Own a Small Business? 4 Advantages of Exhibiting at a Trade Show

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Every small business owner should invest time and energy in exhibiting at trade shows. The cost setting up a booth is minuscule compared to the payoff. Attending and participating in trade shows is an intimate and effective way to boost almost any business. The following are four advantages of exhibiting at trade shows.

Face-to-Face Interactions with Customers

Exhibiting at trade shows gives small business owners an excellent opportunity to interact with potential customers in person, building rapport and establishing a connection between the business and its customer base. People are far more likely to invest money in a business that they believe cares about them and their communication. Never underestimate the value and importance of connecting with customers in person. This will help customers feel as if they are an actual part of a small business’s operations. The goal of any small business owner should be to build a community around their business. This can be achieved by showing up and personally meeting the very people who comprise your collective of customers and target audience. But if you don’t have time to do this yourself, consider investing in promotional modeling, or assign one of your assistants or employees to be there.

Gauge Customers’ Needs and Interests

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, getting to know the people you are trying to sell products or services to will help you to better gauge their interests, desires, and individual needs. Your customers are far more likely to give you feedback in person rather than take the time to respond to survey questions. When you’re visiting with them, be sure to actively listen to their responses. Take note of the things they tell you, and implement their ideas where possible.

Effective Platform to Launch New Products and Services

Trade shows are perfect places to try out new products and services. As a small business owner, you will be able to see, in real time, all reactions to your new products and services when you test them out at a trade show, rather than jumping straight into marketing and selling them. This method of previewing what a business has to offer is time-tested and will allow you helpful analytic data before investing time and money into innovations that won’t work so well.

Networking

Trade shows are attended by people from all facets of business, marketing, and various other industries. Making friends at these events opens opportunities for your small business to reach more people than ever, and the friendships made at trade shows will, undoubtedly, supply you with fresh resources and means to market and sell your business more effectively and on a larger scale. No small business can succeed alone. It takes an entire team to reach any real level of success.

Guest author, Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She went to college at The Ohio State University where she studied communications. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and long walks in the park with her 3-year-old husky Snowball.  @LizzieWeakley

5 Ways to Prevent Employee Burnout

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Employee burnout is visible in numerous ways in all levels of your workplace hierarchy. It is most commonly associated with fatigued workers who work overtime regularly and who rarely take a day off. However, it can also be expressed in general job dissatisfaction, intense levels of stress, anger, cynicism or other negative emotions. Some workers may struggle with the inability to cope with seemingly minor stressors or inconveniences. As an employer, the impact of burnout can be felt throughout your operations. Burnout can result in decreased productivity and efficiency, a lower customer satisfaction rating, a declining employee retention rate and other consequences that you understandably want to avoid.

Understanding the Causes of Employee Burnout

Before you can determine the best ways to prevent employee burnout in your company, you need to understand its many causes. Long hours and long to-do lists are only some of several common causes. In many cases, multiple causes contribute to a serious issue rather than only one factor. For example, workers may also feel burnt out and overworked when they have too many responsibilities or when they lack the support and resources necessary to complete their tasks efficiently. Managerial oversight, conflicts with coworkers and other sources of stress may also contribute to burnout.

Effective Ways to Prevent Burnout in Your Workplace

Now that you understand what some of the many causes of employee burnout are, you can take smart steps to reduce its impact on your workforce. These are some of the more effective ways to prevent employee burnout in your workplace:

1. Assign a Realistic Workload

Managers are responsible for assigning a reasonable volume of work to each employee. Some managers see hardworking employees as workhorses who can handle more tasks than others. However, these individuals may work so hard or for longer hours than necessary because they feel intense stress and pressure to get their tasks completed. This stress is combined with an ever-expanding to-do list. Regardless of how efficient your employees seem to be, all employees should be assigned a realistic workload and should be able to complete their tasks within a reasonable number of hours each week.

