Category: Business

Helpware is a type of customer service outsourcing companies that provides businesses with the tools and strategies to create an enhanced customer experience. It can be used for various customer service needs, such as call center operations, customer support, and more. In this blog post, we will provide an overview of three major providers of helpware solutions—Accenture, Atos, and Capgemini—and discuss the benefits these solutions can bring to your business. 

Intended Audience: Business owners interested in learning about how helpware can benefit their business 

Helpware’s Experience in Managing Customer Service Operations for Enterprises 

Helpware is a global professional services company that provides a range of solutions for enterprises looking to improve their customer service operations. Helpware’s portfolio includes solutions such as virtual agents, voice-enabled technology, machine learning-based analytics, and more. Additionally, Accenture offers case studies that demonstrate the benefits their solutions have brought to customers. These include increased sales conversion rates and improved customer loyalty. Accenture’s team is also experienced in helping businesses develop long-term strategies for improving customer service operations. Helpware is one of the most popular customer service outsourcing companies that are working in the USA, Europe and other countries. They have achieved this thanks to their hard work, good reviews and a large customer base, as well as the quality of the services provided.

Atos’ Specialized Solutions for Complex Customer Care Needs 

Atos is a premier helpware solution provider, particularly for businesses dealing with intricate customer care demands. What makes Atos exceptional is its commitment to tailoring solutions to the unique needs of every client with whom it collaborates. Their service portfolio encompasses intelligent automation and data-driven insights, elevating customer experiences while reducing operational costs. Among the notable beneficiaries of Atos’ helpware solutions are industry giants like Microsoft, Intel, and Deutsche Bank. Notably, it distinguishes Atos from other providers’ ready access to cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the integration of Cloud RPA, solidifying its position as a preferred partner for forward-thinking enterprises.

Capgemini’s End-to-End Customer Service Offerings and Strategies  

Finally, Capgemini is renowned for its end-to-end helpware offerings and strategies for delivering an exceptional customer experience across all channels—from online chatbots to mobile applications. Their portfolio includes innovative technologies such as conversational AI bots that are designed to anticipate customers’ needs before they even ask them; digital engagement platforms; cloud computing; big data analytics; and much more. 

Helpwareoffers numerous benefits when it comes to improving your business’s customer service operations. By partnering with experienced providers like Accenture, Atos or Capgemini you will be able to identify areas where improvements need to be made in order increase efficiency while providing an enhanced experience for your customers at the same time. With their specialized toolsets tailored towards different industries and use cases you will be able get up and running quickly without having any prior experience or expertise in this field – allowing you focus on growing your business!

Ever wondered how to use SMS marketing to increase sales?

If you’ve considered it then you are on the right path. But then there’s one hurdle you have to hop over before you can begin: collecting phone numbers from new and existing customers.

What to know before collecting customer phone numbers?

Before you begin, there are some things you should know. No matter how tempting it is to buy a ready-made list of phone numbers, avoid doing it by all means. 

It’s not like the purchase itself is illegal, it’s just that sending text messages to people who have not opted into your campaign is illegal in most countries and subject to heavy fines.

In  2020, an Italian telecoms operator, TIM was fined $31 million for breaching GDPR laws that included sending customers unsolicited messages. You need to be familiar with the laws regarding SMS marketing in your jurisdiction to avoid getting into trouble. Make sure you know and understand the anti-spam policies in place.

Furthermore, using unsolicited SMS to reach people can put a dent in the reputation of your brand and any attempts to further communicate will be viewed as spam. This can render all your future SMS marketing efforts futile.

Whereas you can reach people without consent on other marketing channels like email, you need people’s explicit consent to include them in your promotional bulk SMS marketing.

By opting to receive messages from you, your customers are putting their trust in you. With this knowledge, you must:

• Include the option to opt-out
• Guarantee customer data privacy
• Ensure you offer value

7 Actionable Tips for Collecting Phone Numbers for Future SMS Campaigns

1. Free trials

When a fitness company needed to attract new customers to its new gym, it offered a free session to encourage new customers if they signed up with their phone numbers. 

This is always good, particularly if you’re primarily a brick-and-mortar business. When customers sign up with their phone number (and email address), you can include the opt-in option as a part of the free trial package.

2. Provide Incentives to Subscribers

Whether you do it through exclusive perks or discounts, people should know that they get something out of subscribing to your campaign.

If you want to get customers to sign up for your messages, provide them with incentives to do so. 

Privacy is a big thing to a lot of customers and they know their numbers are valuable information. 

When Rihanna expanded her lingerie brand Fenty, customers who signed up got 50% off all purchases for a limited time and Fenty saw a 150% growth in 2019 by using SMS.

3. Customer support 

If your brand takes support calls, your agents could ask for phone numbers when new customers call in for inquiries. 

On these calls, your team could encourage customers to give their consent to 2-Way SMS alerts that give them more room to speak to your business.

4. Provide clarity and exclusive perks 

Customers need to know what they’re signing up for and the best way to get them to commit is to be upfront with them. Provide clarity on how much text they’d get from your brand and what perks come with texts.

Popular sandwich brand, Subway once used SMS marketing to get people to opt into getting free coupons once a week when they register their numbers.

