7 Traits of Every Great Looking Coming Soon Page

Are you or your business associates looking for advice to improve the reach of a website that is simply ‘Coming Soon‘ or sitting there in maintenance mode?

The concern, of course, is that so many customers visit your website but leave without a great impression.

If this is what you’re concerned about, and you hope to improve your website experience while creating your product, then you’ve come to the right place.

The reality is that you must consider opportunities to create raving fans even when your website, service, or product is pending.

Like you, we have recognized over time that there are so many benefits to having a placeholder while your website is in creation mode.

That’s where Coming Soon pages can play a pivotal role in your company to drive new potential customers to your brand.

This article will help you understand everything you need to know about great-looking Coming Soon pages, and also what you can do to ensure yours is customer friendly.

What you will learn:

• Why you need a Coming Soon page
• 7 Traits to Consider
• How to create a Coming Soon page
• Final Thoughts

Why you need a Coming Soon page

The fact is that many people are trying to launch a website, and often most sites fail. The reality is that they fail to attract traffic to these sites.

You should know that it does take time to get that momentum going on a website and to start to see a decent amount of traffic visiting your site.

During this time, you should plan for future visitors by putting up a Coming Soon page. This step will alert the google algorithm to your site being online.

You will also be able to add valuable information, such as :

• Product or service information
• Share context around your offering
• Share invite-only content to first browsers
• Social proof to build site authority earlier on

You can also start building a great email list right off the bat. This email list can help you engage your growing following, turning these followers into customers that continuously support you.

Even better, if you are using WordPress to power your site, all of this can be done with simple plugins and themes instead of hiring a designer for custom work that continually needs to be change.

A perfect example of this would be creating a WordPress coming soon page right from a multi-use plugin like Branda and Hustle from WPMU Dev.

With the Branda plugin, you can easily create a coming soon page for your site, and then use the Hustle plugin to set up email submit or mailing list forms. You can see a quick example of this below, along with a countdown timer for when the site officially launches.

Also a Coming Soon page helps you to hide the behind the scenes work that makes your site look quite unprofessional in its early stages. Don’t overlook this aspect as the first impressions generally last.

Therefore it’s so important to have a Coming Soon page. Next, I will share more information on the traits to consider when creating that page.

7 Traits to Consider When Creating a Coming Soon Page

As with most pages online, you must always think about your end consumer experience and how the Coming Soon page can benefit that consumer. This one thing will set your business apart for the better.

These are the seven traits you must look out for:

1. A Clear Value Proposition

A clear value proposition will give your new visitors a specific idea about you and your business. It tells them what value you can bring into their lives.

Ultimately, it’s a one-sentence phrase that’s catchy and easy to remember. This phrase is generally one of the first things your customers see.

Yet, many entrepreneurs have got this wrong and found that their traffic decided to go elsewhere.

As pointed out in this article featured on Business2Community, there are plenty of ways to cover all of your bases when creating something as simple as a “coming soon page”. You can see what we mean through the visual below.

Think about it; customers visit your page for a reason. And that reason is to gain something or for a benefit.

If you aren’t offering anything beneficial, they move on over to the next vendor. This point is so important, yet also attached to this you will find a  rarely used aspect which I will detail in the next section,

2. Core benefits of your product or service

Simply put, the core benefits of your product or service is a breakdown of the features and benefits that your customers can expect.

The modern-day consumer has high standards simply because so many vendors are available to sell them the product at their specification. You must keep up and prove that your offering is the best.

You can do this by making it easy to access, and including it just below your value proposition. The structure will also have to be visually pleasing. Consider using a bullet list of benefits. It’s systematic, and your customers will love that.

Naturally, remember that benefits help your customers imagine visually how your product will give them value and make their lives easier.

Think about any new purchase you make; you always visualize how it will fit into your life. Ultimately that leads to you swiping your credit or entering your credit card details online.

3. Single call to action (CTA)

A call to action is one where you direct your customer to act. It will involve several things.

I’ve made a list of examples to consider:

• Free ebooks which can attract customers to your email list
• Rewards/giveaway which educate your customers about your products
• Exclusive invite to a discount on your product if they share your offering on social media

Ensure that you have a bold call to action that grabs attention at once. Yet it should also be related to your product at hand. Again, this can all be set up by using the lead generation or pop up plugin for WordPress.

Avoid unrelated CTA’s, they only confuse your customer and make them feel annoyed by your brand.

These CTA’s will be vital to increase your fan base while you’re building your product. Once you’ve indicated an excellent call to action, your next focus must shift to building authority for your customer.

4. Social Proof

Social proof is simply a way to show your potential customers you have some authority in the marketplace, and it builds a sense of trust.

Examples of social proof include:

• Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok followers
• A published book
• Testimonials from experts in the industry
• Videos showing celebrities raving about your service

Social proof is of enormous importance for a brand to succeed. And if taken seriously, you can build a large following through social media presence.

Do this by using Facebook ads, networking, affiliate marketing engagement, or leveraging your other brands. Another great option is to use testimonials or to show where you might have received news, media or press coverage in the past.

Alternatively, engaging influencers on various social media platforms can yield excellent results.

The idea of influencers also brings me to the next point, which you will see is quite essential when consumers have the opportunity to imagine themselves using your product or service.

5. Photos or videos of the product in use

This ties in nicely with using influencer marketing, and onboarding influencers onto your network to share your product.

You will find a win-win opportunity whereby your influencers can provide you with quality content for your Coming Soon page while they get a fee for lending their brand name to you.

Alternatively, you can make use of websites like Fiverr and Upwork to get high-quality content at a reasonable price.

Another critical factor is that users want to visualize how your product or service works, so make sure you provide this tool.

Many websites currently try to keep things minimal, yet I would steer you towards using as much leverage as you can when starting a new brand. Let’s look at the next section that will show you what every Coming Soon page must adopt.

6. Exclusivity

The average consumer wants to feel unique, special, and you have to create that feeling when they visit the Coming Soon page. Exclusivity can be a vital trait during the early phases of a new brand.

Here are a few ways to create exclusivity:

• Include a “by invite-only” section – it will make potential customers wonder how to get in
• Have a VIP mailing list, which they can only access once they meet specific criteria
• Attach yourself to more prominent brands, and aim to leverage their brand

Yes, it may seem simple but can do wonders for your engagement on your Coming Soon page and ultimately lead to more sales and more traffic too. 

7. Create Scarcity

Scarcity is another tool you can use to keep your visitors engaged on a Coming Soon page. The idea that you will miss out on something somehow always drives consumer behavior.

It’s so common there is even a word for it: FOMO.
It means the Fear Of Missing Out.

Here are a few ideas to include for scarcity:

• Add a referral element with rewards and have a time frame for people to use it
• Include a countdown timer on your website for exclusive access to content

Scarcity is an excellent way to persuade people to take action on your page. You can use many tools to do this, including plugins on WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and other popular platforms.

