Richard

Many people who have heard the adage ‘work smart, not hard’ may think my claim here is tip-toeing around this idea and echoing this sentiment, but they would be wrong. As the nature of work continues to undergo intense scrutiny, primarily focused on the ‘where,’ debates surrounding the frequency and necessity of workplace meetings have also surged. This topic is now discussed in significant volume, and rightly so. In 2024, we have many opportunities to change productivity, creativity and employee satisfaction. There is a compelling case for working teams to have far fewer meetings, which I buy into heavily. Let me tell you why.

Related: 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Meetings Are Worth Attending

The cost of excessive meetings

The cost of putting people through excessive meetings is first up. At the core of most working teams, leaders and bosses are usually quite tentative about the set-up of teams and the expenses they incur. Having meetings is something that most see as a productive, progressive task, and therefore, often slips under the radar when it comes to culling unnecessary and costly activities. However, current research and personal experience tell me that it should not. Research highlights a trend where excessive meetings can detract significantly from productivity. Specifically, a study conducted by Harvard Business Review found a pretty substantial increase of 71% in employee productivity and satisfaction when meeting frequencies were reduced by 40%.

So, not only do you boost your team’s output when you reduce meetings, but you also get more bang for your buck with your personnel. It is extremely common that not every meeting section will apply to every attendee and their workflow, and therefore, people find themselves twiddling their thumbs and listening to colleagues present work out of politeness to them and the meeting leader.

Could this time be spent better elsewhere? Almost certainly. Could the information be delivered in a better, more targeted manner? Definitely.

As mentioned at the start, there are opportunities to deliver information more efficiently than within a meeting, arising with new technologies, such as Slack, Notion or Bubbles. Don’t waste the time of your colleagues in inapplicable meetings and the money you spend on their salaries. Instead, discuss what needs to be discussed in the meeting, and continue that meeting conversation asynchronously with a tool like the aforementioned, keeping the details and context of the information delivered, but in a more efficient way.

Related: Get the Most Out of Remote Meetings and Avoid Meeting Burn Out

The psychological and operational impact

Not everything is about cost, and in fact, many bosses would prioritize operational brilliance over some extra spending. Therefore, we must look at how this claim sits within the operational side of things. I want to dig deeper into the statistics just covered to question whether this is just an anomaly and the preference of a select few or whether the vast majority believe reduced meetings will positively affect their workplace operations.

I have noticed and heard from my team members that meeting less allows them to feel more autonomous and less micromanaged, meaning they hold themselves more accountable for getting work done.

We experience that working alone boosts the possibility of deep focus too, something essential in creative roles. We find that tuning in for a team meeting to discuss a larger chunk of either completed or blocked work means that we operate at optimal efficiency with increased output. As I claimed, this is about making the right decisions with the technologies available to us in 2024.

That was most operational, so let’s deep dive into the psychology. Meetings often lead to what is known as “Meeting Recovery Syndrome,” which is where employees need time to regather their thoughts and mentally recover after frequent, long or chaotic meetings.

Related: Meetings Suck. Here Are 5 Ways to Make Them Suck Less.

Strategic meeting reduction techniques

Now that we have more clarity, let’s look at how your business can optimize their meeting practices:

• No-Meeting Days: Allow that deep work to take place. Have days where interruptions rarely happen, and let workflows thrive with concentration.
• Prioritize Agenda-Driven Meetings: Don’t meet if you don’t know why you’re meeting. Annette Catino, CEO of QualCare Alliance Network, put this nicely: “Give me an agenda or else I’m not going to sit there.” Meet better, not more often.
• Limit Meeting Duration and Size: Amazon uses a two-pizza rule — don’t invite more people than two pizzas can feed. Don’t flood the room and overrun, and you will get more thoughtful input and outcomes.
• Embrace Technology: Integrate AI tools, meeting management tools and platforms that can automate parts of meetings to maximize efficiency. Don’t waste time doing silly, mundane tasks.

Just like that, you will arrive at the future of meetings. They are set to become more strategic, and instead of being the default communicative method, teams (the good ones) will adopt a more thoughtful approach where they assess the real need for each meeting and the potential value it holds. Don’t fall behind the curve, and from now on, create a culture of meetings being made better, not busier, regardless of whether you are in-person or remote.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial part of modern digital marketing and a great skill to learn if you’re trying to make extra money and grow your reputation online. Almost 50% of online shoppers start with a search engine query, which means a business’s search engine position can make or break the company’s bottom line. Even if a store has a brick-and-mortar location, local SEO is important. With 78% of local searches on mobile resulting in an offline purchase, every business today should include local SEO in their strategy.

Once you gain SEO expertise, you can put your skills to work by joining an agency full-time that focuses on SEO, launching your own consulting service, or using your knowledge to take a business’s digital marketing efforts to the next level. In each of these cases, you’ll find great opportunities to make a living.
Many factors determine your income as an SEO expert: education, certifications, work experience and additional skills. However, if you invest the time to become a pro at driving traffic online, you can easily net more than $100,000 annually. So, here’s a look at the ways you can earn money from SEO.

1. Work for an SEO agency

By working at an SEO agency, you’ll not only learn technical skills like website analytics, you’ll also be exposed to business structures that help you develop valuable skills like time management, client pitching and more. You’ll also have an opportunity to learn from senior team members and work with multiple clients. However, drawbacks may include the inability to select your own clients and a more rigid 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule rather than choosing your own hours.

