 Image credit: Iberseries Platino Industria After a long period of hibernation, networking events are back and back in a big way. Businesses denied the opportunity of making new connections face to face are keen to get their people, products and pitches back on the road. Here are a couple of tips to make the most of each event you attend and feel comfortable sharing who you are, with anyone, wherever you go. If you'd like to read more, here's a related blog post. Research your event Make sure you know who is speaking (and about what), the other companies represented in the room and make a mental shortlist of who you want to connect with and how your business relates to the topics being discussed. Know how to break the ice Have a set of rehearsed relaxed icebreakers ready to go. This can be as simple as “hi, how’s your day going?”. Or, you can try adding a bright item to your wardrobe which allows people to strike up a conversation around this talking point. Prioritise asking questions and listening over selling Asking questions in the right way and practicing effective listening showcases your emotional intelligence skills. Not only that, listening is proven to make you appear more charming to others. Treat event breaks like ad breaks This is a great tactic and removes the temptation to reach for your phone during breaks. When there is an intermission at the event, try turning to the person next to you and seeing if they have plans for lunch or want to grab a coffee.  Image credit: Wallpapers Craft Know when to move on
As hard as it can be to strike up a conversation, there is nothing more excruciating than being stuck in a conversational dead end. If you’re ready to end the conversation, do so in a friendly non-abrupt way. Don’t make it feel like you’re brushing them off, exchange your contact details and retire with “it was really nice to meet you, I hope we can connect again”. Take advantage of apps When networking, technology is your friend. Not just for sharing your professional identity but for logging your contacts, making notes about who you met and creating a platform for further contact. There is no better way to do this than with Blinq digital business cards. With Blinq you can share your business cards in a way that works for you. You can share via the top rated iOS or Android apps, smartphone widgets or even via your Apple Watch. Bling digital business cards make a positive reflection on your business and are a brilliant extension of your brand experience, helping you stand out and be memorable in moments that matter. Grow your network and your business with Blinq.
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 Image credit: Magnet Me from Unsplash Now that things are returning to some sort of normal, you can start to think about taking steps towards climbing up the career ladder, or, if you are feeling particularly daring, looking at a whole new industry.
Remember what you do best Make a list of the things that you enjoy doing and the things that you are great at. In most cases, they are the same thing. So do not think about jobs just yet; instead, consider your abilities and hobbies. Make a list of all the things you enjoy doing, including some that you believe are not profitable. Consider what other people have to say about you and how you perceive yourself. If you are good at fishing, for example, include that on your list. Make a list of the talents and skills required for those activities – for example, fishing takes keen powers of perception and meticulous attention to detail. Look at the jobs that use those skills Look for information on the Internet. Search for job skills, career skills, skills evaluation, and anything else that springs to mind. Narrow the list down to the ones that you would want to do Reduce the number of potential professions to just three, maybe four. Continue to revise your list until you are convinced that you would enjoy working in those fields and that you would be successful in them. Then reduce your options down to a single career and devote your full attention to it. Do your research into the career. Look for information on the Internet - it is a wealth of information. You will find case studies, real-life thoughts, experiences, and just about everything else about it. Consult your local job centre to learn about work opportunities in your new field of study or profession. Enquire about training opportunities and courses such as SMP Liverpool. Talk to people who are already working in your chosen field. Remember that you are not asking for a job; instead, you are learning about the profession itself. What is it about it that attracts successful people? What are the most significant abilities? What is it like on the inside? If they could go back in time, would they have chosen something different? If there is a union, you can find out more by contacting the local office. It is a good idea to join a union if there is one, as this can give you legal support. If you have found your career curtailed by the Covid pandemic, turn it into a positive. Perhaps this is your chance to branch out and try something completely different!  Image credit: Headway from Unsplash You have finally got your start-up business running and are gearing up for your first event. In the run-up to the event, you will be in a calm but busy mode. Ensuring that your stage is set, there are no issues with speakers, any leftover tickets are being promoted, and all systems go.