8. Bonus Trait

We have covered seven traits, but we have two more that you can use on your Coming Soon page that will improve your customer satisfaction and improve sales.

Use a survey: Often, when your website is not up yet, you may still be in the finishing stages, and it’s a good idea to engage your prospective customers with a survey. People love to share their opinions, and it will build an emotional connection with your future customers.

Keeps things very simple:  Simplicity keeps site visitors on your page. They are often eager to understand more about your page and also what they can learn from it. This step will create an air of mystery and consequently get people talking.

How to Create a Coming Soon Page

Now that you have a good understanding of the traits of a great Coming Soon page, you may be wondering how to do it.

Not to worry, we have you covered. Historically, it was a challenge to create beautiful one-page sites. I have good news for you; you can now create these pages on your own.

The bad news is that you may need to do a little extra work to set up the page. That said, it will be worth your time.

Since WordPress powers over one-third of websites on the internet, we highly recommend finding a coming soon or maintenence mode plugin that makes the creation and management process a whole lot easier.

Final thoughts on Creating that Perfect Coming Soon Page

In this article, we have taken a deep dive into Coming Soon pages and how they can help your business show a professional face while building your product or service.

It’s important to note that these pages have vital traits to consider to ensure that you maximize on any traffic coming over.

These are simple opportunities to keep your customers in the know. Keeping customers informed will serve another purpose too. It will be pivotal in building a continuous customer relationship that helps you provide value now and in the future.

Now, it is all about implementing the seven traits, and you can do this through your current website platform or use an automated service.

The choice is ultimately yours, but whatever you choose, remember to incorporate these ideas for maximum exposure.

Thank you for reading along so far, and we hope you implement these tools to take your Coming Soon pages to the next level.

The post 7 Traits of Every Great Looking Coming Soon Page appeared first on Zac Johnson.

Make money from the Disney Vault

Reading Time: 7 mins

If you’re anything like me, you’ll love Disney. No matter how old you get there’s something timeless about their best movies.

Embarrassing or not, I am every bit as emotionally invested in Beauty and the Beast now as I was when I was three…if not even more so!

But, being Money Magpies, we have also spotted an opportunity to make a little money from Disney films. Disney release their classics every seven to ten years before putting them back in the ‘Disney Vault’.

This is a controversial marketing system which results in high demand for the Disney classics and artificially inflates the price of previously released editions. For example, the 3D blu-ray Diamond Edition of Beauty and the Beast is now retailing on Amazon at £79.95…yes, £79.95, and it was only released in October 2011!

Here’s our guide to making money from the Disney Vault.

• What is the Disney Vault?
• How much can I make?
• What films should I choose?
• How can I make money from the Disney Vault?
• Disney Plus – Is the Disney Vault dead?

 

What is the ‘Disney Vault’?

The ‘Disney Vault’, for those not in the know, is the term used by Disney Studios to describe their practice of restricting the availability of certain home releases.

Disney have been doing similar things since their beginnings as a film studio. Before home releases existed they would often re-release their animated features in cinemas, for example they re-released Snow White, first released in 1937, in 1944.

Since the birth of home entertainment, Disney has extended this practice, only releasing a certain number of copies and then waiting seven to ten years before re-releasing it again (and, in fact, this hasn’t stopped them re-releasing classics in cinemas either. Both Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King got 3D cinema releases this decade).

This marketing strategy has angered some people who claim it’s a cynical way to create demand for Disney classics. However, this process also helps keep the classics feel like a big deal. Releasing them sparingly ensures that the movies are a brand new experience for the children watching them.

There are stories of people renting various Disney classics that were no longer available to buy on VHS or DVD and agreeing to pay the maximum fine at the rental store because it was the cheapest and easiest way to acquire a copy of the film.

Ultimately, though, the Disney Vault is good for you because you can buy a Disney classic at a reasonably low price, and then sell it on at a much higher price.

 

 

How much can I make from the disney vault?

Obviously prices for the various releases will vary and, since we first wrote this article, it’s fair to say things have gotten a little more complicated. Diamond Editions have become rarer and recent releases seem to have been in much higher supply than previous DVD/VHS runs. Releases such as Snow White Diamond Edition blu-ray, Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition blu-ray and The Lion King trilogy, which were being priced between £30-£50 once their initial supply had sold out, are now back at their original release price.

That being said, if you can find a rare release you could expect to make back three times the price you paid for it. The most obvious example at the moment is Beauty and the Beast blu-ray 3D Diamond Edition which Amazon is selling at £74.99. On release that would have cost no-more than £24.99, and it only came out in October 2011. It had tripled its value by 2014 – less than three years!

Here are a few current high-value Disney blu-rays. Note that these are often special releases in some way (Diamond Edition, Steelbook etc.) so these are the kind of things to now look out for when they’re first released:

• Fantasia Exclusive blu-ray – currently retailing at £36.21
• Cinderella Diamond Edition blu-ray – currently retailing at £50.77
• The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition Steelbook blu-ray –  currently retailing at £49

Like all investing, there is some risk. VHS and DVD copies of Disney classics that were fetching upwards of £50 (some closer to £100) a few years ago radically devalued when Disney announced a blu-ray and DVD re-release, and are, for now at least, essentially worthless (though not entirely, as this Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD is still worth £33.90).

And things are going to get especially complicated when Disney Plus is rolled out in the UK…but we’ll come to that later.

 

What films should I choose?

Firstly it’s important to remember that not every Disney film is part of the Vault scheme.

Later Disney releases like Hercules, Mulan and Brother Bear, for example, don’t operate under this scheme and neither do the more modern Disney films such as Tangled and Frozen.

It is also important to remember that not every film will be as desired as others.

Classics like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King are likely to be in higher demand than a moderate success like Pocahontas.

Platinum and Diamond Editions are the safest bet for good returns in the future, although that doesn’t rule out returns on regular editions.

Blu-rays seem to be gaining value quicker than DVDs (probably because fewer are produced) and blu-ray/DVD combo packs even more so (and if you can get your hands on a 3D or steelbook copy of a classic, you’re quids in!).

Frustratingly Disney don’t do many combo packs for the UK, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of buying one from America. If it’s not region free it may not work in the UK but if you’re planning on reselling it new then that shouldn’t matter.

 

How can I make money?

At the moment a lot of Disney films are out of the vault and being sold cheaply, so it’s the perfect time to consider investing in a few films.

It’s never possible to guarantee you’ll make a return but if we were to invest in a few Disney films at the moment we’d go with something like

• Dumbo Special Edition Combi Pack (£9.97)
• Bambi Diamond Edition Double Play blu-ray (£20) or
• Pinocchio three disk Platinum Edition blu-ray (£19.99).