5. Run a text contest

You can create a contest with an eye-catching prize and get people to input phone numbers to enter a draw. 

This is a win-win situation for you as your subscriber list expands, and you get some brand awareness and increased customer engagement. Shoprite, the South African retailer used this strategy to penetrate into the Nigerian market when it added two more stores to the country’s commercial capital, Lagos.

6. Website forms

If you already have an online store and you have a good amount of traffic, you can always get customers to sign up for exclusive offers, discounts, and coupons right before they checkout. 

You can capture customers’ preferences in the popup by adding a list of the products or services they’re interested in. That way, you’ll tailor your SMS marketing campaign based on their needs.

7. Create a catchy keyword and set up a short code

Encourage customers to send your catchy keyword to a short code you create for marketing purposes. The keyword could be something that gets them a chance to win something. 

For example, you could get them to send the keyword “SHOP22” to 2442 to get discount coupons for an end of year sales coming up. This all depends on your creativity and what your brand does. 

Start your SMS marketing with BSG

One last thing, in order to make all the points above work smoothly, you need an omnichannel communications platform that provides you with the data and insights you need to run your campaign, and BSG is the one you can rely on. Let’s get started today!

A positive brand reputation is vital for any company. A good brand reputation may save the business even during the harshest crisis. It is the reason why any business owner should invest in a brand’s reputation management. 

A brand’s development strategy is a must for the creation of a good reputation. Naturally, qualitative services and products may do the trick. Yet, a focused approach to a brand’s reputation is a proven method for a company to profit. 

This article explores proven strategies for brand management and ways of reputation improvement. 

Why Does a Company Need a Strategy for the Brand’s Reputation? 

A brand’s reputation is how clients perceive it and what they say about it. A brand with a good reputation will receive more support from the company’s audience. The perception of a brand consists of external and internal factors. 

While a company cannot control all the external factors that influence the brand’s perception, it can create a strategy to maintain its reputation from within. A focused brand management strategy brings various benefits. 

Employees Growth 

Сlear and straightforward brand strategy is one of the primary benefits for workers’ growth. When a company has a clearly articulated brand perception, it will be easier for job seekers to hire someone to write a cover letter to get professional help. 

Besides, it will be easier for a company to find like-minded people who will contribute to the meaningful development of the business. The desired perception of a brand is a cornerstone of the company’s culture. 

Edge on the Market’s Competition 

A company may make quicker decisions on the marketing competition by having a clear idea of what brand perception should be. 

For example, a new rival enters the market with dumping. A clear vision of the brand and its customer perception will help develop a reasonable answer for the new competitor. 

Increase of the Customers’ Base 

Many companies’ primary income is the loyal customer base. Brand development strategy is a way of communicating with this base and meeting their needs and desires. 

With the right approach, a company may learn what people expect of the brand and how to meet these expectations. 

source 

Build the Brand’s Identity 

Before creating a strategy for the brand’s development and improvement, a company should have a brand. A brand represents the company’s values, aims, and offerings. Therefore, a brand should reflect all these components in a simple, recognizable form.

The brand’s identity should include the following: 

• Consistent visual language. Colors, shapes, logos, and images of your brand should synchronize with each other. 

• Defined brand’s voice. 

• Vision, mission, and a company statement. 

When all these elements are completed, a company may work on how to promote them. 

Create a Brand Style Guide 

Each successful business grows and diversifies with time. Yet, it is crucial to maintain consistency across all the products and publications. A brand style guide will help keep it. 

A style guide is a list of recommendations for maintaining a brand’s identity for different products. When a company has many departments and various teams, it is essential to have a guide to creating consistency across all departments. A consistent brand attracts more people and keeps loyal customers. 

Build Online Presence 

Each modern company needs an online representation. It includes a website, groups in social media networks, and channels of communication with the clients. 

Online experience creates the first impression about the company. Therefore, it would be wise to invest in the graphic design of the brand’s website and user experience. 

Communication with the Clients 

Direct and honest communication with clients is one of the fastest ways to improve the brand’s reputation. Reviews, in particular, are an excellent tool for such communication. 

Usually, satisfied clients do not write reviews and enjoy the product. However, people who dislike the brand will ensure their voice is loud. Therefore, answer all of the reviews, positive and negative. 

This communication will show the customers that the company is attentive to their opinion. Even if the reviews are negative, active answers show the company’s dedication to satisfying its customers. 

A high-quality user experience is a great way to improve a brand’s reputation. In addition, more communication channels with the clients and a proficient support team can enhance the brand’s reputation. When people have to deal with brand-related problems, they want to be sure that the company will hear them at any moment. 

Build a Healthy Corporate Culture 

 A brand will benefit from a productive and friendly environment within the company. When people engage in meaningful, valuable activities, they want to share them with others. Employees, who are proud of their company, will promote its brand naturally. 

Career resources like Glassdoor and Indeed publish details about companies’ inner culture. If it is positive, many employees will leave positive reviews about the company, contributing to the brand’s reputation. 

A healthy culture appears when a company listens to its workers, has a clear vision, and contributes to society. Acts of philanthropy and social activism are excellent actions to solidify the company’s culture and make it more attractive. 

source 

Invest in the Community Management 

Communication with the clients is more than reading reviews and answering distress calls. It is the provision of valuable information and constant interactivity with the audience. Therefore, a company needs a high-rank community management team to uphold the brand’s positive reputation. 

Intelligent community management includes: 

• Management of the brand’s website and social media groups. 

• Communication with the local media about the positive accomplishments of the company. 

• Securing speech positions for the company in industry-related events. 

Not only reactive but proactive communication will elevate the brand’s reputation. 

Bottom Line 

A positive brand’s reputation starts with a clear identity and its presentation to the company’s teams. With a defined brand and comprehensive style guide, a company will build a successful strategy for the brand’s reputation improvement. 

Active communication with the brand’s audience is the key to its positive perception. Answering all the reviews, creating a high-quality customer experience, and investing in community management will secure the brand’s positive reputation. 

This is a guide for the entrepreneur who wants to build a full-cycle agency. It provides insights on how to develop your agency from a small business idea to a successful company. Itexus is a full-cycle custom software development agency and digital transformation consulting firm. In today’s world, it has never been more important for entrepreneurs and small businesses to think about how they can grow their companies. If you’re looking for ways to grow your company, this guide might be able to help you out. It includes information on how developing an agency can help with growth in different areas of your business such as advertising, media relations, and marketing.

A full-cycle agency is an agency that offers a variety of services, such as content writing, digital marketing, or graphic design. Full-cycle agencies are able to develop and manage a wide range of digital marketing strategies for their clients. They also create content that can help brands build their online presence. The idea of a full-cycle agency is to provide a holistic approach to the marketing and business development process for smaller businesses. By doing this, they hope to increase the likelihood of success for their clients in the long run.

Everything You Need to Know About Full-Cycle Development

Full-Cycle Development is a process that helps to increase the quality of software. It includes the entire spectrum of development, from design to testing and deployment. The idea behind it is that this process can reduce time and cost when compared with traditional waterfall development. There are many benefits of using Full-Cycle Development such as increased productivity, reduced risk, more maintainable code, better quality control, faster release cycles and shorter product life cycles.

The full-cycle development process is the process of developing an idea into a product. It starts with the idea, moves on to the design and development of a prototype, and finally ends with the mass production. This article covers everything you need to know about this process. It includes different stages of designing and developing a product, including how to create a prototype for your idea.

How Full-Cycle Development Works

Full-Cycle Development is a software design methodology in which the entire process of designing and developing software is done by one team. It is a systematic approach that has been used by many companies and organizations, such as Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Facebook. The full-cycle development process starts with an idea for a product or service.

The idea is then translated into a high-level business case that outlines the customer problems the product will solve, the features it will have and how it will be delivered to customers. This document also includes an estimate of cost and time to market. Next, this idea goes through several stages of prototyping before being presented to potential customers for feedback. After getting feedback from customers that validate the concept and make adjustments if necessary, the final design goes through another round of prototyping before being turned into code.

The advantages of this methodology are that it allows teams to work on multiple projects simultaneously while also giving them more flexibility in terms of scope changes or Full-Cycle Development (FDD) is a process that takes a product from inception to launch. It begins with idea generation, followed by the creation of an MVP, then the design and development phase, then marketing and sales. The most important part of FDD is the iterative process where there is constant feedback between each step to ensure that the product is as successful as possible.

The FDD process ensures that every aspect of a project has been considered and planned for before it begins. This allows for an efficient use of time and resources during development.

Conclusion

Developing a full-cycle agency can be an incredibly rewarding process and a great way to grow your business. By investing in the most suitable professionals and resources you are setting yourself up for success in the long run. With well thought out strategies, processes, and goals that have been customized to fit your business needs, you will be able to ensure that your time is wisely spent and that you are maximizing efficiency across all departments of your organization.

Owning a timeshare feels like a great opportunity at first, but eventually, it grows into a huge buyer’s remorse. People are easily lured by the enticing timeshare offers and disregard their needs, leading to a decision they regret for a long time. They plan to sell or rent it out, only to find that there are already numerous sellers like them, while only 1% of buyers are out there.   

Consequently, they turn to timeshare cancellation companies for assistance. Many companies, such as Timeshare Compliance, Wesley Financial Group, etc., provide legal aid to help them out of a timeshare. Are you also planning on working with Timeshare Compliance? 

You may face the doubt, ‘Is Timeshare Compliance a legit company?’ When dealing with financial concerns, you definitely want to be sure of your investments. Thus, it is vital to be aware of a few things about the process before hiring a timeshare exit company.  

How to find a legitimate exit company? 

To avoid being trapped in timeshare company scams, you must take the necessary measures to find a legitimate company. Before making any payments, thoroughly research the company to check its authenticity.   

Timeshare exit companies are restricted from making false promises. They rely on illegal and unethical methods to cancel your timeshare contract, and then you have to bear the consequences. You’ll eventually end up owing more money than before. Thus, it is wise to find a legitimate company to receive the best services.   

Here are some tips to know whether a company Is legitimate or not:  

• Client feedback and testimonials  

One of the most reliable methods to know if a timeshare exit company is legit is by checking its reviews and feedback from previous clients. A legit company offers a free consultation to potential clients where they explain their terms, process, and fee charges.   

Do not pay any upfront fees before consulting a company. Look for companies with positive reviews and recommendations. Not every timeshare exit company can help you out. Hence, you must consult with them about your particular situation before paying any fees.   

• State Regulated  

Another method is to check whether the company is regulated by your state. An authorized and authentic company must be state verified and have legal permission to offer services in that state. Legit timeshare exit companies are state-regulated that adhere to government policies.  

If a company is caught exploiting the clients or is facing issues with the Attorney General, it is obviously fraudulent. Thus, look for reviews online to check the company’s status and functioning. If it complies with the laws and regulations of the state, it is a legit company.  

Apart from these, you can also contact the owner services department of the company to know about the value of your ownership and how much you can get in return. In all cases, ensure to ask questions and learn more about the company before making any payments for their services.    

To Conclude  

Timeshare ownership entails heavy recurring expenses, such as repair assessments, maintenance fees, etc., and is not as flexible as advertised. Because of this, the owners are unable to enjoy a vacation as per their will. As a result, they start looking for options to get out of their timeshares.   

According to a study, 85% of timeshare owners regret their purchase. They search for an authentic company to help them get out of their contracts. However, choosing a legitimate company is also quite tricky. Many timeshare exit companies are set up just to scam the frustrated and vulnerable owners and not provide healthy, constructive solutions.  

If you plan to hire a timeshare exit company, ensure to follow the tips mentioned above to avoid becoming a swindled customer. Mindful research can help you make wise decisions and save money. The right, legit timeshare exit company will deliver meaningful assistance and productive results. 

Students with lots of energy often wonder if it’s possible to begin their own business while still in college. Too many great business ideas sometimes make it hard to sit still and focus merely on studying the theory. Some people don’t want to wait until graduation to start working on their ideas.

Such determination sometimes pushes them a whole mile ahead of their fellows. A great example could be Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded the social networking website Facebook in his college dorm room while still studying at Harvard University. 

And even though it’s possible to start pursuing this kind of dream as a student, there are still many factors to keep in mind. With such an ambition, an undergraduate comes across wonderful opportunities as well as a number of sacrifices to make. Along with that, with essay writing help, students are able to save up many hours and dedicate them to their businesses. Sometimes a smart thing to do is not to juggle everything at once but to outsource the work. 

Let’s look at what these are! 

Pros of Starting a Business As a Student 

Applying knowledge in practice right away

In college, people just study, gain the theory and let it settle for years while they are studying new loads of information. But taking a chance to begin your own hustle can show that it can be put into practice right after it’s learned. 

This can also help to understand the theory better and consequently perform better in group discussions or even examinations. It also depends on what kind of business a person is doing. But if he, for example, studies marketing, the knowledge he is about to process when running an e-commerce company will be of great value.

Progressing faster than your classmates

Chances are not many of the students think, “Who can do homework for me so I can work on my business?”. Instead, they try to do all the college work by themselves and think of finding jobs and creating business plans only after graduation. 

Consequently, a student who starts a company before he graduates gets ahead of his classmates. Such individuals have more chances to be successful in the future. All because they fail faster and learn from their mistakes faster, getting all the experience before being ‘ready.’ 

After some time of starting a business, the benefits unlocked for a student are: 

• Better work ethic 
• Understanding of how things work earlier than the competitors (classmates) 
• Even if failing a startup, experience for the future job
• Improved time-management and communication skills 
• Less fear of working on new and similar things again in the future

Gaining financial freedom 

Financial freedom is the best benefit. It shows the true value of hard work and what is possible to achieve when starting your own project. This opens many opportunities in life and provides means to travel wherever you want instead of asking for a vacation. It’s possible to work whenever you like from any part of the world. 

When having a business, a person doesn’t have a limit on how much they can earn. It solely depends on their hard work and the things they do. Even scaling a small hustle idea can bring a whole new level of income after some time. 

Better chances to get a good job after graduation 

If the startup fails, a person with experience running a business automatically stands out. It shows how many skills were accumulated during that period and how serious the candidate is. Start-up graduates who find themselves in the position of applying for a job for whatever reason in the future will have more chances than other potential employers. After all, they can show they have leadership skills, creativity, and great courage to try things out and go into the unknown. 

While also demonstrating their ability to handle administrative tasks with ease, such as using various tools, like paystubs generator, to maintain accurate financial records for their team.

Cons of Starting a Business As a Student 

Not enough time for homework

When the excitement of running the business takes over, it’s easy to forget about proper time management. Working on something on the side damages the focus and disrupts the performance of the college tasks. But there is a great solution for making more time. 

Less fun and social activities

In college, young people are looking to have fun because that’s what the college years are. With the burdens of handling their own business, however, student life might get dull. Plans get postponed or even avoided. Friends get more and more distant. In college, if someone is doing something unusual, it’s more likely they stay isolated along with their activity. Taking a different path often closes the doors to fun social interactions and parties. 

That’s why it’s a serious fact to consider while thinking of launching a startup. If you are an extrovert who can’t live without hanging out with friends, it’s a huge disadvantage for you. 

