crafted and practiced your compelling ASK, it’s time to set up a review meeting with your employer.

The Negotiation

Now that you’ve crafted a compelling ASK and practiced delivering it, it’s time to begin your negotiation. Reach out to your employer and request a time to speak with him/her. If you already have a pre-set evaluation meeting, mark it in your calendar.

On the day of the negotiation, show up dressed to impress and ready to kick some butt. When your meeting time finally arrives, thank your employer for meeting with you and sit down to begin your discussion. During the discussion, remember to highlight the VALUE that you’ve created for the organization and focus on the key metrics that you’ve delivered. Once you’ve given your pitch, ASK your employer for your desired raise.

From there, your boss will either accept or reject your proposal. If he/she accepts your proposal, congratulations! You worked hard and deserve every penny of your raise. If your boss rejects your proposal, ask if you could substitute some of your proposed extra yearly compensation with other forms of compensation, such as year-end bonuses, stock options or more vacation time.

Many employers are more lenient with this form of compensation and it may be a great option for you. If your boss still rejects the proposal, ask them if there is anything else you need to do to be considered for a raise in the future. When your boss provides you with feedback, take that feedback and implement it into your plan of attack right away. Once you’ve completed the desired items outlined in your discussion, re-engage the raise conversation.

Bringing it all together

As a high performer and excellent contributor to your organization, you deserve to be compensated fairly for your contributions. Preparing for this important interaction with your employer will not only help you achieve better results in the present, but it can also have a massive impact on your long-term financial well-being.

See Also: How Social Niceties Can Ruin Your Chances Of Getting A Promotion At Work

Pro-tip: Book Recommendation

A good book to read in this scenario is “The Greatest Salesmen in the World” by Og Mandino. Mr. Mandino delivers key selling success strategies through a parable set in ancient Babylon.

I found the timeless lessons he discussed in this book extremely compelling and I enjoyed the story he illustrated to frame these lessons. Learning the soft skills taught in this classic book will surely be of benefit to you in many life and work situations.

Do you have any stories or experiences of asking for a raise? Do you have any beneficial tips or strategies that you’ve utilized in a wage negotiation? I’d love to hear from you.

The post 3 Steps to Getting That BIG Raise at Work appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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Whether you’re a solopreneur or a small business owner, if you have an existing email list, you have an amazing opportunity to generate instant business for yourself. The key to a “flood of phone calls email” is having something catchy and compelling that your audience can resonate with.

In this piece, I want to share with you what we did to generate over 35 inbound calls in a matter of 30 minutes- and the calls are still coming in a week later. In case you’re wondering, we’re a law firm that services consumers.

For your mail, it’s important to structure it in a specific way that will engage your audience. This way, they will be more likely to call you by the time they finish reading your email.

These 6 steps will teach you the right email marketing strategy that can give you more calls than you can handle! I hope you’re ready!

Identify your seed keywords

Before starting your writing process, I recommend that you choose a specific keyword that you want to focus on in your email. We knew that we had to send an email out, so the first thing we did was perform keyword research using the Google Keyword Planner Tool. After that, we chose the top 10 keywords that had search volume. We also looked at the “cost per click” as that indicates whether or not people were interested in the keyword.

When you’re looking at a CPC in the keyword planner tool, it primarily notes the cost for an advertiser when a visitor clicks on the advertisement in Google Adwords. The reason this is important is that if an advertiser is spending ANY amount on a keyword, that would mean the keyword is of value to that advertiser and assumes an audience is interacting with that keyword. That audience is willing to and has the intention to look deeper into the keyword.

Do a google “News” search

A great place to look for a newsworthy event to include in your email is on Google News. There are many news articles that you can choose from and write about in your email. As you perform your search, I recommend you look for a SINGLE event to piggyback off of.

In marketing, it’s also known as “drafting”. The event you choose should be interesting and related to what you’re writing about. The more interesting and relevant, the stronger your email will be.

Also, always avoid using old news. If the news you choose to use is not recent, your audience won’t think that it relates to them. If they don’t think the news is relevant, they might think your emails are not applicable to them. I keep my emails fresh to keep my audience engaged.

See Also: 5 Unconventional Google Search Tips for Power Searching

Choose a newsworthy piece with a recognizable brand name

When you’re browsing in google news, you’ll want to look out for events with a recognizable brand name. The bigger the brand name, the more trust the readers will have in the email. In one of our emails, we used a news article about Wells Fargo.

While there were other news articles with smaller brand names, it wouldn’t have been as strong if we used a bigger name. Prior to sending the massive-flood-of-phone-calls-email, we followed the same process 3 weeks prior, sent a similar email and received phone calls. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as many as the big brand name email. When we sent out the email about Wells Fargo, we started receiving calls almost instantly.

Write your email with quick spurts and highlights

Emails should not take a long time to read. Your audience wants to read about juicy content and not some wordy lines that are boring. Readers will skip any email that doesn’t sound interesting to them. Focus on the highlights of the news you want to share. Basically, write an abbreviated or synopsis version of the news to avoid weakening the rest of your email.

