4 small business tips to boost profit

Reading Time: 3 mins

Small businesses face competitive environments and have to deal with constant disruptions. To thrive, small business owners need to create processes that help them increase their profits over time.

According to SEMRush, 66% of small businesses report facing financial challenges, and 43% claim paying expenses on time is the most significant challenge. In the light of such statistics, it’s clear that small businesses need to brainstorm ways of boosting their profits.

Here are 4 ways in which small businesses can increase their ROI and ensure their time is well spent.

• Review your pricing strategy
• Understand your time
• Prioritize marketing
• Invest in people

 

REVIEW YOUR PRICING STRATEGY

Pricing is a tricky topic, and there’s no single right way to go about it. Any increase in prices will contribute to profits, but it might lead to lower sales volumes. You also risk displeasing your customers, which might lead to lower revenues down the road.

Begin by examining the value drivers your customers adhere to. A good way to do this is to directly ask them what they believe is an expensive, cheap, and borderline expensive price. Placing yourself just below the third category will result in your charging the maximum possible price you can while leaving your customers feeling that they’ve gained something of value.

Make sure you ask your customers clear questions and don’t give them too many options. For instance, if you ask them to rate their feelings on a scale from 1-10, you’ll end up with a mess since people evaluate the emotional impact behind those numbers differently.

Instead, limit them to 3 options, and you’ll gain more clarity. It’s also helpful to review your supplier contracts to check whether you can squeeze any more margin out of them. You don’t want to destroy your supplier relationships, so always pursue a win-win strategy.

 

UNDERSTAND YOUR TIME

Time is all-important for a small business. As an owner, you won’t have much time to deal with tasks, and your resources will be considerably stretched. Managing your time is essential, and this is why you must install a time tracking system.

Have your employees log what they’re spending most of their time on, and you’ll figure out where time leaks occur. For instance, you might find that unscheduled visits and unexpected events account for many challenges since they disrupt your regular workflows.

In such situations, it’s often best to use an online scheduling tool that can help you communicate your availability to customers better. For example, you can reduce cancellations with online scheduling and timely reminders for appointments.

Needless to say, the additional time tracking you’ll implement will rub some of your employees the wrong way. They’re likely to view it as micromanagement. You need to assure them that micromanaging them is the least of your aims and that the entire exercise is about ensuring that your business’ time is well spent.

By accounting for your time better, you’ll be able to spend more time in activities that increase your profit margins.

 

PRIORITIZE MARKETING

Marketing is more important than ever before these days thanks to the intense competition. More businesses are online than ever before, and this means you need to be present across social media and have a credible web presence.

Many small businesses neglect their website design and social media accounts because they believe that foot traffic will remain high no matter what. This might be true for the moment, but there’s no doubt that more consumers are researching products online than ever before.

Neglect social media, and you might be nailing a coffin on your business. Make sure you maintain your brand’s image consistently throughout your online channels and interact with your customers. Consumers prefer dealing with companies that present a human face, so you must come across as personable on your social media accounts.

Prioritize channels that are bringing the best results for you and always measure the key metrics that drive sales.

 

INVEST IN PEOPLE

Your employees are the best resources you have, so make sure they’re happy and cater to their needs. Prioritize recruitment and seek to attract the best candidates possible. It’s helpful to simplify clerical tasks such as expense reporting and payroll to make sure your employees face the least bureaucracy possible.

Offering training programs and other financial support such as continuing education programs is a good idea if you can afford it. At the very least, make sure you’re doing your best to ensure the workplace is a happy one and that your employees’ needs are being met.

Offer your employees clear career growth paths that will help them remain engaged in the workplace. After all, no one wants to remain stagnant.

 

BETTER PROCESSES FOR GREATER PROFITS

Every business is a collection of processes. The better they are, the greater is your chance of making more money. Focus on these 4 tips, and you’ll hopefully manage to increase your profits and safeguard your business through tough times.

 

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

The post 4 small business tips to boost profit appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Make money selling T-shirts and more at protests

Reading Time: 7 mins

The enormous Freedom March that happened on 26th June in central London was attended by an estimated 1.7 million people. That’s hundreds of thousands of people in London for the day, marching together and open to buying products like t-shirts with freedom slogans and symbols, bottles of water, whistles and other noise-making products, coloured smoke flares and more.

If you’re willing to take up a position on a pavement somewhere central like Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus or Parliament Square, you could make some money selling products to marchers with money to burn!

• Commercial opportunities at protest marches
• Make money selling t-shirts with slogans on
• Make money selling whistles and other noise-makers
• Make money selling bottles of water
• Make money selling smoke flares and other colourful items

 

Commercial opportunities at protest marches

Any time you have a large number of people away from home for a few hours or a whole day, you will find opportunities to make money.

With the enormous Freedom Marches that have been going on at least once a month in London and a few other cities around the country this year, there are a number of opportunities to make money selling things people need as they march for a few hours.

How to prepare

There are few things you need to do before the events to make money:

• Keep abreast of news of upcoming marches by joining the relevant Telegram groups, Twitter feeds or Facebook groups. For example, there are Telegram groups for the Freedom Marches that give the time and place for the start of the events. Extinction Rebellion also has a Telegram group that you can follow and find out their movements.
• If the march organisers send out a map of the route then pick a spot where you think the majority of people will pass slowly and make sure you are positioned there at the start of the march.
• For some items like whistles, flares and t-shirts it can be best to stand where people gather to start the march. For bottles of water you will probably do a better trade half-way along the march.
• Sometimes protest organisers don’t broadcast the route of the march beforehand so you will either have to take a guess at the most likely spots that it will go past (usually monuments and Government buildings) or, better still, just position yourself at the start of the march and then move to another spot once everyone has left if you still have merchandise to sell.

payment methods

Many people will have cash on them, particularly at something like the Freedom March, however many people will only have a card or, more likely, their phone with which to pay.

So to take payments you will need to

• Have some spare change (a lot of £1 and £2 coins plus some five and ten-pound notes)
• Have some device that allows you to take card and phone payments such as:
  • squareup – this costs £16 per month. It accepts chip and PIN cards, contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay anywhere with a wireless connection. It has one flat rate commission of 1.75% per transaction. It’s a free app that you download onto your phone.
  • sumup -. This charges £19 for 500 transactions plus a flat rate commission of 1.69% per transaction.. It’s a free app that connects via bluetooth.

Given the prices above it’s worth offering a discount for cash.

 

Make money selling t-shirts with slogans on

Making and selling T-shirts can be really lucrative if you get it right.