2. Create an ecommerce website and sell products

If you have deep knowledge of ecommerce SEO, you can use search engine optimization to sell physical products through an online marketplace. According to U.S. Census data, ecommerce sales in the U.S. grew by nearly 8% in 2023 compared to the previous year. This trend is expected to continue in 2024.

Start by picking your niche and determining the product you’ll be selling. You can do that by conducting keyword and audience research to understand which terms online shoppers are using and what goods they’re most likely to buy.

For instance, if you find the phrase “stainless steel pasta maker” gets a lot of traction but there aren’t enough companies selling this product, it could be an opportunity to fill that gap. By determining the demand for a particular product or a vacancy in the market, you can reap the benefits.

Make sure you also perform an in-depth SEO competitor analysis, which is how you’ll know what it will take to rank highest for your target keywords. The ecommerce market is booming, which means it could provide meaningful income. But there’s always an element of unpredictability as you look for customers or try to scale your business.

Best practices for ecommerce SEO in 2024

• Optimize for mobile: Most searches now take place on mobile devices, so optimizing your website and content for mobile users is important. This includes ensuring the website has a responsive design, fast-loading pages and easy navigation.
• Improve page speed: Page speed is critical to providing a great user experience and improving SEO rankings. The faster the page loads, the higher it will rank.
• Leverage long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific search terms with lower search volumes but higher conversion rates. For example, “buy affordable sneakers online” is more specific than just “sneakers.” Optimizing for these keywords can help businesses reach their target audience.

Monitor metrics regularly: To understand how your SEO strategy is performing, businesses need to monitor their metrics regularly. This includes tracking page views as well as bounce and click-through rates (CTR). The more data businesses have on their website performance, the better they can refine their SEO tactics.

3. Dropshipping other products on your website

Say you’ve launched an ecommerce website and it’s doing well, but now your customers are seeking additional products. Consider dropshipping, in which a third party handles manufacturing, storing inventory and fulfilling orders, most of which are at a wholesale price.

With dropshipping, an individual places an order on your website and you share the order information with your dropshipper. Once the order information is received, the dropshipper fulfills the order and mails the package to the customer.

Dropshipping allows anyone to set up an ecommerce business and focus on marketing and scaling rather than shipping and inventory logistics. It allows you to focus on what you do best: Attracting online customers to make a purchase. However, there are some drawbacks, including lower profit margins, no control over inventory, no control over shipping errors and fewer opportunities to customize or brand your products.

If you choose to use a dropshipper you’ll want to harness your SEO skills, because with lower profit margins you’ll need to attract an even larger volume of customers. Create original and unique product descriptions (instead of copying the same text from the manufacturer’s website) to make the content stand out and ensure you have the right keywords and a personalized tone.

Related: Dropshipping Businesses: How They Work & Steps to Get Started

4. Offer SEO consulting services

Once you’re an expert, you can make money by opening your own SEO consulting shop. If you can help clients increase traffic to their websites, boost sales and meet their business goals, your services will be in high demand.

Some of the SEO services you’ll provide include keyword research and website auditing as well as implementing technical SEO strategies that can be used on various platforms. As a consultant, you’ll also perform competitor analysis and share detailed plans on how to leverage this data, whether that applies to the content strategy, backlink strategy or particular keywords clients are using. Consultants can also recommend frequent content adjustments to account for new search engine algorithm updates.

While working for yourself may sound intimidating, it can be a very lucrative and enjoyable career, especially for someone who already has experience in an SEO agency. The pros include an opportunity to work with clients and brands of your choice, a flexible schedule and an opportunity to grow your own business. The drawbacks of SEO consulting, however, include the stress of managing clients, difficulty finding new leads and clients and the time it takes to develop experience.

5. Start a blog and monetize through ads and affiliates

If you have a well-established blog and are using SEO to drive significant traffic to the site, you can leverage your digital content by hosting sponsored posts and banner ads on your website. Paid ads allow you to earn money based on the amount of traffic you generate, while sponsored content typically involves featuring a particular brand or service for a predetermined rate.

Starting a blog gives you the freedom to choose your niche, whether it’s technology, beauty, fashion or travel, and you get to infuse the content with your own style while building an online community of like-minded individuals. It also provides flexibility, as you can choose your hours to work, and it gives you a lot of creative freedom to experiment with new forms of content. Starting a blog does, however, require significant time and energy in order to produce quality content, and it may be difficult to regularly create engaging posts. Occasionally, you’ll also have to deal with technical issues on the backend of your site.

SEO and CRO

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action on a website. This action may range from scrolling through the entire page and filling out a form, to adding a product to a wish list or making a purchase. At the heart of CRO is a meaningful action the marketer wants a user to take.

While SEO increases the traffic to your website, CRO helps by making the visits to your site profitable. For example, SEO may help you rank well for the keyword “buy black jeans,” but a good CRO tactic will help you increase your sales percentages by reducing abandoned carts or bounce rates. Here are seven ways to improve your CRO strategy:

