Tag: online business

  • 3 Marketing Tools And Services You Need In Your Online Business Today

    Talent and professionalism are two main prerequisites that motivates individuals to start businesses online today. But that’s just the starter. With 1.13 Billion websites online in the world today, a lot more is needed to market your business.

    Watch Video -3 Marketing Tools And Services You Need For Your Online Business Today

    In this blogpost, I will share with you 3 marketing tools and services that you need in your online business.

    1. Email Marketing Tool

    Marketing through e-mail is a bit taxing when you think about it. This is particularly if you are doing everything by yourself. But the long term benefit of having e-mail marketing in place for your business is critical. There is a lot of ground work that goes into setting up e-mail marketing. These include;

    1. E-mail collection – When designing a website, it is important to have in mind how you intend to capture e-mails of people who visit. This may include adding a form which users can enter their names and e-mail addresses in order to subscribe to your services and get updated on special offers. Another way to collect e-mails is through an opt-in form that pops up on your site. Usually these forms are scheduled to pop up while the user is browsing through the site.
    2. E-mail Composition and Frequency – For your e-mail marketing plan to succeed, your e-mails have to be creatively written. This will result in high open rate. Also, the frequency in which you will be sending your e-mails to your subscribers needs to be set. This can be done through ‘funnels‘ found inside e-mail marketing software’s. E-mail funnels are there to automate the marketing process and save you time.

    Advertising Services

    As more and more people take their businesses online, competition of traders operating in the same niche continue to grow. The only way to defeat this battle for attention is through advertising. Good news is, there are many options of online advertising that one can choose from. You can advertise on search engines, social media platforms and more.

    To get the best results; have a budget, stick to it and be consistent. If one medium is not giving you the results you are desiring, try a different medium until you find one that connects you with your targeted audience.

    If done well, one is sure to get the results they are looking for.

    Content Creation Tools

    In order the create the best content for marketing your business, you need to have the right tools. Ask yourself; which type of content can effectively deliver my message? Is it graphic images, videos, photos, audio or written content? Each type of these content’s has their own special creation tool or software.

    It is important to mention here the availability of free content creation tools online. The only problem is that these tools are designed to upsell you to the premium version. That is why it is better to purchase the tool/software license at the beginning of your content creation journey. That’s unless you are comfortable using the free version with limited features.

    Having in mind that content plays a big role in marketing, it has to done efficiently. This can only be achieved through subscribing to the full features of the content creation tool you pick.

    Conclusion

    There are many more tools that you will need to market yourself or business online. However, the 3 tools I have highlighted here are effective if utilized well. You only need effective tools to succeed. How you set them up at first will determine the results you will get. Also, how consistent you use these tools is key.

    And that is it from me here.

    Did you find this article helpful?

    Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And until next time, bye bye and take care.

    For help to create professional marketing content regularly, you can reach out to me here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on Twitter @cheptiony.

  • Is Freelancing Online A Lucrative Career?

    This is a common question that many people wanting to pursue a career freelancing online today ask. Having been a freelancer for now 10 years, is freelancing truly a lucrative career? The answer to this question is an affirmative yes. Now the success that everyone is looking for lies on how you pursue it.

    Watch Video: Is Freelancing Online A Lucrative Career?

    For instance, freelancing on a platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, freelancer and others was very lucrative 5 years ago but now things have changed. It’s now hard to make a descent amount of money there. This is owing to an increased number of people joining these freelance gig platforms looking for work compared to the number of clients hiring.

    So what makes freelancing a lucrative career despite the shifting tides in the freelance marketplace? It is the individuals flexibility to adapt to change. In this blogpost, I will share with you 3 things that still makes freelancing a very lucrative career to date.

    Direct Connection With Clients

    One of the biggest shifts that we all witnessed during the Covid-19 lockdown in the year 2020 was the change on how businesses connect with their customers and workers. Freelancers were not left out. They contacted clients directly to seek for work as opposed to applying for work through the freelancing platforms.

    As it turned out from the freelancers I have interacted with, getting hired by a company directly online is more lucrative than applying for gigs every day via a freelancing platform. I am also a firm endorser to this approach to freelancing. It is the way to go.

    A good example is a client who hires a freelancer for a 6 months contract. The contract pays the freelancer an average of $4,000 a month. That’s good money depending on the country you are residing in.