However, it can take a bit of time and financial outlay beforehand.

create the t-shirts

1. Firstly you need to come up with a slogan and/or symbol that will be popular with marchers. For example, at the Freedom March on 26th June, one seller had large, blue T-shirts on sale with ‘FREEDOM ‘ and a symbol on the front and ‘FREEEEEEDOOOM’ on the back in large letters. He was selling them for £10 each and doing a roaring trade.
2. Create the design on Canva or simply using the in-built design function on your computer, if it has one.
3. Decide on the colour of the T-shirts. It’s usually cheapest to pick one colour (white, blue, black are generally the most popular) or go for two basic colours.
4. Decide on the size or sizes that you will go for. If this is the first time you’ve done it it’s probably best to go for one size – a big one! – that can fit anyone. Later, if you know what sells you will be able to risk two or three different sizes.
5. Get the T-shirts printed by a cheap printer that will deliver. There are several T-shirt printing companies to use and it’s worth shopping around and haggling down the price as there’s a lot of competition in the field. For example, you could try one of the following:

   • Vistaprint – Which has different styles for different events eg basic t shirts for giveaways. Prices are £3.37 – £8.99 a shirt with nine colour options. They are able to add a design on the front and back.

   • Spreadshirt –  They have up to 70% off with six or more items, Basic T-Shirt for giveaways. Prices range from £4.41 – £8.99  per unit. They have twelve available colours and can print a design on front & back.

6. It’s worth getting 50 printed if you’re planning on selling these at more than one march. As you know there will be many Freedom, BLM and Extinction Rebellion marches coming up this year and next, you can always aim to sell what’s left over at later marches.

sell the t-shirts

For T-shirts you could sell then at the start of the march or at a halfway point where you’re pretty sure people will be passing.

At the Freedom March on June 26th, the man mentioned above stood by Trafalgar square with his T-shirts on the ground selling them quite briskly.

Make sure you wear the T-shirt yourself so that you advertise it to passers-by. Have a sign next to you with the price. Consider offering a discount for bulk-buys.

Have a good amount of change with you (£1 and £2 coins plus some notes) as well as a device for taking payment via cards or phones.

 

Make money selling whistles and other noise-makers

Whistles are wonderfully effective and can be very cheap to buy in bulk.

Buy boxes of cheap whistles at your nearest wholesaler, pound shop or even street market.

You can also bulk-buy whistles of different sizes and shapes online at various websites including Newitts where you can get Ziland 100 high Pitched Football Whistles for just £10 or 400 for £30. Sell them at a £1 a go and you’ve made a really decent profit!

Just make sure that if you buy these online that the items will be delivered at least a few days before the march so that you have them in time.

how to sell them

Stand near the start of the march and also walk through the crowds as they wait to start the march shouting the price of your whistles.

Sell them for a round figure – £1-£5 each, or whatever the market will bear – and offer discounts for multiple buys.

 

Make money selling bottles of water

This is a nice easy way to make money from protest marches, although it does rather depend on the weather,

what you will need

• A good supply of small bottles of water
• A large bucket
• Bags of ice
• Some form of transport

how to do it

The first step is to source the cheapest bottles of water you can find.

If you’re a member of Costco or another wholesaler then that will probably be your best bet. Load up the car with as many boxes of water bottles as you can comfortably transport to the protest.

For example, right now you can get 1120 500ml (small) bottles of water for £169.99 (that’s 16p per bottle) which you could then sell for at least £1 a bottle at the event.

If you’re not a member of a wholesaler then try the cheaper supermarkets like Asda, Aldi, Lidl or Morrisons and see which charges the least – you could even get them delivered by your favourite supermarket to cut down on the petrol and effort.

selling them on the day

1. Take a large bucket and bags of ice cubes to the protest area.
2. Set yourself up somewhere that you know crowds will be passing (check the route beforehand if you’re able to) or, to be on the safe side, right at the start of the march. Create a sign that advertises the price per bottle – make it a round number like £1 or £2 depending on how much the bottles cost you and how much you think people will pay.
3. Stay until you have sold the lot.

 

Make money selling smoke flares and other colourful items

Smoke flares are particularly popular with Freedom Marches which are rather like a carnival affair with lots of colour, noise and dancing.

Flags, beach balls, tennis balls (really!) and anything fun and colourful to wave or throw are also popular.

smoke flares

Smoke flares really create atmosphere and are often set off at the start of a march.

They can be quite pricey but Manchester Fireworks sells small, hand-held ones for £2.50 for a pack of two.

Sell these separately for at least £5 each at the start of the march or halfway along the route.

flags

Small and large flags are popular at marches. Consider offering one or two of the following:

• Union jacks of all sizes
• England flags
• Welsh flags
• Scottish flags
• Cornish flags
• EU flags
• Rainbow flags

Large flags can be bought online and, sometimes, at pound shops. Try to sell these on a patch of grass or sand where you can poke the sticks into the ground so that marchers can see then from a distance.

Buy large flags from various outlets including

• The Flag Shop – 8ft x 5ft flags cost £17.95 each or £15.45 for bulk orders with free UK delivery
• NW Flags – 8ft x 5ft flags cost £19.99 with free UK delivery

beach balls and more

As with the items above, it’s a good idea to try your local Costco, street market and pound shop. If you buy a lot of products at your local pound shop or street market it’s worth negotiating with the manager or owner. Usually buying in bulk gives you a lot of clout when it comes to haggling the price down. See our article here on how to haggle on the high street for a few tips there.

Also, of course, there is a lot on offer online. Obviously eBay has cheap deals, often with discounts for bulk buys. However, be careful where you buy from. The really cheap stuff is often from China or another Asian country and the delivery time can be far too long. Check the estimated delivery time and make sure it is well ahead of the march date.

 

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

The post Make money selling T-shirts and more at protests appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Get paid to make picnics

Reading Time: 9 mins

Picnics have always been a firm favourite. There’s nothing like enjoying the Great British Summertime surrounded by your friends, soaking up the rays, munching on strawberries and cheese sandwiches.

This year, with people being encouraged to meet others outside, picnics have become a popular and pandemic-proof way to catch up with loved ones. Out of this has emerged an opportunity to make extra income, or even set up a whole new business, surrounding the pop-up picnic experience.

 

• Setting it up
• What services to offer
• What to include
• What to charge
• Getting the word out
• Additional Training
• A London picnic business

 

Setting it up

Firstly, you will need to establish a niche for your picnics.

Are you going to do a particular theme?

Or, perhaps, you may cater to each individual client depending on their preferences, or a particular occasion?