The event goes off without a hitch - it’s perfect. You gathered some great industry contracts and contacts, and so did your attendees. You hired a photographer (more info here about commercial photography), and the photos are back - and you can’t wait to use them. What next? The follow-up of the event is one of the most crucial parts of saying your event was a success. Emails When you were selling tickets, and during the event, you should have collected plenty of email addresses from the attendees. You must make people aware of what they might be used for while collecting these addresses, including newsletters or marketing. The purpose of the follow-up emails will depend on what you were hoping to achieve from the event. In all cases, you will be looking to secure the connection between you and the person on the receiving end of the email. Within this email, you should be sure to thank all attendees, share the images from the photographer (make sure you purchased the proper license to do this), remind them of sponsors and the products or talks they saw at the event. Feedback If you want to do anything better in life, you have to ask for feedback. It is essential to know what you did and didn’t do well. When you know what you did well, you give yourself to capitalise on that success and iterate. Negative feedback is as vital as positive feedback. If you don’t know what didn’t work, you won’t be able to improve your offering. Welcome feedback, but use it as a loop. Ask - receive - act -ask - receive - act, and so on. Social Media Use your social media to carefully tag and thank attendees. Highlight the best bits, thank sponsors, and communicate. During the early stages of your event planning, you most likely would’ve created a hashtag to make your mentions easy to track and increase visibility. Search through this hashtag and reply - if you didn’t have a team on it live during the event. Press Release Compile all of the coverage on social media, blogs and industry media outlets. You’ll need to ask for permission to use the content, but UGC is some of the most beneficial you will ever get - it is worth acting fast. You can do this yourself, or you might want to hire a press release writer to handle it for you. Send your press release to all industry websites and magazines, create a page with more information, and offer interview opportunities. Don’t Dwell After the event is over, the content is collected, the press releases are sent - it is time to move on. While it might be tempting to keep eating out on the success of one event - you must keep moving forward within your business. Do you need some tips to manage your social media? Read more: A guide to social media marketing! - LEARN DEVELOP LIVE  Image credit: Negative Space from Pexels The medical field is a competitive industry to get into, but it doesn't have to be impossible. There are many great tips and tricks on how you can become successful in this career path. This blog post provides some of the best advice on how to break into the medical field and succeed with your pursuit of a job in the medical industry.
1 Start planning early on Your college years are the perfect time to start planning your future career; it is never too early! Considering that this industry requires a lot of training and education, you should not wait until later in life or when faced with strict deadlines before starting your career path. Starting planning now will ensure success and allow you more time to get ahead of the pack. Learn about different medical specialties so that you can choose which one best suits your interests and skills/talents. Choose where you want to work: hospital vs private practice? Do you want to stay local or travel? Are there specific locations that interest you, such as Washington DC, Europe, Asia etc.? Is urban vs rural better suited for what type of lifestyle you want to live? Look at the different educational paths for your specialty/location of choice: is a specialization required, or will a general doctor suffice? 2 Find the best education Your education is critical in your pursuit of a career in the medical field. Make sure you are using all available resources and getting as much knowledge as possible to ensure success. Look for schools that will allow you to specialize early on rather than waiting until later years because this industry requires specialization and experience right from the beginning phases of training. You should find out if there are any other requirements such as internships or work experience required by certain educational institutions before committing yourself to their program -make an informed decision! 3 Get adequate apparel You don't have to work in the medical field for long before finding that clinical apparel is necessary. There are many different styles and brands of dental scrubs for sale, but it’s essential to wear clothing that contributes towards comfortability when working at a hospital or doctor's office; make sure they aren't too loose-fitting! It can be difficult finding out which brand/style works best with your body type, so try on as many different types of scrub tops and bottoms as possible until you find what fits appropriately (you can even ask if there is an exchange policy at most stores!). 4 Start volunteering One of the best ways to get experience and learn more about different types of medical specialties is to start volunteering. Volunteer at a place where you can be hands-on with patients/clients so that you truly understand what it's like to be in their shoes -maybe even shadow someone who works in your desired field! You will find out quickly if this profession is right for you or not, which saves valuable time down the road when looking for jobs. There are many online opportunities to help young professionals become successful in pursuing a job in the medical industry. Whether through websites such as VolunteerMatch or community service projects within local organizations, there should always be something going on near you!  Image credit: Mikhail Nilov from Pexels Late payers can be a significant drain on a small business's finances. No one likes to think that their clients will fail to deliver on their end of the bargain when they agree to work. However, their financial issues become your economic issues. Unfortunately, this happens too frequently. In many cases, it isn't so much a case of the client not wanting to pay; although this happens, it is usually the result of financial issues.
