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The dream of being successful is something that all of us share, and it’s not out of reach for anyone - all it takes is a few good decisions. However, it’s not as easy as just doing it, you actually have to take action. If you think you know what’s going to bring you success, you should first learn about what comes with your success. Success is very much a double-edged sword, and it might come with some negatives that you didn’t expect.
The consequences of success aren’t unavoidable, so it helps to know about them before your success comes for you. Becoming arrogant When you’re facing success on a daily basis, it can be hard not to let it get the better of you. You’re feeling a lot better about yourself, and you’re feeling like you can handle anything - when the reality is, you can’t. It’s important that when you’re experiencing success, you know that it might not last forever, and you could make a mistake and lose it all if you’re not careful. Don’t let your success fill you with arrogance, and try to stay humble and smart with your decisions so that you don’t lose it quicker than you got it. It’s not just poor decisions you have to be aware of, but your own attitude. There are many people who come into fame or wealth and start to perceive things differently. Remember, you’re not a different person just because of your success, and neither are those around you. Don’t let your success sour your personality and push away those who were previously close to you. Try to be humble with your wealth, so that you can still understand the lives of those who have been with you every step of the way. Jealousy We all strive for success, and some people may not see it no matter how hard they work for it. If you’re successful because of what others perceive as luck or easy labor, they might start to feel jealous. Of course, it is wrong of them to feel that way, but it may happen nonetheless. So, as successful as you are, you might find things to get quite lonely, because of the jealousy of those around you. It’s not necessarily going to happen to you and those closest to you, but be aware that some people do think that way. Visible to burglars Success isn’t something you can hide easily, and if you’ve recently come into a lot of money and have used it to upgrade your living situation, it might start to show. While most people are going to ignore you, you can’t pretend like it’s not painting a potential target on your head. Your home might become the target of burglars, and you may even start to feel unsafe yourself. In cases like this, some individuals invest in things like a close protection chauffeur to help them feel safer when they’re trying to enjoy their lives.
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 Image credit: Alexandra Koch from Pixabay If you want to make sure that your child achieves the most in terms of their academic performance, it’s important to play your part in that process as a parent. You can’t simply expect them to succeed if you’re not supporting them in the correct ways.
But what does that look like and what can you do to make sure that your child’s grades are as strong as they possibly can be going forward? We’re going to talk about all of that today, so read on and find out more. Take an interest in their education First of all, you should try to take a more active interest in their education and the path they’re taking. When you know what they’re doing at school, what they’re learning about, and which subject areas they most want to pursue, you’ll be closer to your child and also get better at helping and assisting them with their learning. So this is always the first thing you need to do if you want to support them better. Listen to their struggles It’s also important to be there to listen to the things that they’re dealing with. From the point of view of a parent, this is something that’s useful for a number of reasons. When you stop to listen to what they’re going through, you can support and reassure them. You can also find new ways to help them with those specific struggles in mind. It’s always easier to help as a parent when you know what your child is actually struggling with. Help them set goals Setting goals is something that can be very helpful for them as well. When you set goals as a team, you can make sure that you help them understand what their goals should be and that they’re staying on the right track. Most children don’t do well with planning ahead and setting goals, so as a parent it definitely makes sense if you help them as much as possible with this whole process. They then have something to aim for and work towards. Coordinate with their teachers It can be hard for you alone to understand how your child is performing at school because you're not there seeing it play out. Their teachers, however, are. And that’s why you should always try to stay in regular contact with their teachers and why you should listen to the feedback that they’re giving you regarding your child’s performance in the classroom. You can use the information they give you to help you do more for your child at home. Find them the right tutor Sometimes, all it takes is a little extra help and support outside the classroom. When you can make the right decisions regarding their tutor and the kind of help they get, they can push ahead and exceed the expectations of their teachers. There are so many benefits of tuition that you might want to explore before you decide whether or not this is something that might benefit your child and what they’re able to achieve in terms of their grades going forward. Encourage interests and activities outside the classroom It’s always important for your child to have interests and pursuits outside of school too, and that’s something you definitely shouldn’t overlook. If you want them to make progress and get the grades that you feel they deserve to achieve, they’ll need a degree of balance in their life. And that comes from doing fun things and spending time on the things that interest them too. There’s nothing wrong with that can be very healthy. Establish some healthy routines Finally, you should try to establish some healthy routines that help your child to stay on the right path with their education. When they get out of bed early, start the day in a healthy way and feel alert and focused during school hours, that’ll really benefit their education and make it more likely that they’ll achieve the grades they’re ultimately capable of achieving. So those routines really are essential. So if you want the very best for your child and their educational attainment going forward, be sure to make the most of the tips and ideas that we’ve shared here today. Each of them will help your child reach their full potential and get to where they want to be in terms of their education. So be sure to make the most of them and do your best to support your child.  Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pexels Are you looking to achieve success in your career? If so, you're not alone. Many people are looking for ways to make their careers more successful. This blog post will discuss three quick tips that will help you achieve your goals and be successful in your career!