You may even pick a handful of occasions you want to specialise in. For example, hen dos, baby showers or birthdays.

Utilise photo sharing websites and begin to note down some set up ideas. Websites including Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr have thousands of photographs you can draw inspiration from. If you search ‘Picnics’, you’ll be thrust into a world you never knew existed. You can save these pictures to go back to as you begin to develop your ideas further. From these, you can decide particular concepts you want to include in your picnics, from the colour schemes and decor of your picnics, to the type of food and beverages you will serve.

Your set up doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. It’s beneficial to have a rummage in your local charity shops or at boot sales, to pick up low-cost decor and seating. Similarly, you could search second-hand websites such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace and even Freecycle and get unique pieces to give your picnics a special edge.

A key decision in the process is to decide how many people you are willing to cater to at one time. As you build your business, you may wish to start small. You may choose to only cater for up to six people at a time, and as you find your footing and become familiar with the process, you may choose to expand this number. This, of course, is entirely up to you and how comfortable you feel.

Finally, you should decide the location of your business. Are you going to provide picnics within a 2-mile radius of where you live? Are you willing to travel for clients? Again, this is up to you and dependent on access to transport and the ease of which you are able to get to a new location.

 

Services to offer

You could also begin to think about the type of service you’d like to offer to your clients. You may opt to offer the making, set up and removal of the picnic only, or you may choose to go the extra mile and offer your waiting services. For example, topping up people’s drinks, offering them hor’deurves and nibbles as they enjoy themselves. Additionally, you may opt to be a ‘host’ as such, organising games or quizzes for the guests.

Some picnic businesses aim to create an entire experience, rather than just a picnic. A fun idea could be to offer a ‘bottomless brunch’ for your guests. This could include unlimited top-ups of prosecco for a set amount of time. Some restaurants charge as much as £40 per head for 90 minutes of brunching fun. You could also cater to special occasions such as graduations, going the extra mile to provide graduation-themed decor, such as cupcakes decorated with graduation caps or banners reading ‘Class of 2021’, for example.

 

What should you include?

Starting with arguably the main part of a picnic (besides the prosecco!), it’s important to think about the type of food you will offer. Are you going to go for a traditional style picnic, with sandwiches, scotch eggs and strawberries? Or maybe you’re more inclined to deliver a ‘luxury’ picnic, making a proper meal with tear and share bread or a side salad. Perhaps you could mix and match, catering specifically to the requests of those organising the event.

Charcuterie boards are an easy way to incorporate a bit of luxury into your picnic. Mixed meats, cheese, olives, pickles, grapes, bread and crackers neatly organised on a large platter for people to pick and choose as they wish. Enjoyed with a nice glass of red or a bottle of bubbly, it’s an achievable way to offer something unique without breaking your budget.

It’s imperative your picnics look appealing. Not only for the sake of taking aesthetically pleasing photographs in order to draw in clientele, but to impress your guests, encourage them to use your services again in the future and wow them in a way that spreads the word about your business. As mentioned previously, your decor doesn’t have to break the bank. Search your local charity shops for cushions, blankets and even little coffee tables to create a unique and magical atmosphere.

 

How much should you charge?

It’s a good idea to have a base fee. This is used to cover the cost of food and the ‘rental’ of your décor, seating and utensils. A charge of £100 or so could be requested for groups of up to 6 people, with an extra £10 requested for every additional guest after that. Alternatively, you may want to charge per head and quote each client with a price dependent on their requirements.

Extra services and add-ons, such as occasion-specific decor, for example party hats or balloons, may incur extra costs. You may be asked to provide a birthday cake, some extra bubbly, party games or party favours, for which you could include additional charges.

 

How can you get the word out?

The internet is your best friend. Creating a website or a social media page to offer and promote your services is a good place to start. Try to ensure your website has a review section, where people can leave comments about their experience. It could also have a star-rating scale so others can see how highly your business is rated by others.

Social media, particularly where you can share photos, is extremely useful. You can share beautiful photos of your picnics to catch the eye of potential clientele and encourage them to book your services. You may wish to invest in a good camera or editing software, to ensure your photos are high quality and appealing.

Do a trial run with your friends and family and ask for their honest feedback. Invite your loved ones to experience a complimentary picnic. Don’t go overboard on the spending, as you aren’t getting paid, but allow yourself to give enough of an experience so you can test the waters.

What did they like? Was there anything they weren’t so keen on? Ask them how much they’d be willing to pay for the experience, and whether there was anything they thought was missing. They may also give you constructive feedback on your hosting skills. Don’t take criticisms too personally. They will aid you in shaping and fine-tuning your picnics.

When your business is up and running, make sure to interact with your guests. Be friendly, polite and get to know them, building relationships through interactions that leave them with a long-lasting, positive impression. Thank them for their custom, make sure they have everything they need and ensure they’re enjoying the experience. Go above and beyond. High client satisfaction will lead to them using your services again, as well as telling others about you.

 

Do you need any training?

It’s not imperative to get any sort of training to start a pop-up picnic business, but it is a worthwhile investment, particularly if your business takes off. The Food Standards Agency offers free online courses in food allergen training, as well of loads of advice on food handling and safety. The Safer Food Group offers qualifications in food hygiene from £12, and Essential Food Hygiene also provides a range of fully accredited courses from £10. Having these will give your business more credibility, helping your clients feel reassured that their food is being made and handled to a correct standard.

 

Sarah Pearson: Owner of a London picnic business

We had the opportunity to interview Sarah Pearson, a seasoned cake baker and decorator. Always having a desire to be a party planner, she has recently turned her career decorating cakes into a new picnic business venture.

After years of putting her creative skills to good use, making beautifully crafted birthday cakes for friends and family, Sarah was asked to help out with a few children’s birthday parties in the summer months. These parties were located in local parks, in which the children would be given picnics and play in the sun together.

“My own daughter was born in winter, so I was never able to plan summer parties outside for her,” Sarah tells us. However, she loves the idea of giving children a wonderful picnic experience to remember. After chatting with another mum at the school gates, they created something wonderful – a pop-up picnic experience.

We asked Sarah how the idea began to develop. “I love to create, I love seeing people’s reactions, and I love helping people out, take the pressure off”, she tells us. “I threw a picnic party for a family last year and they had such an amazing time. They want me to do another party for them again this year. They have a newborn baby, so with me organising the picnic the pressure is taken off them”. You can tell she is passionate about what she does, and it’s refreshing. She continues, “I’m really excited and I have great belief in it”.

