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Tips in Choosing a Transcription Service for Universities

January 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Tactical Execution /by StrategyDriven

Transcription is necessary for the field of Academics. Whether you are a student, professor, or researcher, you will find yourself with the impossible task of transcribing a significant amount of audio file into written text. Fortunately, hiring a transcription service is just as easy. But to make sure that you find not only the best but also the most reliable transcription service, it is essential to take note of the following tips.

Is the transcription service an expert in the field of academics?

Transcribing files for different fields require varying levels of expertise. When it comes to university transcription, you are looking for a company that has extensive experience working with similar clientele. There are some vendors today that prefer to focus on one particular industry. For example, there are transcription services that specialize in the medical and legal fields.

It is possible to find a vendor that can claim versatility. But before you confidently trust their services, take time to check their history with academic transcription. If possible, look for feedback from past clients and focus on the essential aspects of the service they provide. Finding a transcription service with an extensive background in your field means you will not have a hard time explaining technical jargon.

Ask about their data privacy policy

Transacting with a third-party will always expose you to some level of risk. This is especially true with online transcription services. It would help if you were particularly vigilant about the vendor’s security and privacy policy. If the document contains proprietary information such as research papers, unpublished work, and dissertations, ask the vendor how they handle keeping your information secure.

Do they provide a secure network for sharing files? What is the level of encryption? Does the vendor use a transcription software or rely on human transcription? Asking these questions will help you determine whether or not there is a guarantee that they can keep your data secure.

What is their turnaround time?

Scheduling is essential, especially if you are concerned about meeting deadlines. Does the transcription company follow a specific turnaround time, or are they amenable to requests? Will they accept rush projects? How long will it take them to complete a particular volume or load? Anytime you are outsourcing transcription; you need to verify whether they can meet deadlines. Otherwise, your work will also suffer if it takes them a long time to get the job done.

Ask for samples

If the firm allows it, ask for examples of their archived academic transcription projects. You will gain better insight into the quality, accuracy, and level of professionalism by viewing their past work. If there are references available, you may also try to contact previous clients and ask about their experience with the firm.

What type of transcription software do they use?

Most transcription companies today make use of some computer software to enhance efficiency. You must know this aspect of their service so that you have some understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. How do they handle quality assurance? Do they have human transcriptionists available to edit or double-check automated transcription results?

With the help of these tips and other best practices, you can find an excellent university transcription service that best fits your needs.

Online Marketplace: New challenges to overcome

January 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Marketing & Sales, Online Marketing and Website Development /by StrategyDriven

The marketplace model of eCommerce is one such breakthrough that allowed everyone to become a part of the new ecosystem of online commerce. There was a time when the entry of an online alternative in a market would scare the hell out of small offline retailers. The consumer behavior was changing and the prices were getting aggressively competing; it was not easy for small retailers to keep up with their online counterparts.

Then came the marketplace model that allowed even small retailers to claim a share from the multi-billion dollar pie of eCommerce. Now, instead of competing with the offline retailers, the eCommerce sites were connecting third-party retailers directly to their customers. We called this model the pure marketplace ecosystem, where the owner of the marketplace did not maintain the inventory but simply connect the people with inventories to the people who want to purchase. The marketplace was just an intermediary, which would make money from the commissions they charged on each sale generated for their retailers.

The time changed, markets evolved, competition became even harsh, and marketplaces required more innovative ways to make money than the mere commissions. This gave birth to different sub-classifications of the actual marketplace model, which still exists:

E-Bay: A peer-to-peer marketplace that sales only from the third-party inventories
Amazon: A hybrid marketplace that sales from both in-house and third party inventories
Walmart: A hybrid combined with the physical model to sell both in online and offline ecosystems

What’s next in the marketplace model of eCommerce?

The meaning of an online marketplace is changing as we speak. Today, the boundary that differentiates a physical marketplace from its online counterpart is as thin as a thread. The biggest names in the marketplace ecosystem, such as Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart, have established both online and offline presence and securing major shares of the pie through their Omni-channel manifestations.