So how can you avoid the possibility of not being paid for your work? Check Out Your Client Before you even enter into negotiations, do some background research first on your potential client. Ask your peers and associates if they have had any dealings with this company and know of their reputation. If your digging comes back positive, you can go ahead; if not, you can decide whether or not you want to take the risk of potentially not being paid. Draw Up A Contract A contract is a legally binding document. Has it been created with a legal expert in your field so you can fall back on it if anything happens? Include the deliverable from all parties, timescales, resolution processes in the event of problems, and payment requirements. Have it signed and give everyone a copy, so both you and the client are aware of your responsibilities. Consider Retaining Legal Services No one wants to pursue legal action against non-payers, but in some cases, it is necessary. Choose representatives who have knowledge and experience in your industry, such as cannabiz, who are experts in recovering debts owed in the cannabis industry. Ask for Payment Upfront Where at all possible, treat the work you agree to as a retail sale and request payment upfront. Usually, 30-day invoices terms are standard, but removing this clause from the table and insisting on full or partial payment upfront can help you to avoid the possibility of not being paid. Do not start any work until the required payments have been received, and you are happy to go ahead. This won't work for all businesses and nor will all clients be on board with this, but those who are unable to take the financial hit of not being paid, or the invoice is of a substantial amount, can be an alternative to the worry you might have about losing out. Keep The Lines of Communication Open This applies to before, during, and after the work has been completed. The more frequently you are in contact with the client, the less likely they will disappear. Make sure you have multiple contact avenues if you need to chase payments or discuss the work you are undertaking. Think emails, phone numbers, work, business addresses, LinkedIn profiles, social media, etc. This will allow you to retain lines of communication in the event of a relationship breakdown. Knowing who you can turn to in advance can be a weight off your mind should you need to pursue legal debt collection.  Image credit: PhotoMix Company from Pixabay Making your business more attractive will boost brand awareness, profits, and success. The more appealing your business is, the greatest interest you will have from new customers. Likewise, existing customers will want to stay with you if you are the most attractive business in the market.
Business appeal boils down to offering great products/services for great prices while maintaining great customer service. On that note, here are some effective tricks to make your business more attractive. Create an app A business app is a useful tool in today’s age of mobile phone users. Most people have a smart device that allows them to download and use apps. Many people feel that it is an easier way to shop or communicate. Therefore, it is a great idea to create one so that your business is easier to navigate and use. You can create great business apps by using app developers, as they will allow you to get the best result when building your business app. Instead of wondering whether or not it will run smoothly for your users and worrying about its usability, the experts will ensure to create an app that is easy and seamless to use. You won’t want your customers using a slow or confusing app. Therefore, leaving it to the professionals will ensure that you can achieve a seamless and effective end result. Build a blog There are so many ways that blogging can benefit your business. In today’s world, there are millions of blogs out there that often engage more readers/customers than websites. Why? Because they are more relatable, easy to find (thanks to more regular updates and content), and easier to navigate. Therefore, building a blog for your business will help your business become more personable. You can add a blog to your existing website and increase your website’s reach and discoverability. Building a blog will effectively help you update your website more, be more communicative with your customers, and share more behind the scenes (which is likely to increase customer trust and loyalty). Offer great prices There is no use in being the most expensive business in the market as customers will likely look elsewhere for the same or similar product. Therefore, you will want to ensure to keep your prices fair and competitive. Of course, you will want to make sure that your profit margin is high enough to achieve your financial goals. However, make sure to assess the market and align your prices with competitive brands. Doing so will ensure to make your brand more appealing and able to win over new customers. Should you find it difficult to make a great profit, then you might want to find new suppliers so that your outgoings are lower. Doing anything to make your prices competitive will ensure that you aren’t easily rivalled by other businesses offering a similar product/service. Use this guide to help make your business more attractive, which will help your brand reputation and help you achieve your goals. |
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