Sarah bought herself a trailer, which she uses to transport everything she needs for the picnics. This includes decorations, food and any extras requested by the clients, such as blankets. In terms of what she charges, there is a base fee, with an additional small fee per hour of the party. This pays for her time, as well as the set-up and clean-up of the picnic. How much to extra charge, depending on what each person wants to eat or drink, is also calculated.

She suggests it’s easier to work out a cost per person. Everyone is likely to want different items or have various dietary requirements. She caters to gluten, dairy and even sugar free diets. “If you cater to people’s needs and give them what they want, it’s easier to judge how much food you will need to buy for the picnic. There’s also far less waste that way,” she advises. “I’d also suggest creating a set menu if you can. This helps with calculating the costs as well as making the food preparation more manageable”.

She makes traditional picnic food mostly – sandwiches, sausages, carrot sticks – but is happy to go above and beyond. If a client wants pasta, she’s happy to make pasta. She doesn’t mind if someone wants to swap or change an item on the set menu. She wants her clients to be thrilled with the food they are served.

Sarah also caters to particular themes. “We are doing a mermaid themed party next week,” she gushes excitedly. With the help of Pinterest, she has been able to get creative, with sea themed decorations and fruit platters. Of course, there will be an expertly decorated mermaid birthday cake. She’s also excited to begin expanding her themes, looking to do afternoon tea options.

Although Sarah is currently based in the Hyde Park area of London, she is hoping to expand her business geographically. Similarly, although she has mainly done children’s birthday parties, she’s eager to branch out to adult parties and occasions. She’s flexible, and will host indoors if preferred, or if the weather doesn’t permit an outdoor event.

“I’ve done food hygiene courses previously, and I’m hoping to update these skills soon,” Sarah informs us. She is planning to start renting a kitchen space, meaning high standards must be met, and rules and regulations followed.

Finally, we chat about the future of the business. “Even just talking to you is making me excited about it all,” her tone is happy and upbeat. “We are looking to get an official name for the business and set up social media pages too”. She has a plethora of ideas, and having her own picnic business is a venture she genuinely enjoys.

You can follow Sarah’s cake decorating business, Cakes In Kensington on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

 

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How To Make Money With Microsoft Rewards (3 Steps)

Reading Time: 8 mins

These days, the options for making money are endless. 

From starting an eCommerce website where you sell fashion items to investing in real estate and everything in between.

But, few methods make earning money as easy as the Microsoft Rewards Program does. 

Microsoft Rewards is one of Microsoft’s most popular programs that allows you to earn rewards by using a variety of the company’s products and features. 

It has been running for a long time, and while it has changed over the years (for example, the website’s branding), many people still use the program to make extra money each year. 

With the right commitment, this program can help you earn a ton of points.

You can then redeem these for money by way of gift cards for Microsoft products, as well as other products from Amazon, Target, etc. You can also redeem your points for sweepstakes where you can win awesome prizes. 

If this sounds exciting to you, then read on to discover more about how to make money with Microsoft rewards, and the 3 steps you can take right now to start raking in the points.

• How does the Microsoft Rewards Program Work?
• Make money with Microsoft Rewards in 3 easy steps

 

How Does the Microsoft Rewards Program Work? 

Microsoft rewards work in a very simple way. 

Basically, the program pays you a specified number of points to do any of the following:

• Browse the web using Microsoft’s search engine, Bing
• Use Microsoft’s browser, Microsoft Edge to conduct online searches
• Play Xbox games, download apps, and complete quests
• Rent and watch Microsoft movies and TV
• Complete daily activities and fun offers

All you have to do to start earning money is create a free Microsoft account and stay signed in while you accomplish the tasks outlined above. 

In other words, you will be getting paid to do things that you already do – just make sure you do them using Microsoft’s products.

Each point is worth $0.001, which means you need about 5,000 points to earn a $5 gift card.

Racking up Microsoft rewards points is easy when you create a plan and stick to it. In no time at all, you will be able to earn your way toward amazing rewards, such as:

• Gift Cards
• Games
• Movies
• Sweepstakes
• Nonprofit Donations

… and much more.

To give you an example of how this works, each search you perform is worth three points, which means that if you commit to performing 50 searches a day, you will accumulate 150 points easily just from this one method. 

Over the course of a year, that amounts to over 50,000 points, or a $50 gift card. 

If you work online, you’re probably conducting this number of searches every day anyway, so why not use Bing, instead of Google, and get a free lunch on Microsoft?

All you have to do is create a schedule that you can follow to ensure that you’re earning every day and consistently working toward your goals. 

You can also team up with everyone at home and work together with your family to earn even more points and hit your targets faster.

But, you can take this a step further and implement other strategies that we will outline later in this article to help you maximize your earnings every year.

 

About Microsoft Rewards Status Levels

Microsoft’s rewards program has two status tiers: 

Level I: This level is basically worthless because of how slowly it earns. Anyone stuck at this level can only earn a maximum of 50 points daily from searches. 

The good news is, achieving Level II status is easy. 

All you need to do is earn at least 500 points in one month, which will be easy to do if you are searching every day. It will only take you 10 days to reach 500 points.

 

Level II: Once you reach Level II, you get to stay there as long as you continue to make 100 searches or more every month. 

All the points you earn in Microsoft’s rewards program count towards your status. 

The best part about being on Level II is that you can earn up to five times more points when using Bing. 

You can also save up to 10% on rewards (e.g. a $100 gift card will cost you 91,000 points, instead of 100,000). 

Furthermore, Level II users get access to pages, emails, and popups with exclusive offers for even more opportunities to earn points.

Note: The rewards program is available across multiple regions in various languages. You can check your “Rewards” page for current offers in your region. 

 

Making Money with Microsoft Rewards in 3 Steps

Microsoft Rewards are the closest you will come to getting free money. 

Listed below are the three most effective methods you can use to start earning rewards points right now.

 

1. Search with Bing

There are many reliable Google alternatives, one of which is Microsoft’s own search engine, Bing. 

The company rewards you every time you search using Bing, and you can level up even faster by using their browser, Microsoft Edge. 

You get 5 points for each hour spent actively browsing the internet using Microsoft Edge, up to a maximum of 150 points each month. 

Although this doesn’t sound like much, it adds to your total and helps you reach your goals that much sooner. 

You can also search the web using Cortana or through the search box on the Windows 10 taskbar. 

To earn points when using your mobile device, simply set Bing as the default search engine. 

Alternatively, you can use Bing’s app or even Microsoft’s Launcher for Android app. You can earn even more points using the Microsoft Edge app.