2. Promote an Effective Work-Life Balance

Some employees may feel burnt out when they work too much and seemingly have minimal time to enjoy life on their own terms or to spend with family and friends. All employees should have ample time away from the office to exercise, to relax, to get an adequate amount of sleep at night, to tackle personal responsibilities and to maintain healthy relationships with friends and family. To promote an effective work-life balance in your team, consider allowing telecommuting periodically. Allow your team to use their paid time off on their own terms and without guilt. Consider offering additional paid time off beyond what is considered to be standard as a perk.

3. Encourage Employees to Disconnect Regularly

Today’s workers are increasingly connected to work activities wherever they go. They may immediately feel stress related to work activities as soon as they wake up and look at their phone. Emails, text messages and more may require attention throughout most waking hours. Their commute to and from work, their lunch hour and their evenings may also be impacted by their connectedness. Essentially, they are always on-duty even during their time away from the office. While you understandably want to maximize the benefits of technology in the workplace, encourage your team to turn off their devices at reasonable hours and on their days off. Work tasks can usually wait until normal business hours.

4. Invest in Efficiency-Based Technology

Workers may easily feel overwhelmed by their to-do list when each task is a struggle to complete. Numerous technological innovations are available that can bolster efficiency and help your team members to be more effective in their positions. These innovations are related to communication, project management, collaboration and more. Talk to your team about aspects of their positions that they struggle with. Then, explore available technology that may improve their work lives dramatically. Because technology continues to be improved, walk through this important step periodically for ongoing benefits.

5. Incorporate Relevant Perks and Benefits

Adding strategic perks and benefits may also improve your workplace in substantial ways. There is a cost associated with some of these perks, but you may discover that the expense is recouped in meaningful ways. For example, you can bring in a massage therapist to give chair massages to your team one day each month. You may host a potluck lunch to break up the monotony of the workday. Create an employee-of-the-month system that gives one person a prime parking space each month. This provides your team with recognition for their hard work and contributions. Perks and benefits can each have different impacts on your team, so a smart idea is to create a full list of combined benefits. These may transform your workplace culture with incredible results.

If your team is feeling burnt out, there is a good chance that you are as well. It can be challenging to find time in your busy work schedule to focus on improving the lives of your team, but this is an essential step that requires ample attention. After all, everything from productivity to turnover, customer satisfaction and more are at stake. Consider taking small, steady steps toward improving your work environment in these and other effective ways. Your employees and your business will benefit from the effort.

Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate tech enthusiast. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie enjoys reading about the latest apps and gadgets and binge-watching his favorite TV shows. You can reach him @bmorepeters

Food Product Ready for the Shelf? 4 Packaging-Design Strategies

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Only sell food products that are ready for the shelf. It takes some marketing skills to know what sells and good strategic skills to find out how to improve sales. Review 4 different ways to create effective packaging designs. 

Clear Design 

Your package design should clearly identify what type of product it contains, leaving no ambiguity. Also, create packaging with large fonts and images that can be seen by visually impaired people. There are millions of people who cannot see correctly either up close or far away. They are more likely to put the product back if they cannot read the labels. Also, larger images are seen as more visually appealing by shoppers. 

Bold Colors 

Some advertisers place human faces on their packages to appeal to different demographics of people. They want to appeal to people’s emotions by showing sad or happy faces. Those techniques work, but the most effective one of them all is the use of colors. Everyone enjoys looking at colors, and shoppers love buying colorful items. Use a variety of colors to represent an entire line of products. Some companies stick to one or two colors like black or gold to appeal to the visual senses. 

Eye-Catching Messages 

The best advertising is bold and catches the attention of viewers in a unique way. It’s the most effective because it gets the most amount of attention, whether it’s good or bad. Some companies and organizations are known to make their ads controversial to attract attention to certain social problems. The same idea of using specific words or images to attract people can be applied to designs for food packaging. You may also consider including messages that highlight consumer preferences. Whether your product is gluten-free or dairy-free, be sure your product undergoes nutritional profiling so you can back up these statements on the packaging.