    Moreover, you can plan how you will spend the money or invest.

    When you compare this to a freelancing on a platform; on a freelancing platform, it’s really hard to get a client who hires you and give you work consistently for more than 3 months. You may have a contract with a client for long but what you make from it in a month is very small.

    The secret today to a lucrative online freelancing career is to look for direct clients.

    Diversify

    Diversification gives one a room for growth. Diversity when it comes to freelancing is investing your earnings in profitable ventures. Before you do this, educate yourself on how different online investments work. For instance, before you start investing in cryptocurrency, educate yourself and know how the cryptocurrency you are investing in works.

    Look for avenues in which you make good profit from your investment.

    When you do this, you will be able to shift your focus from depending on one source of income to many. Freelance diversification is not only limited investments; you can diversify your knowledge as well.

    For example, if you are a video producer like me, you can diversify and offer video script writing and graphics designer. This move will give you a room to grow financially.

    Diversification multiplies your sources of income and this makes freelancing a lucrative career.

    Own A Business Online

    Take freelancing as an avenue to study and do market research for your next business. Have a goal of owning a business online that serves people within your career. The beauty of freelancing online is that you are paid as you learn how it works. When I started freelancing way back in the year 2013, I had very little experience in video production.

    When I was hired for my first job, I learnt from it. I kept perfecting it with time while working on paid contracts. However, my goal always had been to own a successful video production business in Kenya. At the time, I had started it offline.

    Take freelancing as your foundation to not only a lucrative career but a successful business as well.

    Once you have you idea ready, start. Know who your target audience are and address them clearly. When you position your online startup well, you will definitely prosper in it.

    The long term benefit of being a freelancer is owning a lucrative online business.

    Conclusion

    With new emerging technologies and ideas, freelancing will never cease to be a lucrative career. Be very honest with yourself when you take this path. I have seen many people show off and lie on camera that their luxury lifestyles are being financed by money they got from freelancing, trading on Forex, writing e.t.c. Not all of those who share their story about their freelancing journey or trading are lying. But the loud and flossy ones in most occasions lie.

    When you get into the world of freelancing, be open minded. When you come across a good idea, pursue it with a positive mind. When you do so, you will surely succeed.

    And that is if from me on why freelancing online is still a lucrative career today.

    Did you find this article helpful? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need professional video production services, you can reach out to me here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • 4 Pillars To Building Trust From Scratch Online As a Freelancer

    A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

    Chinese Proverb

    This is a common saying that originated from a Chinese proverb and it applies in our every day life. If you are starting to build up your online Freelancing business, you are making your first ‘single step‘ towards success.

    Overnight successes don’t last so you should avoid at all cost the temptations to fall into it.

    Watch video

    This blog-post is written for people who are interested in building a long lasting reputation online. Before you read further, I am assuming that you have considered the following things before launching your business online.

    • Niche – The marketplace you are going to target online. You have to be very specific. i.e Photography – Photo editing and design
    • Expertise – It should be something that is giving value to people. Also it has to be something that you enjoy doing. This way, you will be able to make it better everyday without anyone pushing you to do so.
    • Consistency – You are in a position to provide consistent services to your audiences/customers. Also, being prepared to do it for as long as you live.

    These are key things you have to look into before launching your business online. It’s important, because once you are on, challenges will be there that will make you want to give up. With that said, lets now get into the first Pillar.

    Own the Skills You Are Selling

    You must first own the skills that you are selling by showing. Do a video trailer that highlights your services. Publish the best samples of your work online. Let people see that you have the skills they are looking for. Let your samples show that you truly understand the industry you are in. This way, you will have made the first impression.

    Share a Short Description of Yourself or Team with a Nice Photo

    Most people will overlook this but the impact it has is beyond what you can imagine. While people will love to hear about your hobbies, take time to think about how you will want them to connect with you. Let your profile description lean on your expertise and experience. It should contain at least 10% of your personal life.

    Prospective customers are most interested in knowing the founder and less interested in knowing about your team. If the prospect is a big enterprise, then they may be interested in your team as a display of your capability.

    Sharing this also demonstrates that you are a proud owner of the business you are running. Be happy and excited about it.

    Communication Style – Be Professional

    Let’s say someone stumbles upon your website. They find what you sharing is interesting. They makes an inquiry about the services that you offer.They write their inquiry in a non-professional way. Their inquiry carries a clear message. Will you toss that mail onto the trash folder and imagine that they are not serious?

