How to Spy on Your Competitors’ Facebook and Instagram Ads May 1, 2019 bizadmin Wouldn’t you love to see what your competitors are up to? Better yet, wouldn’t you love to see the exact Facebook and Instagram advertisements that they’re using right now to hook in new customers? Well, you can! There’s now a simple and free way to view the Facebook and Instagram advertisements that a brand is currently running. This article will show you how. And make sure to stick around for the best part: In the second half of this article, you’ll learn to extract strategic insights from your competitor’s ads to improve your own campaigns. #Win Post Contents [show] Introducing Facebook Info and Ads In 2018, Facebook introduced a new feature to Pages called “Info and Ads.” Why? Over the years, Facebook has been criticized a lot on issues such as privacy, tracking, censorship, and election interference. As a result, many people are pushing the social networking platform to become more transparent. Info and Ads is one way Facebook is doing this. It was specifically designed to increase transparency and accountability for bad actors, which will hopefully help to prevent abuse on Facebook. Facebook said, “We believe that when you visit a Page or see an ad on Facebook it should be clear who it’s coming from. We also think it’s important for people to be able to see the other ads a Page is running, even if they’re not directed at you.” Turns out this transparency play can also be a win for businesses advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Let’s find out how. What Exactly is Facebook Info and Ads? Facebook Info and Ads is a section included on every Facebook Page. It allows people to see more information about any organization on Facebook. It also lets people view the active ads a Page is running across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. So how can you start using Facebook Info and Ads? How to View Your Competitors’ Facebook Ads To begin, find a brand you’re interested in and head to their Facebook Business Page. Then, simply click the “Info and Ads” tab in the left-hand sidebar menu underneath the profile picture, name, and username. This will take you to that Page’s Info and Ads section. Here, you can scroll down to view all of the Page’s active ads, even if you aren’t part of the target audience. What’s more, Facebook also lets you view ads by country. For example, if you just want to view ads that the Page is running in the U.S., just click the drop-down menu of countries and select the United States. Again, just scroll down to browse the active ads. Alternatively, you can use Facebook’s new Ad Library. This provides another way to see a Facebook Page’s active ad campaigns. (If the page is political in nature, then you can even see how money it’s spent on advertising.) How to View Your Competitor’s Instagram Ads If you’re more active on Instagram than Facebook, you might want to only see the ads your competitor is running on Instagram. Here’s how: To get started, navigate to the Instagram profile you’d like to learn more about. Then, tap the three horizontal dots indicating a menu in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will bring up a menu related to the profile. Here, tap “About The Account” to be taken to Info and Ads on Instagram. Here, you can find general information about the page, but to see the ads it’s running, you need to tap “Active ads.” The best part is that Instagram Info and Ads allows you to view ads by format. Just tap “Feed” or “Story” and then tap on an ad to see it. Okay, but how can you use knowledge about your competitor’s ads to improve your own marketing strategy? 5 Ways You Can Gain Strategic Insights From Your Competitors’ Ads Spying on your competitors’ ads isn’t just interesting. If you do it right, it can be incredibly useful in helping you to improve your own advertising campaigns. While you definitely don’t want to flat out copy your competitors, you can glean inspiration and insights from their ads. This is especially useful if you’re just starting a new business. Why? Well, by identifying the successful tactics your more established competitors are using, you can fast-track your way past a lengthy process of trial and error. Thanks to Facebook Info and Ads, this is easier than it’s ever been. And with 24.2 percent of Facebook Pages using paid media, there’s a lot of brands out there that you can learn from. You might not be able to see detailed information about an ad’s targeting or engagement, but there’s plenty of insights available if you know what to look for. Here are five things to evaluate when spying on your competitors’ ads. 1. Images or Videos First things first: Images and videos are arguably the most important part of an advertisement. Why? To start, Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. But visuals don’t just get more engagement, they also create a longer-lasting impression. In fact, when people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10 