Limited financial resources 

College students may not always have the necessary funds to cover their business idea. To bear the desired fruit from your startup, at the beginning, it’s necessary to take risks and invest. There should be multiple tests done before finally coming to the end product or finalized idea. Most of those who attend college already have it hard with their tuition fees, stationary expenses, etc. It’s especially harder if they are living apart from family. 

Investors and partners might not perceive you seriously 

When seeking help from influential people, it might be quite stressful. A lot of time can pass before a student can actually find the people ready to invest in their idea. Everyone wants to collaborate with those with a steady ground, finished studies, and at least some experience. Undergraduates are often perceived as newbies, and even though it might be unfair, this is the reality. 

Conclusion

Starting and running a business as a student is a dream that has already been implemented in real life by others. The task is realistic but requires focus, effort, and hard work. To achieve this goal, a student has to sacrifice the fun he could have in college and take things seriously. There are equal pros and cons when launching a business as a student. 

However, if someone has a good idea, it’s always better to test it right away before it loses its value and potential. A startup may be profitable and successful this year, but the next one, the market demand or other circumstances, can change. 

You must master affiliate research to find the affiliates of your competitors. Your competitor’s affiliates earn by driving traffic to the selling website and get a commission on any purchases made from those recommendations. If your business wants to get ahead of the competition, you need to find out what they are doing to gain traffic.

However, you must first identify the affiliates of your competitors. Any websites that link back to your competitors’ websites are their affiliates. In addition to being crucial for improving SEO results, backlinks also drive quality traffic that can aid your rivals in gaining new clients.

Most likely, your competitors have already conducted independent research to identify top-notch affiliates. Therefore, instead of searching the market for your affiliates, just find them to understand what they are doing differently. You can approach those affiliates to create your affiliate program after knowing which ones drive traffic to your rivals’ websites.

What Is An Affiliate?

An affiliate advertises a company on their website, with a unique link on the page, to get paid a commission for any purchases made via their link. In addition to adverts and your SEO, having affiliates for your business can help you attract more traffic.

If you are currently running your own program or are thinking about doing so, you can find affiliates directly from your rivals to grow your affiliate network.

Why Should You Analyze Your Competitor’s Affiliates?

Analyzing your competitor’s affiliates assist you in identifying your program’s advantages, disadvantages, and opportunities. Competitor analysis is essential whether you are managing an established affiliate program or just starting. Here’s what you can identify from affiliate analysis:

• Choosing the proper network for your brand
• What commission scheme to present
• the terms and conditions of your program
• Choosing the right affiliates to work with
• How to motivate your coworkers

How To Find Your Competitor’s Affiliates?

1. Find Backlinks Attached To Your Competitor’s Domain

The backlinks that your competition receives are where we begin our search. You must navigate through the backlinks and discover the affiliates associated with them after entering the domain into the search bar.

2.Only Look For Affiliate Links

The pages connected to the website are listed in your search results. Even better, as these are rated pages that appear in Google searches, they have been checked to ensure they are not link farms or penalized pages.

Since you are particularly seeking affiliates, we will identify them using the filter on the left. There are many tools to find affiliate links that you can use.

Even though the filtered links are the affiliate link pages of at least one vendor, the links are not necessarily a part of the website’s affiliate program.

But this next step can increase your chances of discovering the appropriate affiliate matches.

3.Filter The Results Using Relevant Keywords

The keyword filter will whittle down the lengthy list of results. Choose keywords pertinent to your industry, and you will only see pages that are useful to you.

But resist the urge to use branded words. Open wide. Pick one or two keywords related to your industry. This step’s objective is to remove any competitor-linked pages that may not be within your area of expertise. You can now be sure to find sites that are more suitable for your own company.

4.Get Rid of Duplicates

You shouldn’t be surprised if any of these pages are already a part of your affiliate program, as many affiliates promote multiple businesses. The most considerable harm would be time wasted trying to contact them. You must now remove the same affiliates from this list.

5.Use The Final List To Find Affiliate Strategies

Once you have the final list of affiliates, go to their website and check out what they offer. You will find blog posts and services consisting of their strategies. Carefully analyze what they do and compare it to your own.

You may even reach out to them via email or other means on their website. If you find it difficult to find competitor affiliates, you can contact an affiliate consultant for that.

What To Look For When Analyzing Your Competitor’s Affiliate Strategies

If you don’t know what you’re searching for, then an affiliate analysis of your competitors is pointless. Assuming you have already done so, you can now begin to research your competition. You wish to extract this info.

• Tracking Systems– The affiliate network or internal tracking system the company employs to manage its affiliate program
• Rate of Commissions– The tiers, incentives, or commission rates they use to incentivize their partners to spread the word about them.
• Description of Programs– The way they describe their program and the advantages affiliates receive by partnering with them.
• Cookies– Cookies usually stay for 30 days but may differ according to the brand or vertical
• Terms and Conditions– What is and isn’t permitted when advertising the brand
• Earnings Per Click– Joining an affiliate network will allow you to learn the average earnings per click (EPC) that affiliates receive from traffic to their website.
• Assets– What materials or banners do they offer their affiliates as brand assets to help them promote the brand and draw in customers?
• Average Order Value– How does this Average Order Value (AOV) compare to yours, and what results might you anticipate from your program?
• Conversion Rate– This is important for determining how involved their program’s affiliates are. Customer Offers: Do they allow affiliates to promote exclusive, scarcely publicized offers?
• Target Affiliates– Depending on whether they work with a rival, you might begin to compile a list of target affiliates to work with.