1. Outwork your competitor One of the best ways to achieve success in your career is to outwork your competition. If you want to be the best, you have to put in the work. Outworking your competition will not only make you better, but it will also make them respect you more. Competition is a good thing - it helps us push ourselves and be the best that we can be. If you find yourself in a competitive environment, use it to your advantage and work harder than everyone else. One of the most important things to remember if you want to be successful in your career is that there is no substitute for hard work. If you want to achieve your goals, you have to be willing to put in the hours. 2. Studying helps more than you realise Studying can help you more than you realise when it comes to career success. Many people think that they can just wing it, and they'll be fine. However, this is not the case. If you want to be successful in your career, you need to work and study hard, preferably with a recognised university in a good schooling country, like the United Kingdom, for example. When applying to university, don't take it lightly. Approach all communication and application with seriousness and professionalism. After all, your future depends on it. It is advisable to look for help where you can find it and learn important formats like UCAS personal statement examples. If you're interested in joining a particular university, consider reaching out to alumni for advice. In addition to studying at a recognised university, another way to make sure you're on the right track is to get internships and work experience in your field of interest. This will give you a leg up when it comes time to apply for jobs. 3. Get a Mentor One of the best ways to achieve success in your career is to find a mentor. A mentor is someone who has been successful in their field and can help guide you to success. They can offer advice, support, and guidance when it comes to making decisions about your career. Mentors can be found in many different places. You can ask family and friends if they know anyone who would be a good mentor for you. You can also look for mentors online or through professional networks. Once you find a mentor, nurture the relationship and take advantage of their wisdom! In conclusion, if you want to succeed in your career, you need to outwork your competition, study hard, and get a mentor. Just by starting with these three areas, you'll stand out above the rest and be on your way to a successful career!  Image credit: Nicollazzi Almost every working person feels like there are not enough hours in the day to get things done. From fitting in all of the hours in the day in the workplace to trying to fit all of the home responsibilities and social responsibilities around it, it’s stressful. You need a balance between your career and your home life, but that’s not always easy to do. It’s even worse when you’re working from home, because the lines between work and home life tend to blur. You can set boundaries with people but if you aren't sticking to those boundaries, your work/life balance is going to be torn apart.