Today, the marketplace business is no more about massive catalogs of different categories of products. Instead, marketplaces are creating ecosystems for their customers. They are driving customers towards the business from all possible sides and earning customer loyalty by offering everything at one place on any channel. Take Amazon for example. Is there anything that Amazon can’t offer to a common consumer? From entertainment to finance, grocery, vegetables, electronics, home furnishing, and cloud services, Amazon is the best example to understand the rapidly evolving face of the marketplace model today.

Is the marketplace is a profitable business idea in 2020?

It indeed is. Even the biggest entities in the market cannot cover everything. There are still numerous niches with profitable prospects for the new entrants. It certainly not an easy job to set up a marketplace and compete with the likes of Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and Walmart. However, you don’t need to compete with them, if you identify some niche marketplace ideas. The marketplace model offers an array of benefits to the merchants and the customers, and all of them could encourage them to come along with your platform:

A combined channel: You could offer a hybrid channel to small retailers and merchants to generate sales from both online and offline markets.
Better exposure: Selling on a marketplace platform reveals new doors to the merchants who have been relying on traditional channels. They can even expand their business internationally.
Reduced marketing cost: Merchants need not spend a fortune to build eCommerce sites and then marketing them. They can save all these costs by simply signing up on your marketplace.
Established trust factors: Retailers get access to an established platform, which its customers already trust. This trust factor is induced to the sellers of the marketplace, too.
Competitive product prices: With so many sellers available for a single product, the prices are l always competitive. It encourages more customers to shop from your site.
Multiple revenue channels: As a marketplace owner, you need not depend on commissions alone to make money. You can make money from several non-traditional channels, such as showing featured products, sponsored products, and selling membership subscriptions for added benefits to sellers and the customers.

No doubt, the above benefits for everyone lay down the foundation of the marketplace model, but it’s not all breezy either. There are some pitfalls too that require strategic resolutions:

It’s all technology: The core that drives an online marketplace business is pure technology. From the marketplace software to web-hosting, content delivery networks, third party APIs, and compliance with the laws, everything is driven by technology. That makes a competitive marketplace setup quite expensive, complex, and workforce-extensive.
Chicken and egg problem: Sellers won’t board your marketplace until you have enough customers to make good sales, and customers can’t purchase until you have sellers. It makes the opening days for a marketplace business pretty complicated. You would need a significant amount of investment to market your platform, and then acquire sellers through handsome incentives.
Data security: When you are managing a massive marketplace with so many merchants, customers, and sensitive information onboard, there is a high risk of data security. Since the only asset you have is your platform and data, you have to be very particular about keeping it secure.

How you can start an online marketplace business?

It’s a big question – how to start an online marketplace business? There is the technology and there is business process development, both go hand-in-hand to form a complete marketplace ecosystem. If you have a business plan or a niche in your mind, you need to focus your efforts on handling the following four challenges first, and you could own a great marketplace business:

Note: You need to manage these challenges keeping your customers and sellers/merchants in thought. You can’t start a marketplace by conciliating with the needs of any of the two stakeholders.

Marketplace Software

Marketplace software constitutes your entire platform. You would need a collection of different marketplace solutions that work collectively to build your marketplace platform. One of the major constituents is – the marketplace website.

Marketplace website builder: You can develop your marketplace platform from scratch by outsourcing your project or hiring in-house developers. However, this would be a highly expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Instead, you can purchase a ready-made, open-source, multi-vendor eCommerce script to set up your platform in a few hours. There are various clone scripts in the market; you can get one of them and build your website. These scripts will provide all the fundamental features you need to build your platform. Since they offer open-source code access, you can also customize them the way you want.

Another alternative is using a free eCMS like Magento, PrestaShop, or OpenCart. However, these Commerce platforms are mainly suitable for inventory-based eCommerce sites, as they do not provide multi-vendor support out-of-the-box. You will have to purchase a corresponding multi-vendor module or extension from a third-party vendor to add marketplace features. They are open-source too.

Some SaaS solutions are also present in the market with ready-made marketplace sites. If you are ready to pay a monthly recurring fee, transaction fee per-sale, and can do with limited control over your site, this could be one of the fastest ways to build and launch your site in a day. These solutions are closed-source.

The choice is yours, you can use any of these options based on your preference and requirements. Do some research and select the most suitable option, as it would be a long-term commitment. You can’t switch your marketplace software every now or then.