percent of the information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65 percent of the information three days later. That’s a huge increase. The lesson? Pay close attention to the kind of visuals your competitors are using. What do they feature? How are they styled? What are the lighting or graphics like? Also, when viewing your competitor’s ads on Facebook Info and Ads, look for ads that contain the same text with different visuals. The ads from MVMT below showcase four different images paired with the same copy: Now, although we can’t tell how each of the ads is performing, we can get a general sense of the style MVMT are consistently using. To start, the product itself takes center stage in all of the images. It’s also clear that MVMT is trying to determine which performs best: product photos or product photos with an additional lifestyle component. You could come back at a later date to see which images they’re still using and which ones they’ve dropped. This is likely to tell you which images perform best. 2. Headlines After the visual, the headline is the next component to pay close attention to. As the famous advertising tycoon David Ogilvy once remarked, “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” Much has changed in the decades since, but effective headlines are still paramount to advertising success. The image below features two ads from GoPro that share the same image and link. The key difference is the headline. One ad reads, “Not splash proof. Not kind-of proof. Waterproof. Up to 10m. #GoProHERO7” And the other reads, “Waterproof to 10m. Let that sink in. #GoProHERO7.” Both are short, snappy, and benefit-driven. Notice also that both contain the branded hashtag, “#GoProHERO7.” However, the headline isn’t the only difference between these two ads. Did you spot the other difference? It’s the call to action button text – one button reads, “Learn More” and the other reads “Shop Now.” Again, both are to the point. However, it’s worth noting that the first button is softer and the second more intent on driving a sale. 3. Copywriting The next element to think about is the ad’s text – often referred to as “copy” in the advertising industry. Again, look for variations in the advertisements to draw out commonalities. Is the brand using copy that’s short or long? What type of language are they using, formal or informal? Serious or humorous? Are they using text only or do they consistently include emojis and hashtags? Also, note how great brands consistently present desirable benefits. When creating an ad it’s always best to focus on benefits rather than features – one of the early Apple iPod advertisements demonstrates this principle perfectly. They didn’t present the feature: storage for 1GB of MP3s. Instead, they communicated the benefit it provided: “1,000 songs in your pocket.” In this next set of advertisements from Red Bull, they use the same video with different copy. However, all three versions of the copy focus on the benefits the viewer has to gain from consuming the content. Red Bull writes, “Build strength and learn how to prevent injury,” “Stay on top of your fitness goals,” and “Whether you want to improve your speed or learn how to avoid injury…” Notice also how the first two ads share the same call to action, “Find out more,” but the last ad reads, “Check out his full interview.” Each ad also features a single fitness related emoji. 4. Offers and Deals The next element to evaluate is the offer or deal presented. Identifying the types of offers and deals that your competitors use can be a good place to begin when looking to create your own product promotions. Again, draw comparisons and look for similarities. Does the brand provide discount codes, free shipping, or other incentives? How do they present them? If they provide discounts, what percentage do they offer? Also, try to understand how the brand incorporates the promotion into the larger campaign. Offering 10 percent off to your customers for no reason is suspect. Viewers will wonder if you simply raised the price by 10 percent so you could tell them it’s “10 percent off.” Instead, look for the justifications and genuine reasons behind the incentives that give them credibility. Here are two Facebook ads from Finisterre: Both provide a discount code for different reasons at different amounts. The first offer is 20 percent off for first time purchases. This can be an effective way to bring in new customers. And although you might not make so much money on their first purchase, you can make more money later on. Not only can use email marketing and retargeting, but repeat customers spend an average of 67 percent more than new customers. For these reasons, it makes sense why Finisterre is happy to provide such a large discount for new customers at 20 percent. The second ad presents a discount code for 15 percent off. Finisterre’s “Reconnect” campaign seems like it could be trying to re-engage previous customers to boost sales of their new Spring collection. 