However, it’s important to note that not all methods for earning mobile rewards are available in every region.

Here’s a quick summary of how much you can earn each day from browsing: 

• On the desktop, you can earn up to 150 points (5 points per search)
• On mobile, you can earn up to 100 points (5 points per search)
• When using Microsoft Edge as your browser, you get 20 points bonus daily

Earning points every day is easy for someone who already works or spends a lot of time online. 

However, for those who don’t normally conduct this number of searches, you can still earn points easily by visiting the Bing homepage on your desktop and bringing up the “slider” located at the bottom. 

You can then click through the slides, which take you to the trending stories of the day. If you click through these from start to finish, you’ll typically end up with at least 100 points. 

Clicking down on the search box for the auto-completed trending searches will help you earn the points balance. 

Alternatively, you can conduct your own searches on topics ranging from dog fashion to predictive dialing software. Either way, you’ll earn with each search. 

You can use the same strategy on mobile, as well.

Long story short, when you add all of this up, you can earn up to 1,890 points every week. 

That’s over 7,560 points per month just by switching to Microsoft’s search engine. 

Over the course of a year, you will be able to earn 97,860 points. With that, you can get a $100 Microsoft gift card and still have points left over.

 

2. Complete Fun Offers

Microsoft also allows you to earn points by playing fun games and quizzes on their “Earn” page. 

You will find a ton of opportunities for earning points, including:

• Doing daily sets
• Taking quizzes, polls, and surveys
• Playing trivia games

…and much more. 

These offers are updated daily, which means that there are always opportunities to earn more points anytime you want to. 

The weekly sets are a collection of activities to help you unlock bonuses, and much more. Completing these activities every day creates “streaks” which allow you to earn even more points the longer you continue to play. 

The amount of points you earn with these fun offers varies, with some paying 10 to 20 points, while others can pay 100 points or more. 

The activities also vary in nature. However, for the most part, they are all very easy to complete, and you’ll even earn points for ridiculously simple things such as: 

• Setting a goal
• Taking a Microsoft Rewards tour

…and so on. 

An easy way to earn points in Microsoft rewards is to simply check for new daily sets on the rewards page. 

These daily sets average around 40 to 70 points every day and they contain 3 clickable activities which sometimes offer even more points.

If you click on an activity, you will be directed to Bing where you can conduct a quick search for 10 to 20 points. 

Oftentimes, there will be an activity hunt or quiz where you have the opportunity to earn 50 points by answering questions or finding the hidden object. 

If you finish each set every day, you earn a bonus of 150 points every 10 days. The streaks help you earn a lot faster, so it’s a great idea to keep searching every day and doing the daily sets.

Other streaks are as follows: 

Streak 1: 3 days – 45 points

Streak 2: 5 days – 75 points

Streak 3: 7 days – 105 points

Streak 4: 7 days – 105 Points

Streak 5: 7 days – 105 points

Streak 6: 10 Days – 150 points

Every 10 days from that point on – 150 points

That’s easy money, especially when you consider that the points total bonus only increases if your streak continues past 8 days

If you add this up, you can see that it’s a 210-point bonus that you can earn every 30 days for simply completing the daily sets. 

Accounting for the streaks, that’s an extra 405 points, not including the searches on Bing. So, in total, you can earn up to 615 points every month on the daily sets and streaks.

 

That’s all great! But is the Microsoft Rewards Program safe? 

Unlike many other sites that offer to pay you to complete offers, Microsoft’s rewards program doesn’t pose a risk to your personal information since they don’t ask for any of your information, such as your phone number, email, etc. 

This is a huge benefit because it means you can start earning money from their offers without incurring any downsides. 

That’s because the entire program isn’t about Microsoft secretly gathering data on users or performing clandestine customer behavior analysis.

Rather the search engine wants to find ways to boost user numbers so they can compete with Google. 

In other words, they are paying people to help increase their web traffic, which is currently being severely underutilized.

 

3. Earn Points with Xbox Game Pass Quests

With Xbox Game Pass quests, you get to earn points playing the games you love. 

All you need to do is register to be a member of Xbox Game Pass and you can start earning Microsoft rewards points by playing any of the games in the Xbox Game Pass library. 

Each of these games is unique and exciting, with high-quality graphics which makes the entire experience one of the most enjoyable ways to get free money. 

To start amassing points, first, browse current quests in the Game Pass section of your Xbox to discover new quests. 

Alternatively, you can use the Game Pass mobile app to look for new gaming quests every day.

Next, choose the quest that you want to participate in, and when your quest is ready to be turned in, you will receive a notification. 

You can then claim and check your points. Once you hit the threshold, you can redeem your points on the Microsoft Rewards app for Xbox gift cards or use them for in-game content, devices, games, apps accessories, movies, and much more.

 

Conclusion

And that’s it for our article on how to make money with Microsoft rewards.

Anyone looking for easy ways to make money every day from activities you’d be doing anyway, you’ll find tons of value in this post.

If you’d like to take your money-making efforts further, you might look into digital marketing, where you can make money from selling affiliate products, hosting webinars, or becoming a consultant. 

 

Author Bio

Burkhard Berger is the founder of awesomex. You can follow him on his journey from 0 to 100,000 monthly visitors on www.awesomex.com. His articles include some of the best growth hacking strategies and digital scaling tactics that he has learned from his own successes and failures.

 

The post How To Make Money With Microsoft Rewards (3 Steps) appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Tutoring 101: Earn An Income Being An Online Tutor

Reading Time: 4 mins

In our current world, everything is online. It’s the new way to do things and, to be honest, makes things a lot more convenient with our busy schedules, families, and sometimes simply not wanting to leave to go anywhere.

In addition, people are always learning and trying new things, going to school, or learning a new language. All of this can be daunting, scary, and overly exciting, but what if you need help? Online tutoring is a popular thing too now and lets people from all over the world tutor others.

• Beginning as a tutor
• Is online teaching effective?
• How to get paid
• Get started
• Why tutor?

 

Beginning as a tutor

Working as an online tutor is a legit way to make extra income, with flexible hours, all while helping others. Many people are students or work full-time jobs, or both, but still want to tutor. Or they know and need the extra cash, which is also totally fine and understandable. Naturally, there are different tutoring programs and prices, and people are looking for the best ones.

 

Is online teaching effective?

People sometimes ask if online tutoring is even effective, or at least ask if it’s as effective as tutoring in person. Several studies show that tutoring online can improve learning outcomes and is actually MORE effective than in person! Vocovison, which focuses mainly on tutoring children, shares how important tutoring is.