• Boost page load time: Your site is like a car — if it does not start right away, people will leave you stranded and find something faster. If your page is too slow or clunky, it will turn off potential customers.
• Utilize neurodesign: Neurodesign harnesses the power of psychology and neuroscience to create visually captivating digital products. It does this by studying people’s responses in different situations, like when they land on a website, and determines what triggers will make them more likely to purchase. Publishers like the New York Times have created “eye tests” to evaluate how people react to the positioning of their content.
• Use dynamic content: You can personalize your customers’ experience by tailoring the website to the user’s needs. Dynamic content responds based on signals such as in-session behavior, user data (e.g., location) and other similar characteristics to deliver relevant information and products.
• Leverage visual content: Videos increase time on your website. According to the video marketing platform Wistia, people spend an average of six minutes on pages that contain a video, as compared to about four minutes on pages with no dynamic visual content. Keeping people on your site is key to driving conversions.
• Create quality content with long-tail keywords: According to Statista, nearly 96% of searches on Google have a query with four words or more. The people who make these kinds of searches tend to have higher levels of buying intent, which makes them perfect for targeting with quality content.
• Consistently optimize web pages and blogs: More traffic often turns into more leads. So, it’s important to always take user feedback, monitor your web pages and improve them or realign them based on user needs.
• Add strong and relevant CTAs: A call to action is an essential part of any website, the lack of which could mean losing connection with your customers. Eye-catching and well-written CTAs — whether it’s a prompt to follow, subscribe or purchase — will help optimize CRO and attract more traffic back toward the products being showcased.

6. Using PR and SEO

In the past, many business’s brand teams have considered public relations and SEO separately and left SEO to their digital teams. But as the two disciplines grow closer together, brands are starting to see the benefits of integrating them. Here are just three ways this can happen:

Building your brand: Growing your brand is essential. As more people become aware of your business, it will begin to rank higher in search engines, particularly for keywords related to your goals. But SEO alone won’t grow your brand. Public relations efforts including media outreach and partnerships with other businesses are necessary to build awareness.

Links: Backlinks from high ranking, influential websites can also transform your search engine rankings. So, how can you convince other websites to link to yours? This is where public relations comes into play. Compelling storytelling is a major component of PR, which can help you craft blog posts, case studies, or high-quality video content to attract the attention of target brands. In most cases, you will spend some time building a relationship before others backlink to you.

Thought leadership: Becoming recognized as a thought leader in your industry can be transformative for your SEO, as your name will appear on other websites and will become a part of industry public relations. A comprehensive public relations effort will help you present yourself to others as an expert in your field.

7. Keep UX and SEO in mind

Search engines are shifting focus to human behavior and experience, so improving your website’s rankings means you need to focus on your site’s usability. There are several aspects of UX design integrated with SEO best practices, including fast loading times, mobile-friendly use and easy-to-navigate pages with engaging content.

One of the biggest UX signals that Google can measure is bounce rate, which is when a user visits a site from a Google search, doesn’t find what they are looking for and clicks back to Google without having visited any other pages on that website. It’s a clear sign that users are unable to find what they’re looking for. Websites with lower bounce rates are usually doing a better job of helping users find what they’re searching for and often rank higher, typically on the first page of results.

Is SEO still worth it?

Business owners can employ many digital marketing strategies, including social media, email marketing, influencer marketing and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. However, SEO is still one of the best places to focus your efforts for three primary reasons:

• Low barriers to entry: It’s relatively easy to get started with SEO. Most website builders optimize your website for search engine crawlers by default, and you can find many tools to make it easier to plan and execute your strategy.

• Strategic flexibility: There’s more than one way to practice SEO. In fact, there’s practically unlimited strategic flexibility here. No matter what your goals are, or what challenges await, you can find a way forward.

• ROI: Return on investment (ROI) is commonly considered the “gold standard” for measuring digital marketing effectiveness.SEO can have a high ROI, particularly because implementing content-level updates can be done for cheap.

How SEO has changed

SEO has changed in many ways in the past several years, which is why experts are constantly recommending tweaks to businesses strategies. These are just some the biggest changes over the past decade:

• More competition: Back in the 2000s, SEO was a somewhat obscure strategy known only to a few digital marketers. Today, even people completely outside the marketing community are aware of SEO. This has led to a massive surge in competition, which makes the strategy more difficult for everyone to execute effectively.
• Stricter quality standards: Most people in the SEO community are familiar with Google’s E-A-T guidelines for content quality, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google has now added another E for experience and has stepped up its quality evaluation efforts, cracking down on questionable content and link-building practices.
• Localization: SEO practitioners have heavily invested in more localized efforts, optimizing for local keywords and serving local audiences. These searches have become more popular and more powerful in terms of visibility, and it’s a good way to avoid national competitors.
• Dependence on user data: Searches have also become more individualized, with search results fluctuating based on individual user data. This has made it more difficult to predict the average user’s search experience, though it has made search results more relevant.

SEO tools

The key to building and sustaining organic traffic is knowing the best SEO tools to leverage for your specific needs . Whether you’re a search engine optimization specialist or just starting to learn how Google works, these are some of the best SEO tools for keyword research, link building, traffic analysis and understanding the competition:

• SEMrush: One of the most popular SEO analysis options on the market, SEMrush allows you to track paid traffic, social media-driven traffic, desktop and mobile traffic, and more. It also offers a popular keyword research tool.
• Ubersuggest: This free program lets you gather data related to a keyword or domain name, offering a keyword’s volume, the average cost per click, and the rank difficulty. It also suggests related long-tail keywords and shows the top site rankings for different keywords.
• Keword.io: Another free SEO checker, Keword.io helps conduct keyword research on a number of different platforms including Google, Amazon, Youtube, Alibaba and Wikipedia. If you’re looking for keywords beyond Google, Keyword.io is a useful starting point.
• Ahrefs: One of the most comprehensive SEO tools for auditing your website, Ahrefs can crawl every page on your website and create reports for you in a matter of hours.
• Google: Not only is Google the world’s most popular search engine (with more than 80% of all search market share), it has a suite of free products that help you better understand SEO. With Google Keyword Planner, you can compare keyword analytics and see which words within your industry will resonate best. With Google Search Console, you can see how a website appears in a search, including its frequency and highest performing keywords. Using Google Analytics, you can monitor where your traffic is coming from — search, social media, referral, etc. — and make informed decisions about your SEO strategy.

