6 Jobs That Are Growing This Year

 Despite everything that has happened over the last few years, the job market has taken a kick and then bounced back. Now there are many different jobs that have seen some growth in their industries so now might be the time to check out what is available if you have been wanting to switch careers.

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Retail

During the Covid Crisis, a lot of businesses went under. In fairness, a lot of the big businesses that folded were on their last legs anyway and the pandemic was the last straw. In their place, there was an influx of new businesses that have been growing throughout the crisis. Now, these businesses are coming out of lockdown and are needing staff or places to sell their items. If you have any experience in retail, you could have the perfect opportunity to grab a store and sell these up and coming brands to new people.

Virtual assistants

If everyone is working from home, there is a good chance that they are doing everything themselves. However, it isn’t possible to do everything and many people are searching for an assistant to help with the workload. The idea is simple, you work as their assistant and do all of the jobs that they can’t seem to get around to. This might include answering emails and scheduling appointments.

Real Estate

During the pandemic, many people found themselves spending more time at home and not liking what they have. Estate agents such as williampitt.com found themselves in high demand as people started to search for the perfect property. People are looking for homes that will allow them to grow their business and their family. This is also being fueled by the number of landlords who have decided to sell their properties.

Coding experts

What do you know about computers? If you know more than the average person and have the paperwork to prove it, there is an abundance of jobs waiting for you. Coding, programmers, and anyone who can handle the internet are in hot demand right now. Working from home has made a lot of people question their internet speeds and laptop requirements. And, seeing as everyone will want to work from home, there is a chance that remote IT support will continue to grow in the coming years.

Copywriter

Being a copywriter is not like Mad Men told us it would be. There is less glamour and more typing in PJ’s. But it is an in-demand service. Copywriting is growing as the internet is forever expanding and people need help to create content for their websites. Copywriters have never been busier and the workloads keep getting higher. If you can manage to string a few sentences together and have a degree in English, you might want to look into creating content for business websites.

Accountant

All of these new businesses have something in common, they all need accountants. There are plenty of apps and websites that can help business owners to manage their accounts but there is something reassuring about having a human eye double-check everything. Accountants are in high demand at the moment and show no sign of slowing down.

Five Unique Ways To Save Your Small Business Money

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If you want your business profits to grow you’ve got to be on the lookout for ways to cut costs. To start making progress today, check out these five unique ways to help your small business save.

1 . Check Out Grants 

Small businesses and startups don’t always have a huge budget, and so saving money can be quite the challenge. If you’d like a little more money to play with, consider applying for a small business grant.

A number of organizations offer grants for small companies and startups. Check out options like The National Association Of The Self Employed, The Visa Everywhere Initiative, and Nav’s Business Grant, and The Patagonia Grant.

2. Re-think Your Budget

If you’d like to save your small business money you’ll have to re-think your budget. Go through every one of your outgoings, assess any categories where you might be overspending. Use the information you find to brainstorm money-saving ideas. Whether it’s negotiating with your suppliers, or reducing your advertising budget there are lots of ways to cut costs.

There are several small business tools that can be useful for forecasting and budgeting. A few platforms include Vena, Planful, or Oracle Planning Cloud.

3. Inexpensive Advertising

One of the best ways to save money is to look for inexpensive ways to advertise yourself. There are many options including:

• Use social media marketing for ads, posts, user targeting, and analytics.

• Create a YouTube channel, use live streaming or webinars.

• Focus on user-generated content.

• Write your own blog, with the help of your employees (instead of outsourcing).

• Focus on local SEO to generate leads in your community.

4. Green Changes

By going green you can protect the planet, improve your reputation and save money at the same time. There are lots of ways that you can help your business to go green, including:

• Reduce your paper usage or stop using paper altogether, (cloud-based platforms can eliminate the need).

• Consider becoming a fully remote operation, removing the need for a physical premises.

• Improve your recycling policies and switch to renewable energy.

5. Cost-Effective Business Platforms

To support your business platforms you’ll need several different types of technology and software. The good news is, many platforms are cost-effective, helping you to save money. To get a few ideas, consider these:

• AirWallex: With the help of this financial platform you can benefit from inexpensive transfers and low fees. Businesses can send money to Europe, without paying over the odds. Using AirWallex you can receive payments in 11 different currencies, and integrate with the API suite.