5. Inferred Audience Targeting Lastly, when spying on your competitor’s ads, see if you can glean insights about the particular audience they’re targeting. This might help to inform your own ad targeting. It’s clear who the ads from Chubbies below are targeting – everyday men in their 20’s and 30’s. This is clear from the models used in the advertisements. Instead of using airbrushed, photogenic, fitness models, Chubbies simply uses average men having fun. But that’s not all. The copy in each of the ads is casual, humorous, and entertaining – “Business shirts made with extra stretchy business material for doing business in.” All in all, it’s clear that these advertisements are for everyday guys who don’t take life too seriously. Facebook Info and Ads Limitations Unfortunately, you don’t get information about the various different formats or platforms the ads are displayed on. This means that the ads you see might be running on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Facebook’s Audience Network. Plus, the transparency doesn’t extend to targeting settings. As mentioned, you can view ads by country, but that’s about it. You can’t see detailed targeting settings such as audience interests, demographics, or ad spend. You also can’t view the ad’s engagement. When using Info and Ads, you’ll notice that you can click on the elements of the ad itself, such as links, images, or videos. But you can’t see the number of likes, views, or shares the ad has received. In the Facebook ad below from Good American, you can see these engagement options are greyed out. It’s also worth noting that impressions and video views won’t be counted on ads within Facebook Info and Ads section. And advertisers won’t be charged when users click on ads here. In addition to ads, you can see information regarding the Page’s use and history. In the image below, you can see that Gymshark’s Facebook Page was created on the 5th of September 2011 and that it was originally named “Gymshark.co.uk.” You can also see the primary locations of the people who manage the Page – in this case, 31 people in the United Kingdom, one in Norway, and one in the United States. Moving forward, Facebook said, “We will continue to add to the information we share about Pages over time.” So who knows what we might be able to access in the future! How to View Your Competitor’s Facebook Ads on Mobile Devices If you want to be able to spy on a competitor’s Facebook ads while you’re on the move, you can access Info and Ads on Facebook’s mobile app. How? Well, there isn’t a sidebar menu of tabs on mobile devices. Instead, Facebook provides an “i” icon that hovers over the bottom-right hand corner of the Facebook cover photo. Simply tap this icon to be taken straight to the Facebook Page’s Info and Ads section. At first, you’ll see the “Page info” section. To see the Facebook Page’s ads, just tap “Active ads” and scroll down. Then, just like on desktop you’re able to selectively view ads by country using the blue drop-down menu. Easy, right? But the fun doesn’t stop there. Bonus: How to View Your Competitor’s Promoted Tweets on Twitter Just like Facebook, Twitter is attempting to bring more transparency and accountability to its platform, saying: “Twitter is a platform that enables global conversation, and we believe that transparency is a core part of who we are. As part of our commitment to be more transparent, we’ve created a place where you can search for advertisers and see the details behind ads.” As a result, Twitter now also has a similar feature to Facebook Info and Ads. This feature allows you to see all Promoted Tweets that an account is currently running on Twitter. What’s more, you can also see Promoted-Only Tweets and Promoted Tweets that were suspended and the reason why. To get started, head to Twitter’s Ad Transparency Center. This page provides more detail about the reasons behind the creation of the tool, as well as its functionalities. To use it, search for an advertiser in the top right-hand search bar and click on their profile – let’s use Nike as an example. Then, you can scroll down to view all of the Promoted Tweets that the account is running. Below, you can see that Nike is testing two different images for their Promoted Tweet as both ads contain the same text. Cool, right? Warning: Stay Customer-Focused Before we finish up, heed this warning: Don’t get too caught up in spying on your competitors. The more you focus on your competitors, the less you’ll focus on your customers. And businesses that focus the majority of their efforts on their competitors are often unsuccessful. It’s obvious when you think about it. If you’re always following competitors, you can never create something new and unique. You can only ever follow, copying what’s been done already. That doesn’t sound much like a leading brand, does it? So what should you focus on? Your customers. Ultimately, it’s your customers who will determine your success. As Richard Branson, the Founder of Virgin, said, “A business is simply an idea to make other people’s lives better.” And hey, if this strategy works for the richest man in the world… Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, shares, “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth’s most customer-centric company.” So while it’s useful to know what your competitors are doing, make sure you prioritize serving your customers as best as you can. How? Dharmesh Shah, CTO of Hubspot, sums up the customer-focused approach perfectly: “When you’re trying to make an important decision, and you’re sort of divided on the issue, ask yourself: If the customer were here, what would she say?” Summary Facebook Info and Ads is a powerful tool when used effectively. With it, you can now see the exact ad campaigns that your competitors are running on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook’s Audience Network – even if you’re not part of the target audience. Then you can glean insights to improve your ad strategy. When evaluating your competitors’ ads, pay close attention to the visuals, headlines, copy, offers, and inferred target audience. Look for commonalities. If every ad they are running includes something in particular, it may be a signal that the element performs well. Learn from others, but be careful not to obsess over your competitors. Instead, focus on serving your customers. Tom is a digital marketing strategy consultant and writer. His mission is to empower entrepreneurs and to help them achieve their goals. You can learn more about Tom at tomjlaw.com.
Book Brush Site Review April 29, 2019 bizadmin Logo “Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing the product/product information. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did/will receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. I was surfing the internet and checked my email when I got a message to write a blog post for Book Brush and got a free usage of this software in order to review it. Basically what does Book Brush do? Well, below are the features of Book Brush. Book Brush makes it simple for authors to make advertising and social media images. No more struggling with converting a book from a 2d image to a 3d image. Book Brush can also be used by Bloggers to easily create images for their blog posts and giveaways! Here are some of the features you will love…. ✔️ Book Brush can create ads with 3D cover images (30+ templates) in minutes ✔️ Book Brush will let you choose pre-made templates for Amazon ads, BookBub ads, Facebook ads, and more… ✔️ … which you can create with over 1 million royalty-free images and book stamps ✔️ It has a Video Creator to easily create Video Effects behind a Promotional Image Below is an image using Book Brush that I created myself of which I am an author on Amazon. Yipee! my own created book cover using Book Brush You can buy this book from Amazon and the link is right at the top of the sidebar, for your information. There are several versions that you can create like a book cover on a smart phone, and such. Above are some example of other users created book covers / banners using Book Brush. Don’t they look awesome and professional? I certainly love using this software that is much easier than Canva. Check the review from Melanie of Melt Marketing below: I will certainly explore more with this software on cloud system with video creation other than book covers of various designs to suit your needs. All you need to do is sign up at https://bookbrush.com/ There is also the Facebook Banner creator with different designs to choose from. There is nothing to lose; just sign up with the link above and explore this amazing automated software that creates awesome book covers, Facebook banners in a jiffy.
Earn up to USD 39 per survey April 27, 2019 bizadmin I was browsing through the internet when I came across Swagbucks with a link at HERE. You can earn up to USD 39 per survey and need to be active such as getting 2000 Swagbucks or SB points in 60 days which is pretty easy. Well, this is mainly for the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, Denmark, and a few other countries. You can earn SB points just by watching videos, completing surveys, shop and basically doing tasks that would you on the internet. I have already earned 60 SB points in 10 minutes and still doing the necessary to hit the 2000 SB points in 60 days. You can shop at Amazon, eBay, and subscribe to your favorite channels earning even much faster. So far about 350 million has been given out and this platform is easily the most popular site for doing surveys to earn big bucks. This site is legitimate and you don’t have to pay to be a member. Just like doing surveys, the companies pay you for your honest opinions, watching videos online and such. Since we all love watching videos, why not monetize it instead? It is easy peasy lemon squishy. I can attest that if you come to this blog post and got the link, and stay in the above-mentioned countries, then you are in luck! Here is my Swagbucks screen capture for your reference and I have highlighted certain areas in red boxes below: There you have it! And you can earn USD 3 per referral. This is one of the reasons I am promoting SwagBucks to earn a little extra here and there. Just click HERE.