Branding and Marketing

Be advised that customers don’t remember the seller but the marketplace platform itself. Therefore, every bad experience customers receive from your sellers directly affects your business image. All the discounts, Ads, and promotions, happen in the name of the marketplace platform. If you can’t get your customers to remember your brand identity, know that there is something wrong with your marketing and branding activities.

Supply-chain and Demand

The sole purpose of a marketplace platform is to fill the gap between supply and demand. Both the buyers and the merchants are your customers. You need to maintain a steady flow of demand and supply to keep both of the ends happy. Without buyers, you will lose customers and demand; without sellers, you will lose the supply-chain. Happy customers create demand, and sellers create the supply. You have to maintain an optimum balance between the two entities to succeed.

Flawless Customer Support

For both the buyers and the sellers, customer support is the most volatile constituent that might just ruin everything at any stage. There is a need for offering continuously impeccable customer support to the stakeholders. However, it cannot happen unless your sellers are supportive to the customers. You might try your best to give flawless experience to the buyers, but everything stops if your sellers don’t do their part. You must create an environment where everyone is doing his or her jobs properly. From quality control to addressing queries, processing refunds, and undertaking replacements, everything should work in harmony with each other.

To Conclude

Overall, the marketplace is a challenging business. However, easy businesses don’t furnish good returns. You can win this war with technical advancements and customer-friendly policies. If you want to create a hub of customers like Amazon and eBay, you shouldn’t arbitrate on the above four fronts. Invest in innovative marketplace software solutions, bridge the supply-demand gap, market your business, and extend the best customer support –this is the optimal way to command the new challenges of marketplace business and succeed effortlessly.

About the Author

Jessica Bruce a professional blogger, guest writer, Influencer & an eCommerce expert. She is currently associated with ShopyGen as a content marketing strategist. Jessica also reports on the latest happenings and trends associated with the eCommerce industry.

Follow her on Twitter @Jessicabruc (https://twitter.com/Jessicabruc)

How to Develop a Successful SEO Strategy for Your Business

January 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Marketing & Sales, Online Marketing and Website Development /by StrategyDriven

The importance of SEO has surged in recent years, and if you’re looking to attract more customers to your website, you simply can’t afford to ignore it. When it comes to achieving the coveted first page positions in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), having a solid SEO strategy in place is essential. These days search engine results are more crowded than ever before, and winning your place in the rankings will require patience, hard work, and an understanding of how to properly optimize your website. With that in mind, below you will discover how to develop your very own successful SEO strategy.

Conduct a Full SEO Audit for your Website

When it comes to getting started with SEO, having solid foundations in place is an important first step to take. Without a strong platform, all other SEO efforts will essentially be wasted, and getting your website to rank highly in search results will be difficult. If you’re looking after a website with thousands of pages, then it might be worth considering an investment in website auditing software such as the industry-standard Screaming Frog or Deepcrawl to speed up this process. If you’re in any way unsure about how to carry out this process, it might be best to get in touch with professionals who are adept at creating and tailoring an SEO strategy to your business.

Start building links as soon as you can

One of the most important elements of any successful SEO strategy is link building, and this needs to be taken into account when trying to get more clicks from Google. Google’s ranking algorithms are complex and multi-faceted, but time and time again links have been proven to play a huge part in determining the position of a page in search results. There are, of course, many other factors to consider, but incorporating link building into your SEO strategy is a must.

Invest wisely in keyword research software

Taking the time to understand your user needs and learning what people are actually searching for is the bedrock of a good SEO strategy. Without in-depth knowledge and data on your customers, how else are you going to create valuable content that they can relate to? The Google search console provides an insight into which keywords are used to drive people to your site, and it’s completely free. Alternatively, sign up to SEMrush or Ahrefs for a more detailed picture of the search landscape.

Top tip: Be on the lookout for question keywords, as this can inform the content strategy of your blog pages.

Keep up to date with industry news and announcements

SEO changes faster than the weather, and in an industry as dynamic as SEO, it’s important to stay as up to date as possible. In 2019 alone, there were thousands of updates to Google’s ranking factors. Subscribe to newsletters, read blogs and be on the lookout for important news from Google about updates so you can ensure your SEO strategy is on-trend.