They are all relatively cheap at the moment, all classics and all special editions, so they should go up in value over the next few years.

And there you have it, an easy way to make a bit of money.

In fact, it might even be a nice way to teach your kids the basics about investment.

Just remember to buy a copy for yourself as well, the last thing you want is to have to choose between not seeing a favourite Disney movie for years or not making a profit…for me, the Disney movie always wins!

 

non-‘vault’ DVDs

So you’ve been through your whole DVD collection and found that none of them are in the ‘Vault’. What can you do with them?

A nice easy way to make some quick cash out of them – and stop them cluttering-up your home – is to sell them on sites like Ziffit, Amazon or eBay.

With Ziffit you just swipe the bar codes on each DVD with the Ziffit app and it will say immediately how much you can get for each one. Once you’ve done them all you’ll be given the total. If you’re happy about that, you can send them off for free (they will even send a courier if you’ve got lots) and they pay you in PayPal or by cheque – whichever you prefer.

Also, find out here how to make money out of your DVDs, CDs and games.

 

What about Disney Plus – Is the Disney Vault dead?

One thing very likely to disrupt the Disney Vault marketing system is Disney Plus.

For those of you who don’t know, Disney Plus is a new streaming service, much like Disney’s own Netflix, packed with Disney movies (classics and originals), TV shows and documentaries. It’s getting a lot of buzz because it will host brand new Marvel and Star Wars live action TV shows, which, to a geek like myself, is very exciting (as long as you can overlook the fact Disney is slowly gaining ownership of everything!)

Now available in the UK, Disney Plus offers ‘the entire Disney motion picture library‘, bringing about the end of the Disney Vault system.

You can enjoy a free 7 day trial of Disney Plus here.

So is the Disney Vault dead? And, if so, does that mean there will no-longer be money-making potential?

Well, let’s see.

I suspect there will always be demand for physical copies. A streaming service can remove any of their content at any time, so those who want guaranteed access to a film will want a physical copy.

Plus rare versions, whether they be 3D or steelbook, will always be in demand even if it’s just as a collector’s item. And if streaming does bring the end to physical copies being produced, existing blu-rays, DVDs and VHS copies might go up in value because they’re rarer!

Having witnessed the revival of vinyl records, despite the ease of digital downloads, I wouldn’t bet against physical copies just yet.

Find out more about Disney Plus in our article here. 

 

 

The post Make money from the Disney Vault appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Money Tips: 8 Easy Ways To Earn Cash With Little Effort

Whether you’re a part-time or full-time employee, it doesn’t hurt to make extra money. There are many ways to generate cash, and some of them...

The post Money Tips: 8 Easy Ways To Earn Cash With Little Effort appeared first on SavingAdvice.com Blog.

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How To Earn Money While In The Comforts Of Your Home

Reading Time: 6 mins

For some reason you cannot control, you may be obliged to stay at home. You may be a housewife who needs to tend to your kids or the household, an adult who has a parent who needs care 24/7, or you have a chronic illness that limits your mobility.

However, you don’t have to think that you cannot earn money just because you are literally imprisoned at home almost every day. Just as long as you have a PC, laptop, or mobile phone, the earning potential can be limitless.

If you are considering being productive at the comfort of your own home, choose your kind of earning strategy from the different options below.

 

Sell Old and New Stuff

Start with selling your things that don’t have room in your closet anymore. It’s one convenient way to declutter your home and earn money at the same time.

If you have a hobby or you create some products and crafts that you just store at home with no particular objective in mind, there will come a time that you will saturate your home with them. Why not let others enjoy your product by selling them online? It’s especially helpful to address overproduction because you can’t stop doing what you do.

You can try putting up a garage sale for your neighbors, and you can post it on social media so that your friends would know about the stuff that you are selling. You can also post them on a Facebook marketplace or Craiglist if you want to target wider audiences.

 

Setup An ECommerce Store Like Shopify

Another way to sell various items online is by starting your own ecommerce store like Shopify. But unlike any other online shops, you are not dealing with your own inventory. Instead, you venture into a business called dropshipping.

In this kind of business, you only need to purchase an item from the retailer once a customer orders from your Shopify shop. You don’t need substantial capital for this kind of business as the customers pay for their order first, including your markup, which you can use in paying the retailer. If anything, you only need to pay a small Shopify fee every month.

 

Answer Different Surveys

There’s no right or wrong opinion. Whatever your take on any subject is, some companies and websites are willing to pay you to speak your mind. This is by asking you to answer different survey sites online.

But don’t expect that participating in these surveys is a lucrative career. It doesn’t even hold a candle against a job that earns even the minimum wage. You’ll even be lucky to find a website where you can make a quarter of the minimum per hour. However, if you have several survey sites that you regularly answer, they can definitely make a difference earning-wise.

 

Do Blogging

You may have a knack for writing and interested in a particular niche or topic. Put your skills and interest into good use by establishing your own website where you can post your articles or blogs.

You can write just about anything under the sun, but if you are an expert in a particular field, it’s an added value to readers. Topics such as health, pets, entertainment, finance, technology, and listicles are some of the most popular niches on the internet today.

 

Venture Into Freelance Writing

Another way you can put your writing skills into good use without the added responsibility and complexity of maintaining a website is by working as a freelance writer. While some clients will give a chance to newbies, it gives you the upper hand if you’ve already built up a portfolio of articles. You can work as a ghostwriter, technical writer, copywriter, or even editor or content moderator.

One advantage of writing for a client is you will be able to work on different topics, which will broaden your niches and add to your experience. Another thing is that your salary is guaranteed based on the number of articles you produce or the number of hours you have worked (as some clients pay per hour spent on each article). Also, having extensive experience gives you the opportunity to demand your own pricing and schedule, something that new writers don’t get to enjoy.

 

Be An Online Teacher

Are you good at Math or Science? Do you enjoy helping kids with their homework? Do you have the patience to teach English to non-English speakers? Teaching at the comfort of your own home through online platforms is very much in demand nowadays.

Gone are the days when you have to go to your student’s house to tutor them. With the help of a computer, internet connection, and a chat or video conferencing app, teaching is more convenient than ever.

 

Work As A Customer Service Representative

Having a gift of gab would take you to places, whether in the corporate world or online. When you just want to use your talent without going out of your room, you can do so as a customer service representative.

Being so enables you to talk or chat with customers and address any issues they may be having, such as troubleshooting a gadget, answering various queries, or just listening to customer complaints and help escalate the problem to the management. If being a shock absorber doesn’t shock you at all and you can maintain grace under pressure (as a lot of customers can be too much to handle), this job is for you.

 

Dabble on Technical Freelancing

With so much going on in technology nowadays, it’s easy to get a client who will exploit your skills in programming, graphic design, web design, or anything similar and pay good money. You never actually have to leave the four corners of your room at home to run the world technology-wise.

