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10 Email Signature Tips to Look Professional at Work

10 Email Signature Tips to Look Professional at Work


10 Email Signature Tips to Look Professional at Work

In a world where tweets and blog posts are all the rage, communicating via email is still as popular as ever. In fact, in the business world, emails are still one of if not the primary form of communication online.

And if you send lots of emails for work, you probably want to create an email signature that ends all of the emails that you send in a professional manner. 

Well, there are a ton of email signature tips to keep in mind when creating your very own email signature. And once you know what to do, and what not to do, you’ll see that creating the perfect email signature isn’t as hard as you may believe!

In this article, we’ll give you 10 email signature tips and tricks that you need to know in order to create the most professional and effective email signature. Now then, let’s get started!

1. Remember: Simple and Sweet

If there’s one word you should have in mind when crafting your email signature, it’s simplicity. Doing too much is almost a guarantee that you’re going to create a signature that turns people off.

Less truly is more, to say the least.

2. Limit Yourself to 3 or 4 Lines of Text

A great way to ensure that you keep your signature simple and sweet is to limit yourself to 3 or 4 lines of text. Anything more than that is going to be overwhelming, or too much to read, which isn’t what you want.

3. Design with Mobile Users in Mind

It’s the year 2020. Odds are, you send and receive the majority of your emails from a mobile device. It’s also safe to assume you’re not the only person who does this, meaning you need to create a signature with mobile users in mind.

Making something that is mobile-friendly is easy, as long as you limit yourself to how much content you include. Also, check to see how your signature looks on your mobile devices to confirm nothing looks off before sending too many emails. 

4. Consider Using a Picture

Regardless of your brand or business, you likely have a picture that you feel represents what you’re all about. Whether it’s a headshot or a company logo, consider including that picture in your email signature.

Don’t be afraid to go with a bit of color, too, as it’s a great way to stand out in someone’s email inbox. 

5. Balance Your Content Evenly

If you do decide to go with a picture, make sure you format your signature so that everything looks balanced. In other words, make sure your text and your picture flow together smoothly.

A good rule of thumb? Position your picture on the left side of your signature with your text on the right. Combined, your text should be the exact same size of your picture, meaning no words drop below the picture itself.

6. Don’t Include Your Email Address

There’s absolutely no reason to have your email in your signature. People already know who is emailing them, making that bit of information redundant.

Including your email address makes you look a bit amateurish, which of course, isn’t what you want.

7. Leave “Sent From My iPhone” On

We’ve all see that “Sent from my iPhone” tag at the end of an email. And while it may appear to be unprofessional at first glance, it’s actually not the worst idea to leave that feature enabled, if you have an iPhone.

Letting someone know you sent an email from a mobile device leads to them being more forgiving of any spelling or grammatical errors. And of course, spelling and grammatical errors are much more common when typing on mobile devices.

8. Link Your Social Media Accounts

While linking to your email address isn’t necessary, linking to your social media accounts is. Doing so can make it much easier for clients and customers to contact you, which of course, can be quite helpful.

Just make sure that you’re social media accounts are also professional, as someone is likely going to click on them eventually. 

9. End With a “Call to Action”

Ending your email signature with a call to action, or a CTA, should be near the top of your to-do list. Also, don’t overthink your CTA, as that’s a great way to set yourself up for failure. 

Something as simple as your social media links, or a link to your portfolio, works well. 

10. Browse For Examples in Your Inbox

If you’re still not sure how to format your email signature, consider copying someone in your email inbox. Odds are, you have quite a few examples to browse, and if you see something you like, try to mimic it and make it your own.

Also, you can make a digital signature online in just a few minutes, using an email signature maker tool.

10 Email Signature Tips and Tricks

Well, there you have it! Those are 10 email signature tips and tricks that you can use to create the perfect, most-professional email signature!

Remember, above all else, keep it simple. Don’t feel like you need to tell everyone every single thing about you in a few lines. Only include the most important details, as less is always more.

If you’re not sure exactly what you want to include, take a second to browse your email inbox for some examples. And if you find something you like, but aren’t sure how to recreate, use an online email signature maker to bring your signature to life.

Looking for more ways to stand out in the business world? Check out our blog!

Business

What to Do If You Suffer a Work Injury

What to Do If You Suffer a Work Injury


What to Do If You Suffer a Work Injury

It doesn’t matter how much work a company puts into workplace safety. Accidents still happen.

Luckily, you have workers’ compensation insurance for when that happens. In 2017 alone, there were more than $45 million in claims paid out by insurance.

Things can seem overwhelming when you suffer from a work injury, and you might not know what to do. This post will tell you what you need to know. Follow the steps below if you’ve experienced an injury at work.

File a Report With Your Company

Whenever you suffer an injury at work, always report it as soon as you have the chance. The way you report this will vary based on your company and your state.

In many states, you’re required to notify your employer in writing. But even if this isn’t the case, it’s still smart to do it this way.

Never wait to do this either. You have a limited amount of time to make your claim. Your time limit will vary on the state you’re in, so make sure you don’t take too long.

If you don’t meet your state’s deadline for reporting an injury, you won’t be able to claim any benefits.

See a Doctor

If you haven’t already seen a doctor about your injury, then now is the time. You need to get an accurate account of your workplace injury. Whether or not you can see your own doctor will depend on your state.