At some point as an entrepreneur, you’ll face a challenging decision: When is it time to hire your first employee? After incubating the idea of your startup. then deploying your resources and making it all happen, at some point you may realize it’s time to bring someone else in to help you achieve your vision and grow the business. It’s exciting, but at the same time, can be daunting. What if the new hire doesn’t work out? What if you hire too many people or too few?

Entrepreneurs are inherently self-starters and ambitious, and shifting responsibilities to new workers can be difficult – but it’s a necessary step for growth. A company needs support to grow and thrive. You can’t do it all on your own, which makes hiring employees — especially the early ones — a crucial step toward entrepreneurial success. Before you do anything, though, ask yourself: Is this the right time to hire?

Knowing when you shouldn’t hire

Before addressing best practices for hiring, it’s vital to recognize common pitfalls entrepreneurs face when starting to grow their workforce – that starts with knowing when not to hire. Similar to making big life decisions, you should avoid hiring employees out of anxiety or uncertainty. Your choices should be deliberate and strategic. Take a step back and reconsider hiring employees if you find yourself in the following situations:

You’re desperate

If you have more work than you can humanly handle and you just need to get another body behind a desk, it’s tempting to find someone right away. However, a hasty decision born of desperation is rarely a good one. Take the time to find the right person for the job.

You don’t have specific responsibilities for an employee

Unless you have a defined set of tasks and expectations for your new hire, do them a favor and don’t hire anyone. A new hire at this stage will rightfully be confused and ineffective. You may need help, but if you don’t know exactly what that help will look like, consider hiring a coach instead of an employee.

You’ll take anyone

If you’re lucky, the first applicant will be an absolute rockstar who can bring your business to the next level – but that’s not the norm. You’ll learn a lot about yourself, the applicant market and your own position by interviewing more candidates. The variety of skill sets on display can also hone your focus for what your future employee will do.

Hiring your first employee

Hire someone too early and you could have cash flow problems, a worker who has nothing to do and the added stress of management. Hire too late, and you could be inundated with work you can’t accomplish, which could lead to missing deadlines and losing out on business.

Finding the right moment to hire, therefore, can make the difference between a failed enterprise and a successful business. But how do you know when the time is right? The following tips can make this process a little less painful and provide options for making that first hire:

Start with a cofounder

If you’re a solopreneur looking to make that next step, bringing on an employee can be intimidating. Instead, hire a cofounder, or at least someone who thinks like one.When making that first hire, look for someone with cofounder potential and traits, such as complementary skills, similar values and vision, teachability, passion, emotional intelligence, flexibility and honesty. Your first employee will hopefully be one of your longest lasting and most knowledgeable.

Ask yourself: Will these tasks generate money?

It’s been said that the only two purposes of an employee are to: 1) make money for the business, or 2) save money for the business. If you’re confident a new hire will do at least one of those two things, go for it. In the early stage of a company, making money is more important than saving it. Typically, these early roles involve creating products (designers, developers, etc.), marketing products (growth hackers, content marketers, etc.) and supporting products (customer support, help desk, etc.).

Know your desired skill set

Before you search for an employee, you need to know what kind of candidate you’re looking for. It’s not enough to simply know that you “need some help” or “need a developer.” Get specific: You don’t want just a “developer.” You want a Javascript developer with GitHub experience able to create machine learning algorithms with educational applications, for example. The clearer your set of responsibilities are, the more effectively you can hire someone to fulfill those duties r.

Delay the decision by hiring a contractor

You may still be undecided over whether or not it’s time to hire. Don’t sweat it. Instead, test it. Try hiring a contractor with the same set of parameters you’re looking for in a full-time employee. The introductory hassle of onboarding a contractor is relatively low compared to that of hiring an employee. You can create a contract for one month, six months or a year. If it works out, you can transition this person into an official hire or look for a full-time employee.

The differences between hiring freelancers, contractors and employees

The major differences between freelancers, contractors and employees has to do with their relationship with the business owner. Freelancers and contractors are self-employed individuals, while employees are hired by the company. Freelancers and contractors typically set their schedules based on the needs of their clients and work out a payment schedule (typically upon completion of a job).

Employees, on the other hand, work the schedule established by the company and receive a regular paycheck on a schedule set by the company. As a business owner, you’re responsible for tax reporting on your payroll employees. But since freelancers and independent contractors are considered self-employed, they are responsible for reporting their taxes.

So what’s the best decision for your company? It depends on your needs, your resources and your ambitions.

When should you hire a freelancer?

Some people use the terms “freelancer” and “contractor” interchangeably, but there is a difference in the type of professional you are hiring. Freelancers usually work on smaller, short-term projects, while contractors work on larger, more long-term projects.

Freelancers are great options for specific support — for example, bringing on a digital marketer to get your social media up and running. If you’re not financially ready to bring on full-time employees for whom you have to provide employee benefits, a freelance relationship may be a better setup.

When should you hire a contractor?

Contractors generally come with a team of expert professionals who can get you the help you need, whatever it may be. They can handle specialized projects, such as IT, remodels, design and consulting. As your business grows, financial consultants can keep you on track with your financial goals. If you need highly specialized work that requires a team, contracting a company will ensure the job gets done right.

When should you hire an employee?

Not every company needs a large number of employees, but if you hold frequent meetings, rent an office space or interact with customers, you’ll want reliable employees to help support the business. Remember, just because someone looks good on paper doesn’t mean they’re a good fit for your business. They must fit into your company’s culture. Consider bringing on full-time staff if they can make you more money or improve the customer experience.

Why hiring globally might be your best move

The growing popularity of remote work has meant dramatic growth in the pool of available talent. Don’t limit yourself to just domestic workers, though. By hiring workers outside your country, you can save money, increase efficiency and still provide customers with superior service. Consider the following benefits to hiring globally.

A wider talent pool

As unemployment levels drop, the demand for skilled workers rises — especially for roles in software engineering or data science. By looking past your own borders, you can grow your pool of potential employees and have access to a wider swath of workers. For example, Poland, Slovakia and India are renowned for their pool of highly qualified tech professionals available to work remotely for international companies. Tap into this talent network to find the right fit for your company.

Cost efficiencies

Hiring overseas means access to employees who live somewhere with a much lower cost of living, which generally means lower salary expectations. The requirements for compulsory employer contributions and payroll taxes that increase business costs also vary by country. For example, countries like Germany and Japan generally require that employers deduct a certain amount of the employee’s pay for health insurance. But Australia and New Zealand, with public healthcare systems, do not require such employer insurance contributions.

Access to resilient international markets

If you run a growing, ambitious business, you may be eyeing overseas expansion. One of the biggest factors in your success will be having employees familiar with that market. You have a few options for growing an international presence: set up a local entity or subsidiary (abiding by local employment laws) or use an Employer of Record (EOR) solution, in which you designate a third-party company to handle payroll, HR compliance and employee tax withholding.

Compliance benefits

Employer compliance can vary depending on the country, and some are more strict than others. Whether you’re concerned about at-will employment, parental leave allowance or pension contributions, you can hire from countries whose labor laws align with your needs.

24/7 customer support

Customers expect fast and capable support, no matter where they’re based or when they contact the company. With just 9% of customers able to solve business queries on their own, customer service channels are more important than ever. Having staff in multiple international locations and time zones ensures someone will always answer the support line and provide 24/7 support for your customers.

Before you hire globally, though, you should look into any logistical challenges it might create. Despite the many benefits, hiring international talent can lead to internal communication challenges, scheduling conflicts across time zones, cultural differences, and discrepancies in pay scales. While these challenges can be overcome, they’re worth considering before building a continent-spanning workforce.

Related: 10 Pros (and Cons) of Hiring International Employees

Can college students solve your employee needs?

Different hires provide varying solutions for business, and hiring college students can infuse your company with young energy and ambitious workers. Whether you develop an internship program or employ them part time or seasonally, college students are often more affordable to hire than full-time employees and can support your team’s specific needs.

Creating a pipeline between universities and your business could be a worthwhile investment. Students are trying to get their foot in the door, and they can also provide your company with much-needed help. Here are a few benefits of hiring college students:

They bring fresh perspectives and new ideas

College students are at a unique stage in their lives and are just beginning to form professional identities. Eager to develop skill sets and apply classroom lessons in the professional world, they often bring welcome new perspectives to the table. This can be especially valuable in industries that are constantly changing or in need of innovation.

They’re highly motivated and ready to learn

The most ambitious college students are proactive and eager to take on new challenges — both promising traits for future employees. When you empower college workers, they’ll go above and beyond to learn and contribute to your organization. Additionally, young people are generally tech-savvy and comfortable with digital tools and platforms — a huge asset in today’s business landscape.

They’re cost-effective employees

Because school is the main priority, students are often willing to work for less pay than more experienced candidates; they’re also more open to part-time or internship positions, helping small businesses bring in new talent without breaking the bank. These internships can act as trial runs for potential full-time employment.

How to attract and hire the best salespeople

Just about any business needs persuasive salespeople. In order to sustain and grow your company, you need someone who can bring in new clients while you focus on the business itself. No matter what role someone in your company fulfills, everyone does some kind of selling on a regular basis — pitching investors or bankers, selling coworkers on a new project idea or vision, providing customer service, negotiating with vendors, etc.

Ultimately, though, it will be your sales team that drives your company’s growth. If you want to add top-notch talent to this group and increase your revenue, keep these things in mind:

Your mission should be exciting and purposeful

What are you looking to achieve with your business? Most people these days are looking to join a company because of its mission — its goal to change the world in some meaningful way. According to a 2021 McKinsey study, 70% of Americans say work defines their sense of purpose. Your mission doesn’t need to save lives, it just needs to inspire workers and point to a larger goal. Find salespeople who buy into this mindset, and they’ll evangelize the company or product for you.

Be the best salesperson you can be

If you’re looking to hire salespeople, you should also know how to sell. You may get to a point in your business where you’re not the main person bringing in new clients, but you still have ideas you need to sell to investors, journalists or marketers — and your own team. When interviewing a potential candidate, pay attention to your own energy level. Are you charismatic? Are you enthusiastic about the position and the opportunity? When the interview is done, you’ll want the candidate to feel like they’re ready to jump on your bandwagon and get started right away.

Know what else you can offer

If you can’t compete in the market with a high salary, you can at least offer other incentives that attract top talent and keep your business afloat. Many employees are looking for better work-life balance. Can you offer a flexible work schedule? Consider offering profit sharing or a higher commission in the near future. If your product or services are innovative or revolutionary, that can also be an incentive, as employees are eager to join a business that’s about to rapidly expand.