The clients can range from people who lack know-how about some simple computer operations to those who need to produce programming applications for mobile phones or computers. You can also take this opportunity as a training ground and earn for your own tech company in the future.

 

Help Businesses Through Consultancy

You may not know a lot of things, but you may know something that some people need. Some clients need someone to guide or train them on how to use particular accounting software, to consult someone on how to start a business, to show them how to import products from Oberlo to their Shopify account, or just about any expertise that you can share.

Your knowledge about these things might be very simple to you, but it might be everything a client needs for their business to take off. These types of jobs will usually need you to talk to clients over the phone, chat or video call, and sometimes might require you to share your screen. These are typically project-based gigs, but you can build a strong relationship with your client who might eventually give you recurring service orders.

 

Become A Virtual Assistant

As online business people tend to become too busy as their companies expand operations, the sudden influx of administrative activities becomes too much for them to handle. Because of this, these people seek the help of virtual assistants so that they can attend to more important things.

Virtual assistants are commonly called Jack of all trades in the online world as they typically do whatever the clients ask them to. If you want to try your hand in VA jobs, expect to do tasks such as research, data entry, email management, appointment setting, lead generation, and the likes.

 

Invest in Currency Trading

If you’re familiar with the idiom, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” chances are, you already have an idea about investment, particularly in real estate, stocks, bonds, and Forex. For beginners, the first three might be too technical and takes longer to see results, so you can try your luck in Forex exchange trading.

What makes this a potential money-making venture at home is the fact that trading can be done online while you’re at the comfort of your own home. It doesn’t even matter where you are around the world, except in very few countries where online trading is restricted. What’s more, is that you can start trading for as low as $100.

 

Video Blogging Everything

Vlogging has been extremely popular nowadays, thanks to YouTube’s monetization, which makes creating and uploading videos on this platform not just a pastime, but a very viable option for earning. Even celebrities have joined this vlogging craze.

You can choose your own niche for your channel. You can do mukbang, product reviews, gaming, DIY, travel, or anything you can think of. As long as you keep your content interesting, you’ll get paid for every several views and placed advertisements.

 

Parting Words

Nowadays, you don’t have any excuses not to have a way to earn as you have all the means right at your fingertips. Besides the skills you need for the job, you need to have the right attitude like patience, determination, and a lot of discipline since you’ll be mostly working on your own. If you are your own boss, you only have yourself to blame if it won’t be successful.

While most of the home-based jobs are results-oriented, some are timed but without actually having someone guarding your every move. This is where your integrity comes in. After all, it’s what you do when no one’s watching that sets you apart from the rest, and it’s usually a factor that decides your fate as an online freelancer.

 

The post How To Earn Money While In The Comforts Of Your Home appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Make Money from Online Fitness Videos

Reading Time: 7 mins

If you’ve ever thought of starting an online fitness business, now could be the ideal time.

With the country on lockdown, people are looking for ways to stay fit and active without leaving the house.

Don’t panic if you haven’t got any gear. All you really need is something to exercise in (jogging bottoms and a vest top will do, or really whatever you have). In fact, having no equipment could even set an example for your viewers of how you can start exercising indoors right now.

Read on for the lowdown on starting your online fitness business, including the practical steps on starting and building a following.

• How to start your online fitness business
• Setting up and shooting your videos
• How to have a unique online fitness business
• How to get a following
• Getting sponsorship for your online fitness business
• Selling online fitness downloadable guides

 

How to start your online fitness business

You’ll almost certainly want to start your online fitness business on YouTube. It’s the world’s most popular platform for sharing videos, and starting your own channel is easier than you might think. It also integrates really well with other forms of social media to help build your following (more on that below!)

The first thing to do is go to YouTube and sign in with your Google account (or create a free one if you don’t have it already. YouTube and Google now share the same account details across both platforms).

YouTube have this guide with all the details you’ll need.

And if you need inspiration to get started yourself, check out our article on how to exercise for free (pay particular attention to the at-home methods).

 

Setting up and shooting your videos

Don’t worry if you’re new to filming, it’s actually a lot easier than you’d think to make professional-looking clips for your channel.

Things you’ll need to start filming your exercise vids:

• Smartphone or standalone camera and mic
• Clear space with no clutter to show your exercise routines
• Fitness gear (if you have it, don’t worry if not)

If you have a standalone camera (like a DSLR), that’s great. It almost certainly has a video function, so familiarise yourself with that. Set it up on a tripod, or even just a table that sits at the correct height to show you clearly on screen. If you have a standalone wireless microphone too, that will help increase the audio quality.

But don’t worry if you don’t. Most modern smartphones have excellent filming quality, and all you’ll need is to prop it up on a table (perhaps stood up in front of a glass) and start filming. Remember to shoot horizontally rather than vertically.

Whatever you use, do a short test video and play around with angles and heights to get the desired result. Make sure your whole body is clearly in view.

In terms of space, if you look at other fitness videos you’ll notice there’s usually no clutter or anything else to distract the eye. If you have limited space, pull sofas to the side and take things off walls and shelves to make the video look as ‘clean’ as possible.

If you have an exercise mat, use that, but really even a towel will do. Using really basic gear could be one of your unique selling points: Let your viewers know it’s possible to start exercising with what you already have in the house!

 

How to have a unique online fitness business

Any business venture needs a unique selling point (USP). This is true whether you’re writing a blog about video games or filming fitness videos. So try to think of the following: “What makes my online fitness business unique?”

We’ve already written an article[LINK] on the best free online fitness videos, so check them out for inspiration.

Take a look at Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home series, which is focused on one specific thing: how to get fit walking on the spot at home. It sounds very basic, but she has a whopping 1.6 million subscribers!

Danielle Peazer is a professional dancer, and brings her industry knowledge to her exercise routines. The Body Coach (Joe Wicks) has a series on kids’ exercises. So, think about what could make your channel unique. Even if you’re new to exercising yourself, that could be your USP.

 

How to get a following

To be successful on YouTube, you’ll need to spread the word across all social media channels. You might want to set up new accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to promote your business.

Or, if you already have a strong following on your regular accounts, you could just combine your business and personal posts in your existing profiles. This might work really well if your business is under your existing name, e.g. “John Smith Fitness At Home”. Posting about everyday things alongside fitness, or ideally combining the two in your posts, will give it a personal touch.

Our articles on how to get more followers on social media and how to make money blogging have loads of great ideas to expand your online presence.

Remember never to pay for followers. Doing this will artificially boost your numbers, but it’s very easy to see through this when anyone looks at your list of followers. If there are loads of generic bots following you, hardly anyone will be commenting, which will look odd. Plus, this will only put off potential sponsors. Which brings us to our next point…

 

Getting sponsorship for your online fitness business

Sponsorship is one of the best ways to make money online. YouTube has this guide to getting paid for your videos. But as well as the revenue you get directly from that, sponsors are an excellent way to boost your income.