Improving your work/life balance should be a priority for you. Whether you are taking short term defence contract jobs or you are working a permanent 9-5 job, you have to know you can unwind and that’ll be that at the end of the day. You have to think about what it will mean for you if you don't have a good balance. If you want to avoid stress, and you want to ensure that you are able to feel like you are putting as much effort into your home life as well as your working life, then balance is a must. Below, we’ve got some of the tips that you need to ensure that life is balanced out. 1. Ask for flexibility. If you are finding it tough to manage kids, doctor’s appointments, general life responsibilities around your job, speak to your boss about making it more flexible. Look at how you can have some time by asking for a hybrid working day, or cutting your hours to four days a week to give you some flexibility. Speak to your boss; if you’re doing a good job anyway, they may be happy to be flexible with it all. 2. Invest in the right technology. You can invest in the best technology in your job and help yourself to work harder and better. If you need extra support and you work for someone else, ask your boss to help you out here and upgrade the tech in the business. This can include software, not just hardware. 3. Make sure that you stick to the boundaries you set. Ah, the hardest part of maintaining that work and life balance: boundaries. If you have put boundaries in place for your work, then make sure that you stick to those ones. You cannot be on 24/7, because you will burn out and you will burn out quickly. You have to set your working hours properly, because once you do you’ll ensure that you have a better balance day to day. This is necessary for your comfort. There is nothing wrong with setting the right boundaries, but you have to stick to them. 4. Make sure that you don't live your job. Your life is about so much more than the place in which you work. If you have family or friends outside your work - and even if you just want to be alone - put that time in. understanding that you have commitments means making sure that you let your boss know that you are committed in certain ways. 5. Find jobs that allow it. If you want to make sure that you have a good balance between work and life, you need to find a job that accommodates that. You have to remember that if your employer is treating you like they don't care, they really don't care - no exceptions. Finding the right employer is important because if you know that you have one who cares about your balance and your mental health, you will stick with that employer. 6. Make sure that you communicate when you’re struggling. The last thing to remember is that you cannot expect to find that working balance if you don't communicate when you're struggling with it. If you don't tell your employer that you can't manage without more flexibility or balance, you cannot expect that they will give you what you need. You need to find a good balance between your career and your life. Without that balance you are going to struggle and you are going to feel taken for granted. If you don't ensure that you are speaking to someone about this, nothing will change and you will always be stuck. You have to use these tips to help you to get the balance you needed all along and you have to trust that you can find it!  Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels No one ever said being an entrepreneur would be easy, and for many people, failure is just a part of the journey. In fact, according to Forbes, around 90% of all startups fail. So if you're an entrepreneur who has experienced failure, know that you are not alone. This blog post will discuss some ways to handle failure as an entrepreneur.
#1 Accept it First and foremost, it is important to accept failure. This may seem like an obvious statement, but in order to move on from failure, you must first accept that it has happened. Denial will only make the situation worse and make it harder to learn from your mistakes. So how do you accept failure? An excellent way to start is by taking some time to reflect on what went wrong. Once you have identified what went wrong, you can begin to develop a plan for how to avoid making the same mistake again in the future. #2 Learn from it One of the best ways to handle failure is to learn from it. As mentioned above, taking some time to reflect on what went wrong can be helpful in this process. But learning from failure goes beyond just understanding what went wrong; it also involves understanding why it went wrong. For example, let's say you launch a new product, and it fails miserably. In order to learn from this experience, you need to understand not only that the product was unsuccessful but also why it was unsuccessful. Was there a problem with the product itself? Was the marketing campaign ineffective? Did you misjudge the target market? Once you have answered these questions, you can begin to develop a plan for how to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. There are many ways to learn from failure, but one of the most important things to remember is that failure is not permanent. Just because a venture has failed does not mean that you have failed as an entrepreneur. It is crucial to pick yourself up and try again. If you are finding it difficult to motivate yourself to keep going through the failures or to find the lessons to be learnt consider hiring the help and services of a business coach. Award winning business coach Peter Boolkah emphasises that business coaching is all about you, the business owner, and how you manage, run and react to your business. Business coaching can help you develop and improve in such a way that your business will reap the rewards. It will give you a means of accountability to put those mistakes to good use and learn from them going forward. Business coaching could be just the drive to turn your mistakes into opportunity. So don’t let those mistakes go to waste. #3 Use it as motivation Another way to handle failure is to use it as motivation. When you have experienced a setback, it can be easy to feel like giving up. But if you use your experience of failure as motivation, it can be a powerful tool for helping you achieve success - Krissy Jones’s story is a great example! Think about what you want to achieve and let that be your driving force. Use your experience of failure to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing and what you are working towards. Let it motivate you to keep going even when things are tough. #4 Don't dwell on it Finally, it is vital to not dwell on your failures. Yes, it is important to learn from your mistakes, but dwelling on them will only make things worse. Once you have accepted and learned from your failures, it is time to move on. Focus on the future and what you can do to achieve success. Use your experience of failure as a lesson and a reminder of what not to do in the future. But don't let it hold you back from moving forward and achieving your goals. Failure is a part of being an entrepreneur, but it doesn't have to define you. By following the tips above, you can learn how to handle failure in a healthy and productive way.  Image credit: Estee Janssens from Unsplash What's important is how you accomplish it. You will be able to change your behavior if you can change your goals.