• Hubspot Marketing Suite: The Hubspot marketing suite is an all-in-one marketing solution for businesses. Using this tool you’ll benefit from CRM software, email marketing, analytics, and more.

As you can see, there are many options to help your company make savings. Once you review your budget you should have plenty more ideas. Saving your business money can open doors, whether it’s investment opportunities or developing new products. To learn more about growing your company check out tips for small business owners.

Seven Ways To Upgrade Your Home This Year

Your home is a space that’s always changing and it’s certainly useful to put money into your property where you can. Not everything needs to cost a fortune but in order to help you enjoy the space you live in, some changes are needed every so often. Here are seven ways to upgrade your home this year.

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Consider A Renovation

Firstly, a renovation is a great way to update a space that has perhaps been neglected and seen better days. If you’re looking to update a space, then consider renovations in terms of your kitchen or bathroom. These are the spaces that are likely going to need the update after a while and will certainly benefit from the upgrades when necessary.

With renovations, it’s important to factor in cost and how much money you have to work with. Everyone will be different in what they can afford to pay but at the same time, you want to keep costs to a minimum in order to expand the margin of profit you’ll make, should you ever wish to sell your property at any point.

Renovations take lots of planning and thought so have a clear vision of what you want from the renovation before involving other people. It’s good to keep communications up in order to get everything done as planned.

Touch Up With Paint

Paint is a savior for many problems when it comes to upgrading your home, especially when you're on a strict budget. There’s often a lot of scuff and marks that can appear when you live in your home over the years and with that said, it’s always good to have some paint readily available to do touch ups every now and then. By giving it the relevant touch-ups, you’ll likely see a big difference to how the space feels and looks in general.

When it comes to the paint, it can really help make the rooms look a lot cleaner and more presentable, which is what you will likely want to achieve. For anything that’s a bit too dated or color, you might want to reconsider a different color in general or perhaps consider other materials like wallpaper etc or exposed brick.

Replace Any Broken Windows

Broken windows or windows that are outdated are certainly good to replace whenever you can. On average, windows will last you around twenty to twenty five years but this all depends on how well you look after the windows themselves. They may last a little longer if you’re lucky. 

With that being said, a window installation company might be handy to have on your list of home contacts for when it’s needed. Remember to think about the type of windows you want in order to keep your home well insulated and energy efficient. For example, a lot of windows are now triple-glazed in homes to ensure enough heat is kept in the home for longer.

Any windows that are broken or damaged are also going to pose a security issue for your home. As one of the vulnerable places for a home, it’s important to try and get anything replaced like this as quickly as possible. The same can go for your doors and any CCTV or security systems that you have in place to further protect your home. You can never be too safe because there are very few homes that are fortresses.

Focus On Your Exteriors For Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is an important one because it’s necessary to ensure the exterior of your home looks as good as the interior. Where you can, try to find opportunities to update your exterior garden areas or to update the building itself. You might want to power wash the brickwork to clean off all the debris, or cut back all the weeds and dead plants that are in your garden currently.

These small changes can really make a difference to the overall look of your home when guests are pulling up to your property.

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Not many people tend to focus on the curb appeal of their home because they don’t always see the outside of the property. However, it’s important to be able to see the beauty that comes from the exterior of your home. Taking pride in the outside is as important as the interiors.

Add An Extension

Extensions are certainly a major way of adding value to your home but when it comes to upgrades, it’s the creme de la creme. It’s always good to focus on what your home needs when it comes to extension in order to get the full benefit from the money you invest into it. Speaking of money, extensions are not cheap and so it’s vital that you’re aware of how much you need to spend and whether you have that money available to you. Some homeowners won’t but some will do, so it’s worth checking your finances when you can.

You’ve also got some element of planning permission that will need to be needed, so be sure to follow all this up to before starting the work.

Replace Old Furniture

Any old furniture that needs to be replaced should be done so sooner rather than later. However, there are some pieces of furniture that might simply need a lick of paint or the upholstery replacing. Consider what needs to be chucked out and what can be salvaged to vamp up and make it like new again.