But what are sponsors? Essentially, they pay you to promote their products on your channel. For example, if your videos are focused on weightlifting, a protein powder company might pay you to include a recommendation of their product.

Remember it’s important to choose your sponsors carefully. You don’t want to promote anything unethical (like fake weight loss teas and other bogus products), because that will only harm your reputation. But if you already love using a certain product for your fitness, getting paid to promote it only makes sense!

Firstly, you’ll need a strong following before sponsors will be interested. After all, no one will pay you to promote a product if you only have 10 followers.

The best way to build an organic following is to post good content frequently. Set yourself a realistic schedule and stick to it. Could you post two videos a week, say every Wednesday and Saturday?

Then, promote your videos on your other social media channels. Take on any feedback in the comments, and keep improving. Remember not to get too upset by troll posts: Forbes has some great tips on dealing with them.

Be patient, and remember this is far from a get rich quick scheme. It takes a lot of time to build a good following. This article suggests, anecdotally, that people find it takes anything from six weeks to four months, or perhaps even longer, to get 1,000 followers, which is a good start.

But if you’re striving to get fit and stay active while you’re self-isolating anyway, making it a project with a new online fitness business could help motivate you and give you something to focus on.

 

Selling online fitness downloadable guides

This is another great revenue stream for your online fitness business. It may take a while to build, but once you have guides online, it’s a form of passive income.

So what kinds of online fitness guides sell? Well, it could be as simple as a self-published eBook, where you share your tips and experiences. Perhaps you could write it in diary style, documenting your own fitness journal while self-isolating. A lot of people would find that interesting and inspiring!

Or, create a day-by-day fitness plan to kickstart a home-based fitness regime. Perhaps something like ‘Start Getting Fit At Home in 7 Days’ will do the trick.

If you prefer video rather than text, you could create a premium web series which you charge customers for. Your free YouTube videos could help promote this, and then you could direct viewers to your premium guide. This could be with a short message at the end of each video and a link in the description.

So what kinds of guides sell? As an example, take a look at Bodybuilding.com for inspiration. They have a number of home-based fitness solutions, which will only be more popular nowadays.

Browse their site and you’ll see they also have a number of free articles, like this one on the ‘Jailhouse Strong Routine’. These help promote their paid guides, as people who come across these articles will be inspired to take their exercise further.

That’s just one example, but it shows how a combination of social media presence, written articles, and videos could be a good way to promote your online fitness guides.

Are you trying to stay fit at home? Got your own fitness channel already or have any tips to share? Let us know in the comments below!

 

The post Make Money from Online Fitness Videos appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Should I Go To Work? How to Know If You’re a Key Worker

Reading Time: 4 mins

The latest Government instruction is to stay at home – unless you’re a key worker heading to or from work.

But what is a key worker – and how do you know if you are one? We’ve heard reports of many businesses insisting their company offers vital assistance to the current coronavirus crisis (Sports Direct, we’re looking at you). So, what can you do if your boss insists on keeping the business open?

• What is a key worker?
• Who is a key worker – the official list
• Reallocated workers
• How about if I’m sick?
• What to do if your boss insists you carry on working

What is a Key Worker?

A key worker is someone who fulfils a vital role to essential services while the rest of the country is shut down.

Medical staff, retail workers in essential shops, and delivery drivers are all key workers. Without them, the lockdown wouldn’t be possible. People wouldn’t receive essential services like healthcare.

Who is a key worker?

The Government released a list of key workers when the schools closed. If you’re on this list, attend work as normal. You can also send your child to school during normal school hours, to reduce the need for you to find childcare.

The list isn’t role-specific but does cover a range of industries considered vital to the continued running of the country. You may find that you work in a key industry but are not required to work, requested to work from home, or will be reallocated elsewhere in the company on a temporary basis.

Utilities, Financial, and Communication Services

Internet and phone providers, energy companies, and banks offer essential services to the public and to businesses.
If you’re an engineer, a customer service representative, or a bank clerk, you’ll carry on as normal. Some roles can work from home to minimise risk.

Transport

Train drivers, station staff, ferry operators, and those responsible for maintaining the highways are all essential workers.

This includes freight operators – including cargo pilots, airport management, and logistics staff.

Food and necessary goods production

Anyone responsible for getting food to the supermarkets or people’s homes is a key worker. That includes farmers, retail workers, food production manufacturers, and delivery drivers.

This includes essential retail workers – grocery shops, petrol stations, and smaller local retail outlets offering vital goods such as medicines or food all employ key workers.

This includes pet shops and vets, because without this specialist support our animals would quickly suffer.

Public safety and national security

All military forces, police, fire and other security staff are key workers. This includes all civilian staff offering support and administrative purposes, particularly in logistics and delivery roles.

Prison staff and probation offers are also front-line key workers required to attend their jobs as usual.

Local Authority Staff and National Government Employees

If you work for your local council in any capacity, you’re a key worker. This includes administrative staff, customer service representatives, waste management services, and logistics.

Anyone working for a Government organisation, including the Job Centre, benefits systems, or intermediary communications is also a key worker.

Education and childcare

Teachers, nursery staff, and social workers make up this section. Schools have closed but are still accepting vulnerable children and those of key workers both during normal term-time hours and through the Easter holidays.

Health and social care workers

Doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, social workers, carers, and anyone working in the manufacture and distribution of medical supplies are essential in this time of need. They are definitely key workers!

Those working for charities that support vulnerable people, offer domestic violence support, and provide help for people with specific illness such as cancer, are also key workers.

I’ve been reallocated – what does that mean?

If your current job isn’t considered a key role, but your employer offers a vital service, you may be reallocated to another role temporarily.

For example, administrative staff in head offices have been reallocated to assist local grocery stores to aid with restocking the shelves.

Your employer has a right to request a temporary reallocation except where it will cause serious harm or inconvenience. For example, if you’re asked to undertake a physical job but have mobility problems, or if you’re normally based in London and you’re asked to work in Edinburgh.

You’ll receive your normal salary during your reallocation.

How about if I’m sick?

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no additional support for key workers who become ill or have to self-isolate because a member of their household is ill.

You’ll receive your company’s standard sick pay allowance if there is one. Otherwise, you’ll be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (£94.25 a week) from the first day you’re ill, up to 13 weeks.
Some companies may offer extended sick pay policies in this time – you’ll need to speak to your employer to find out.

What if my boss insists we stay open – but we’re not key workers?

The Government has officially told everyone that’s not a key worker to remain at home.

If your business is not providing an essential service, your workplace must close. Any company refusing to close is flouting the new rules. You have a right to work from home.

You must be given the opportunity to work from home wherever you can. Expect a full salary for this.