Many states and companies will require you to see a doctor provided by them. The good news is that it comes at no cost to you. You won’t lose anything by going to the company doctor.

After you get your initial workup, you do have the chance to get a second opinion. In most cases, this won’t be necessary. But if you don’t like the diagnosis given by the company doctor, you have the right to get a second opinion.

Like your accident filing, you have a limited amount of time to see a doctor. If you wait too long, you risk your claim being denied.

Determine if You Need a Lawyer

In many cases, your workers’ compensation case will be open and shut. You won’t have any problems getting a settlement for your case.

In some cases, things aren’t so simple. If you have a complicated case, then it may be worthwhile to bring a lawyer on board. If you don’t know what to do, a lawyer will be able to help you navigate the legal hurdles that come your way.

The chances are that this will occur in larger settlements with insurance companies. Whether it’s to help you fill out the paperwork correctly or file an appeal for a denied claim, a lawyer will increase your chance of winning your case.

A lawyer may also be necessary if your employer doesn’t have workers’ compensation insurance. This insurance is required by law for companies to have, so you probably won’t encounter this. But if you do face this situation, then an attorney will be able to help you through the process.

In many cases, you won’t have any fees. You can retain a lawyer on contingency. This means that you’ll use a percentage of your settlement earnings to pay your lawyer’s fee.

Get the Paperwork Done

After you have your doctor visit out of the way, you need to get your paperwork done. To figure out what forms you need to fill out, you’ll need to talk to your company.

This should be a straightforward process since you aren’t bringing a lawsuit against your employer. You’re asking for compensation from their insurance provider. They have no reason to fight against you on it.

Make sure you fill out every detail in your paperwork. You’ll need to know your injury date, location, medical information, and any other relevant information. Once you’re done, make sure you sign and date it.

At this point, return your paperwork to your employer. They have their own section to fill out. Once they finish, they will file the claim with their workers’ compensation insurance provider.

Wait For Your Decision

Once your paperwork is filed, all you can do is wait. Make sure you continue seeing your doctor and continue your treatment during this time.

You’ll need to keep track of your time off work and begin to estimate any future medical expenses. Workers’ compensation will cover these expenses, so you need to keep accurate records to get your full settlement.

It shouldn’t take long to get your results. At most, you’ll be waiting for up to four weeks.

It’s against the law for insurance companies to drag out the claims process for these cases. If you find yourself in this situation, the contact your state government. The insurance company may end up approving your claim automatically.

Decide What to Do With Your Outcome

After the insurance company decides your case, it’s up to you about how you want to process.

If the case worked out in your favor, you need to decide on how you want your settlement to be paid out. If you take a lump sum option, the insurance company will give you your compensation in one payment.

Your other option is a structured settlement. These payments will be spaced out annually over time. These have tax advantages compared to lump-sum payments, so it’s worth considering this option.

If your case is denied, then you do have the option to appeal the decision. You can ask the insurance company to take a second look at the claim or take it to court. In this case, it may be worthwhile to bring a lawyer in to help.

Take Your Work Injury Seriously

A work injury is a big deal, and you need to handle it properly. If you don’t follow the guidelines set out by your company and by law, then you could ruin your chances of getting a good outcome. Follow the steps above to make sure you handle everything on your side of things.

If you’re looking to hire help with your injury case, a good lawyer is where you should start. Head to our legal category to learn the steps to take to hire a great lawyer.

Business

Elevate Your Status: How to Be Well Liked at Work

Elevate Your Status: How to Be Well Liked at Work


Elevate Your Status: How to Be Well Liked at Work

Nearly 70% of employees are actively disengaged. And 58% of people trust strangers more than they do their own boss.

In a world where change is constant, good leaders are hard to find. 

A large part of leadership is the ability to connect with others. You may do your job brilliantly, but you will not get that promotion if no one respects you.

You may be wondering how to be well-liked in the workplace. Here are some places to start.

1. Develop Your Strengths 

Are you a visionary? Do you have great organizational skills?

Be sure that those around you know your strengths, and keep doing more of what you are good at. While it is important to grow in areas you may not initially show potential, you will want to be known as a strong professional.

2. Ask How You Can Help

If you have extra time during the day, ask your boss or colleagues how you can help them out. This will show that you are committed to being a productive member of the team.

Ask how you can provide favors, and don’t be afraid to pick up the slack where you see something needs to be done.

3. Ask For Advice

Asking your superiors for advice will flatter them and demonstrate a commitment to improvement and excellence. While your questions should not betray a complete lack of knowledge in certain areas, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for fresh ideas. Find out how you can fine-tune your skills.

4. Keep Your Feelings in Check

Emotions that find their outlet in personal relationships are often not appropriate for the workplace. If you are feeling slighted or overwhelmed, resist the urge to gossip or complain about your situation.

You will bring everyone around you down if you talk about the negative aspects of your job. Instead, try to find the silver lining in every problem. You will want people to see you as someone that inspires them.

Smile a lot to communicate confidence and hope.

If you are really feeling down, ask a colleague to distract you with a story or focus on where you can help someone in a worse situation. 

5. Genuinely Listen

Talk about yourself less, and let others take the reigns. People will respect you more if you listen and take a sincere interest in their stories. 