When you take the time to write out your goals in the first instance you're going to have a better chance of achieving them. Here's what I do to help me accomplish my goals. 1 - I always begin by writing down why the goal is important to me. If I really don't have a good reason why, my goals will most likely not get accomplished. In that case I'll try to come up with some kind of solution that will keep me motivated to keep working toward achieving my goal. 2 - I always look at all the reasons why the goals aren't being accomplished. There is usually going to be many reasons why one goal will be done quicker than another. 3 - I don't accept that I am the only one who doesn't know how to work toward achieving their goals. There are going to be many people in many parts of the world who don't know how to achieve their goals. In that case they need to learn how to work toward achieving their goals. 4 - I look at what I've accomplished thus far in my life and see what I've needed to learn how to work toward achieving my goals. I always try to take a look at what I've accomplished thus far in my life and think about what I've done so far and see what I need to learn how to work toward achieving my goals. By looking at what you've accomplished thus far in your life, you'll be able to see what you need to learn how to work toward achieving your goals. As you accomplish each goal you set for yourself, you'll be going on to the next goal. That's what has the MO MO - more is more. It's best to set big goals for yourself. It's also important to make sure you are realistic with your goals. Realistic means something that is easy to achieve. That doesn't mean easy to obtain either. You have to work hard to get the goals accomplished. You're going to have to be patient. As you start working toward achieving the next goal you'll also need to manage your expectations. Your goals should be realistic enough that you'll have no problem getting the achievement of the goal. Then they should be big enough so that they are attainable with some effort. That they are big enough so that you're going to be proud of your accomplishments once you get them. The biggest mistake people make is setting unrealistic goals. It's important to break your goals down into smaller goals so you'll be able to get to the next goal and get to the next goal and so on. That way you'll be able to build up your confidence each time you accomplish a smaller goal so that you can take on bigger goals.  Image credit: Free-Photos from Pixabay All parents want the best for their children and for many parents this means giving their child the possibility of making it as a child star. From television, to modelling, to film; there are several opportunities for children to make it big from an early age. However, these are very unique markets, and you need to know your stuff before you and your child embark on this journey. Thus, keep reading to discover ten top tips for getting your kid into the world of stardom…
 Image credit: Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels The start of a new year can signal a time for big changes in your life. If you own a blog, it's a good time to begin thinking about ways you can improve it. One idea that springs to mind is the concept of broadening your content.