If your job cannot be done from home, your employer can apply for the Job Retention Scheme. This Government grant pays 80% of your wages for at least the next three months.This scheme costs your employer nothing and ensures you receive some income.

The post Should I Go To Work? How to Know If You’re a Key Worker appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Advertising Trends: The Top 5 Must-Know Digital Marketing Trends of 2020

Are you trying to stay up with the latest marketing trends so that your company can grow its audience? With advertising constantly changing with the rise of social media marketing and eCommerce, it can feel hard to keep up with the newest, hottest trends your company needs.

Keep reading to learn about the biggest advertising trends we will be seeing this year so that you can get the most out of your marketing plan and budget.

1. A More Shoppable Social

Rather than posting on social media to get your followers to your site, platforms like Instagram are making it much easier with social commerce. Social commerce is a shoppable post or ads, meaning the viewer just needs to click the product tag on the photo to head to its product page and make a purchase on your site.

This makes it as easy as possible for customers to make a purchase with you, an important quality in our convenience-based society. The fewer steps you provide in product purchasing can help to decrease your companies percentage of cart abandonment.

Linking your shop to social media platforms is also pretty easy, as Instagram and Facebook work to link to your eCommerce site. Platforms like Snapchat and Pinterest are also rolling out this feature.

2. Revamping Email Marketing

Email marketing remains to be a great way to reach your customers in 2020, but many companies are taking their emails to a whole new level. Many brands are saying goodbye to newsletters, or plain letter emails full of text and are instead focusing on high-quality images and graphics. This approach is eyecatching to viewers and also lets them quickly scan the information you’re sending them.

Images overlayed with interactive, call to action buttons such as “Shop Now!” and “50% Off” that customers can click to connect to a certain page on your site are a great way to lead someone to make an easy purchase. Creating stunning images and graphics for email marketing is the best way to captivate your subscribers this year.

3. Influencers Still Thriving, But in New Ways

While influencers are still going to be a great way to market to new audiences this year, many companies are turning to micro-influencers as well. A micro-influencer is someone with a medium-sized following that is more niche. With the rise of the mega-influencer within the last few years, hiring them to market your product can get pricey, which is where micro-influencers come in handy.

A great way to utilize micro-influencers is to find one who is more tailored to your audience. This assures that your influencer and their audiences are more likely to be interested in your brand and products. The micro-influencer is more likely to be in touch with their followers, and not overwhelming them with product referrals.

Another upside to using micro-influencer is that they have much more time to engage with their followers. As engagement rates become more important than ever, this can be a great way to get people talking about your brand and products.

4. Engagement to the Next Level

Social media engagement has become increasingly important over the years, and companies are taking communication with their customers to a whole new level. Many companies are using direct messaging (DM) with customers to get more personal and accessible to their consumers.

This tactic helps to increase sales, as customers can directly message your brand to ask questions about products they are interested in purchasing. By answering customer questions and concern, they are much more likely to make a purchase with you, lowering your abandoned sale rates. This is a great way to build brand awareness, loyalty and trust with customers old and new.

By giving your customers a convenient place to contact you it can also be more convenient for your company to address these concerns via DM rather than phone calls and emails. If you roll out this feature, be sure to let your followers know to DM you for questions, comments and concerns.

5. Video Marketing Is a Must

As digital marketing is finding new ways to covey quick, easy and personal content, it’s no surprise that video marketing is going to become a must for companies in 2020. Thankfully, social platforms are making it much easier to use this marketing strategy. You can avoid building a whole YouTube community and instead launch videos on Instagram and Facebook instead.

Try posting live broadcast or video posts to engage your customers. This method is much more compelling, interesting and eye-catching when viewers are scrolling their feed.

This is also a great way to pack in tons of information without having to give your audience long pages of text. Make sure your team brainstorms on interesting topics and ideas that would engage your followers.

There are plenty of video content topic options, such as an informational video about one of your new products, or a behind the scenes look into your office. This kind of marketing is so engaging because you’re getting personal with your audiences, helping them and also bringing them into the interworkings of your brand.

If you’re trying to organize your marketing plan and budget, book a QuickBooks training session today.

Digital Advertising Trends You Should Be Using In 2020

If you’re not already incorporating these advertising trends into your marketing plan, you should start. Make sure your company is at the top of its marketing game with these engaging advertising techniques that can grow your following and customer base.

For more articles on digital marketing, be sure to check out our latest article on Stacked Marketer and how they continue to deliver industry breaking news through email and social media!

The post Advertising Trends: The Top 5 Must-Know Digital Marketing Trends of 2020 appeared first on Zac Johnson.

Expert Torrent Troubleshooting Tips For Downloading Files On Your Mac

With torrents, you can easily and quickly download an array of files, such as movies, music, films, and more. With the peer-to-peer file sharing service, the download comes from multiple sources simultaneously. As long as there are enough users (i.e., seeders) that are distributing the data, the speed to download the files will be fast.

While this is true, there are situations where the torrent may become sluggish on your Mac. You may run into some other issues, too. As a result, you are probably looking for some viable solutions.

Keep reading for some helpful torrent troubleshooting tips to ensure the download process is fast and easy.

The Torrent Download Doesn’t Start

One issue with torrents is they are dependent on someone else seeding the file from their computer. Seeding means you let another user download parts of the file from your computer.

In some situations, no users are seeding or downloading the file, which means it can’t be downloaded. You can likely fix this issue by finding another file.

While finding the right file can be tricky, it is possible. Sometimes it will be a process of trial and error, so don’t give up.

The File Downloads Slowly

One of the most common reasons uTorrent for Mac moves slowly is because there isn’t enough hard disk space. Not only will this issue slow down the uTorrent application, but your Mac’s performance, as well.

Another issue is if there is an overflow of deleted file entries in the registry of the app. Every time uTorrent loads on your Mac, it checks the download list to check the file entries. The operation uses up the app’s resources on outdated .plst files and broken records processing, which causes slow work.

Unfortunately, using a registry cleaner may not speed up the uTorrent download very quickly. This doesn’t help much, but there are other things you can try.

Correct the Port Settings

Port forwarding is an option to provide your uTorrent with a speed boost. Also called port mapping, this method is about redirecting a communication request from an IP port/address number combination to another via the network gateway (a firewall or router).

If the proper permissions are granted to outgoing or income communications, a firewall is going to block them by default. That’s why the firewall permissions must allow UDP and TCP communications in both directions. It’s possible for you to set the permissions for the uTorrent app in general and the uTorrent port, particularly.

With routers, Mac users have two options. One option is to make settings for Universal Plug and Play – UPnP – that’s built into uTorrent. With UPnP, the application can create the port mapping through the router without a user’s consent. Even though this is convenient, this can pose a security issue, if being used outside of the residential network.

If you plan to use this method on your Mac, be sure to run a test to determine if it is prone to any malicious attacks via the UPnP.