Keep in mind that this may seem like a lot of work. But once completed, most of the work is finished for any upcoming projects. Networks, cookie durations, and program phrases are examples of elements that won’t change frequently.

Bottom Line

To find your competitors’ affiliates, you should go through these steps of affiliate research. You must learn what the other companies are doing to increase traffic if you want to outperform

Running an online business has probably not been easier when you think about the developments in cloud computing, third-party apps, and the chance to hire remote workers. Especially remote work has been the star of the last two years of the business world with undeniable benefits such as reduced costs and flexible working hours. But there is one thing threatening remote businesses; cyber attacks.

Securing remote businesses from cyber attacks is a big issue and needs to be highlighted. A successful attack on the company’s resources might jeopardize the whole operation, cause a loss of profit, and make you deal with legal issues. Although all these sounds concerning (and they should), we have a selection of practices to secure your remote business from cyber attacks.

How to Secure Remote Businesses From Cyber Attacks?

In 2020, when remote work literally boomed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a significant increase in cyber threats. In fact, according to Fintech News, there was a 500% increase in the attacks directed at remote workers in the first 6 weeks of the lockdown. This is mostly due to companies moving their workforce to remote work and migrating to cloud environments to facilitate access to resources.

With the increasing cybersecurity risks and more diverse company networks, businesses and IT professionals forcibly learned and developed new ways of protecting their resources against cyber attacks. For more information regarding the types of automated threats your remote business may face, you can also explore this list of owasp threats to better enhance your cybersecurity. Nevertheless, the past two years have been an incredible lesson for all IT professionals, and this process resulted in some of the best practices to protect remote businesses. Let’s see some of them so you can protect your company too.

1-) Cybersecurity training for employees

Employees might not need comprehensive cybersecurity training when in the office (although it’s still good practice), but when you are working from home, risks are even more apparent. What’s worse is that employees are the first one’s cybercriminals target.

When working in a physical office, most data is contained and controlled by the IT security team. But when working remotely, employees need to know how to protect their devices and credentials from malicious users, or to recognize phishing scams.

This requires extended cybersecurity training for every employee working remotely. They need to be advised on how to manage passwords, keep their devices and connections secure, and know about the company’s security policies and restrictions.

2-) Control access and block unfriendly sources

You don’t have much control over what your users are doing on the Internet when they are connected to the company network. There are significant risks associated with unauthorized and uncontrolled access such as malware, ransomware, and phishing scams.

In order to prevent these, you first need to have a blocklist or an allowlist of the websites and apps employees are permitted to access. If they are accessing sketchy websites when connected to company resources, there is a great chance that they will be compromised.

You also need to draw clear lines and emphasize the websites or content categories employees need to avoid. There should be boundaries on access to prevent cyberattacks and keep productivity high.

3-) Use Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Locationally restricted security solutions do not provide the ability to offer continuous and secure access to those working remotely. They need almost instant access to third-party applications and corporate resources they use every day, and they need to be protected while using them. Secure Access Service Edge is here just to do that.

But what is Secure Access Service Edge? SASE is the convergence of network security and network connectivity. Combining SD-WAN with security solutions such as Zero Trust, CASB, or FWaaS, SASE offers edge-to-edge network security and continuous remote access.

SASE solutions are cloud-based, meaning that they can be used in remote environments and employees can be secured throughout the network regardless of where they are and how they are connecting. This brings the ability to verify remote users contextually, provide secure remote access, and assess risks in real-time. All these qualities make SASE the number one option for remote work network security.

4-) Choose remote working tools carefully

When running a remote business, you need a handful of applications and tools to facilitate communication and business operations. These can be the things such as project management software, a team communication app such as Microsoft Teams, or simply a workforce management tool.

If you are using any of these cloud-based business solutions, you are relying on a third-party vendor, and things are, to some degree, outside of your control. For this reason, it is crucial to assess your vendors to see if they have a backup or recovery plan in case of a cyber attack. If not, your remote business may experience interruptions caused by outside factors.

Even worse, some third-party vendors do not have the ability to properly secure their resources. As a company that uses their services, any vulnerability they have is also a threat to your company’s data, so choose these tools carefully.

5-) Use Multi-Factor Authentication

People use passwords such as “password”, which opens the door for hackers to come in and steal valuable data. Although passwords can be regulated and strong passwords can be encouraged, it is a fact that it can’t be the only way to verify users.

You need to implement ways to add another layer to user verification, and multi-factor authentication is just the thing. It asks for a second authentication after the password is put in. The second layer of this could be biometrics, OTP, or verification by call.

Multi-factor authentication ensures that even if a password is compromised, the system has a way to tell whether it is the actual user trying to access it or a malicious actor. This is also a great measure against device theft since MFA can trigger and require authentication from an additional device (usually user’s smartphone).