3 Ways to Benefit Your Business with VoIP

January 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Managing Your Business /by StrategyDriven

When you’re trying to get your home business off the ground, one thing that is of the utmost importance is making sure you have effective ways to communicate with clients/customers, and other employees if you have them.

One of the best ways to do that is with a VoIP system. You can learn more about VoIP solutions at https://www.vtechsupport.com/services-solution/voip-solutions/. Simply put, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a digital telephone service that allows you to make and receive calls through the Internet.

So, why not just use a traditional telephone to communicate with others connected to your business? Can VoIP make a difference? Let’s look at three ways this service can benefit your business, and why you might want to make the switch.

1. It’s Cheaper

You want your business to continuously grow, right? Well, think about how many phone lines you might need in order to make that happen. Even if you only have a few, if you’re working on international business, the costs can start to add up quickly when it comes to calling times.

With VoIP, you only have to pay your Internet Service Provider – and you’re doing that already! It’s a good idea to have a solutions team at the ready in case you run into any issues with your VoIP, but the cost can still be less expensive than traditional phone lines, especially if you’re making long-distance calls to other countries.

2. It Makes Conference Calls Easier

If you have to have a conference call with several people at once, VoIP is the clear winner. Not only is the cost of conferencing usually built into the VoIP service you have (unlike most phone lines), but because the communication is through the Internet, you can enjoy additional benefits.

This includes things like video conferencing where you can share images and texts in real-time. It’s a great way to keep things organized and make sure everyone on the call is getting the correct information.

3. It’s Portable for Telecommuting

Remote work has become hugely popular in the U.S. and across the globe. As of 2019, about 4.7 million employees in the U.S. work from home at least half of the time.

When you use VoIP for your business, your remote employees can connect to it from any location, and they’ll have a specific phone number that won’t change no matter where they go. Not only does it allow them to access the phone to make calls, but they can also send faxes and access the other data services of your office.

VoIP isn’t necessarily anything new, but many businesses still aren’t taking advantage of it the way they could be. So, whether you’re a business owner with several remote workers or you just want to streamline your communication options with clients and customers, it’s worth looking into VoIP solutions and how they can save you money, time, and the headaches that can sometimes come from working with a traditional phone system.

Is Your Web Designer Turning Viewers Into Customers?

January 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Marketing & Sales, Online Marketing and Website Development /by StrategyDriven

Is your website attracting traffic but failing to draw in customers? If so, then this is likely to do with the design of your website. There are so many companies who are failing to reach their online potential because of their website. You may think your site looks impressive visually, but a good design incorporates so much more than this.

Too many companies offering website design services are doing their customers an injustice. They try and wow them with the likes of flashy graphics but they don’t take the time to deal with what really matters; generating money. After all, isn’t higher profit what every business wants to achieve? The flashy graphics may look fantastic, but it may also take ages to load, and by this time your potential customer has gone elsewhere and bought off of your competitor.

When you are looking for website design, find a company that will deal with the hard facts. Is your bounce rate too high? Are you generating enough page views? Are people only visiting your site for a short period of time? How many viewers are you turning into customers? They need to tackle these issues and work tirelessly until the resolution is one you can be satisfied with.

This is not to say that they will not generate innovative and creative website designs. They should have an undeniable talent for their field, which is matched with the training, qualifications, and experience required. Designs must always visually delightful and every decision is made whilst thinking about your brand image and the corporate identity you assign yourself with.

A goal-orientated approach and innovative design ideas must be coupled with a focus on user experience and a powerful functionality in order to give you the complete package. The internet is all about convenience; that’s why people love it so much. When you look at your website now, can you honestly say it is easy to use? Can customers easily navigate to the returns page? Is a method of contact easily accessible?

Apart from a thorough approach, another area to look for is a thorough process. The company should begin with a consultation whereby they are able to soak up as much as possible about your business as well as provide you with a creative brief. They will identify the key conversion factors for your business i.e. how they are going to turn those viewers into customers! Then the web design process begins followed by website development. This is where the design is turned into the complete finished package. They will then provide you with in-depth CMS training to ensure you can use your new website without any difficulty.

They should not just design a website and leave you to it; they should provide ongoing support and quarterly reports to ensure your website is performing to the optimum level. After all, the internet is ever progressing and developing and thus you simply cannot remain stagnant.