13 Ideas to Start a Business in 2019 April 15, 2019 bizadmin Starting your own business is a dream for many people because it will change their life if it goes well. Even if you check the list of world’s richest people, there is no person entered into the list by doing 9 to 5 job. Starting an own business is a great option to choose over doing a 9 to 5 job. But don’t know how to start? This post will help you with 13 easy ideas to start a business without investment. Let’s see now! Any normal person can start their own business using these ideas. You don’t have to be an expert in any field to start a business. Can’t wait to start your own business? then check the list below and start today! Quick Money Ideas with Amazing Bonuses: Want to make money quickly? Here are a few amazing platforms to earn up to $25 – $50 in the next couple of minutes! InboxDollars: Get paid to watch videos, play games, and shop online. $5 Signup bonus. One already made $75 within a week. Signup now.Vindale Research: Up to $50 per survey & $0.50 per email. $5 per referring friends, sharing payment receipts. Join now for FREE.MyPoints: Top Survey Platform. $5 joining bonus. Redeem gift cards or PayPal cash. Join & Earn today.PineCone Research: Earn $3 – $5 per each survey & up to $7 per each product test. Win Amazon, Walmart gift cards. Sign up now.OpinionCity: Connects all high paying survey platforms at one place. Earn up to $100 per survey. Limited Joinings. Join here NOW.Ebates: Cut your expenses up to 40%. Save money while shopping at your favorite stores. $10 Welcome Bonus. Join Ebates here. Smart & Easy Ideas To Start A Business: 1. Blogging: Blogging is the best option for anyone those who want to start a business online. I think most of the internet geeks aware of blogging and it’s earning potential. There are a lot of people on the internet making thousands of dollars monthly by doing blogging from home. The best thing with blogging is you can choose your own & interesting topic which you are passionate to write every day. By devoting 3 to 6 months of time, you will start earning few thousands of dollars from it. The maximum you can make from your blog completely depends on your hard work and dedication towards it. You can start your own blog for free using Blogger or WordPress. If you can afford to spend the little budget on your blog then a self-hosted blog is a good choice. All things you need to buy are just a domain address and hosting service. My suggestion for new bloggers is to go with Bluehost hosting service because it is cheapest ($2.95 per month) in the industry and it will give you a free domain address(You don’t need to buy it separately.) Want to start a blog? check the step-by-step guide to create your blog in just 30 mins. Cheers! 2. Affiliate Marketing: Ever heard about affiliate marketing? If you don’t know about it, let me explain it simply. Affiliate marketing means you will earn commissions if you sell other people’s products. You need to find the best products to promote. Once you find, you can sign up for their affiliate program. Related: 12 High Paying Affiliate Programs For Everyone To Join You will get your own tracking link for each product you promote. If anyone purchases a product using your link, then you will get a commission from the owner of the product. These commissions vary from product to product. Usually, you will get 15% to 50% commissions from affiliate products. Affiliate marketing is a great way to start your own business. You don’t need any investment to start it. If you still want to know more about affiliate marketing, then look at this best course for new affiliate marketers. Learn how Michelle, owner of the course making more than $100,000 per month with affiliate marketing. Check my guide to learn How To Start Affiliate Marketing And Make Money From It. 3. Freelance Writing: Do you have good writing skills? then the freelance writing has a great market to start your own business in this field. So many busy bloggers and business owners hire freelance writers to write good content for their blogs. And some products and service owners also consult freelance writers and ask them to write honest reviews. A professional freelance writer makes $200 to $15oo per each article their write. A newbie can expect a minimum of $50 per each article. If you want to enter into this business, you need to build a portfolio with your previous articles to convince your clients. Related: Freelance Writing – A Complete Guide To Successful Journey Practically, in the freelance writing business, you have to start writing for free (if needed) and have to grow step by step. Reviews and Testimonials from your previous clients are very important in this business, You need to update your portfolio time-to-time to demand your own prices per article. Within 2 months of time, You can reach a position where you can demand $200 per each article. 