What does this mean? In essence, you seek ways of offering your readers more content in different ways. Instead of posting similar blogs every week, perhaps you look for ways to branch out and offer other forms of content. Here are a few ideas to whet your appetite: Video content Start adding videos to your blog as a way of giving people fresh content. Human beings respond well to videos, and it's a great way of reeling in a new audience. People may start visiting your blog that never would've gone on there before. It also opens a new revenue stream as you can upload the videos to a YouTube channel and potentially earn ad revenue. You still talk about similar things, but the video format lets you try new ideas. You can have other people in the videos, serving as a great way of interviewing others. It can be a podcast format, or you may want to make 'how-to' videos that are easier to follow than a blog. Or, you could even repurpose old content in the video format, getting more out of it! Ebooks For the most part, blog posts are short-form content. Even a 2,000-word blog post is relatively short-form, particularly when compared to things like ebooks. An ebook gives you a chance to cover topics in more detail and really dive deep into things. So, perhaps you should start publishing some? If you have topics that demand a lot of work and attention, an ebook can be a fantastic way of covering them. Plus, it serves as a marketing tactic to drive people to your blog and get them on a mailing list. You can work with a CGI company to draw up a product 'photo' of your ebook, then use it in adverts. Basically, people will see the book, and be inclined to click it. From here, you promise them a free download of the book if they just provide an email address. Instantly, you will gain lots of emails, which helps you market your blog and grow your audience. Alternatively, you could sell the ebooks for a small price, as a way of making more money. It depends on how much work went into the book and if you think it's worth selling it for money. Either way, ebooks are another way of broadening your content. Guest posts Last but not least, you can diversify your content through guest posts. Invite other bloggers to post on your site, offering your readers fresh insights and ideas. While they're still reading blog articles, the content itself can be very different from yours. The topics may be similar, but the style and angle of the writing give them something new to enjoy. Broadening your content is a smart way of keeping your audience engaged and entertained. It stops them from getting bored with the same old stuff, while also helping you draw new readers to your blog!  Image credit: Burst on Pexels Your blog is a place where people come to read interesting content and regardless of genre, a lot of blog sites can end up turning into full-time businesses. It’s important to think about the ways that you can improve your blogging, whether you’re still in the early days of your blog or if you’ve managed to finally go full-time with your blog. Here are four ways to improve your blogging business.
Define Your Audience When you’re blogging as a hobby, paying attention to your audience’s demographic might not necessarily be on your radar. Perhaps you’ve been writing for a while and write for the enjoyment of the topics you cover. It might be that you write for a specific industry, and you know somewhat about what your audience likes and doesn’t like. When you’re blogging professionally, it’s important to define your audience because the more content you create that your audience likes, the more views it’s going to get. When you look at your analytics, it’s worth implementing Google Analytics if you haven’t already implemented it on your site. Whatever host platform you use, it’s likely to give you at least some degree of knowledge on who your audience is and what they like and don’t like. Look specifically at things like bounce rates, which tell you how long they stay engaged on your website and specific pages. Get Promoting Every Aspect Of Your Business When you’re a business, you need to be promoting yourself from every angle. Whether it’s promoting the content via your personal social media pages or through paid advertisements on other high-ranking websites. Try to promote in every way you can, even during those occasions where you might be invited to conferences or events. These custom printed banners can be a great way to showcase your work and who you are as a business and individual. Never be ashamed or afraid of promoting yourself! Network With Other Bloggers Networking with other bloggers is important because there’s a lot that you can learn from other people within the industry. For example, if you’re just starting off in the industry, then you may find that networking with bloggers who have been established for a while, have plenty of advice to give you. You also never know who might be able to help you on your way up the career ladder of blogging. Always be grateful and appreciative of others you meet and collaborate with. You don’t know someone until you meet them properly. Focus On Quality Not Quantity Quality is a lot more important than quantity when it comes to blogging. Your audience wants to read high-quality content and not something that’s been thrown together without much thought. If you do that, then you’re likely to lose your following and your loyal followers are the ones that are the most important. Improving your blogging business is important and so it’s good to use these tips to help get the most out of it where it’s possible.  Image credit: Thabang Madnsela on Unsplash In an age where the average attention span is thought to be worse than that of a goldfish, doing nothing could be the secret to happiness (and success). Never have those two little words “I’m bored” been uttered so much by all ages than in 2020. The Sun has more on why boredom could be the key to success...
 Image credit: Jason Yuen on Unsplash Every Christmas, Ryohei Ando gathers his family together for a holiday tradition. Just like their father did as a child, his two children will reach deep into a red-and-white bucket and pick out the best piece of fried chicken they can find.