For a more secure option, use the second option here to set up your port forwarding manually. To check and see if the UDP and TCP are both forwarded on your router, you can go to Options and then Setup Guide.

Correct the Client Settings

Another option for speeding up the uTorrent download is to set the proper upload limits and the quality/number of peers. Usually, the more upload that’s given out, the more download will be received from other peers. However, leaving your upload unlimited isn’t a good idea because that’s going to hinder the outgoing communications.

Using the proper upload calculators will allow you to determine the upload speed of the uTorrent app based on your internet connection’s speed. To figure out the upload speed, run an online test.

Try uploading files at server speeds, beginning at 80% of the maximum speed capacity and then move down gradually.

Another option for speeding up the uTorrent file upload is by making a bandwidth setup. Create a limit on the seeding rate and several active downloads/torrents in the queue with the desired upload number in mind. These specific preferences depend on the quality of the internet connection, so try different settings to find the best result.

Correct the Router Settings and/or Firewall

The goal is to correct these to allow incoming connections. To do this, use the following steps:

• Visit uTorrent, choose Preferences, then Network
• Click the “Randomize Now” button to increase the TCP port number past 10K
• Disable the “Randomize port during launch” option (this affects the download speed of uTorrent)
• Check “Automatically map port” if you use a router

It’s also a good idea to use the online port check-up services to figure out if the uTorrent’s default TCP port is blocked or open. If the port is blocked, switch to a different one.

Torrent Troubleshooting Tips: Now You Know

As you can see, several issues may arise when it comes to using uTorrent on your Mac. The torrent troubleshooting tips found here will help you make the most of your download efforts and ensure everything moves smoothly.

While it may seem confusing at first, the more you use the app and services and the more you download torrents, the more everything will make sense.

If you are looking for more help and information about using your Mac, business topics, or affiliate marketing, be sure to check out our blog regularly. Our team is posting quality and helpful content regularly.

The post Expert Torrent Troubleshooting Tips For Downloading Files On Your Mac appeared first on Zac Johnson.

How to make money in self-isolation

Reading Time: 3 mins

Are you currently sat at home looking for something productive to do? Or are you simply looking for a reliable and easy way to make some extra cash?

Here’s how to make money in self-isolation:

• The spread of coronavirus
• Get paid to do online surveys
• A word of advice
• More ways to make money in self-isolation

The Spread Of Coronavirus

We’re sadly living in troubled times at the moment with coronavirus running rampant throughout the world. Those living with the virus may have gone into self-isolation while they recover.

Of course, this is exactly what they should do to stop the spread of the virus. And it’s also recommended for their recovery. But it’s not just those who’ve caught coronavirus that have gone into self-isolation.

Many others are doing the same thing in an effort to avoid infection. Especially those who live in densely populated areas where the virus has already struck.

Schools and workplaces are all looking for ways to work remotely, but for some this isn’t possible. Coronavirus has led to many people being sent home from work, abruptly cutting them off from earning money.

If you’re one of these people, or you’ve decided to self-isolate in an effort to ‘ride out the storm’ then the good news is you can still make money in self-isolation.

Online Surveys Can Help

You can make money in self-isolation by taking advantage of websites like Swagbucks. Here you can complete online surveys in your spare time. This is by far the best and most reliable way to earn money from Swagbucks.

Each time successfully complete a survey you will be rewarded with a set amount of ‘Swagbucks’ these build up over time and eventually lead to cash rewards.

There are different types of surveys and each pays out a different amount of Swagbucks upon completion. Daily surveys take a little longer than most, but their rewards are higher, awarding around 200 Swagbucks per survey. The smaller ones pay out around 40 Swagbucks but are quicker to complete.

The beauty of this platform is it can be done anywhere! You can do surveys on your phone, tablet or computer. You can also make money in self-isolation by doing as many surveys as you like. The more you complete the more you’ll earn.

A word of advice

Swagbucks is a great platform to earn a little extra money. It’s also an incredibly useful way to make money in self-isolation if you’re stuck for something useful to do. You may not have a choice but to stay inside your home while coronavirus spreads, so might as well get paid!

The platform isn’t going to be something you can do full time, so don’t quit your job and commit to Swagbucks full-time. It’s intended to be a supplementary income generator as opposed to a full-time job. But there is certainly money to be made.

Finally, we also recommend creating a new email account for Swagbucks instead of using one you already have. Once you join the site will send your email address out to its survey providers, so you’ll receive a lot of emails from them. This is why it’s best to have a new email address for this and this only. Keeping things separate.

Once set up on Swagbucks you’ll be free to start completing surveys and making money in self-isolation. You can even keep doing it once this pandemic has passed.

For more ways to make money from Swagbucks, see our earlier article here.

More Ways to Make Money in Self-Isolation

Online surveys are just one way to make money while you’re in quarantine. We’ve got loads of articles to inspire you – from clearing out your clutter to sell it, to finally starting the business venture you’ve always wanted, try these articles for ideas:

• Make Quick Money
• How to Make Money From Home
• Making Money Online
• Sell Stuff to Earn Cash
• Small Business Ideas You Can Start Today

 

The post How to make money in self-isolation appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Basic Information Needed to Generate an Online Invoice

Generating an online invoice is an option that is available to everybody conducting business in this age of high-speed communications. It doesn’t matter if you are an offline business, a sole entrepreneur or even a blogger or affiliate marketer–we all need to get paid, and invoicing is one of the most popular ways to accomplish this.

When it comes to requesting or making payment, invoices work best, as they act as record of transaction for both sides. By implementing an effective invoice creation tool and solution in your day to day operation, this option makes doing business easier, because one does not have to create invoices manually or from scratch. 

There are many templates available on the web and most of them are free. Let’s now take a look at what an invoice is, why your business should be using them, and how to get started with your first invoice template today.

What is an Invoice?

An invoice is a document that records the sales or transactions of any business. Whether you are a freelancer or a company, creating an invoice for every service that has been provided is important. The invoice establishes an obligation that the customer or buyer of the product or service will pay to the service provider. The invoice contains all the necessary details that establish an agreement between the two parties. It is a bridge between professionals.

Basic parts of an Invoice

Invoices can have a unique template or look for every freelancer or business, however, there are basic parts that should be present in order for the document to be considered an invoice.

• The label “Invoice” should be part of the invoice.
• The seller or service provider’s name, address, and contact details should be included. 
• The buyers name and address should be included.
• The date that the invoice was issued and the payment due date should be present within the document.
• There should be a specific invoice reference number for every invoice issued.
• There should be a description of services provided or rendered, including the breakdowns of each transaction.
• The total amount charged and tax information, if available, should be present.
• Available payment methods should be indicated, such as cash, credit card, and other payment methods available for your company, your business and in your area.

Given that the basic parts of an invoice should be present, the style or format for them is flexible to the needs of a business. 