While it may seem harmless, constant small talk can also lead others to lose respect for you. Instead, ask about people’s interests, hobbies, and concerns. You don’t always have to express your opinion, but you can appreciate their point of view.

If you do give your opinion, make sure it is well-thought-out and respectful. Offending someone who disagrees with you is an easy way to make enemies.

6. Don’t Compete Unfairly

There is a lot of competition in workplaces. You do not, however, want to sabotage someone, or take credit for the work of one of your employees.

While these seem like easy ways to get ahead, they will not earn you respect. Set a good example and keep the playing field level by avoiding tricks.

7. Stay Organized 

The first thing you should do each day is set priorities. Make sure the most important things in your schedule get done first.

Keep a “to-do” list of things that need doing, but are not urgent. When you have free time, tackle them in the order of importance.

Keep a calendar of important dates. Do not assume you will remember events or deadlines before they arrive.

You do not need sophisticated technology to stay organized. Sometimes, your phone calendar will work just fine.

8. Lead With Professionalism

Building great relationships is especially important for those in leadership roles. If you want your staff to respect you, start by showing them you care.

Don’t be afraid to delegate responsibility. Give clear guidelines, and then let your staff do their jobs. If someone is new in their role, focus on what they did right, and give suggestions for improvement.

When giving feedback, be careful not to reprimand like you are scolding a child. Instead, show concern for how someone may be feeling. 

Once you have opened a warm dialogue, draw your employee in and discuss your concern honestly. Keep your tone calm and light, with positive facial expressions. If you are angry, your employee will not be able to hear the truth.

9. Avoid Distraction

In a digital age, it is easy to seek escape from daily problems into a glamorous social media world. Set a time right after work when you will be able to dive into your vortex of online drama. While you are on the job, however, you will score major points for avoiding any website distractions.

You may simply be checking your professional or personal emails a lot during the day. Try to limit yourself by only checking in every hour or so. This will actually serve to make you less anxious and stressed.

Avoid coworkers who gossip too much. Be polite, and happy to see them, but be careful not to get drawn into conversations that might cause you to say something you regret. Remember that your professional integrity is more important than your popularity.

How To Be Well-Liked

You may not be sure how to be well-liked in a workplace environment. Warmth, kindness, and respect will earn you a lot of trust. Doing your job well and avoiding unnecessary drama will have you well on your way toward a successful career.

For more great workplace strategies, sign up with us today.

 

 

 

Health

How CBD Oil Can Help Ease Work Related Anxiety

How CBD Oil Can Help Ease Work Related Anxiety


How CBD Oil Can Help Ease Work Related Anxiety

Did you know that nearly 80% of American workers report feeling job-related stress? And that every day, 1 million workers are absent from work because of stress?

Not only does workplace stress cause absenteeism, but it is also related to declines in your physical and mental health, difficulties sleeping, difficulties in performing your job, and strained personal relationships. 

Instead of just accepting that work anxiety is a regular thing and part of life, why not try to address and alleviate that anxiety?

One of the more recent ways to address work anxiety is CBD oil. CBD oil has become very popular to treat a variety of conditions, and stress and anxiety are no exception. 

Keep reading to learn more about how this wonder cure could help you.

What is CBD, Exactly?

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a cannabinoid that is found in the marijuana and hemp plants.

Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as THC), CBD doesn’t have any psychoactive properties, so it won’t make you feel high like marijuana does. CBD for medical purposes is derived from the hemp plant, not the marijuana plant.

While marijuana is still illegal in most states, CBD oil as a treatment for various conditions is legal (although each state has its own rules and regulations governing it).  

Can CBD Really Decrease Work Anxiety?

One of the biggest triggers of anxiety is stress. If you are constantly under stress at work and at home, you are at a much higher likelihood of developing anxiety. In fact, 25% of Americans will suffer from chronic anxiety in their life.

While we all experience short bursts of stress–maybe when we are under a tight deadline or working on a big project, it’s chronic stress that is the real problem.

Short bouts of stress are natural and often unavoidable. 

CBD isn’t meant to deal with this stress that is only temporary. When stress becomes chronic and develops into anxiety with the following symptoms, that’s when CBD can help. 

  • gastrointestinal issues
  • appetite changes
  • changes in sleep patterns
  • fatigue
  • muscles tension
  • headaches
  • weight gain

Researchers aren’t clear on how CBD oil works in our body, but it is believed that it works with a brain receptor called CB1. Brain receptors are proteins attached to your cells that receive chemical signals from various parts of your body. 

It is believed that CBD alters serotonin signals. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in our mental health. Having too little serotonin has been linked to depression. Serotonin also helps regulate appetite and digestion, sleep, memory, and sexual functions. 

Traditional Treatment for Anxiety

The usual treatment for anxiety or depression caused by low levels of serotonin is SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Lexapro, Zoloft, and Prozac, among many others. A doctor must prescribe these drugs and there is not a one-size-fits-all drug or dosage.

It often takes some trial and error and tweaking to figure out what drug works best for you and at what dosage. 

CBD can be purchased over the counter, comes with minimal side effects, and though you might need to adjust the dosage after a bit of trial and error, the process is much simpler than managing SSRIs.