    With spammers getting clever day by day, you should take time to look into their mail inquiry more closely. Is the mail encrypted? Does it have the lock icon? Grey or green lock icon indicates that the mail source is secure. Also, the e-mail address should be from a real domain with an existing website.

    If upon checking on the mail, you find that the features are there, don’t hesitate, reply to the e-mail. In your reply, address the sender by his/her name. Then clearly address their need. Use simple language and let it sound you are a human. Let them feel you. Your reply will inspire them to take you seriously.

    Write Regular Blog-post About Your Niche

    Posting a video trailer or some product demos of your work and details about your business is not enough. To ensure that your website remains optimized and up to date, you have to build consistent traffic. You can only do this by writing regular blog-posts and sharing the posts on social media to generate back-links. Also do short video highlights and share them on YouTube to generate back-links.

    With time, your organic traffic with surge and you will be getting more inquiries and comments on the blog-posts you publish. This is the art of building trust online. There is no need to rush if you are already enjoying what you are doing.

    And that’s it. Apply these and you will be on the right path to building your online reputation as a Freelancer.

    Thanks for reading through the post.

    If you need help to create professional screen-cast video tutorials for your website, mobile application or software, let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 5 Tips to Start and Grow a Screen-casting Video Business Remotely

    Like photography, anyone can do a screen cast video- all they need to have is a computer installed with a screen-casting software and headphones with a microphone to record their voice-Period! 

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    Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

    So, how can you make this a business if anyone can do it? Who will pay for a such service? 

    Well, here is a little secret, the companies which develops and distributes screencasting software\’s uses the keywords-easy to use and anyone can use– as their marketing hook. Many of those who have purchased and used any of the screen-casting software are surprised with what follows after they have recorded the screens that they needed with narration.

    They realize more is needed in terms of editing. e.g sections where there was some silence or where the is uhmms and uhs. Besides, some sections need to be highlighted and zoomed in. In other occasions the audio may need some cleaning up to reduce the background noise.

    This thus means, the user has to spend more time learning how to edit their recordings. This is besides other things like \’sharing settings.\’ At the end of the day, if he/she is a busy executive, he will have to spend a lot of time perfecting the video. This is not good when it comes to productivity. 

    With this awareness, you are able to begin your research on this niche to identify and segment target clients/markets for yourself. For example, SaaS businesses with high customer volume will prefer to hire a freelancer to help them handle their screen-casting projects in response Frequently Asked Questions by their customers.

    Here are 5 tips to help you start and build a successful business in screen-casting; 

    Do a Research On Areas Where Screen-casting is Used

    This may sound simple. Writing this down will surprise you even more. You will realize that the market is so wide. Coming into realization that clients with high volume customers will not mind spending money on your service will inspire you even more. 

    Produce Screen Casts\’ That Stands Out

    Why would someone pay you to produce something that they can do themselves apart from saving time? Make you presentations stand out by adding simple animations, motion graphics and more. 

    Be Good In Writing –Know how to script tutorials

    Now, some clients will ask you to script their tutorials (especially if it\’s a software) after familiarizing with it. You may miss this opportunity if you have poor skills in writing and do not like writing. Even if you do not like writing, partner with a fellow freelancer who can write and negotiate extra to accommodate their service. 

    Deliver With a Studio Quality Voice Over

    Not all of us have good voice or speak in native English accent. But will you miss opportunity because of this? No. Think outside box. If you don\’t know anyone you can contact to do voice over for you, sign up and hire a freelancer to handle this for you on sites like Upwork. 

    Scale Up Your Pricing Once You Have Gained Confidence in The Market

    When I started up as screen-cast video producer, I used to charge $30 for a 3 Minutes video. Since then, I have scaled up and now charge $500-1000 for same service and more advanced quality based on my experience. Busy professionals would rather pay more to someone who needs little or no supervisions once the deliverables are clearly defined. 

    Summary 

    Like any other niche, you will grow based on your tactics and ability to bring in more value to the service for more money. It\’s an art and the price is infinite. You choose how much you should charge. 

    That is it from me today. 

    Until next time, bye and take care. Once again, do a good job and You will be handsomely rewarded. 

    If you need help to produce professional screen-cast videos, you can request a free quote here.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony