Tag: Business

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Beginner’s Guide to Starting as a Freelance Content Writer

Blogging has been around since the late 90s and there are millions of bloggers earning a good living thanks to their writing efforts. Business owners, marketers, college students and everyone else is actively publishing online. With social media prevailing, a good percentage of the population is now actively producing content online. But what is the difference between a successful writer and a hobbyist? Generating Revenue Through Content Writing There are various ways to generate revenue through content writing. Being a full-time writer or a journalist is the obvious choice. But engaging content writers can build the right audience for each… Continue Reading
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Hourly Rates, Amount Of Work And Availability

Note: This essay is not always applicable while some projects definitely demand a straight work schedule, reporting and collaboration between the team members. However it reflects the majority of projects and clients out there in the wild. As an employer I prefer to charge on a project basis. It's easier to plan my budgets and the costs of the final results. As a contractor I prefer hourly payments. It helps dropping the pressure from incorrect specifications and further negotiations after the project and the budget have already been set. However I am well acquainted with the pros and cons of… Continue Reading
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7 Reasons Why I Avoid Estimates

Every time I need to do estimates, I cringe a little. I no longer do estimates for small and medium clients since it creates false expectations and takes a huge amount of time. Estimations, by their very nature, are educated guesses. But the word "guess" doesn't inspire much confidence. Predicting a project's exact amount of time, resources, or costs can be like trying to forecast the weather weeks in advance. Variables change, unexpected challenges arise, and the landscape of a project can shift drastically from inception to completion. [caption id="attachment_11618" align="aligncenter" width="682"] Useless estimates[/caption] Which is why I talk about pricing and… Continue Reading
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The Problem With Having To Educate Your Customers

John Locke wrote an article named "There are no Clients from Hell" referring to the popular site for freelancers - Clients From Hell. I've been following the site for some time and there are plenty of educational stories, both for freelancers and clients. What John says in his post is: This site encourages the idea that clients who make non-constructive requests or unreasonable demands deserve to be lambasted and mocked online. This reinforces the fallacy that the designer is always right, and that clients are better seen and not heard. I find this false sense of smug superiority to be… Continue Reading
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Mentorship – Invaluable Advice From Competitors

"Mentorship" is a vague term. Great mentors are successful industry leaders who are your indirect competitors (or at least a few years ahead of time). Someone may pick their own mentor when they are a public figure and consume every bit of information they produce. If you choose a mentor who is only a few years your senior in the same industry, the rewards can be just as significant. Their advice is more relatable and immediately applicable because they've just overcome the issues you're presently facing. Plus, their insights are contemporary, making them highly relevant. Virtual Mentors On mentorship by… Continue Reading
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How to Build a Marketing Team In a Startup?

Starting a business is a journey filled with critical decisions. One of the most important is assembling a marketing team to turn your vision into a resonant brand. How do you create a team that's skilled, cohesive, creative, and aligned with your startup's unique needs? Let’s start with several questions first: How large is the organization to date – 5 people, 50, 500, 5000? Is it a bootstrapped startup, an SMB, or an established organization? Do you sell locally, on traditional media (newspapers and radio), or internationally? Do you aim for B2B or B2C clients? Are paid ads a better… Continue Reading
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WordPress Outsourcing and Hiring Talent (A Complete Guide)

With a 33% market share across the web, WordPress is the most sought-after technical platform. This commands the need of hiring professional WordPress developers who serve tens of millions of businesses utilizing the platform. While this guide on hiring and outsourcing uses WordPress as a leading context, it's just as applicable for other technical stacks and web technologies. I've used the same strategies for PHP projects built from scratch, as well as Java, .NET, Python, JavaScript platforms over the past 12 years. Hiring for technical roles covers more than one of the most impactful business challenges that threaten every business.… Continue Reading
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Introverts Are Great In Sales And Marketing

Despite of my tendency to get involved with public speaking at conferences and universities and being a band member, I tend to define myself as an introvert. I don't enjoy large crowds and clubs full of people, and I have a small circle of people that I stay in touch with daily. Different tests and studies define me as mainly introverted (since there's no definitive black or white for anything). Introverts often need help to sell their services. They may find it challenging to approach new people, make cold calls, or network at events. Extroverts, on the other hand, are… Continue Reading
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Mastering the B2B Sales Process: How to Effectively Reach Decision Makers

Budget and timing are the two major reasons why businesses and salespersons lose B2B deals. This is according to a report from Chorus. This gives emphasis to the fact that the B2B sales process is a long one and it needs strategic approaches not only in budget and timing but also in other key aspects. To be successful in B2B sales means to have a deeper appreciation of B2B processes and sales stages, determining and reaching the decision-makers, and knowing how to go through the sales process efficiently. Understanding the B2B Process The B2B process takes longer than B2C since:… Continue Reading
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The Power of Big-Picture Thinking: A Key to Sustainable Business Growth

Imagine a business that only focuses on short-term gains, ignoring the bigger picture. What would be the long-term consequences for its vision, strategy, and overall success? Would it be able to sustain growth and create lasting value in a rapidly evolving marketplace? A stark reminder of the need to shift from short-term goals to long-term ones was given by the recent pandemic around the world.  Businesses that failed to take the bigger picture into account and establish a clear long-term goal found it difficult to maintain growth during the instability. In contrast, companies that adopted a broader perspective by evaluating… Continue Reading