For example, if you will vape CBD, you must start at the low end of the recommended CBD vape oil dosage and work your way up from there. 

Other Benefits of CBD 

Not only does research show that CBD can treat anxiety and depression (out of 32 studies examining the impact of CBD on anxiety in rodents, 31 of them found that CBD was beneficial in reducing anxiety), it also can ease other symptoms associated with anxiety. 

Neck and back pain are often associated with spending many hours of your day at a desk. CBD is an anti-inflammatory, so it can help soothe this chronic pain. It can also help you reduce the cravings for other substances, like nicotine or alcohol. 

CBD can also improve your mood (which has benefits at work and at home) and increase your productivity at work. These improvements can help decrease or even eliminate your workplace anxiety.

Things to Keep in Mind

The best way to use CBD to decrease anxiety is one tool in a comprehensive plan to treat anxiety. Seeing a therapist, making lifestyle changes, such as increasing exercise and healthy eating, and focusing on making positive changes at work should all be used in conjunction with CBD. 

You should also speak to your doctor about starting CBD, especially if you are taking other medications, as it may impact your body’s ability to metabolize certain prescription meds.

Your doctor can also assess your overall health to determine if there are other underlying conditions contributing to your anxiety.

What Are the Side Effects?

Unlike SSRIs, the side effects of CBD are pretty minimal. If you do experience side effects, they are likely to be: 

  • gastrointestinal effects
  • dry mouth
  • sleeping difficulties
  • mood changes 
  • dizziness 
  • fatigue 

The side effects are usually manageable and relatively infrequent.

There are some withdrawal symptoms as well, but again, they are much less severe than if you are weaning yourself off of SSRIs or other prescription medications. The most severe withdrawal symptoms typically include the return of the original symptoms you were having.

Kiss Your Work-Related Stress Goodbye

Work anxiety doesn’t only negatively impact your workday. It will often follow you home, impacting your personal and family life as well.

Don’t go another day with the stress of your job hanging over your head. Take steps today to alleviate your stress and anxiety with CBD and other lifestyle changes. 

If you found this article helpful, check out some of our other posts. We have resources for health and wellness, family, work-life, business, and even travel and leisure. 

Business

10 Signs of Long-Term Work Team Success

10 Signs of Long-Term Work Team Success


10 Signs of Long-Term Work Team Success

As the owner of a company, you can put together a collection of the most talented employees in your area. But if you aren’t able to get them to work together as a team, it’ll all be for naught.

You can encourage your employees to work together by appointing a strong manager to guide them along the way. You can also do it by posting inspiring quotes about teamwork all over your office.

But it’s ultimately going to be up to your employees to decide whether or not team success is something that’s important to them. Working together as a team requires each and every employee within a company to sacrifice a little bit of themselves for the greater good.

Are your employees working well as a team right now? Here are ten signs that’ll let you know your team is operating at a high level.

1. Your Team Understands Their Purpose

When you bring a group of employees together and turn them into a team, it’s important for you to let them know what their specific purpose will be. Their purpose might be to:

  • Help increase your company’s sales
  • Generate ideas for new products
  • Launch a service in a new area

Regardless of what your team’s purpose is, they should understand it and, to a larger degree, understand the importance of them working together to serve their purpose. As long as they’re able to do this, team success should follow.

2. They Set Goals and Work to Achieve Them

In addition to understanding their purpose, your team of employees should also come together to set goals for themselves. They should work hard — and work together! — to achieve them, too.

You can provide your team with some general goals that you want them to achieve. But they should be able to come up with more specific goals that will allow them to reach their end goal sooner than later.

3. They Assume Clearly Identified Roles

LeBron James is an amazing basketball player. He could very well go down as the best basketball player of all time.

But can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if someone were to clone him and put five LeBron Jameses on one basketball team? A team with five LeBrons just wouldn’t work!

Likewise, your team isn’t going to work if everyone on it is trying to be the business equivalent of LeBron. You need to find employees who are able to slide into different roles on your team and play their position without getting upset about it.

4. They Know How to Make Collective Decisions

It doesn’t matter if your team consists of five employees, 15 employees, or 50 employees. Anytime you ask more than one person to make a decision together, things tend to get messy.

The best teams know how to come together and make decisive decisions quickly without arguing over them too much. That doesn’t mean that everyone on a team is going to agree with every decision that gets made. But a good team will find ways to come to agreements as a whole.

5. They Employ Winning Strategies to Deal With Conflict

You don’t want the employees on your team to spend all day bickering with one another. That’s not going to lead to team success.

But a little bit of conflict within a team is healthy. Your employees will gel better as a unit when they face conflicts and figure out how to deal with them accordingly.

6. They Celebrate One Another’s Individual Successes

Even though your goal is going to be to have your employees work together as a team as opposed to working as individuals, there will be times when certain individuals stand out.

You’ll have an employee who comes up with an idea that’s so good that you can’t help but recognize them for it. Or you’ll have an employee that closes a huge sale on their own and gets a well-deserved bonus for doing it.

Good teams will celebrate one another’s individual successes without showing the slightest bit of jealousy. They’ll understand that there are going to be times when one team member does something that deserves individual accolades.

7. They Motivate Each Other During Stressful Times

When your team is placed under a great deal of stress, how do they react?