Yes, it’s a Merry KFC Christmas for the Ando family. It may seem odd anywhere outside Japan, but Ando’s family and millions of others would never let a Christmas go by without Kentucky Fried Chicken. Every Christmas season an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to fried chicken from the American fast-food chain, in what has become a nationwide tradition. You can read about this KFC Christmas event over at BBC.com!  Image credit: Pixabay on Pexels A blog is a great way to generate revenue from advertising and product placements, as well as an effective way for companies to increase engagement and secure high SEO rankings. However, if users aren’t returning to your blog more than once, you won’t reap these rewards. To increase your online success, take a look at the top reasons that stop users from coming back to your blog:
There’s no new content If you don’t update your blog with fresh, new content regularly, there’s simply no reason for users to return. A high bounce rate may signify that users are checking your blog and immediately going elsewhere when they realize nothing new has been posted. If you want to ensure users keep coming back to your blog, you need to give them a reason to return, so be sure to upload new content on a regular basis. It takes too long to load Page loading speeds have a major impact on user experience and SEO rankings, so it’s vital to optimize them. From switching your web hosting provider to using a different content management system, there are various ways to keep page loading times to a minimum. Remember – page loading speeds should be low on all devices, so be sure your site performs optimally on a range of devices and operating systems. It doesn’t work on mobile devices If your blog doesn’t load properly or doesn’t look visually appealing on mobile devices, then you’re going to miss out on website traffic. The majority of web users now rely on mobile devices, which is why Google introduced mobile-first indexing. While it’s important to ensure that your blog is functional on desktops and laptops, mobile functionality should be your top priority. The content is repetitive If you’re churning out the same content week after week, users don’t have a reason to keep returning. Being innovative and creating original content that excites, informs, or entertains is vital. Creating a content schedule is one of the most effective ways to ensure your posts are varied, particularly if you tend to cover similar topics. Posts take too long to read If your blog only features long-form content, then it might be time to change things up a little bit. While longer posts do have their advantages, users don’t always have time to read an in-depth article. By combining shorter posts with alternative formats, like video, images, and infographics, you can ensure that users are able to enjoy a variety of posts every time they visit your site. Increase the Popularity of Your Blog If you want to boost your business or generate income via a blog, it’s vital to cultivate a loyal following. By producing unique and original content, you’ve got the basis of a great blog. However, it’s vital to promote your content via social media, PPC ads, and SEO if you want to increase your reach. By doing so, you can engage your target audience, monetize your content, and give people a reason to keep people coming back for more.  Image credit: S O C I A L. C U T on Unsplash Social Media Marketing can be a real headache for plenty of people just starting out and while one guide you read will tell to do something one way, you can guarantee another guide will tell you the complete opposite! But the good people over at The Guerrilla Agency have 'the' guide for you!
 Image credit: Hive Boxx on Unsplash How do you know you've reached a turning point in your life? How can you recognise that maybe you need a change? Entrepreneur Europe has 5 signs for you...
 Image credit: Magda Ehlers on Pexels Getting older shouldn’t be something to be frightened of. With older age comes the possibility of having more time for yourself, a greater appreciation for your family, and opportunities to explore new challenges and adventures! To make sure you’re as prepared as you can be, check out these tips:
1. Prioritize your health Getting old can be a seriously joyous thing, but enjoying your life to the max is easier if you’re healthy. So, taking regular exercise (you can even do it from home thanks to online courses and programs) and eating well is all part of the package. After all, you want to make sure you’re in tip-top condition while you’re off exploring, don’t you? 2. Be organized Ensuring all your documents and plans are in a safe place is one of the kindest things you can do. This means that no matter the scenario, a trusted person or loved one will have all the paperwork they need. This will take a load off your mind, and you can move on to enjoying more exciting things! 3. Pick up new hobbies Your latter years are a great time to spend time on new hobbies and skills. Exercise your brain and indulge passion projects that you’ve always considered. Have you always wanted to try fishing? Is salsa your thing? Do you think you might want to speak French? There are so many online and offline courses out there to choose from. And if that’s not your thing, then it’s time to get out there and try it on your own. 4. Upgrade your home Making a couple of sensible changes to your home can make all the difference to your comfort in the years to come. That doesn’t mean moving straight into a bungalow or installing a stairlift, but it does mean making a few adjustments. Consider including a few pieces of handcrafted pieces, like Crown Furniture, to create an environment that’s safe, chic, and easy to use. Looking for additional ways to improve your home? Try adding these '8 Best Indoor Plants with Health Benefits.' 5. Mindfulness matters Keeping your brain supple is key, but so is keeping your mental health strong. Practicing mindfulness can be a great way to live in the moment and help relieve any stress. It also has the benefits of lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, and generally improving all-round health. To get started, you can choose from a number of apps and courses. Hopefully, you will enjoy the benefits of decreased stress and anxiety and improved focus. 