6-) Keep software updated

Software always needs to be updated in order to have the latest security adjustments. Developers work hard to fix vulnerabilities and make the software more robust, and you need to keep track of that.

Since remote work is usually done on personal devices, you need to train employees on updating software regularly, or even check frequently to see the versions they are using. Outdated software will always have vulnerabilities, and even a single outdated device is a risk to your remote business.

Conclusion

Securing a remote business from cyber attacks is vital to ensure business continuity and keep your client’s information safe. You might think that some of these are far-fetched, but these practices have become the standard in the last two years. It is important to take measures against something before it actually happens and damages your business significantly. Invest in cyber security to keep profits stable and build your business securely.

Human resources professionals are tasked with selecting the best and the brightest to join a company’s ranks. As such, we must ensure that those we let in the door can perform the work required and have the suitable mental capacity to work in our company culture. Getting it right the first time around is crucial. Verifying college degrees is one of the essential parts of ensuring we choose the best candidate.

Most applicants for jobs have degrees from learning institutions all over the world. Several also come with professionally edited cover letters that show off their skills and experience. The trend of virtually edited applications is not new, as more graduates and students look for “edit my paper” online solutions. Yet, despite all of this, it’s vital to remember that not all that glitters is gold. Some applicants may not be what they seem at first glance. 

Why Is Verification Necessary?

When an HR professional looks at a shortlist of candidates, college degrees and where they’re from stand out. However, just getting a degree at a prestigious institution doesn’t tell us anything about the candidate apart from their ability to learn. During the education verification process, we can determine the nature of the degree and what skill level they qualified at. 

Verification is also crucial in determining whether an applicant has a degree from a proper institution or if they just bought one from a “diploma mill.” According to GCF Global, diploma mills are institutions that sell degrees without concern for the student’s ability to complete work or learn anything about the topic.

If you’re faced with a candidate that seems to have a degree issued by a diploma mill, you may need to run a background check to verify other particulars of their application. However, it might be best to simply remove the candidate from the shortlist once this dishonesty is detected. 

An applicant that submits a diploma from one of these institutions shows a dishonest streak that would probably endanger the company’s operations over time. It may be best to simply avoid dealing with this candidate altogether. A diploma mill in the candidate’s education section is a red flag for any HR professional.

How To Spot Diploma Mills?

According to Angelina Grin, an expert at Studybay, many candidates who are used to editing papers apps online feel they can get away with diploma mill degrees because those organizations are challenging to tell apart from traditional educational institutions. Sometimes, these diploma mills use a naming structure similar to a real university. HR professionals can leverage several background screening services to help them figure out if a university is real or not. 

Many universities utilize a degree accreditation system linked to an international accreditation body. In other cases, HR professionals can access the National Student Clearinghouse to verify a candidate’s degree particulars.

How Do Employers Verify Education?

Many HR professionals prefer a more hands-on approach to proof of degree for a job. Occasionally, an employer asking for a copy of a degree to keep on file is the accepted way to collect this information. Hiring managers may prefer to call the office presented on the degree to verify the institution and its degree program. Diploma mills have offices set up expressly for this purpose, so calling to verify particulars defeats the purpose and legitimizes a degree that doesn’t deserve the acknowledgment. 

Other companies require a transcript to be forwarded from the institution to the hiring manager directly to ensure there’s no tampering with the degree level or grades. Even here, diploma mills can do the same as a real university, with the hiring managers none the wiser about the situation.

The first step in verification comes from collecting the relevant information from the applicant. This information includes:

1. Their full name and address, including their maiden name if they were married after getting the degree
2. The name and address of the institution they got their degree from
3. What dates they attended the institution
4. The educational field and title of the degree
5.  An authorization letter, signed and dated, from the applicant

This information is critical in helping an HR professional verify a degree.

Student clearinghouses are among the best options for verifying a degree’s veracity. These clearinghouses collect payment and loan information about students, alongside their degree enrollment at academic institutions. Querying a clearinghouse usually has a small fee attached. HR professionals should only attempt to do this when they have cut down their candidate list to a relatively short amount to reduce costs to the company. 

Clearinghouses are also helpful because they can integrate with many application tracking backends. If that’s the case, you could keep all your queries and responses in a single place for later reference.

As mentioned before, HR professionals could opt to call the institutions directly. This DIY method is labor-intensive and doesn’t always generate the best results. DIY verification saves the business money, but the hassle and stress it may cause the HR professional isn’t worth it. 

Moreover, this verification method is more time-intensive and impractical for even a shortlist of candidates. Information collected through DIY verification may also be incorrect, depending on the source of that information. HR professionals may also fall prey to diploma mill administrative centers when opting for this verification route.

By the way this guide would surely be interesting to you: “low-stress jobs that pay well without a degree“

Sidestepping Discrimination Claims

As an HR professional, you might be inclined to “mix and match” your verification procedures for candidates. You may outsource some of your verification to a clearinghouse while keeping a few in-house. Others you may decide not to verify at all. This approach could leave the business open to a discrimination lawsuit. If you start doing verification checks through a third party, then all shortlisted candidates should be processed through the same verification system.

Education background checks are usually performed before a candidate enters the workforce. Employees who are already within the company’s roster may be grandfathered into the system without needing an educational background check. Again, information might be challenging to find and may open the department up to discrimination allegations if done improperly.