Do they turn to one another for support and figure out a way to deal with a stressful situation collectively — or do they freak out and worry only about themselves during the tough times?

Great teams work to motivate each other during challenging moments. They continue to push one another forward, no matter how hard things might get.

8. They Ask for Feedback and Adjust Their Approach to Doing Business

No team is perfect. There is always room for improvement as far as teamwork is concerned.

Your team should ask you for feedback on a regular basis and take any suggestions you provide for them to heart. They should also be more than open to taking part in online team assessments to evaluate their overall performance as a team.

9. They Genuinely Enjoy Working Together

Does your team enjoy working together so much that they spend time together outside of the office? This is one of the true measures of team success!

That’s not to say that your employees have to spend every waking hour together to be a successful unit. But it does mean that teams that enjoy spending time together both inside and outside of the workplace often function better as a team.

10. They Welcome New Team Members With Open Arms

In a perfect world, you would create a team within your business, turn the team into a success, and then keep the team together for decades to come. But of course, that’s not how business works!

Your team might stay together for a few years. But most people only stay at a job for about four or five years before moving on. As a result, your team is likely going to have team members coming and going all the time.

A truly special team will welcome new team members into the mix with open arms and help them find the role that suits them best.

Make Team Success a Top Priority at Your Company

At this point, sayings like “There’s no ‘I’ in team” and “teamwork makes the dream work” have turned into cliches. But they’re true!

Your company needs to achieve team success if you’re going to be successful. Spend time putting together the perfect team and then keep tabs on them to make sure they’re working well together. It’ll be beneficial for your business in so many ways.

Read through some of our other articles to find out more things you can do to make your business a success.

Technology

Marketing for Photographers: How to Get Your Work Out There

Marketing for Photographers: How to Get Your Work Out There


Marketing for Photographers: How to Get Your Work Out There

Marketing for photographers can be as elusive as getting that million dollar shot.

As a photographer, you need to be able to get your work seen. You can have shows at galleries, live off of referrals, but you have to have a way for people to see your work online.

People are addicted to looking up information online for just about anything. They research products, answer a random question or look for services.

They’ll also scroll their social media accounts on their phone. All in all, people spend about 25% of their time online. 

You’re going to need to get yourself out there if you want your work to be seen. Read on for the top marketing tips for photographers.

Build the Foundation

When you’re creating a marketing plan, you’re going to need a place for all of that traffic to go to. That should be your website.

Your website is going to be a hub for all of your marketing activities. You’re going to need to make sure that it’s set up to show off your work. Here are the main things you need to pay attention to.

Well-Designed

People are going to expect that a photographer’s website is clean and elegant. A fresh design can make an incredible impression.

You want to have a balance between colorful images and whitespace to draw the eye to those images.

Speed

Your site needs to have one thing and that’s speed. You’re going to be working really hard to get web traffic to your site. You want to be sure that keep it.

These days, people aren’t going to wait around for a website to load. Google puts that time about 2 seconds

SEO Ready Website

In order for people to find your site when they search for photographers online, you’re going to need to be on the first page of results. People rarely go past the first page. You’re going to have to optimize your site for search results.

Your website also needs to be ready for SEO. There are things that you can do onsite and offsite to improve SEO.

Offsite SEO would be tasks like filling out your directory listings on Google Business and Bing Places. You can also get backlinks, to your site to prove your site’s authority.

There’s a lot that you can do to improve your SEO onsite. These are all things that you can control, like your site’s speed.

First of all, you want to make sure that you know what keywords you want to target. This will be based on how people search for your photography.

For example, if someone is looking for a wedding photographer, they’re likely going to search for things like “how to find a wedding photographer.”

If they’re searching for a product, like custom blankets with photography, they’ll search for “custom photo blankets.” 

Next, you want to make sure that each page has the appropriate title tags and meta descriptions filled in. Each page should have its own designated keyword and variations of that keyword. These keywords can appear in the content of the page, the title, and the description.

If these things make your head spin, you might want to hand them off to a professional web designer. 

Get on Instagram

Social media is a great way to attract new visitors to your site and show off your photography at the same time.

If there’s one platform that’s built for photographers, it’s Instagram. You can connect with people all over the world and showcase your work.

The things you want to know about Instagram to be successful are to post consistently and use the right hashtags.

You really want to post about 5 times a week for maximum exposure. You also want to make sure your captions are well written and engaging.

One thing to keep in mind that there are thousands of people on Instagram trying to become a paid influencer. This is one area where a professional photographer can help them. You can reach out to these people and get jobs by taking photos of them.

Get Out and Network

Marketing for photographers doesn’t need to be complicated. It could be a simple as meeting people.

Going out and meeting people can be a massive boost to your photography business. Ideally, you want to get to know people who can refer business to you and vice versa.

If you specialize in wedding photography, get to know wedding planners in your area. You can also connect with the marketing managers at wedding venues.

Real estate photographers can connect with real estate agents or mortgage brokers. Real estate agents who are savvy understand the value of excellent photography. They know that if they want to sell homes faster and for a higher value, they need a photographer who can capture the elegance or coziness of the home.

Sports photographers can connect with newspaper and magazine editors. You can also connect to well-known blogs in your sport.

Think about the type of photography that you do, and who would be in need of those services. Then go out and get introductions to those people.

If you don’t know where to begin, start with your local chamber of commerce. Chambers are a valuable resource and know the business community inside and out.

Marketing for Photographers Can Build a Reputation

Your work is your art. It deserves to be seen and you deserve to get paid well for what you do. As wonderful as that may seem, that can’t happen if people can’t see your work.

Marketing for photographers is tricky because you have to be able to showcase your work where people are – that’s usually online. To do that, you need to be savvy on social media and study search engine optimization.

If you can do those things, and do them well on a consistent basis, you will get more people to see your work. That will only result in more jobs for you.

If you want to learn more about digital marketing, take a look at this article on the other search engines besides Google.

Business

9 Reasons You Should Work with Job Recruiters

9 Reasons You Should Work with Job Recruiters


9 Reasons You Should Work with Job Recruiters

Are you on the hunt for a job?

Maybe you’re fresh off college and looking to enter the job market for the first time or you’re a seasoned pro looking for a new challenge. Or you just lost your job and need to find another one quick.

Regardless of your circumstances, one thing is certain: hunting for a job is not a fun activity – at least for most job seekers. Good jobs are getting harder to come by and scouring job boards to find an exciting opportunity can be frustrating.

The good news? Job recruiters take most of the trouble out of job hunting.

Keep reading to learn why you should absolutely work with job recruiters.

1. Get Access to More Job Opportunities

It’s an open secret in most industries that some employers don’t advertise open positions on public job boards.

Instead, they outsource that task of filling certain positions to recruitment agencies. Unless you have insider information, which is unlikely, you won’t even know those positions ever existed.

As such, one of the top reasons to use a job recruiter is to gain access to more job opportunities. You won’t have to rely on online job boards and public advertisements to know which companies are hiring and for what positions.  

With more opportunities at your disposal, you stand a strong chance of finding your ideal job.

2. Save Time

Looking for a job is a time-consuming activity.

You have to spend hours writing or sprucing up your resume and cover letter, and even more hours browsing through online job boards looking for openings that might interest you.

Depending on your career, it might take several days, weeks or even months before an opening crops up. So you have to keep refreshing the job boards and monitoring your email for job alerts.

And once you’ve submitted your applications, you have to wait for feedback from your potential employers. While some reply in a matter of days, others take their sweet time.

A job recruiter saves you time. Because they have a database of open positions, all they need to do is match your qualifications or suitability to the available jobs. This takes far less time than when you’re doing it on your own.

3. You Have Specialized Skills

Specialized skills call for a specialty career (a career that focuses on a particular subfield within a broader discipline). Think jobs like nuclear technologist, forensic psychologist, and nanotechnology engineer.

Whatever you make of these jobs, we can all agree they aren’t very common.

When you have specialized skills, you need a specialized approach when it comes to finding a job. There’s no point scouring through job boards like other job seekers when there’s little chance a vacancy will be listed there.

In most cases, companies with specialized positions source for candidates directly from training institutions or rely on the expertise of recruiting firms.

If you were not placed in a job by your college or university’s placement services, your best option is to work with a job recruiter.

4. Find a Job in Your Dream/Preferred Company

Considering that job seekers consider a company’s reputation and organizational culture before taking up a job, it’s fair to assume you already have a dream employer in mind.

However, unless you’re lucky, you’re unlikely to get a job in your dream company – at least not in your first try. But with a job recruiter on your side, it’s doable.

You see, the goal of a job recruiter is not just to get you hired. They also want to help you find job satisfaction, and one way to do this is to try and place candidates in their preferred positions.

So when you submit your resume to a recruiter, you’ll also indicate the companies you’d love to work for. With this information, the recruiter will submit your documents to your ideal employers, as long as they have active openings and you meet their qualification requirements.

5. Get Professional Help

Did you know hunting for a job is in itself a skill?

Look. You have to write a resume and a cover letter, ensuring it adheres to modern guidelines and meets acceptable standards. But if you’ve not mastered the art (or science) of writing these documents, do you think you’ll get it right the first or second time?

Then there’s the little matter of job interviews. From dressing right to knowing how to conduct yourself during the interview, you could easily make mistakes that can harm your chances of getting the job.

This is why resume writing and interview coaching services exist. But they cost money.

Lucky for you, when working with a job recruiter you gain free access to these services. Job recruiters get paid when they help their clients fill open positions, so it’s in their best interest to help job seekers become compelling candidates.

This means you can count on your job recruiter to help you polish up your resume and prepare you adequately for interviews.

6. Keep Your Job Search Discreet

On average, a person will hold 12 jobs over the course of a lifetime.

If you’re not on your 12th job yet, chances are you’re planning to hop to another job. But as you probably already know, nothing will irk your current employer than finding out you’re looking to jump ship.

Not only that, you risk getting fired, the legality of the matter notwithstanding.

When an employer figures you’re looking for another job, they could consider you a bad influence on the rest of the team. And they can take steps, such as assigning you more tasks, to set you up for failure and put you on the firing line.

With that in mind, it’s wise to keep your job search discreet. The best way to do this is to sign up with a recruitment agency, as opposed to, say, posting your intentions on LinkedIn, which is a public platform.

7. Avoid Overexposure

This point might look similar to the one described above, but there’s another angle to it.