4. Dropshipping Business: Dropshipping business is the trending business model nowadays on the internet. In dropshipping, first, you have to open an online store. Then you will buy products you want to promote from a wholesaler for low prices. You will add your profits and list them on your store with new prices. How Dropshipping works: For suppose, If you buy a product from the wholesaler for just $10You list the product for $50 on your online store.If you sell, You receive $50 and you pay $10 to the wholesaler.You will keep the profit $40. This is how dropshipping works. You don’t need to bother about the shipping process, the wholesaler will take care of the shipping process. You also can sell Amazon and AliExpress products on your store with the help of Shopify. To know more about Dropshipping, check the step-by-step guide: How To Start The Dropshipping Business With Amazon 28 Smartphone Apps To Make And Save Money 2019 5. Selling T-Shirts: Selling T-Shirts online is one of the quick and easy ways to start your business. If you can guess what people would like to wear & design the stuff to print it on T-shirts, then it will be easy for you to establish your own brand. Draw some simple designs and quotes on T-shirts which make them creative and attracts people to buy them. You can sell them on your own online store or there are many online platforms on the Internet. You need a T-shirt printer and shipping partner if you sell on your own store. Or if you sell on 3rd party T-Shirt seller platform, then they will print and sent to your customers and share profits with you. 6. Selling Online Courses: Selling online courses is a good idea when you have something to teach people. You can create a course either in a documented format or in a video format. You can set up your own price for the course and promote using digital marketing techniques. Also, there are some platforms on the internet to sell your courses, those are Teachable Udemy Skillshare CourseCraft etc. Get Your $5 + $5 Gift Now! Earn money for watching TV, Playing games, Taking surveys and shopping online! Get rewarded for What you do all day. Hurry up and Join Now! Limited Offer! InboxDollars (for residents of the United States).InboxPounds (for residents of the United Kingdom).DailyRewards (for residents of Canada).Swagbucks – $5 Joining Bonus (for US, UK, Canada, Australia people.) 7. Starting A YouTube Channel: If you are not comfortable with blogging and writing things, you can start a YouTube channel to share your experience with videos. The choice is up to on choosing your topic like Travel Videos, Explaining about automobiles, Tech channel, Tutorials etc. One real fact about YouTube channel is it cannot make you thousands from the day you opened the channel. It takes 6 to 12 months of time and you need to update your content with consistency. If your channel is going well, You can easily make $100 – $500 a day by monetizing your videos and affiliating products. 8. Becoming A Graphics Designer: Do you have any designing skills? Even if you don’t, You can learn within less time if you are interested in designing field. As, a designer, if you are able to design logos, business cards, promotional banners, explainer videos and more then you can make it as a new business. Almost every business need promotions and every promotion need a designer. This field has a big market. You can approach from small companies to big companies when you have great skills and work. Once they like your work, they will buy from you every time. 9. Virtual Assistant Services: Managing a company or a business is really a big job for anyone. Anyone will become ultimately busy when they enter into a business. When they don’t have time to complete their regular tasks, they will hire virtual assistants to complete their incomplete tasks every day. These tasks are may be sending emails, customer support, making promotional content, managing accounts, creating pins when it comes to blogging etc. 10. Advertising Manager: Becoming an advertising manager for small or big companies is a great business idea. But you need some more digital marketing skills than the company people does. Don’t worry if you don’t have digital marketing skills. There is a way to learn if you are interested. Google is offering some digital courses for interested people where you can learn completely for free. They will give you can certificate if you pass their test. These certificates are enough to start your business. All you need to do in this business is, you will increase sales or reduce advertising costs by targeting mostly related people. You can become an advertising manager for more than one company at a time. 11. Writing & Selling eBooks: Unlike creating online courses, you can put your content in a book format and publish it as an eBook. This is also similar to selling courses, but in an eBook, you can write about your experiences, fiction stories, guiding topics etc. Like online course selling platforms, also there are some platforms where you can publish and sell your eBooks online. Amazon Kindle NOOKS Press iBooks Author Google Play These are the popular platforms to sell your eBooks. Your earnings will be based on the popularity of your book and your sales. 