It’s far more accepted now that even old people need help – not just kids. With more and more people older than traditional college-age going back to school, this is more true now than it has ever been before. This counts especially for someone attending class and not quite getting it or needing extra help. Often, it is extremely challenging to get that one-on-one attention in a classroom, especially if you attend a big university.

Online tutoring can also take away the nervousness of meeting someone in person. Not only that, it’s beneficial to the person tutoring, saving them travel time/cost to the potential student’s house and letting them work around their busy schedule.

Online tutoring is undeniably challenging, and the key elements that may be missing online need to be identified, but once this is done, it has the potential to be just as good as in person and, once again, way more convenient for both parties.

 

How to get paid as an online tutor

Another challenge, of course, is money and finding well-paying tutoring jobs. Naturally, how much is acceptable varies from person to person.

Still, there are well-paying online tutoring jobs out there, if you look, that have different ranges to satisfy different individuals. On websites such as Preply, you can always find open requests from qualified people in their specific subject matter communicating with students who are requesting a certain tutor, and you can set your price on your profile.

It works both ways; people can seek each other out. Sometimes someone will not want to make the first move even if it is beneficial to them. Many people have a problem connecting with others and give up quickly because they could not find the thing they needed.

Here you can create a profile with the pay you are requesting, as well as to show what you care about and what you are wanting to tutor in, and let people come to you.

 

How to get started?

To begin, it ‘s at simple as clicking a button that says, “become a tutor.” It’s straightforward, and the web-page explains how to go about things and even goes deeper into what, when, and where.

Students often seek language tutors, but tutors are also teaching in other subjects such as business, JavaScript, or even music! Most of the tutors have higher education degrees such as masters or doctorates and are truly knowledgeable in their area, willing to teach and be productive while able to remain patient. And, depending on what the tutor is teaching, they can make more, especially with computer science or things such as JavaScript.

The good thing is the students requesting a tutor offer what they are willing to pay per hour, so there is no guesswork, and the tutor can pick which position they want to accept. With distance tutoring there are also no overhead costs, so ultimately it’s also a lot cheaper, and tutors are saving money not having to commute who knows how far.

 

Why tutor?

Tutoring can be extremely rewarding and fun. If you have always wanted to be a teacher or want to help someone enhance their skills, tutoring is the route for you. You can create different ways to help your student and watch their progress.

You get the engagement online without having to leave the house. It is extremely high-tech, yet personal, and online tutoring is growing. There is a world of online tutoring services out there, and the best thing to do is just google or research however you prefer to do so, and find out what works for you.

Reading up on the benefits is also a nice idea because it helps focus on the positive aspect of things and takes away a bit of the fear if you haven’t done it before. Many people are used to the traditional ways, but our world is changing, and the online world is becoming more understood and normal. So, dive in and learn!

 

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

The post Tutoring 101: Earn An Income Being An Online Tutor appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

6 Elements That Make A Memorable Interaction At A Business Event

Reading Time: 5 mins

Networking events are a great place to expand your list of useful contacts and if you are running a business, the people that you meet can help you drive your company forward. The problem is, it’s tough to make an impression at these events because there are so many people there. If there is somebody there that you really want to work with, you need to make sure that they leave with you at the front of their mind. That can be difficult when they have spoken to hundreds of people throughout the day.

The key to performing well at networking events is understanding what makes you memorable. When they leave at the end of the day, what aspects of the interaction do people remember and what makes you stick out from the rest of the crowd? These are the things that make you memorable during a networking event. 

• Your pitch
• Your handshake
• Your conversational skills
• Your business card
• Your etiquette
• Your follow up

 

Your Pitch 

Before we look at anything else, it’s important to remember that your pitch is always the most important thing. Even though you are not giving a formal pitch, you are still telling people about the business and why they would benefit from working with you. It’s important that you are not pushy and you don’t launch into a full sales pitch because this leaves people with a bad impression. However, you do need to make sure you communicate all of the best things about you and your business in a concise way. So, work on a simple elevator pitch and work this into conversations with potential contacts. If you can demonstrate your value without being overbearing, you can create a memorable pitch. 

However, your pitch will only be memorable to people if it is actually relevant to them, which is why it’s important that you target the right people. Before you attend an event, you need to spend time researching who is going to attend so you can draw up a list of people to speak to. Think about the event itself and who it is aimed at too. For example, if you want to build a network of female entrepreneurs, there are specific networking groups for that. By finding the right event and targeting the right people, you can make sure that your pitch is memorable.

 

Your Handshake 

When you meet a new person, they instantly start making a judgment about you, and that usually begins with your handshake. You might not think it makes much difference but it can actually tell you a lot about a person. If you don’t have a confident handshake, it makes you appear less accomplished and people are less likely to remember you. However, if you come in too strong, it could give the impression that you are a bit of a steamroller and people won’t want to work with you. 

The key to the perfect handshake is to match the pressure applied by the other person. This can take a bit of practice, but once you master the perfect handshake, you can make sure that you don’t give the wrong impression and you start every conversation on a positive note. 

 

Your Conversational Skills 

Although your pitch is important, people will take notice of your general conversational skills. If you have a positive, relaxed interaction with them, they will remember you. If you have a very awkward interaction, they will still remember you but for the wrong reasons, and they certainly won’t contact you again afterwards. So, it’s important to brush up on your conversation skills. 

Firstly, make sure that you are always polite and you introduce yourself and chat for a while before launching into your pitch. Make sure that the conversation is meaningful and interesting to the person you are talking to. You should already have an idea of what to discuss because you have researched the people you are talking to. Talk about industry-related things so you can engage them and demonstrate your knowledge. During the conversation, make sure that you leave space for them to respond too. People won’t have a good memory of their conversation if you talk and talk without letting them get a word in edgeways.

Eye contact is also incredibly important. Modern technology and a reliance on screens often mean that people don’t make eye contact as much as they normally would. When engaging in conversation, make sure that you maintain eye contact as it shows people you are interested in what they are saying and that you are sincere. Just make sure that you limit eye contact so the situation does not become uncomfortable. If you are not particularly good at holding eye contact, practice in normal conversations outside networking events. Sometimes, it can feel unnatural at first but as you practice more, it will become second nature. 

 

Your Business Card 

If you are talking with somebody and you feel that you would both benefit from further contact in the future, you need to give them your business card. At a networking event, people are going to end up with a lot of business cards, so you need to make yours stand out. Using recycled business cards is a brilliant way to show that you are a socially conscious business owner, which is a priority for many people these days. The design of the business card is important too, so think outside the box. If you go for a boring white business card with your name and contact info on it, you will be forgotten immediately. Make sure you incorporate your branding and create an eye-catching business card. When people are going through their stack of contacts and deciding who to follow up with, your business card will jump out at them and they will immediately remember the interaction they had with you. 