6. Try yoga It’s true that falls pose a danger to older adults, so to mitigate the risk, try picking up yoga. It helps strengthen core muscles and works on balance and flexibility. Not to mention, it’s a very calming and healthy activity. Adding yoga into your routine is a great way to keep yourself fit and healthy, well into older adulthood. 7. Take up golf but with a twist If you're a fan of wearing the outrageous golfing trousers, you could even do so at home now while going around 18 holes. Skytrak golf is a fun, and serious tool designed specifically to help you improve your game without the need of a caddy. You can stay sharp even when you can’t make it to the course whilst staying being able to practice your swing. Hopefully, this article has given you some tips and tricks that will help you ‘age well’ and enjoy your later years.  Image credit: pixelcreature on Pixabay When you’re running a blog for your brand, the number one priority should be producing good quality content that has value to the readers, and also helps to contribute to your goals, whether it’s growing recognition or generating sales. But what about when you’ve successfully done that and notice a post taking off, outperforming both your expectations and your other posts? Should you simply let it enjoy the spotlight or is there some way you can capitalize on it? Make sure it leads to something good
If you haven’t already connected your successful post to something that translates to value for your business, now is the time. You can use it to increase blog traffic by following up on it if that’s your aim. However, for many businesses, their mind is going to be on conversion first and foremost. An edit after it has taken off, just slipping in a call to action towards the end might be all that it takes. Grow from it First of all, find out whether or not your content is evergreen. This means it’s not likely to lose value or purpose over time, rather than being particularly pertinent in a moment in time. It doesn’t always work, but you can work with content writers who can find new ways to iterate on that content over time, adjusting it to suit different business periods or topics, for instance. Convert it into even more engaging content Aside from making your content evergreen, you can also look into translating it into forms of media that tend to be even more successful. If a text post version does well, just imagine how well it might work as an infographic or, better yet, a video. Turning a good post into a video isn’t simply as easy as reading it out over imagery, but working with a professional video production agency can help. The better you translate it from one form to the other, the more likely it is to keep the momentum going. Build a personal brand off of it Not only does the brand of the blog, website, or business benefit from a really great and insightful post. It can help position you, the writer, as a person of authority, as well. If your post goes viral due to the insight it offers, then you can seek out other media opportunities, such as guest posting on respectable publications or attending talks. Adopt elements of that post in others If a post does well, it’s often not only because the topic hit the nail on the head for the audience. There’s a good chance it was written and formatted in a particularly engaging manner, as well. To that end, try to find what was great about your post and take elements to incorporate in other posts. You can even try different combinations of stylistic, language, and formatting choices, keeping an eye on your analytics to see if it results in a bump in engagements. A post that gets a lot of reads, generates conversations, or even goes viral is an opportunity just waiting to be taken.  Image credit: geralt on Pixabay Developing a new product is the cornerstone of any successful business, especially startups. You need to create something that meets the needs of consumers while also turning over a healthy profit for you. Getting to that point, however, can be a challenge. Building a product isn’t just a matter of getting out there and doing the work - it requires time and patience to get right. The failure rate for new products and services is notoriously high. In some quarters, it is north of 90 percent, meaning that that majority of new products on the market fail. So what’s the key here? How can you nail your product development cycle and deliver something that will generate substantial profits? Start By Satisfying A Need New products don’t just emerge out of the ether - they come from the fact that they solve problems that consumers have. We already have a highly sophisticated economy, churning out millions of different goods each year for these needs. So there is a lot of knowledge already about what customers want. The market is already excellent at determining their needs and satisfying them. Any new product, therefore, needs to fit into this context. It must understand how the market is currently failing consumers and how the new product can compete. And it needs to improve on whatever is already out there in some way. The most successful products, therefore, aren’t always something entirely novel. Instead, they find a way to improve on an existing formula while preserving their competitive advantage. Find Out How Much The Opportunity Is Worth You might have an excellent idea for a niche product, but if the market for it is small, you might not make a return on your original investment. Ideally, you want to figure out which market segments are most likely to consume whatever you build. Then you need to determine whether you will generate sufficient revenue for it to be worth your time.  Image credit: Mohamed _hassan on Pixabay User research platform, Userzoom, says that companies should try to understand the needs of users before building a new product or service and then validate prototypes. This approach helps to reduce risks and ensure that there is a feasible market out, therefore, for the products when you finally decide to scale.
Working out the size of the opportunity is, therefore, vital. You might have a product that a particular niche wants, but if there are too few people, you’ll ultimately wind up out of pocket. Figure Out How You Will Develop The Product The best way to work out how to develop a product is to look at how the market operates already. Look at the methods that companies already use to ship new goods and services to their customers and actually make it happen. Ask yourself the following questions:
Test Your Prototype In As Many Ways As You Can Prototypes are an essential stage in producing a successful product. They are the point where you find out whether you will be able to deliver something the market will accept or not. Companies tend, however, to look at their products through rose-tinted glasses. They see them as to how they want to see them, rather than how actual customers will. Regular people are the harshest critics of what you sell. If there’s a slight weakness or flaw, they’ll find it and let you know in online reviews. Prototyping, therefore, is your opportunity to wipe out as many of these concerns as possible. Be brutal with your product. Test it to its limits. If you find a flaw, plot a course of action to fix it. Ask yourself whether the product is robust enough, fast enough, or sufficiently flexible. Be honest with yourself about whether it offers customers enough features, or if there are too many. Also, question whether you can deliver it to the market on time. Many companies work to strict time constraints. There is a window of opportunity that they must exploit if they want their enterprise to thrive. If they miss it, then the profit opportunity will vanish. A prototype, therefore, could have all the bells and whistles imaginable. Still, if it is going to take years to bring to scale, then it is not fulfilling the needs of the business. Long development cycles are often what kills new companies. The chance for the product to shine passes. Figure Out How To Position The Product Once you’ve designed the product and studied your market thoroughly, the next step is to position it ready for launch. Companies need to have a good sense of where their product fits alongside the other options available in the marketplace. Positioning the product is essential and usually requires some pretty savvy marketing. For instance, is your product designed for a premium audience? Or are you looking to target people on a budget? Does your product offer superior technology than its competitors? Or does it do the same thing, but at a lower price? Finally, how will you use your brand image to sell the product? Will you use a value-driven approach where you talk about the broader benefits of your product? Or will you tap into different customer philosophies? Remember, your advertising doesn’t have to focus on product features. Instead, you can simply focus on how your company makes people feel. Coca-Cola, for instance, doesn’t talk about the high sugar content of its drinks. Instead, it just associates its brand with having a good time.  You can post as much inspirational and motivational stuff as you can but sometimes, taking a look into what the real world looks like for someone that dedicates their day to being the best they can will have a bigger impact. Mark Wahlberg revealed his daily routine back in December 2018, this followed after Wahlberg was named the highest paid Hollywood actor in 2017. BBC News had the story back then..
 While your blunt friends might come across as a little embarrassing from time to time, overall they’re probably the best friends you have. They come in handy for a number of reasons and are almost always there when you need them, aren’t they? Awareness Act has a great feature to tell you more!
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Author - Chris
Author, Editor, Creator of Learn Develop Live Archives
July 2023
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