12. Becoming a WordPress Developer: If you have programming skills, then you can make a good amount of money by designing WordPress plugins and themes. WordPress is one of the biggest platforms where anyone can start their own website or blog without having technical and programming knowledge. It will be very helpful for everyone if you can make the things easier with your plugins and themes. You can sell them and once your products are doing well. You will get millions of sales. It will be very helpful for everyone if you can make the things easier with your plugins and themes. You can sell them and once your products are doing well. You will get millions of sales. 13. Designing Websites & Smartphone Apps: This is also similar to the above (WordPress Developer) business. But here in this business, you are not limited to WordPress, You can offer any type website, either static or dynamic. Not only websites, designing smartphone apps is also a high paying business model in the industry. A good developer can make thousands of dollars by designing websites and mobile apps. Conclusion: So, here is the list of smart and easy ideas to start a business without investment. Hope this article will help you to find the best one for you.
The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction, Second Edition (Springer Series in Statistics) 2nd Edition April 12, 2019 bizadmin For those who love science and mathematics, then this is the book for your reading from Amazon. Some of the chapters include Bootstrap versus Maximum Likelihood, Trees with Simulated Data, Model Averaging and Stacking, etc. It may sound alien to most of us but for the learned, this makes an interesting read, especially for those who are doing their masters or PhDs. The Elements of statistical learning is more for actuarial science students who will later work in the insurance industry, calculating complex data and refunds to the policy holders. Some Reviews include the below: Very comprehensive, sufficiently technical to get most of the plumbing behind machine learning. Very useful as a reference book (actually, there is no other complete reference book). The authors are the real thing (Tibshirani is the one behind the LASSO regularization technique). Uses some mathematical statistics without the burdens of measure theory and avoids the obvious but complicated proofs. I own two copies of this edition, one for the office, one for my house, and the authors generously provide the PDF for travelers like me. The author’s biography includes those from Wikipedia: Biography Robert Tibshirani (born July 10, 1956) is a Professor in the Departments of Statistics and Health Research and Policy at Stanford University. He was a Professor at the University of Toronto from 1985 to 1998. In his work, he develops statistical tools for the analysis of complex datasets, most recently in genomics and proteomics. His most well-known contributions are the LASSO method, which proposed the use of L1 penalization in regression and related problems, and Significance Analysis of Microarrays. He has also co-authored three well-known books: “Generalized Additive Models”, “An Introduction to the Bootstrap”, and “The Elements of Statistical Learning”, the last of which is available for free from the author’s website. You can also buy the book by clicking on the image above.
Here’s How Seniors are Making Extra Money: Top 7 Part-Time Jobs April 10, 2019 bizadmin According to a recent employment analysis by the Pew Research Center, almost 8 million Americans aged 65 and older are still employed either full or part-time. In the year 2000, the number of seniors employed then were only about 4 million, so it’s already double in less than 2 decades. While the increasing employment rate among seniors may be attributed to financial reasons, non-financial reasons include avoiding boredom, to feel productive, to continue interacting with people, and to learn new things, among many others. For these reasons, senior employees are in the highest demand ever and they’re actually finding great jobs when they look in the right places. If you are one of the many older individuals who want to continue working, you may want to consider taking on any of the following part-time jobs so you can continue working while having enough time to do other things as well. Consultant If you have specialized skills or experience that not many people have, especially in a particular