It’s better to try and save your money where possible and this includes repairing or upgrading any furniture that will still have plenty of time left to utilize.

Rearrange The Space

Rearranging the space is a great way to help change up the rooms that are likely cluttered or perhaps don’t function in the best way possible. Think about how you could switch up the furniture in order to improve the layout and make it better in general.

Upgrading your home can be done in lots of ways, but start with these suggestions first!

Making The Most Of Social Media Marketing

Whether you run a business or you are trying to take care of your personal brand, social media marketing is a very powerful way to make sure that you are able to do that. Through the proper use of social media, you should find that you are able to get your brand to a position where it is much more noticeable, more seen, and more respected. All of that is going to make for a much more successful business or personal brand. Here are some of the things you might want to bear in mind in order to ensure you are making the most of your social media marketing.

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Post Often

One of the basic tenets of social media marketing is that you need to make sure you are posting as often as you can. The more often you post, the better. You don't need to worry about spamming people on sites like Twitter and Instagram, because people will simply not follow you if they are not interested in you. So you may as well try to get seen on their timeline as much as you possibly can. This is how you make your brand seen, and it’s one of the most powerful tools of all time for doing so.

Beware Of Copycats

Once you get to a certain level and you have a few followers under your belt, you might discover that other people on social media start to copy you. They might have seen the kinds of tweets that you put out which seem to gain a lot of traction, and decide that they want that for themselves, and then they start to simply post your tweets as their own. You don’t have to put up with that, and you can even think about hiring a social media lawyer if you want to make sure that people don’t do it again.

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Interact

If you want to go above and beyond other users of social media, you are going to want to think about trying to actually actively engage with people. It is the people who interact with their followers who tend to do the best, so this is something that you are going to want to spend some time on too. Make sure that you are being genuine, and that you are replying to people as you see fit. This is going to make a huge difference, especially if you do it with the final point in mind.

Decide On A Voice

Finally, make sure that you decide on and use a particular branded voice for your social media channels. Doing that is going to mean that you are viewed as above and beyond, and that is something that can prove to be really important here. When you have a particular voice that you follow, people come to know you reliably for that kind of content, and it does a lot for your ability to gain more and more followers over time. This is something you should not ignore.

What You Should Look for in a Pedigree Puppy Breeder

 When it comes to buying a puppy, finding a responsible breeder is one of the first and most important steps to finding your new furry best friend. After all, a puppy is for life and knowing that they’ve had the best start in life is going to be incredibly important. 

Breeders, such as this reputable Havanese breeder are excellent resources for your puppy buying process. Not only are they the bridge between you and bringing the puppy home, but they are also to be relied upon throughout the lifetime of your dog.   

A breeder can be thought of as a private guide to all things related to your dog such as finding the right one, to how to take care of it for life- especially if they specialise in one particular breed of dog. 

Like any major decision you make in your lifetime, doing your homework is incredibly important when it comes to making a commitment to one breeder. Here are some essential tips for choosing your breeder. 

Take the time to meet them 

A good breeder should have things in place that will allow you to meet up with them, whether in person or via video. There are many things that you will be able to observe through meeting a breeder and the dogs in their care. These include whether the premises are clean and safe for the dogs, whether the owner has a clear passion for dogs. It also includes the dogs’ behaviour and mannerisms. It should be clear that they are well fed and socialised. They shouldn’t be shy to come forward to interact with strangers. 

Ask the right questions 

When meeting with a breeder for the first time, make sure to come prepared with a list of questions about the breed and the puppy. Good breeders will make it clear that you can never ask too many questions. How do they react to your questions? Do they explain things clearly? Do you feel like you have a good rapport? Responsible breeders want to see their dogs in happy, loving forever homes and will be happy to share their knowledge.

Meet the parents 

There’s no better way for you to be able to see how your dog will grow up than by looking at his parents! This will give you a sense of your dog’s temperament, size, and appearance as they grow older. A breeder who doesn’t allow you to meet the dog parents should be challenged and you should consider going elsewhere if they refuse. 