How Long Does It Take To Verify a Degree?

It doesn’t take too much time to perform a background check for a college degree. A general rule of thumb is that it takes up to three business days for a clearinghouse to respond to a query. If the HR department is conducting the verification themselves, there might be a much longer time before they have results in hand. 

Colleges and universities have a much faster turnaround time than high schools or GED-granting institutions. It’s also important to remember that the time of your request to a school may impact how fast they get back to you. Staff is at a minimum during school holidays, and the school will take longer to get back to you. They may also be running at reduced hours during this period.

What Verifying a Degree Tells Us About a Candidate

With all the time and effort to verify a degree, the result must tell us something about the candidate. What we learn as professionals is whether the candidate’s degree comes from a reputable institution and whether they have the knowledge level necessary to perform the job. 

If the institution granting the degree is not accredited or turns out to be a diploma mill, we also learn that the candidate is unscrupulous and dishonest. In either case, it helps us to advance the candidate to the next stage of interviews or remove them from the pool of shortlisted applicants. Verification is a valuable tool because it allows us to further pare down applicants to those we prefer in the position we’re trying to fill.

Many people who have retired want to return to work. It is entirely possible. If you are one of them, you should know that even if you feel disconnected from the working world for a long time, there is still a good chance that you will find a job that suits you. We will help you with these few lines in the writing of your retired resume.

Finding a job after retirement (Yes it is possible!)

Returning to work for some people over the age of 60 is quite difficult. But it is possible. You just need to follow a few rules. First of all, it requires pure reflection on your part to determine what you really want to do at this time. Only then can you put in place the right strategies to have a satisfying return to work.

The retired resume is a way for you to build a new way of defining yourself as a worker and allow you to present yourself to potential employers looking for interesting candidates. Yes, you could be the ideal candidate for a given position even if you are already retired. If you were an accountant in the past, you may want to check out some sample accounting resumes for retirees online.

The secret to finding a job at this age is not to abolish your experiences according to dates but rather to highlight those that are directly related to your career objective. If these are extremely relevant to the position you are applying for, there should be no problem mentioning them.

In this case, you must be able to target your expectations and determine which positions are suitable for you and which companies can hire you. There are companies that prefer retired people because they are experienced in certain fields such as management or sales director positions. The idea is to highlight your know-how and key skills. You can try out editable resume templates to showcase your skills.

How to write your CV when you are retired?

Being of a certain age, our main challenge in writing a successful retirement resume is how to write it. You have to be competent enough to know how to determine all the important information to include. You need to be able to put your work experience and skills in the context of your current job search. In any case, the recruiter must realize that you are in no way obliged to remember everything you have done during your professional career.

To write a senior CV, consider a chronological order, contrary to the structure of a classic CV. You should start by listing your experiences and skills at the end of your career and work backwards. You should not go back more than 15 years.

For the sections to insert in your CV, there are :

• Your activities since you retired: insist on what you did during your retirement years and even if these activities have nothing to do with the job you are applying for. You must be able to prove to your recruiter that you are still active despite your retirement and that you are driven by your passions and occupations;
• Your job history: here, you must indicate all the positions you have held without going into too much detail. Just include descriptions of these former jobs. These are details that prove that you are a motivated person who is ready to take on challenges despite your retirement, and that you deserve to be considered for the position you are seeking;
• A summary detailing your professional qualities and skills: you have undoubtedly acquired personal and professional skills during your career. Don’t hesitate to mention them as they can be an asset to help you stand out from the crowd;
• And your education: list your diplomas, starting with the most recent to the oldest. There is no need to mention your training and certificates that have nothing to do with the job you are applying for.

In short, the key to a successful retirement resume is to focus on your soft skills that can give you a competitive edge in the position you are seeking. And above all, do not lose confidence in yourself.

For your information, given their age, most retirees who wish to return to work hope to :

• Working part-time;
• Find a position with less responsibility;
• And work in a completely different field than they did during their career.

In order not to distort the recruiter’s idea about you, it is very important to mention this information either in your retired resume or in your cover letter. This way, the recruiter will take the appropriate measures before hiring you.

By the way in the guide: “Add a resume to LinkedIn” learn how to add and share you resume on LinkedIn.

The difference between the classic CV and the retired CV

As mentioned above, the classic resume is generally chronological and includes several sections including the description of jobs held in anti-chronological order, professional achievements, degrees obtained, training taken during your career, and specific knowledge developed.

If you want to continue in the same industry as before, this type of resume is very suitable for you. The standard format is not suitable for most retirees who really want to work part-time. However, this type of resume does not make your application more attractive as a retiree looking for a new job. That’s where you need to turn to the retiree resume.

Tips for writing a retired resume

To be successful with your retired resume, don’t be exhaustive. You must personalize your resume even if you are retired. And most importantly, you are free to exceed one page for your resume. There is no problem. Your recruiter must understand this since you are at the end of your career and have therefore held several positions and acquired several experiences.

A one-page CV forces you to sort out too much information. In short, you need to give importance to a well thought out selection of information, skills and references in order to be totally in line with the job offer you have found.