Ease of Use 

Consumers always avoid products that are difficult to use. These include wine bottles that cannot be opened or closed easily, glass bottles that slip out of the hand too easily, and pump bottles that eject too easily. The problems may seem trivial, but companies can lose countless customers by not fixing problems with ease of use. No one wants to struggle with a complicated item when an easier, and cheaper, one is ready for purchase. 

Every product seller in every industry has many competitors to deal with. The growth of online businesses has made it harder to compete and win. Making bold packaging designs for your products is one way to grab the most attention from consumers. Make it a top priority to promote good advertising through packaging.

Guest author, Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She went to college at The Ohio State University where she studied communications. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and long walks in the park with her 3-year-old husky Snowball.  @LizzieWeakley

5 Hottest Investment Trends For 2019

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Making money off proper investments is one of the cornerstones of capitalism. Essentially if you make a wager that the company you give money for is going to continue being successful, and if you’re right, you earn your fair share of the profit. Both you and the company that you invest in benefit from the decision. Not everyone knows how to properly invest, or even where to invest their hard-earned money. Here are some examples of where popular investment trends are heading in 2019.

1. Cryptocurrency

An interesting take on decentralized currency, crypto has become one of the most talked about and most controversial topics on the internet and in investment. It started spreading during Bitcoins’ massive increase in value from hundreds of dollars to twenty-thousand dollars in a very short amount of time. Following this, the currency soon lost half of its value in a similarly short amount of time. The instability of crypto has not deterred many investors who see a future in any of the numerous block-chain driven coins. The potential for fast trading and avoiding government manipulation is considered a very attractive trait in this business.

Others argue that circumventing regulation online, and the possibility of insider manipulation from the original creators who might hoard large amounts of the currency might be too much of a risk for future trading.

2. Trade options

Much like a regular stock, options trading allows you to control an asset and make a price movement. The difference is, you don’t have to actually own the stock itself. They have a very low price due to expiring within several months, and in some cases several weeks, depending on the stock itself. The price is way below the actual per-share price of the underlying asset. For just a few dollars you could trade Tesla or Google, or any of the giants provided.

Notably, the most you can lose through this investment is exactly what you put into it, and nothing more. Unlike futures, there is no additional margin call. Options trade is very complex and to be able to successfully make a profit off of it, you must do your research beforehand.

3. Tiffany & Co.

Known as one of the largest and oldest jewelry companies in the world, it has more than a hundred locations internationally, many of them in Australia. It is credited as the pioneer of the practice of using the carat as a weight standard for precious gems. Business is booming, as the company has topped earnings in the last six quarters straight, proving that it’s still on top of the game.

The new CEO has pushed the company to exceed investor expectations and stay ahead of its competitors. Luxury good business is expected to grow over the next few years, which is why some companies have upgraded Tiffany stocks and pegged it as one of the leaders in the industry.

4. Hire a broker

When the market shows signs of being up significantly, it seems like it should be an easy thing to invest properly and make some money, but the average Australian investor doesn’t do so well on his own without some kind of mediator. This is why many future investors opt for a sound alternative investment in Australia or other types of mediators to help them make the right decision when trading. A good broker can provide invaluable tips and guidelines for beginners and experts alike.

Some of them charge a fee for their help, but more often than not, the fee is well worth the help they provide when it comes to good investment ideas.

5. Forex trading

With a very low price of entry, Forex looks like a very attractive investment. Forex, or foreign currency trading, is also relatively simple to understand, even for beginner investors. Most of the investments and actions are located in just a couple of currency pairs. An online broker can even open a mini-account for you with a very small deposit of a hundred dollars or even less, in some cases. Beginner investors will find this to be a convenient option.

You can control more than your actual investments through leverage. The downside of this is that this will also increase your potential losses significantly. This makes leverage very attractive for those who like to gamble, but possibly harmful.

While these are some of the more popular and sure-fire decisions you can make in investing in 2019, they only scratch the surface of what’s out there. There are hundreds of new companies being made with creative, new ideas. Likewise, well-established companies are constantly thinking of new ways of making money for their investors. Brokers are constantly monitoring hot stocks for their clients. In the end, the choice of what to back with your money is yours alone, considering it is your money.

Guest author, Lucas, is a business consultant with a passion for writing. Doing his research, exploring and writing are his favorite things to do. Besides that, he loves playing his guitar, hiking and traveling.

How Digital Transformation is Shaping Industries

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Nowadays, we live in a primarily digital world. Almost everything has transferred online or became digitized these days. The fact of the matter is that technological innovations and advancements are disrupting industries left and right. Simply put, modern technology is forcing industries to take on a new approach, in order to remain relevant in the market, as well as remain efficient. However, technology isn’t the only reason industries must consider a digital approach.

As a matter of fact, it’s the consumers and their purchasing habits and behavior, as well as their tendency to follow the latest trends that also forces industries to adapt. If you don’t adapt, in order to meet consumer expectations and needs, your competitors will most definitely outrun you. Companies across various industries must simply develop a more consumer-centric solution, in order to continue providing a seamless customer experience. That being said, here are a few ways how digital transformation is shaping industries.

Chasing a competitive advantage

Newest innovations on the market are always regarded by companies as an opportunity to outrun competitors. The main reason so many companies across various industries are prioritizing digitalization is that it may allow them to gain a competitive advantage. It only takes a single business to disrupt an entire industry and drastically change the rules simply by adopting a new technology or developing a new approach.

That’s why most companies are in one way or another prioritizing digitalization. As a matter of fact, 47% of company CEOs stated that they are being pushed towards adopting a digital approach for their business by their board of directors while 56% stated that their business digitalization efforts are already increasing company profits. In essence, while some companies are considering digitalization others are already implementing new strategies and approaches. In other words, the digital transformation is bound to happen across various industries sooner or later.

Improving efficiency

The fact that every industry is about to experience a digital transformation is evident. Even the industries that are less likely to consider digitalization, such as oil and gas sector are in fact, doing so. Resource exploration industry has so far avoided digitalization but even they have to adapt to modern trends and innovations. The main reason is that a digital approach enables the oil and gas sector to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs and streamline entire processes, among other things.

That being said, oil extraction professionals that are keeping up with the latest technology have implemented an ecommerce solution. As a matter of fact, reliable oilfield equipment zone essentials can be easily bought and acquired online, thus reducing the downtime and maintenance costs for mission-critical equipment on the field. Not only that but artificial intelligence and automation are also making their way into the resource exploration industry, helping operators streamline the processes of detection and exploitation of natural resources.

Meeting consumer demands

As mentioned before, consumer habits are oftentimes one of the main reasons why industries and companies develop a new approach. After all, if you’re not relevant to your customers you will lose a battle to your competitors. Consumer demand for increased and improved connectivity, as well as their increasing interest in smart devices and IoT (Internet of Things), has already made an impact on various businesses ranging from retail to ecommerce and so on. These demands have made their way even to the automotive industry.

Nowadays, one of the rising trends in this industry is self-driving and highly connected vehicles. Therefore, the cars of the future won’t be able to fly anytime soon but they will surely be able to drive themselves. Vehicle manufacturers and sales dealerships are also adopting a digital approach for their consumers. As a matter of fact, 75% of consumers who are interested in buying a vehicle will conduct their research online. Moreover, a digital approach in the automotive industry is also there to serve new consumer needs, especially since 56% of millennials would rather avoid interacting with salespeople in person.

Reshaping the logistics

The distribution and logistics industry is also experiencing vast changes due to the digital transformation. Logistics and distribution providers are practically being forced to adopt a new approach because their clients are doing so as well. For example, retail and ecommerce sectors are leveraging the newest technology to its fullest potential, thus making numerous promises to their customers, such as next-day or even same-day delivery, in order to boost customer experience. Also, manufacturers in the automotive industry want materials delivered at the right time for production, in order to avoid having to store materials around.

These demands force distribution and logistics providers to step up their game and deliver on their clients’ expectations. Even though logistic providers aren’t part of major brands per se, they still feel responsible for representing those brands through their services. Therefore, as manufacturers and retailers implement their digital approaches, distribution and logistics providers must become an extension of their clients’ brands, in order to remain competitive and relevant.

The world is already reshaped by the digital era and it continues to be transformed. As technology continues to advance, the increasing need for new solutions challenges various industries. Even the industries that are reluctant to transform will eventually have to do so. That is if they wish to remain successful and competitive in the market.

Guest author, Raul Harman, is a B.Sc. in Innovative entrepreneurship and has a lot to say about innovations in all aspects of digital technology and online marketing. While he’s not enjoying football and great food, you can find him on Technivorz.com

5 Big Mistakes No Successful Entrepreneur Will Make Again

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It may seem like some of the biggest companies out there are being run by people who know everything about the business world. While they may know a lot about it, it doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes. In fact, almost every entrepreneur has made at least one mistake in their career. There’s nothing wrong with making a mistake as long as you learn something from it. And if you don’t want to learn from your own mistakes but you’d rather learn from other entrepreneur’s experiences, make sure you read on.

Not using social media

There’s no need to say that social media is huge right now. Just in New Zealand, there are 3.5 million active social media users and we can expect this number to grow in the future. However, some entrepreneurs believe using social media is a waste of time and decide not to create social media presence for their business. This is definitely something you don’t want to do, especially because people now often turn to social media search when looking for a product or service. In order to make sure everyone can reach you, you need to create pages on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and use them on a daily basis to communicate with your customers directly.

Forgetting to pay themselves

Many rookie entrepreneurs get so excited about running their own business that they completely forget about paying themselves. Even if they do remember to do so, they often decide not to do it in order to leave more money for their company to work with. This can seem like an amazing idea at first but it can seriously hurt both your personal and business finances. If you don’t pay yourself, you’ll soon find yourself with no money on your bank account. Also, you won’t get a clear picture of how well your business is doing and doing your taxes will be more difficult. Those who decided not to pay themselves have learned the hard way that they deserve to receive a paycheck for all their hard work.

Not being formal enough

Running a business is a serious task and only those who take it that way will be able to succeed. That being said, you should try to be formal whenever you get the chance. Let’s say you’re responding to a negative comment from a customer. Instead of arguing with them, you should try to be as formal and polite as possible. This will show your customers that you care about what they have to say, which can be a big plus for your company. When meeting a business partner, renting a vehicle from companies such as Avis Car Rental is a good idea as it makes you look more professional and helps you bring your A-game to the meeting.

Setting unattainable goals

Running your own business sure is great and just like most entrepreneurs out there, you dream of conquering it all. While dreaming big is an important part of success, you can’t just expect your business to do exceptionally well from day one. Many entrepreneurs end up setting unattainable goals for their business right from the start which ends up affecting their operations. In order to make sure this doesn’t happen to you, you need to be extra careful when setting goals for your business. It’s important to start small and adjust your goals as your business grows. We recommend putting your goals in writing so that you could review them every once in a while and make any necessary adjustments.

Taking everyone’s advice

The business world is full of “gurus” who believe they’re the next Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Ellison. Those people will often give you advice in order to help you grow your business. Taking everything they say seriously is a good idea and it could help you take your business to the next level. However, this doesn’t mean you need to do everything they advise you to do. Instead, you need to rely on your own knowledge and instincts. Therefore, every time you need to make an important business decision, you should think about what you want to do and only then listen to what other people have to say. Many of those who’ve taken every piece of advice they’ve got ended up failing even before they got a chance to show what they can do.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Make sure you don’t make these 5 mistakes and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Even when something goes wrong, fix it as quickly as possible and try to learn something from it.