Have some patience 

Puppy purchases should never be made on a whim. You won’t meet a breeder and bring home a puppy on the same day. Puppies are usually kept with their mother for the first 2-3 months of their life so that they get all the development that they need with their mother and littermates. 

It also means that the breeder has time to come and inspect your home and give you all of the necessary tips and tricks needed to puppy-proof your home before welcoming your new arrival home! 

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4 Tips to improve Your Law Firms Marketing Return on Investment

Law firms often struggle with the ROI of their marketing. They tend to spend a lot on advertising but don't see a corresponding increase in business. By improving your return on investment, you make marketing more worthwhile and profitable for your establishment. Here are four tips that will help your law firm get the most out of your marketing dollars and improve your return on investment.

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay 

1. Traditional Marketing 

Traditional marketing is one of the most common ways that law firms advertise. Traditional means creating and distributing advertising through various channels, such as TV commercials or printed flyers in mailboxes. Though not always cost-effective, standard ads are still valuable for a firm that wants to reach many people at once with its message.

2. Digital Marketing 

Digital marketing is a newer, more modern way of advertising. This type of traditional marketing doesn't require the firm to spend money on printing or mailing ads but instead relies on social media and internet channels such as Facebook. Online advertisements can be updated in real-time so that law firms know when they are most relevant for potential clients. Because it's possible to target people geographically or by interests with digital campaigns, this form of traditional marketing has an increased chance for ROI than some other forms may have. Professional services like elitelawyermanagement.com may also make a significant difference in generating leads and making targets. 

3. Use Google Ads 

Google Ads is an advertising program that lets advertisers pay Google when a person clicks on their ads. The advertiser will set up campaigns with specific keywords, and the internet giant will then find the right audience for them by matching those words to people's search terms or browsing habits. When this happens, what they have uploaded about themselves (or has been inferred) becomes available so that marketers can get as specific as possible in reaching out to potential customers who fit into these categories.

This form of targeted marketing could give your law firm increased ROI because you'll be able to reach more relevant prospects without paying extra money for blanket TV commercials or flyers delivered through snail mail channels which might only target half-interested parties.

4. Use Facebook Ads Manager 

Paid Facebook ads are a form of online marketing that takes advantage of the social media site's advertising platform. This type of ad is created by an advertiser and placed on a user's news feed to then like or share with their friends to pass it along to more people. The cost of the advertisement will depend on what kind you create, how many potential customers there are who fit your target demographics, and how often they see your posts in their feeds. In addition, Facebook Ads Manager sets up other factors at any given time.

This way can be less expensive than traditional methods such as TV commercials because law firms don't have to pay anything upfront or wait for receipts before knowing if this method has been successful. However, your law firm should make sure they are using all online channels to reach their target audience and have an increased chance for ROI when it comes to digital marketing.

Traditional marketing, when done correctly and with the right mix of digital campaigns, can be an effective way to not only get your law firm's name out there but also increase ROI. By employing all available resources to reach as many potential customers as possible from different demographics online, firms will have a much better chance for success.

Outsource To A Professional

If you don’t have the skills to advertise your law firm, you’ll naturally end up considering hiring someone. Doing so will make sure that your marketing budget is spent as appropriately as possible. While that would improve the return on investment, it’ll also mean paying a full-time wage.

Add in any employee benefits, and that could become much more expensive than you’d initially think. It could be better recommended that you outsource your marketing efforts to a third-party. Not only wouldn’t you have to worry about many of the associated costs, but you’ll see as positive results as you otherwise would have.

Coupled with that are the multiple tools and software you’ll typically need to buy to oversee your marketing strategy.  You might find yourself in a position where you only need a marketing agency for a brief period for specific reasons. In those cases, it could be worth going with reputation management companies, or a similar firm.

Doing so will let you only pay for what you need. Taking this approach will not only improve your branding, but do so in a much more cost-effective way than other approaches. There can be multiple other reasons why you should consider outsourcing your marketing, however.

The most notable of these revolve around adding high-quality expertise and support to your team. These will often provide much better results than taking care of things yourself. While that means paying a little more for these specialists, it’ll generate a much greater return on investment long-term.