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Expert Tips on How to Create an Investment Strategy That Works With Your Goals

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |investment strategy|Expert Tips on How to Create an Investment Strategy That Works With Your GoalsDid you know that the collective worth of the 15 wealthiest investors in the world surpasses $300 billion?

An investment strategy can change your life for the better. Whether you are young or nearing retirement age, you can find an investment opportunity.

One thing about investments is that there are no limits to what you can choose. Also, there are no time limits, and so you can make the right choices at any age.

This guide will take you through the process of establishing an investment plan that works. Read it to make the right financial decisions.

Assess Your Current Financial Status

Your budget should clearly show your total income vs. the total expenditure. If the amount of money you remain with after the expenses isn’t enough, you must cut down some costs or look for more ways to generate income.

If you want a liquid investment, stocks would be the best. For illiquid investments, you can consider real estate investing.

Set Goals

Why do you want to invest? What do you want to achieve?

When you set goals, it becomes easier to attain your target. Maybe you want to buy a car with the investments, or you wish to secure your future.

If you have many goals, write them down and narrow your list according to their importance.

The goals should be measurable. For instance, if your goal is to save $50 every week, then you should evaluate your finances with time to know if you have achieved what you wanted.

The goals should also be realistic and achievable. You can’t plan to save more than $10,000 in a month when you know very well that you can’t achieve that.

Explore Options

The investment you choose should depend on your goals and your personal preferences.

If education is your saving goal, you may consider the mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and other long-term securities. You may also decide to invest in the real estate market or other physical products that increase value with time.

The key here is to diversify. As a beginner, you only need to dip your toes as you test the market. That’s why you should diversify the assets no matter how little they are.

This is the essential step for planning; thus, you might need to involve a financial planner. The planner should listen to your ideas and advise you on the best high rate investments to consider.

Check the Charges

Every investment includes some charges. If you decide to invest in stocks, you will need to hire a broker who will require a service commission.

If you choose investment funds, you will have to pay the fund manager too. The same case applies to real estate where you must pay a real estate agent.

Don’t commit yourself to any investment plan without knowing the charges. Ask the firm to explain to you all the possible costs that you will incur for the investment.

In most cases, the higher charge translates to better quality. But still, you should compare the price of getting a similar service somewhere else. You may be lucky to get the same quality service at a reduced price.

Do Your Research

Don’t invest blindly. As an informed investor, you should research the most profitable types of investments. You should always consult an educated professional, like Daniel Gordon, before making any big decisions in the financial market.

If you choose to invest in the financial market, you need to research on the best markets.

Currently, many firms are offering the same service. Some are legit, while others are not. Unless you are careful and do in-depth background research, you can quickly lose your fortunes to scammers.

If possible, check the reviews of the firm you choose to know what other people think about the firm. Don’t put your investment in a firm with too many negative reviews.

Understand the Risks

Every investment is risky. Young investors are more likely to fail because they are still green. Before you invest, you should familiarize yourself with the risk associated with your investment strategy.

If you plan to invest in the stock market, then you should know the possible risks of that industry. It’s possible to lose all money or even get abnormal profits.

With knowledge of risks involved, you can easily come up with a proper risk management strategy. For instance, you can diversify the assets to stay safe just in case one of the investments fails.

Be cautious with the investments which promise high yields only. There is no investment that does not have a risk. Unless it’s a scam, there will always be the drawbacks that you should understand.

Monitor the Investment

Don’t invest and leave your money there. You should monitor the progress of your investments.
Is everything going as expected? Are you depositing excess money into the investments? The progress of the investments should help you make the next step.

At times, it’s better to withdraw your investments if the plan is not profitable. After all, it would be useless to keep on investing without seeing the results of your hard-earned cash.

Choose the Best Investment Strategy

The right investment strategy should be cost-efficient and profitable. The ideal approach should also be simple and easy to manage.

So, don’t stress yourself finding the most complicated investments that promise the highest returns. Start small, and move to the more profitable ventures once you learn the basics.

StrategyDriven helps entrepreneurs make the right decisions for their businesses. Our help comes in the form of well-researched articles written by business experts. If you just started your business, or wish to create one, read our blogs to know more about the most important business aspects.

App Vs. Website: Which Is Better for Your Business?