Online Invoice Generators 

There is much to be said for the online invoice generators available on the internet now. While most of them are free, providing a user with a basic template with which to fill in information, there are some that epitomize the cutting edge of the online invoice generation, such as FreshBooks Cloud Accounting. By using this intuitive invoice generator not only can you create basic invoices, you can also customize them into twelve different languages, include estimates and proposals, accept credit cards directly through the invoice, and even get updated instantly as to when the invoice is viewed and also when it is paid. The invoice service can be accessed by an app on your mobile phone which gives you more versatility as an entrepreneur or a freelancer.

Invoice Templates

Making use of a good invoice template will save you time making your invoices in the old fashioned way of actually writing them out physically and also in figuring out a complicated template online. Simplicity is key so that you can focus your time and energy on your business instead of worrying about creating a professional invoice in order to get paid for your services.

 

A good invoice template should help you accept payment in different ways. It should also help you organize your invoices and save you time. This means that you will not have to fill in the template every time you use it. It should be customizable so that it reflects a professional look as well as a unique visual signature that you may want for your business or service. Sending invoices online and even through an app on your mobile phone is great, but you may also want to consider the template you are using can be downloaded and printed easily so that you have physical records of your transactions.

The Invoice Process

Whether you are using an invoice template that you will print out or are sending the invoice to your customer through the internet, keep in mind that the invoice is prepared after the service is provided or the product has been delivered. First, the customer is clearly identified. And then, the product or service is clearly defined. This includes the name of the product or service, the quantity of the product as well as the length of time that the service was provided, and also the rate of the service (per hour) or item (per unit). Each item is identified and given a line on the invoice. All the lines are then totaled for the final amount. 

 

Discounts can be applied to your services or products. If so, they should be identified. Discounts can also be connected to the manner of payment, depending on which methods you prefer, such as cash or credit card. Another element to factor into the invoice are the terms of payment. This means identifying when you want the customer to pay or when the entire balance of payment is due. This can also translate to discounts for early payment. When the client or customer has paid in full, the invoice number or code is included in the sales receipt. This transfers an account whose payment you are waiting to receive into an account that you have already received.

Key Information of an Invoice

Invoices usually contain a company brand or logo on the heading of the document as a signature of their products and services. More importantly, they should contain the company or freelancer’s name as well as their contact information. This is actually a requirement and not just a matter of style. An invoice should also contain the name, address, and contact information of the client. An invoice number is a code that helps you to be organized about this process. It helps you keep track of your client’s payment status. It is also important for an invoice to have a date since this tells you when the invoice has been sent. These parts of the invoice help you file your invoices in an orderly manner.

 

There should be included in the invoice clear and concise descriptions of the services rendered or products provided. This way there will be no confusion on the side of your client as to what they are paying for. Matching with the description of each item or service, there should be the cost of each item or service along with the rate of each. All these costs will be added to the total amount that the client should pay for. 

 

The terms of payment are a key element for any invoice. This part spells out how the client should pay for the items obtained or the services received. If you have a refund policy, this is the part that states that eventuality. For late payments, the penalties should be clearly stated as well. Choose what payment methods work for you and state whether the client should pay through cash, credit card, check, or bank transfer. If it is the latter, then the invoice should contain the bank account information so that the client will know how to pay you.  

Standard Invoice

A standard invoice has twelve parts compared to other more specialized invoice formats. It should declare that it is an “Invoice”. Each invoice should have a unique number code to distinguish it from others. Both your company name and address and that of your customer or client are clearly stated in the document. It has a summarized description of the goods or services. Also, the dates of supply are present along with the date in which the invoice was created. The amount of individual goods or services are clearly broken down within the invoice and the total amount to be paid is present also. If there is a purchase order number, then that should be included along with the terms of payment and the instructions for paying the invoice.

VAT Registered Invoice

A business who is registered for Value Added Tax  should have a VAT registered invoice. This is not so different from other invoices, however, a VAT invoice needs to contain additional information than just what is contained by the standard invoice. Along with the unique invoice number, business name and address, customer’s name and address, and the date that the invoice was issued, there should also be a VAT number in the invoice. The VAT registered invoice should have the total amount for the items or services excluding Value Added Tax. Then, the total amount of VAT should be indicated. The price per item excluding VAT as well as the quantity of each item should be indicated in the document. Finally, it should contain the total amount to be paid which includes the Value Added Tax.

Invoice payment terms

Every business or freelancer can customize their terms of payment on their invoice. You can choose to stipulate PIA or payment in advance for new clients or those who have an inconsistent payment history. This means that you are requiring the client or customer to pay in full before delivering the goods or service. Net is a common term of payment which indicates the time before the payment is due. N30 or Net 30 means that the payment is due within thirty days. End of the Month can be added to the payment terms. This means that the time will start at the end of the month that the invoice is issued. Net EOM 30 stands for the payment is due thirty days from the end of this month that the invoice has been issued. A discount can be given to your clients if they pay within the time period you specify. Let us say you want to extend a 5% discount if the customer pays within 15 days of the invoice being issued otherwise the full amount is due within 30 days. The standard shorthand for that would be 5/15 Net 30. Offering discounts is a good motivator for your clients to pay sooner rather than later. Stage payments are usually practiced for big projects in order to minimize the risk that the cash flow will be negatively affected by a missed or late payment. Some companies or service providers may ask for the payment to come in 2 stages of 50% up front and 50% upon completion. Others may prefer different stages to be applied. 75%, up front and 25% upon completion of the project or delivery of the goods may be more convenient for you. Whichever is the case, stage payments are usually applied to big transactions.

Invoice payment methods

Cash and check payments may be more common in the local setting, but for bigger business transactions, especially those that cover long distances, a bank transfer may be more convenient for both parties. Bank transfers or Banker Automated Clearing Services (BACS) are electronic payments from one bank account to another. They usually take three days to clear and be available for withdrawal on the other end. Important information to add to an invoice with a bank transfer payment method would be the name of the bank, the sort code, and the account number. International business transactions, especially between European countries, New Zealand, and Australia require IBAN information to be present in the invoice. An International Bank Account Number allows you to receive payments in foreign currency. Most banks use a BIC or Bank Identifier Code but for transactions with companies from the USA or CANADA a SWIFT code is also needed. A Society for Worldwide InterBank Financial Telecommunications code helps identify your specific bank among all the other banks in the world. The invoice should include a BIC, IBAN, or SWIFT code if the payment terms call for it.

 

Generating online invoices allows companies, entrepreneurs, and freelancers to operate more smoothly. The ability to generate invoices that can be downloaded and printed or even sent directly through email to clients or customers even around the world sets a new standard for conducting business.

By familiarizing yourself with the basic information that is needed to generate online invoices, you are equipping yourself with tools that will help you collect payments for your goods or services.

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