 

Your Etiquette 

Etiquette is very important at networking events. Even though people are there to meet new contacts, that doesn’t mean you can just barge into a conversation with somebody that you are interested in talking to. If people are already engaged in a conversation and you butt in, you come across as rude and the interaction won’t be a positive one. So, make sure that you read the room and try to approach people as they are wrapping up a conversation and introduce yourself. If multiple people are talking, look at the way they are standing to see whether they are open to others joining. If they are in quite a closed circle, not leaving any space, this means that they are in the middle of a discussion and it isn’t a good time to introduce yourself. However, if they have quite an open formation, it’s likely that they are just chatting and they are looking for more people to join the conversation. 

 

Your Follow Up 

Finally, you need to get the follow up right after the event. If you come in with a long email pitch right away, this is going to make you look pushy and put people off. However, don’t make the mistake of waiting too long because somebody else will get in before you. It’s important that you contact them a few days after the event and just send them a simple email saying that it was great to meet them and ask if they want to set up a meeting soon. This shows that you are invested in the relationship but it doesn’t become overbearing.

 

These are the things that make a memorable interaction at a networking event. If you can get all of these elements right, you will see a good return from your next event. 

 

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

The post 6 Elements That Make A Memorable Interaction At A Business Event appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Make money finding and sharing discounts

Reading Time: 6 mins

Are you a keen coupon connoisseur or detect discounts whenever you shop? Do you have a budding affiliate marketer within you, ready to make extra income? What if we told you, that you can actually make money from finding and sharing discount codes?

We all love going shopping from time to time, treating ourselves and loved ones to a new frock or pair of shoes. It feels all the better when you use a coupon or discount code, bagging yourself a bargain.

Almost 87% of brits have used an online coupon code at least once, and 1 in 4 people go on the hunt for a discount code every single time they shop.

Websites that specialise in sharing discount codes with consumers, such as Honey and VoucherCodes, work in tandem with businesses. They promote the discount codes and drive traffic to the businesses’ website and, in return, receive a percentage of any sales made using said codes.

Affiliate links work in a similar way. Affiliate marketing is a popular tactic used by businesses to drive sales and generate online revenue. So beneficial, in fact, that as of 2020, a whopping 81% of businesses in the UK have started implementing affiliate marketing into their networks.

Now it’s your turn to use these techniques to make money. It’s easier than you may think…

• Become a discount code hunter
• Become an affiliate marketer
• Create your own website or social page
• Use cashback websites

 

Become a Discount Code ‘Hunter’

Back in May of this year, NHS Discount Offers were recruiting five shopping experts to search the internet high and low, in order to find the best deals, discounts and offers for NHS staff to use. ‘Discount code executives’ were to be paid up to £120 a day, depending on how many offers were redeemed and, on top of this, were given £1,000 to spend on whatever they wanted. Although they aren’t currently recruiting, make sure you keep an eye out on their page to ensure you get in first when they next recruit.

Similarly, Bark.com, a website which allows you to find professionals in every vocation you can think of, has previously put out a call for professional ‘coupon hunters’, offering pay of £15 an hour to those passionate about finding good deals. Keep an eye on the website for future opportunities. We previously wrote an article on this opportunity, and how you can find out whether couponing is your true calling.

For our readers in the US, websites such as Coupon Chief pay you to find and submit coupons for others to use. When you share working discount codes to the site, you will receive 2% of all sales made using that particular code, which will be sent to you monthly by cheque. You can join here.

 

How to find discount codes online

“Where do I find discounts to share online?”, we hear you ask. The Balance Everyday suggests seven different ways in which you can scour the web for online discount and promo codes. These include visiting as many discount code websites as you can find, such as VoucherCodes and My Voucher Codes, as well as visiting retailer websites directly for exclusive deals. Recently, a secret trick to find discount codes on Facebook’s Ad Library was also revealed by an internet user.

 

Become an affiliate marketer

Being ‘an affiliate’ sounds a a bit formal and boring, but really it just means making money by advertising products for other companies.

You can earn commission from marketing a company’s products, generating a passive income that allows you to earn whilst you walk your dog, potter in the garden, and even whilst you sleep. Below, we discuss some affiliate schemes, and how to use them.

 

Yazing, Amazon and Awin

 

yazing

Yazing not only pays you to shop by offering amazing cashback deals on your purchases, but they give you cash rewards for promoting discount codes and generating traffic which leads to sales. Whether you share your unique promo codes with your friends, family, colleagues or on your social media platforms, you get commission for every sale made through your affiliate link. Yazing pays your earnings directly into your PayPal account, with no minimum earnings required. Quick, easy and very little fuss. You can sign up here.

 

amazon associates

Perhaps one of the most well-known affiliate schemes is the Amazon Associates program. One of the largest affiliate programs in the world, it helps people to capitalise from the products they love. As you likely know, Amazon has millions of products for sale, from which you can create affiliate links, and share them on your social media platforms, or with your loved ones.

Do you have a blog, website or create content in any form? For example, do you have a Youtube channel? You can share your links on there! This is great for content creators who have a specific niche. If you blog about vintage cars you could promote a particular book about it, or if you’re a beauty blogger you could create an affiliate link for your favourite products. Creating links which are targeted to your audience specifically is very beneficial. Sign up here.

 

awin

Awin is an affiliate marketing platform which allows you to begin your journey and start earning money. They work with companies including Marks and Spencer, B&Q and Very. If you happen to have a blog, a following online (no matter how big or small) or a website, Awin welcomes you to join their affiliate program and start generating affiliate links to share with your followers. Not only do your followers save, but you earn! Sign up here.

 

Create your own website or page to promote discount codes

If you have the time, you could also create your own website or social media page to share, promote and create traffic for your affiliate links. This way, all of your codes and links are in one place, and you can earn commission from each use of them.

To begin with, you need to decide a niche you want to focus on – we say this because it’s often easier if you narrow down on a certain niche rather than try and attract everyone. For example, you may choose to focus on discount codes for women’s fashion or, perhaps, homeware. You can always expand the width of your subject matter later but attracting specific followers who you know are interested in the deals you are promoting is a great way to start getting conversions. Following this, you’ll need to choose a website name and URL – try and choose something catchy and memorable, whilst bearing in mind people should have at least some idea from the name what your website is all about. Then, you can begin to build your website or social media page, making sure to add an email sign up link, so your clients can be notified when new deals are uploaded.