We broke up our email into 4 sections.

Section 1 is a summation of the bigger issue.
Section 2 is a summation of the news we found.
Section 3 is a short brief on the specifics and how it relates to the audience.
Section 4 is our call to action.

And that was it!

No complicated or overly verbose vocabulary gymnastics. Just short punchy summaries and a very, VERY clear call to action.

See Also: 5 Awesome Tips to Writing Emails That Won’t Be Ignored

Write a strong subject headline to ensure a high click through

While a strong content is important, having a strong subject headline is even more important to bring your audience in. It won’t matter how well-written the email is if the audience doesn’t click on your email.

Think of it this way.Which email would you be more likely to click?

“You can increase your revenue by following these steps.” or “5 Ways That Will Double Your Revenue in 5 Days!”

Originally, our subject headline was something to the effect of:

“Violations to your privacy from unwanted phone calls”

But, after we edited the email, we went back and rewrote the subject headline to be more recognizable and to draft behind a big brand name.

“Wells Fargo settled at $14.8 million…”

I’m glad we made that change

Write a clear call to action and Hit Send

Now you’ve reeled them in with a strong subject headline, quick highlights of your news piece and focus keywords that people are interested in. All you need to do is make your call to action a strong and clear statement.

In our call to action, we restated the problem and the solution that our customers are looking for. We knew the readers were looking for ways to stop getting robocalls (the problem) and we restated how we could make that happen (the solution).

When we started using these steps, more people called in. It’s as simple as that.

Now go forth with this email marketing strategy and conquer your email list! May the inbox be with you!

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Parents and educators have done a serious disservice to many people by leading them to believe that IQ is everything and that your grades actually matter once you are out of school. Learning is good and getting good grades can certainly open a lot of doors, but your IQ is basically set for life in childhood. So, if you are going to depend on that for the rest of your life, it will just be a losing game for you.

There is good news, though.

Your emotional quotient, or EQ, can be developed throughout your life and can have a greater impact on your career success than anything else. How to work emotional intelligence? Read on.

What Is EQ?

Your emotional quotient, like your IQ, is a measurement of your emotional intelligence. The more you develop different areas of your emotional intelligence, the higher your EQ climbs.

These are things like:

Social skills – How well do you interact with people and get along with your coworkers?

Empathy – Can you put yourself in other people’s shoes to really understand their point of view? Are you in the habit of doing this regularly?

Motivation – Are you passionate about your work or your hobby? Are you motivated by money and power?

Self-regulation – Are you able to accept things that are out of your control and think before you act?

Self-awareness – Are you aware of your own personal strengths and weaknesses? Can you acknowledge these and admit your mistakes?

How Are EQ And IQ Different?

Your IQ is consistent throughout your entire life. It basically measures your ability to learn. There are no major differences between men and women.

Your EQ, on the other hand, is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with a little effort on your part. There may be some differences between men and women in general, but it is unclear whether they are biologically or socially driven.

Typically, 70% of the time, a person of average intelligence will outperform someone with high intelligence and EQ is likely the reason behind that.

Some Of The Most Successful People Have High EQs

Oprah Winfrey is so well known for her emotional intelligence that it has its own name: Oprahfication. She has used her ability to get people to open up to build a television empire.

Matt Damon has also used his emotional intelligence to build and maintain relationships with fellow actors as well as to launch the H2O Africa Foundation. Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi once wrote to the parents of 29 of her employees to tell them they had raised good kids.

Emotional intelligence traits like these have allowed each of these people to accelerate their professional lives much more than if they were completely reliant on IQ.

Why Work On Emotional Intelligence?

People with high levels of emotional intelligence earn on average of $29,000 more per year than those with low levels of emotional intelligence. In fact, for every point your EQ rises, you can expect to earn an average of $1300 more a year. The majority of top job performers have high emotional quotients. Clearly, increasing your emotional quotient is something you can’t afford not to do.

See Also: The Importance Of Emotional Intelligence For A Leader

How Can You Improve Your Emotional Intelligence?

There’s no one way to improve your EQ and there’s no magic class or text you can take. It comes from hard work and perseverance. You will have to do some hard work and some introspection.

Here are some of the things you can start on:

Practice empathy – Putting yourself in another person’s shoes is something you have to consciously do. It won’t come naturally at first but once you do it enough, it will become second nature.

See Also: How To Develop Empathy By Understanding Subjective Hardship

Admit your own faults – Know your limits and admit to them. If someone else is better at something than you are, acknowledge it!

Listen – Don’t shut someone down because you think you know more than he does. Listen and try to understand where the other person is coming from.

Deal with your stress in a positive way – If you notice it building, take up yoga or meditation to keep it under control.

Give honest feedback nicely – Sometimes, tough things need to be said. Learn how to do it in a constructive way.

Look at failure as an opportunity to learn

Check out this infographic to learn more about emotional intelligence.

Source

 

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