The best recruiting platforms for small business hiring

When it’s time to hire, finding quality candidates doesn’t need to be complicated. Job search sites can help you recruit and retain talent no matter your company’s budget or size. Some companies advertise jobs across a variety of platforms, and the sites you choose will determine who applies for your open roles.

Similar to reaching a target audience, you want to meet candidates where they already are — think industry-specific forums, alumni networks or on social media. But there’s also value in casting a wide net and posting on major job boards with millions of visitors. With so many platforms to choose from, which will best support your mission? Here are some of the top recruiting platforms to consider:

ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter allows you to post job openings and receive applications from relevant candidates, as well as organize applicants in a resume database. Applicant tracking tools, including providing candidates with notes and feedback, also help you manage the hiring process.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is particularly effective for recruiting candidates in the business, finance and technology sectors. To help you find and hire top talent in — and outside of — your network, it offers job postings, resume searches and applicant tracking.

Indeed

One of the world’s largest job search websites, Indeed allows you to search for candidates based on their location, experience and skills. It also provides rates for sponsored listings that prioritize your job openings in the search results.

Glassdoor

In addition to job postings, Glassdoor features reviews from people who’ve worked at various companies. By providing insight into a company’s culture and employee satisfaction, the site can help attract candidates to your open positions.

Workable

With affordable pricing plans and an easy-to-use interface, Workable is a recruiting platform that’s particularly effective for small- and medium-size businesses looking to streamline their hiring process. It offers a variety of features, including job postings, applicant tracking and candidate sourcing.

Writing job advertisements to attract remote workers

The pandemic ushered in a widespread adoption of work-from-home policies that may be here to stay. These policies allow for more flexible working situations, and they’re an excellent way for businesses to stay competitive in the job market.

When writing your job advertisements, keep in mind it’s still just a listing, so you need to effectively communicate the benefits of working remotely and the job requirements. Consider the following tips for writing job advertisements to attract remote workers:

Communicate the remote nature of the job

Specify that the job is a remote position and include details about the type of work environment and equipment that will be required. Does this person need to work certain hours or be in a certain time zone? Spell everything out. If the job advertisement doesn’t say remote up front, many people will assume that it’s not.

Highlight the benefits to employees working remotely

Make it clear that the job offers the flexibility and autonomy of working remotely. Mention any perks or benefits that come with the position, such as a flexible schedule or the ability to work from anywhere.

Clearly outline the job requirements

Your job advertisements should clearly state the skills, experience, and qualifications that are required for the position. This will help you attract the right candidates and weed out those who are not a good fit.

Use language that resonates with remote workers

Use language that speaks to the realities of working remotely. For example, mention the ability to work from anywhere or the need for strong self-motivation and discipline. Also mention skills necessary for collaborating remotely, such as clear and concise communication.

Include information about your company culture

Whether in-person or working remotely, employees place a high value on company culture. In fact, this may be even more crucial in a remote environment, where your only coworker interactions are happening in chats and on video calls. Include information about your company’s values and mission in your job advertisements to help attract candidates who are a good fit.

It’s time to start hiring

By following these tips, you can make the most effective hiring decisions for your business. Keep in mind: no two companies are the same. Before you make a hire — or post a job, for that matter — consider the work you need done, the kind of worker you need to complete it, and where that person should be located. By outlining your needs early, you’ll save money (and headaches) in the long run.

If you are considering starting a business, don’t take the big leap from dreamer to entrepreneur. One common mistake new business owners make is not understanding the five critical essentials before they dive into the world of starting a business. Knowing these critical pieces of information can mean the difference between starting a thriving, successful business or crashing and burning out before your entrepreneurial plane can even get off the runway.

Read these five essentials carefully to understand how to prepare yourself and pave the way for building a successful business.

1. Determine the difference between a hobby and a business

Many believe that if you are making minimal sales or not selling full-time, you do not have a business and instead have a hobby. It’s important to understand both the national and local rules regarding your sales to make sure you are compliant and avoid unexpected penalties and fees.

The IRS states that if you earn $400 or more after your expenses are taken out (known as your net income), then your income is NOT considered a hobby, and all of your self-employed income must be claimed on your tax return.

Additionally, most cities and counties state in their information for new businesses that you must register your business before starting any business operations. This means that if you intend to make sales to customers, in most cases, you do not have a hobby; you do, in fact, have a business, and this will require several steps to be completed before you can make any sales.

Related: The 6 Startup Essentials for a Business That Will Succeed

2. Understand your legal obligations

To determine what you are legally obligated to do to register your business and stay compliant, you must first decide what type of business structure you will have. A business structure defines how a business is registered and operates and what type of taxation options it may have.

The most common form of new business is either a sole proprietorship or an LLC. Deciding which type of business you will operate is important because each type has different registrations and tax implications.

Once you have determined the type of business structure you would like to start, you will need to register your business. The types of registrations and permits required differ depending on whether you are starting a sole proprietorship or an LLC, the type of business you will be starting, and where you are located. Research your county’s information on starting a business. Often, counties have a particular resource area on their website that will outline your obligations and where to obtain required permits.

Related: 5 Common Legal Mistakes Start-Ups Make When Launching Their Business – And How To Avoid Them

3. Understand your finances

Registering your business will require various fees to ensure that your business operates legally according to city, county and state requirements. These fees vary depending on your location. Additionally, some industries require specific licenses and registrations that must be renewed regularly.