When hiring, most employers prefer “exclusive candidates.” An exclusive candidate is one who isn’t accessible to multiple employers. It’s more like how elite law firms poach top talent from elite law schools.

The question is: how do you make yourself an exclusive candidate?

The solution is avoiding overexposure, which happens when you post your resume on several job sites to enhance your chances of catching the eyes of a potential employer.

Want to avoid overexposure? Work with a job recruiter.

You can rest assured knowing your resume and other personal details are in a private database, and you’ll be notified when it’s forwarded to a potential employer.

Also, overexposure increases your risk of falling prey to job scammers. When your resume is publicly viewable, scammers can use your details to email you fake jobs and lure you into giving them personal details such as your social security number.

With a legitimate job recruiter, you won’t have to worry about being a victim of a job scam.

8. Beat Job Search Anxiety

When will I get a job?

Will I get a good job?

Will my employer be nice to me?

If you’re asking yourself these questions, you’re certainly starting to get anxious about your job search. While you’re not alone in this, your fear of the unknown is enough to get you worried and restless.

A job recruiter can take some anxiety out of your job search. 

Especially when working with a recruiter with high job placement rates, you’ll be confident of finding your ideal job sooner than later. Plus, the coaching services provided by recruiters will help you learn to cope with job interview anxiety.

9. It’s Free, Yay!

The best things in life are free, and so are job recruiters.

Well, some recruiters will charge you a small fee to sign up, but don’t fall for them. The best recruiters in the business are free, and that’s because they get paid by firms to help them get the best talent. Others will take a percentage off your salary for a certain amount of time, meaning if they don’t get you a job, they won’t make money.

Job Recruiters Offer the Best Route to Your Dream Job

Let’s face it: although employment rates are down, getting a job quickly and conveniently still remains a tall challenge for millions of job seekers.

If you’re in this situation, it’s high time you worked with job recruiters. From shortening the duration of your job hunt to offering you professional coaching services at zero or little cost, you have every reason to try out their services.

Best wishes in your job search and explore our careers and jobs section for more insights.

Business

A Prescription for Promotion: 5 Medical Marketing and SEO Strategies that Actually Work

A Prescription for Promotion: 5 Medical Marketing and SEO Strategies


A Prescription for Promotion: 5 Medical Marketing and SEO Strategies that Actually Work

Did you know that medical marketing and SEO strategies are important to implement into your website?

In 2019, you need to focus on narrowing down on to the best medical internet marketing tools to boost traffic to your site and ultimately bring new patients into your practice. 

These are 5 of the best medical marketing tips to follow if you are interested in learning how to boost your digital content creating strategy today. 

1. Patient-Focused Website Layout

One of the first steps to operating an online presence for your medical practice is to enable a patient-focused layout.

Keep in mind the age group of the demographics of your medical practice. Are your patients over the age of 50? If so, then it’s important to ensure that your website has the best layout possible for easy navigation. 

A user-friendly website will make all of your patients happy to navigate on their phones or from their computer screens. Did you know that approximately 84% of patients use their phones to do research? Tap into this market by ensuring that your website functions properly for your demographic. 

2. Educational Videos

Another aspect to connect your patients with your medical practice involves the art of video creation. 

Video content continues to dominate as one of the best marketing tools out there. If you want to see the traffic increase to your medical practice website, upload educational videos each week. 

It would be beneficial to have one of the doctors at your practice speak up about a topic he or she is knowledgable about in one of the videos. These insightful videos will also add credibility to the doctors who work at the practice, too. 

3. Increase Social Media Presence 

As doctors, you may not see the need for social media. However, social media platforms can help you draw attention from new sources. Facebook and Instagram are just two platforms you need to pay attention to. 

Running Facebook and Instagram pages for your medical practice opens up opportunities to find new patients. Instead of relying on paper advertisements, social media can offer cheaper alternatives to market your practice.

For example, running an ad on Facebook can be more beneficial than running an ad in the newspaper because there are 2.32 billion active users. 

4. Create a Blog

On your medical website, you need to create a separate area for your blog. Blogs are content marketing assets to boost your SEO, or search engine optimization, power. Some blog ideas to add to your site include covering topics such as Eating Disorder Loneliness and How to Get Help For Knee Pain. 

Building awareness of your medical practice takes plenty of marketing strategies. One of these strategies includes building a blog. Having frequent blog updates will also improve the quality of your site and Google will reward your site for reliability. 

5. Reach a Targeted Audience with Medical Marketing Tools

Are you worried about the types of people who currently view your website because they may not be your direct audience? With the power of digital marketing, you are able to take control over who can see your ads. 

Reaching a targeted audience is possible when you switch over to digital marketing for your medical practice in 2019.

A targeted audience will also give you more bang for your buck when you spend money to find new patients. Consider changing up the age range, location, yearly income, and sex of the patients you wish to interact with your ads. 

Digital Marketing Is King in 2019

Don’t leave out the importance of implementing these 5 medical marketing strategies to create more patients at your clinic. You have everything you need to see optimal results!

Find out even more about digital marketing by checking out our top tips for growing your content strategy, too. 