Remember, it’s important to market your website, sharing it wherever and whenever you can to encourage traffic to your site and increase the likelihood of your codes being used – trust us, building traffic is hard work! If your website picks up, you can also approach businesses yourself, negotiating your own deals and exclusive codes. We’ve previously written an article citing lots of useful tools for both freelancers and those setting up their own businesses.

You can find more guidance on how to start your own coupon website here.

 

Cashback Websites

Cashback websites do exactly what they say on the tin – when you spend money online, you get a percentage of the sale back, thus saving money on your purchases and being rewarded to shop. Not only can you save money, but some cashback websites give you cash rewards for referring your friends.

TopCashback’s ‘Tell-a-Friend’ scheme rewards you with £7.50 of free cashback for every person who signs up to the website using your personal referral code. You can share your code via Facebook, Twitter and Email. The only catch is that each person you refer must make £10 in cashback before you receive your reward. However, with some companies offering a whopping 15% cashback, this shouldn’t take too long to accumulate.

 

Now that you have the tools you need; we hope you will be inspired to have a go at making money through sharing discounts codes and affiliate links. Go forth, share, and earn!

 

Here are some useful links:

•  Guide to voucher codes: being clever with codes
• Free stuff, top vouchers, freebies and discounts
• Best discount code sites for Christmas gifts

The post Make money finding and sharing discounts appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Understanding the Benefits of Mobile App for Small Businesses

Reading Time: 5 mins

From the first mobile phone being sold in 1983 for around £2,500, the mobile phone has come a long way to playing a massive part in most people’s lives.

We use it to communicate with loved ones, for social media, taking pictures or video clips, as a diary, music player, for work, for entertainment – we could go on and on about the beneficial features, but we’re sure you know for yourself how invaluable your mobile phone is. Part of this is to do with the apps created for use on it that allow you to interact with businesses online.

From a business perspective, this is a must-have tool providing access to potential customers, so if you’re a small business owner without an app for your small business, this article explains the benefits of having one created for it.

• Connecting to customers
• Engaging with customers
• Promotion
• Added value

 

Connecting to Customers

Let’s start with some facts: from 2008, the average amount of time spent on our phones has increased from a few minutes a day to three hours. In 2014, mobiles overtook desktop computers to access the internet, and that has been increasing year-on-year. Additionally, 90% of users’ time was spent on apps and not websites. Therefore, you need to seriously consider moving from face-to-face contact with customers and think about having an app to give them a better point of contact.

The first thing you need to do is research. Think about what you use your mobile phone for and the apps that you’ve downloaded. What do you like/dislike about them? Then, look at the apps your competitors have, considering what you like about them or would do differently for your business’s app. You’ll begin to form an idea about what you want for it, so now you’ll need to find a frontend development company that can bring your idea to life. Looking online will allow you to see their work and even look at reviews. It would be good to select a company that has experience of designing apps for businesses in your sector. This is because they’ll know the integral aspects your app will need to provide a robust interface for your customers to use at any time of the day or night, and anywhere they happen.

 

Engaging with Customers

Your business needs to reach out to customers to enable them to engage with it, and having an app enables this. Connecting to customers was once expensive, as it would typically include an advertising campaign, which may involve radio ads, billboard advertising, as well as taking ads out in various printed mediums. Mobile apps have drastically changed this, as has the internet. You want to get as close as you can to your customers, offering them a place to interact with your business, which your app can provide.

Another thing to consider is that, on average, people have around 26 apps on their phone – does that sound a lot? Most of them will not be providing the products or services that you are.  Besides, 26 apps is nothing when you think about how many websites your business’s one competes with, which is millions.

With a mobile app, your business would

• Be visible at all times for both your customers and potential ones
• Easy usability, with visible transaction options
• Set up payments to be made in the app
• Providing support mechanisms, like online chat facilities via the app

Along with this, you could incorporate more social features to interact with your customers, such as

• Having a space for customers to leave a review or comment
• Enabling customers to have favourite items listed for a better shopping experience
• Providing an easy way for social media integration

 

Promotion

If you have any special offers or promotions for customers, or potential ones, you can have it running via your app.  Push notifications are a considerably invaluable feature because they won’t get caught up in spam folders. It enables you to post timely, location-based, and relevant messages, for the ultimate personalized customer experience.

It’s worth thinking about the way you plan to do this, because you want to reach out to customers in the right way and at the right time, without being overbearing or constantly using pop-ups because this can spoil the shopping experience. For instance, emojis on push notifications have roughly double the opening rates than notifications without them.

To promote your app, you’ll need to work on your app store optimization (ASO) to ensure yours doesn’t get swallowed up by competitors and stands out. This will include how your app is designed and how different it is to those operating in the same market as you. Other things that require consideration are

• The uniqueness of your app name – how similar are others to yours? You want something that totally stands out.
• The amount of relevant keywords in your app that are typically used by users and how much they feature in your app. Be careful not to keyword stuff as this can have a detrimental effect on your search engine ranking
• Your app description. Keep it current and regularly update it. Mention its value and the updates you’ve made to it, as and when you do.
• Your app ratings. Do you have them? What can you learn from them? If you don’t have any, you can always ask customers to leave a rating or review via an after-sale email or notification.

With more people relying on reviews and ratings, this is an important part of the promotion process. From a business perspective, it can help you refine aspects of your service and acknowledge things that customers like.

 

Added Value

The success of your business will eventually all point to your customers having a meaningful experience. If customers respond to the way you reach out to them, then you want to make sure that your delivery is on par to none. The more you take care of your customers’ experience, in terms of their convenience and needs, the more success you’ll have.

One way of doing this is to provide different points of contact to fit in with their lives. One effective way is to use your app to run a loyalty programme. So the more customers engage with your brand and product or service, the more rewards they’ll receive. Cater these rewards to the products or services they use so that they truly benefit from being loyal to your business.

Use various social media platforms to promote your loyalty programme. Make sure you know what platforms your customers and potential customers are likely to use for maximum impact.

Having an app for your business is as important, if not more so, than having an online presence. However, you need to have an app that will get your business noticed and not blend in with others. Hiring a frontend developer is vital if you’re serious about increasing your business’s exposure and profits. Finding one that will meet your business’s needs is the first step to doing this, and the reasons we’ve set out should make you do this sooner rather than later.

 

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

The post Understanding the Benefits of Mobile App for Small Businesses appeared first on MoneyMagpie.