4. Understand taxes

Businesses are obligated to file and pay three different types of income taxes: self-employment tax, federal income tax and state income tax. An LLC is also required to pay an annual LLC tax. These taxes are calculated and paid when you file your end-of-year tax return. If you expect to owe $1000 or more in self-employed taxes, you are also required to pay estimated quarterly taxes – which is a prepaid estimated amount of what you think you will owe at tax time, spaced out into four equal payments throughout the year.

If you sell tangible goods, you are obligated to collect and remit sales tax on those goods. This will mean applying for a seller’s permit, collecting sales tax from your customers and filing/paying sales and use tax returns.

Next, plan a method for keeping business financial records. You are obligated to keep business financial records — this means tracking your sales and expenses and the cash flow in and out of your business. This can be done through using a software such as quickbooks or xero, hiring a professional CPA or bookkeeper or keeping a simple spreadsheet to track your cash flow.

LLCs will also be required to have business bank accounts — no personal transactions can be conducted using your business bank accounts. It’s important to track all business expenses so that you can enter them into your tax return — this will lower your taxable income.

Related: Five Tips for Small Business Owners this Tax Season

5. Operational obligations

Creating your products, conducting services and making sales are important parts of your business; however, operating a business on a day-to-day basis has many other elements required in order to keep your business up, running and growing. Think through and make a plan for how you will handle important things such as:

• marketing
• bookkeeping
• inventory
• shipping
• customer service
• scheduling
• operational software
• booking, scheduling and contracts
• invoicing and payments

Ready to start a business?

Congratulations if you have carefully considered these important factors and are ready to start! The decision to start a business and the planning involved deserve to be celebrated. Consider creating a formal business plan to provide structure, organize your goals and start planning the logistics of starting your business. Starting and growing a business is an incredible journey, and with proper planning, consistency, time and dedication, you are well on your way to building the business of your dreams.

One week before National Small Business Week, a new study examines some surprising things that the millions of small businesses across the U.S. have in common.

A Pew Research Center Survey released Monday delved into Census Bureau data points associated with 33 million small businesses across the U.S. The study defined “small business” as a firm with less than 500 workers, with at least one location.

In the report, small businesses overwhelmingly shared one major commonality: they rarely had employees. In fact, 27 million, or about 82%, did not have any workers, and about 3 million businesses with employees only had one to four people on their payroll.

Still, small businesses employed 56.4 million people in 2021 and achieved more than $16.2 trillion in revenue. Larger businesses with more than 100 employees scored bigger pieces of the revenue pie, though they made up less than 1% of the overall picture.

Related: How to Go From Side Hustle to 7-Figure Business and Beyond, According to 3 Women Who Did It

Also, most small businesses are not mom-and-pop shops, according to the survey. One in 10 businesses in the U.S. were equally owned and operated by spouses, and just 27% were family-owned overall.

It’s also not usually franchises. The majority of small businesses (95%) reported that they did not fully or partially operate as a franchise.

A majority of the businesses surveyed, almost three in five, have been running for at least six years, and 15% were operational for over a quarter of a century.

Related: They Designed One Simple Product With a ‘Focus on Human Health’ — and Made $40 Million Last Year

Small businesses also share a positive public perception. Most Americans (86%) indicated that small businesses positively impact the country in a separate Pew Research survey conducted in January. In contrast, only 53% thought positively about tech companies and colleges.

A Constant Contact survey released Monday presents a global picture, showing that over 80% of the 1,300 small businesses surveyed in the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and Canada expressed concern about how the economic climate will affect their business this year.

Pew Research reports that the number of U.S. business applications has trending up, with almost 1.8 million applications filed last year.

Lauren Sánchez has found herself in the public eye, thanks to her high-profile engagement to Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos — and now one national news outlet is looking for a specialized reporter to cover her every move.

The Daily Beast announced that it is looking to hire a full-time senior reporter to cover Sánchez and her daily dealings — from business to social to space.

“The Beast plans to cover tech moguls and their ecosystem, as part of the site’s return to its roots as a ‘smart tabloid,'” per Axios.

This follows trends of other publications, such as USAToday and the Tennessean, which have hired specialized Taylor Swift and Beyonce reporters in an attempt to make sure full coverage of the subject is reported.

Related: Lauren Sanchez Gives Vogue Details on Jeff Bezos Engagement

Not much is known about the specifics of the role, though Joanna Coles, the outlet’s new chief content officer, wrote on Instagram that she was accepting applications through editorial@thedailybeast.com, and told the New York Post that benefits and salary would be comparable to other senior positions listed at the company, which range between $100,000 and $200,000.

“I’ve never seen anybody land on the radar of Americans as fast and as brilliantly as Lauren Sánchez,” said Coles, who is the former chief content officer of Hearst Magazines. “I’m just very excited to find out all about her. There is no detail too small that I am not fascinated by.”

Sánchez is a licensed pilot and former TV anchor who is currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, which just announced it is donating $100 million to AI efforts that fight climate change.

Related: Lauren Sánchez Is Heading to Space on a Girls Trip

The Daily Beast did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur‘s request for comment.

When running a business, it’s important to keep your company’s branding in mind around the clock because you never know when inspiration might strike. For example, when choosing a color palette for your design materials, you don’t have to stick with whatever you come up with off the top of your head. Live with it. Go out in the world, and when you see the right colors, you’ll know it.

Now, to get the exact shade that inspires you, you’re going to need to show up at the paint store or on Photoshop with more than just “yellow.” That’s where a color-matching sensor comes into play. From April 15 through 11:59 p.m. PT on April 21, you can get the Nix Mini 2 Color-Matching Sensor on sale for just $59.97 (reg. $99).