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |App vs Website|App Vs. Website: Which Is Better for Your Business?As the number of people accessing content using a mobile phone rises, you may find yourself asking whether an app or website is the better option for your business. After all, responsive web design has come a long way over the past few years, with developers able to provide a satisfactory experience on mobile. However, a website cannot replace an app and neither can an app replace a website. Both of them come with their own pros and cons and it takes careful consideration to choose between either.

Responsive Website Vs. App

Many businesses that want an app often start with a website. Why? A website is a lot less expensive than an app, works on all devices that can access the internet, and is easier to share and link to than an app.

Additionally, a website is a lot easier to find and you have to explicitly tell people that your business has an app for them to install. From a usability perspective, a website is also easier to update than an app. You also do not need to have separate versions for Android and iOS.

Although app stores have gotten much better at ensuring people can still find your business app, app stores still trail websites when it comes to discoverability. Because of this, websites give smaller businesses a better chance of being discovered.

Then there is responsiveness to think about. Nowadays, web designers design websites that offer a good user experience no matter the device the user is using. In the end, UX is a key factor for your user satisfaction but also for your performance on organic search results.

If your knowledge about UX and website design is limited, we recommend you get in touch with experts. Luckily for you, they can be based anywhere in the world. This is the case for many companies like Web Integrations. They started as website designers in Aberdeen, but now they serve clients from all over the world.

NathanIves.com Digital Products Platform Online Training Program

Apps Vs. Websites

Although business websites have their advantages, there is still enough need for you to have a business app developed. An app puts you in front of the people who install an app at all times so that they do not have to go online to find you. Because of this, a mobile app can be a unique marketing asset that provides a unique way for your customers to reach you.

Apps can also take advantage of native hardware features that websites cannot, such as push notifications and geolocation to offer tailored user experiences.

Working Together

Because apps are getting easier to create, there is no reason why your business cannot take advantage of the unique features both come with. This combination of an app and a responsive website gives your business a wider reach on the website while allowing you to still provide a unique user experience on the app.

Although your business might be thinking of choosing one or the other, there is a case to be made for using both an app and a responsive website for your business. They may seem antagonistic, but there is no reason why your app and business website cannot and should not work together.

5 Ways to Improve Customer Experience on Your Site

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Improve Customer Experience|5 Ways to Improve Customer Experience on Your SiteCustomer experience is vital to the success of your site, and your business. Your website is the first place your customers will go to find out about your company, so you want to optimize their experience to the max. You need good web design to make your site clear to navigate and with engaging contact to draw customer interest. It’s also important to keep on top of user analytics and measure customer satisfaction. Don’t forget to offer sufficient customer support and you could even add a personal touch. Here are five ways to improve customer experience on your site.

Work with a web design agency

The web design needs to be perfect, not only for customer experience but also for SEO. For this reason, it’s advisable to hire a web design agency that has the expertise and the resources to help you. Site navigation needs to be simple and easy. If your customers can’t find what they’re looking for it won’t take them much effort to change to a competitor’s site. It’s also important to include things like a strong call-to-action and plenty of options for customer support.

Create engaging content

If you really want to drive up interest in your business you also need to create engaging content on your site. A web design or digital marketing agency can help you do this as well. Video is very popular, for example, or instructional guidelines on how to use your products. You could try out different forms of media as well such as podcasts and long informative blog articles.

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User analytics

It’s vital to constantly measure customer satisfaction in order to improve it. You can do this using some of the best website analytical tools. It’s also a good idea to create buyer personas for your target audience and try to relate as much as you can to their needs and interests. You could also carry out surveys for your customer to give feedback. You could offer a promo code or voucher in exchange for doing this. Include any positive customer testimonials on your site in order to build trust.

Optimize keywords

Keywords are what tend to link SEO and customer experience. Your customers will arrive at your site depending on what they enter into Google. A web design agency can give you plenty of advice on how to choose the right keywords. It’s a good idea to analyze the competition and test Google to find out which keywords and phrases work best.

Personalized marketing campaigns

In order to improve customer experience, you could even personalize your marketing and email campaigns. CRM software and email marketing services can help you here. This is a great way to humanize your brand by greeting customers by name, without overstepping the mark of course. Here are some more tips to personalize marketing campaigns. The more you try to reach out to the right customers, the more you’ll improve their experience and generate more interest. You’re also more likely to turn clicks into leads.

The Strategy-Driven Solution to Driving Up Interest Before New Business Launch

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | The Strategy-Driven Solution to Driving Up Interest Before New Business LaunchStarting a new business is a logistical challenge. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that will eat up your time, and before you know it, you are all ready to launch – and have absolutely zero interest from the public. You cannot keep your new business a secret while you are building it up. Your pre-launch time provides you the perfect opportunity to drum up interest in your local and digital community. Do this successfully, and you launch with a bang.

This is your business. It is not a hobby or something you can afford to learn as you go. For you to taste success, you need to be serious about it from the outset. This guide will help you to choose who to hire and what to look for when outsourcing work.

Start with Your Website

While your store is being renovated, your website should be built. It is your digital store. It is where you want to send people to sign up for newsletters, make online purchases, and generally connect with your value-driven content like blogs, videos, and more. It does not have to be complex, but it does need to look great, function exceptionally well, and be optimized for search engines.

Start first with hiring a logo illustrator and a web designer. You can save on costs with the website design by finding and buying an eCommerce theme, and then hiring the web designer to set it up, so it looks great and has all the functions you need to run your business online.

Build Up Your Marketing Materials

Marketing materials include blog posts, video, editorial images, product photos, and more. It is best to have someone on your team that can handle this, as it gives you the greatest control, but if you need to save on costs here, use a mixture of your own content, stock photography, and videography, and in the future, user-generated content.

Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

To grow your presence, you will want to hire the best Orlando digital marketing agency. This agency should be able to handle your pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, your social media marketing, and your search engine optimization (SEO). By offloading these tasks, you can avoid many new businesses’ many pitfalls when first starting out. So far, you have a great website. Now you need a digital marketing agency to use your website and marketing content to build up an exceptional online presence.

Use These PR Strategies

You have the website, you have the marketing materials, and now you have the marketing strategy in the works. All that is left is expanding your marketing efforts into good old public relations. A good way to get the coverage you want is to plan a big launch event for your business. Local news sites and influencers alike are always on the lookout for something big happening in their area, and a cool party launch is exactly what they are looking for.

Plan the event and send out press releases to local news sites and influencers. Start small, and as more and more start to give your launch coverage, work your way up to larger publications for the widest reach.

What Qualities Really Define A Business Leader Post Pandemic?

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Petrochemical Business|8 Steps to Becoming a Better Leader Within Your Petrochemical BusinessThe seismic effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic have impacted every single aspect of our lives, with the workplace and commerce in general changing unrecognisably in the space of just a few months. As workplaces transform and adapt in an effort to overcome the unique challenges they’re facing, so too do business leaders have to change and grow in order to remain effective. The pandemic has clearly shown us that leadership is much needed, and as the future continues to be uncertain, it will matter even more as we try to salvage an economic and social recovery. The right leadership has become a matter of life and death – quite literally in a lot of cases – and strong and intelligent leaders are now required to manage fractured supply chains, piece together industries and revive customer confidence. So, what are the key traits of successful leadership in a post pandemic world?

Empathy

You may have never thought of empathy as a key trait of a successful leader. But really, the pandemic has been a collective trauma for everyone, so displaying an understanding of that is absolutely crucial. Empathy can be displayed towards your own staff and also to society in general, modelling yourself after leaders such as Joz Opdeweegh who have called for support in society to combat the worst effects of the pandemic. Implementing Employee Assistance Programs and making sure they’re functioning effectively is a must, as is providing genuine support and encouragement to staff. You may need to also review some of your HR policies, especially around areas such as sick leave, dependents leave and access to counselling. If you fear that you lack natural empathy, make sure to surround yourself with others on your organization that do – you need to avoid any responses that may be seen as tone deaf or insensitive, as you could really damage employee morale and loyalty at a critical time.

Consistency

One of the things causing such distress for a lot of people is the lack of consistency that the pandemic has brought – rules changing overnight, conditions escalating rapidly. No one likes to live with continuing uncertainty, so it’s our role as leaders to provide consistency with our approach. Always base your decisions and communications on data. Making data-driven decisions removes emotion and bias from the equation and allows you to explain your decision making. Communicate clearly and frequently, even if there aren’t many new items to relay. This gives staff a sense of confidence and a knowledge that they can rely on your updates, and it doesn’t create a void for gossip and speculation to fill.

Flexibility

This ability definitely needs to become part of your professional development goals.
The ability to pivot is more vital than ever, as customer needs, supply changes and the economic landscape around us all shift rapidly. Responsiveness will begin to define those companies who are able to thrive and those which are devastated. Review new information and circumstances constantly in order to incorporate them into your decision making.