Health

5 Sleep Hacks That Actually Work

5 Sleep Hacks That Actually Work


5 Sleep Hacks That Actually Work

Are you having a hard time catching some zzz’s? A lack of sleep will not only leave you feeling like a zombie. It can also add to your stress levels and cause health problems.

If you have frequent nighttime disturbances, you’ve probably been searching for a way to improve your rest. You’re not alone. According to the American Sleep Association, 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders.

Many Americans are taking medicine at night to help but there are more natural ways that you can get some rest. Keep reading for 5 sleep hacks that will have you sleeping like a baby.

1. Unplug Yourself

We know you don’t want to hear this, but that cute kitten video is going to have to wait until morning. According to a report, 8 out of 10 of us keep our mobile phones on next to us.

The blue light from our phones has a stimulating effect, like sunlight. This tricks our brains into thinking it’s daytime, which prevents us from getting shut-eye.

Try to cut yourself off from cellphone usage 30 minutes before you plan to sleep. You’ll rest better and wake up feeling energized and ready for the day.

2. No Late-Night Foodie Calls

Those late-night cravings for ice cream are no joke. But you have to resist the temptation for the sake of your sleep!

High-fat foods can leave your digestive system running while the rest of your body tries to rest. Ideally, you want to leave 2 hours between your last meal and bedtime.

3. Sleepy Snacks

You don’t want to eat a huge meal before bedtime, but there are certain foods that will actually improve your sleep.

Did you know that cherries are the only natural source of melatonin? Studies show that drinking tart cherry juice twice a day can help insomniacs sleep.

Bananas have a good source of potassium and magnesium, both of which are muscle relaxants. So, have some fruit before bed, it could help you get some rest.

4. Find Your “Zen”

It’s not a shock to find that stress causes a lack of sleep. Which means anything that can help soothe our daily stress is going to improve our sleep.

Try meditation as a form of relaxation before you go to bed. If you need help destressing, plug in an oil diffuser and start a stress journal to unwind after a long day.

Another way to turn your brain off before bed is to prepare for the next day ahead of time. A lot of those thoughts about tomorrow are preventing you from getting to sleep.

Make your lunch, get your bag ready and lay out your clothes for the next day.

5. Get Techy with It

Good news, there are some tech-savvy sleep hacks out there. You can change your display settings on your devices to help soothe your eyes.

There are also mobile apps that will help you track your sleep. These apps will send you a notification when it’s time to go to sleep. They also use data to help you figure out what time to wake up for the least groggy results.

With a little investment, you can even get one of these mattresses. Memory foam creates a cool and comfortable surface for you to rest.

Sleep Hacks for a Healthier You

Getting more rest is something you can’t neglect. Sleep improves your mood, digestive system, and mental health. Before you reach for the sleeping tablets, try some of these other sleeping hacks.

Want to learn more about natural ways to stay healthy? We can help. Check out our health articles for more healthy living tips!

Technology

How to Choose the Best Wireless Headphones for Work

How to Choose the Best Wireless Headphones for Work


How to Choose the Best Wireless Headphones for Work

Do you love listening to music while jogging or working?

If you do then you likely rely on a good pair of headphones. That’s not going to be easy these days because a lot of phones are starting to shift away from wired connections.

Ever since Apple removed the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7, it’s become a rarer sight in smartphones. Google did the same with their Pixel phones and justified it as a means to give more space for a bezel-less design.

This means more phones will follow suit and you’ll have to rely on wireless headphones from now on. Finding the best one is easy as long as you know what to look for.

Here are four essential tips to follow when looking for the best ones in the market.

Sound Isolation

If you’re a working musician submitting to blogs and producers then you know how important it is to hear every note. You can’t do this if there’s a lot of external noise, like the sound of cars or people chatting beside you in the subway.

One important feature to look for is sound isolation, also called noise isolation. This ensures that once the headphones are on they’ll block out all the background sounds for you. This guarantees you can hear nothing else but the music from your phone.

Wireless Headphones Reliability

Go back a few years ago and Bluetooth was one of the least reliable connection options. Its range was short and you’d deal with constant disconnections.

That’s no longer the case thanks to newer innovations like Bluetooth 5. The latest lineup of iPhones and Android devices support it and so do most wireless headphones.

Look for the newest Bluetooth support whenever you go shopping for headsets. It will guarantee stronger connections and a wider range.

Sound Quality

Sound isolation is only the beginning. You’ll want a pair that guarantees the highest quality sound that wireless technology can offer. For the best headphones, make sure to look into other qualities such as:

  • Impedance
  • Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
  • Sensitivity levels
  • Sound pressure levels
  • Noise cancellation
  • Total frequency response

If you’re not sure about the qualities of the headphones you’re looking at, you can conduct an audio check first.

Consider Optimal Battery Life

For most people, 10 hours of battery life is fine. If you’re a musician, a professional video game streamer on Twitch, or if you rely on music for long exercising sessions then this won’t do.

You’ll need longer battery life options. Look for headphones that offer 20 hours of battery life like the wireless gaming headphones on Headphonesaddict. These will last throughout your work or gaming sessions.

For More Helpful Tidbits

Found the information useful? Following these tips, you should be able to find the exact kind of wireless headphones for your needs.

If you’re looking for more helpful articles feel free to give us a visit and see what else we have in store for you. We cover everything from digital marketing guides to helping you decorate for a graduation party and more.