This pocket-sized scanning device can scan any surface and match it to any of over 100,000 brand-name paint colors, as well as sRGB HEX, CMYK, and LAB colors. Once you scan a color, you can access the color details via the Nix Paints and Nix Digital apps available on Android and iOS devices. From there, you can take that information and use it to get the exact color you want for your branding materials.

Craft the branding of your company and your product to your exact specifications, and never stop perfecting it. Empower yourself with tools like this color-matching sensor, which is remarkably affordable.

From April 15 through 11:59 p.m. PT on April 21, you can get the Nix Mini 2 Color-Matching Sensor on sale for just $59.97 (reg. $99).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

According to TeamStage, 31 percent of employees waste about a half hour each day, and the top 10 percent of them can waste as much as three hours in a day. Part of that might be attitude, but the other part might be hangups caused by internet speed and advertisements. To nip that lost time in the bud, consider equipping yourself or your team with a tool to help stay on task.

From April 15 through 21, this five-year subscription to Control D Some Control Plan is on sale for just $34.97 (reg. $120). This is the best price for this deal online. This tool is designed to help users browse and use the internet faster while also blocking ads.

Control D is described as a “one-touch solution” for taking control over the productivity of your computer and internet usage. The deal supports use for up to ten devices, and it empowers each user to block advertisements, enjoy faster browsing, and set internet safety rules and restrictions for kids.

Control D’s bandwidth is substantial. It can accommodate up to 10,000 custom rules, block more than 300 servers, support multiple profiles, and unlimited usage. This robust and well-designed tool is a reliable option for any business leader who wants to liberate themselves or team members from distractions online.

Control D is rated a perfect 5/5 stars on Product Hunt.

Remember that from April 15 through 21, this 5-year subscription to Control D Some Control Plan is on sale for just $34.97 (reg. $120)—the best price on the web.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Microsoft published a research paper this week highlighting a new AI model called VASA-1 that can transform a single picture and audio clip of a person into a realistic video of them lip-syncing — with facial expressions, head movements, and all.

The AI model was trained on AI-generated images from generators like DALL·E-3, which the researchers then layered with audio clips. The results are images-turned-videos of talking faces.

The researchers built on technology from competitors such as Runway and Nvidia, but state in the paper that their method of doing things is higher-quality, more realistic, and “significantly outperforms” existing methods.

Related: Adobe’s Firefly Image Generator Was Partially Trained on AI Images From Midjourney

The researchers said the model can take in audio of any length and generate a talking face in accordance with the clip.

The only image that wasn’t AI-generated that the researchers experimented with was the Mona Lisa. They made the iconic image lip-sync to Anne Hathaway’s “Paparazzi,” which starts with the lines “Yo I’m a paparazzi, I don’t play no yahtzee.”
^{A screenshot of the video mid-frame. Credit: Entrepreneur}

The Mona Lisa was one example of a photo input that the AI model was not trained on — but could manipulate anyway. The model could also transform artistic photos, take in singing audios, and handle speech in languages that weren’t English.

The researchers emphasized that the model could work in real-time with a demo video that showed the model instantly animating images with head movements and facial expressions.

Deepfakes, or digitally altered media of a person that could spread misinformation or take someone’s likeness without permission, are a risk posed by advanced AI that can generate digital media with relatively few reference points.

Related: Tennessee Passes Law Protecting Musicians From AI Deepfakes

Microsoft addressed that concern generally in the paper, with the researchers stating, “We are opposed to any behavior to create misleading or harmful contents of real persons, and are interested in applying our technique for advancing forgery detection.”

The researchers stated that their technique had potentially positive applications too, like improving accessibility and enhancing educational efforts.

Google demoed a similar research project last month, showcasing an AI capable of taking a photo and creating a video from it that the user can then control with their voice. The AI was able to add head movements, blinks, and hand gestures.

Taylor Swift delighted fans Friday, April 19, when she released a surprise double album, “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” her 11th studio album.

In celebration of the highly anticipated release — and upcoming next leg of her “Taylor Swift: The Eras” tour — United Airlines is offering a special deal for Swifties to garner the best prices for flights to her shows at the end of this summer.

The airline is offering a 13% discount on select domestic flight routes purchased Friday for travel between August 21 and November 13 of this year. In the fall, Swift brings the tour back to the U.S. for shows in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis.

Related: Taylor Swift Is Making Vinyl Cool Again — and Profitable. Here’s How Her Surprise Double Album Is Bringing Back the Old-School Medium.

“Let’s say after exploring Cornelia Street, Louis wants to travel from New York to Miami, Florida for a long weekend,” a representative for United Airlines told ABC News in an emailed statement, cheekily referencing one of Swift’s songs. “By using the code ‘April19’ in the United app, Louis can save more than $50 on a round-trip ticket before August slips away. Of course, the total amount of the discount depends on the fare selected.”

The 13% is intentional, as 13 is Swift’s lucky and favorite number, and the dates selected align with the musician’s next leg of tour dates in the U.S.

To cash in on the deal, United customers can log on to the app and use the code ‘April19’ for a chance to snag the deal.

Swift has had quite the year thanks to her “The Eras Tour” and subsequent in-theater experience, which helped boost her to billionaire status in October. She stands beside Rihanna as the only two female musicians to reach the financial feat.

Related: Taylor Swift Just Filed a Trademark That Could Mean Even More Sales

According to Pollstar, the Eras Tour is estimated to bring in anywhere from $1 to $1.4 billion by its end, with roughly seven months left to go.