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in latest business news and new social media trends. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.

Mediation: A Powerful Tool For Dispute Resolution

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How many times have you heard of a divorced couple that has been dragging with children through court for years? Or lawsuit that your neighbor filed almost a decade ago and it still has not been closed? Even though litigation (which is just a legal term for a lawsuit) is sometimes necessary, there are more ways to settle disputes than ending up in court.

Mediation is nothing else than just another form of informal dispute resolution procedure, facilitated by a neutral third party – a mediator. Unlike litigation, mediation gives both parties an opportunity to negotiate and discuss their issues, and eventually possibly to come to an agreement. It is important to highlight that mediator does not have any legal rights of decision making, and all decisions are made by parties together. A mediator does not serve any party, and their task is to understand the positions of both parties, as they try to guide them to a negotiated agreement (without forcing any).

With that being said, it is obvious that both processes are very important, but let us take a look at numerous advantages of choosing mediation over litigation:

  • Less Time – Unlike litigation that can take years (and usually does), mediation lasts only about a few days, weeks, or months if the dispute is very complex. It allows both parties to continue with their lives much quicker.
  • Less Money – With the process being way less formal, it allows it to be significantly cheaper than formal legal dispute. When you combine it with a shorter period of time, you will end up paying way less money for a much shorter period of time. Also, keep in mind that some non-profit organizations offer these services for free (or at a symbolic rate).
  • Less Formal – As already said, mediation is an informal conflict-resolving process. As such, it allows both parties to engage more in the negotiation, than it would be allowed in the courtroom where strict rules are applied. This way the mediator and both parties can be focused on finding the best solution for both.
  • Discreet – Opposing to cases that end up at court, mediation has a benefit of staying private. No records, transcripts or evidence can be used later in court. For some cases, this solely could be a great reason to choose mediation (or not to).
  • Saves Relationships – The collaborative nature of the whole process allows both parties to stay at good terms. Years spend in court are well-known for destroying people’s relationships, as in litigation the only goal is to “win”, instead to agree.
  • More Flexible And In Control – Litigation usually leaves you with little to no control over the process, while mediation allows you to be fully in control over the upshot.
  • Better Solution – For all these benefits, people who have been through it usually report better results than those who filed lawsuits. Especially because this is not a win or lose situation, but rather the process of mutual understanding where the needs of both parties are met.

After all these benefits listed above, you are probably wondering why does anyone goes straight to the lawsuit instead of just choosing much quicker, cheaper, and better option in general? Mediation indeed is a great way to resolve misunderstandings, but it is far from being the best option for every case. Disputes that usually would benefit out of formality are business conflicts, which usually require expert knowledge on a certain subject. In those situations, best would be to seek help from experts in business legal disputes, such as Stevensen business lawyers. There are also plenty of cases where after a failed mediation, parties have turned to more formal legal processes – lawsuits. It is usually the case when both parties are under a very high emotional distress that the subject of a dispute is causing them. Under such emotional distress, it is often impossible to negotiate, and strict rules that the courtroom provides are necessary.

A mediation is a process that both parties need to agree on, therefore it is a voluntary process. It is most common and best advised for small claims courts, housing and family courts, as well as some criminal court programs. It is most common for divorced couples who cannot reach the middle ground but are reasonable enough to negotiate. Since mediation is a non-confrontational process, it allows both parties to truly try to listen and understand each other, without trying to pinpoint on who did what and whose is guilt to bare. It is a process that is simple, quick and inexpensive. Only two things that it requires are emotional stability and willingness to cooperate.

Legal procedures are almost always messy and far from black and white. Now that you are familiar with positive as well as negative sides of mediation, you can carefully estimate your situation to see if giving mediation a chance is a good option for your case.

Guest author, Daniel Brown, is a law graduate and a passionate blogger from Sydney. His areas of interest are alternative dispute resolution and its applicability in different fields of law, IP law and resolution of disputes arising from intellectual property infringement and commerce law.