industry, you can try working as a consultant. You can start by contacting your former employer or other companies that would be interested in the skills that you possess. As a consultant, your working hours and arrangements would be flexible for as long as you can deliver results. Uber or Lyft Driver Need the most flexible of part-time jobs? Try becoming a driver for a ride-share company like Lyft or Uber. It’s a position with decent pay and the perk of setting your own schedule. The average wage for a single ride, according to Money Magazine, is $11. Bartender Bartenders can actually make a sizable salary off their part-time shifts, and bars are increasingly hiring social seniors to help behind the bar. On top of that hourly rate, bartenders earn tips. These tips can raise your hourly earnings to as much as $20 to $25 per hour, making this part-time job perfect for those who need to earn a lot during short shifts. Instructor, Teaching Assistant, or Tutor If you have spent most of your years in the education sector and the feeling of being around and teaching the younger generation energizes you more than anything, you should consider taking part-time work as an instructor, teaching assistant, or private tutor. Older individuals can share their years of wisdom and life experience — and knowledge if you formerly specialized in a field — to help others learn something new. All these things encourage them to find many employment opportunities even as senior citizens. Childcare Services Provider One of the most lucrative jobs that you can do, especially if you enjoy taking care of kids, is childcare services. There are undoubtedly tons of families in your circle alone who are regularly in need of people who can babysit their kids. You can even consider offering daily childcare services in your home at certain hours of the day if you don’t want the hassle of staying in someone else’s house. Customer Service Representative Customer service jobs are always in demand and one of the best perks is that you can do this job at the convenience of your own home. For as long as you are patient, have good verbal communication skills, and able to calmly talk with people regardless of their mood and tone, then a CSR job is worth considering. Dog Walker If spending time with dogs while getting needed exercise is something that interests you, then you should consider being a professional dog walker. Dog walking is undoubtedly one of the most popular careers that were practically non-existent before. The level of pay is very attractive and if you walk several dogs at once and you live in a large city like New York, dog walkers can actually make up to $110,000 a year according to MarketWatch. Not too bad for a part-time job!
6 Ways to Make Money while you Sleep April 8, 2019 bizadmin Best Ways To Make Money While Sleeping: 1. Write & Sell an eBook: Writing an eBook is the best way to make money if you have a topic and content. You can write using your experiences, knowledge, passion, skills. For suppose, you are a professional photographer and know how to capture awesome pictures, photography tricks etc then, you can write an eBook with your experience, knowledge of photography. There are lots of people on the internet to learn about photography. Prepare a structure of your book and decide what to write in it. Try to have 100 – 150 pages with nice and interesting content. Your readers shouldn’t feel boring while reading it. You have so many platforms to sell your eBook once it is ready. If everything was done perfectly, you can publish your eBook on best selling platforms like Amazon Kindle, Google Play Books. Initially, you have to do little promotion. Share it with all your friends and ask them to give an honest review of the book. This will helps to boost your sales. This way will give you up to $500 – $1000 per month without any investment and promotions. You first have to setup everything. You can earn more if you promote regularly, it’s your choice 2. Create A YouTube Channel: I have created some YouTube channels and made a good amount of money with them. Initially, it takes some time to start your income but you have to be consistent with your work without losing hope. Create a channel on your interesting topic. So you won’t feel boring with YouTube, you can enjoy your Vlogging. It took 4-5 months for me to receive my first payment from YouTube. So don’t start your channel by expecting hundreds of dollars from the first month. This is best for the people who work with consistency and update their channel regularly. Uploading videos regularly to your channel helps YouTube algorithm to find your channel and improves your rank. So you will start getting views on your channel. It takes at least a year and after that, you can make up to $100 – $200 per day from your channel. Start your channel today and upload 2-3 videos per week. How can you monetize your YouTube Channel: You will earn money from Google Adsense by placing ads on your videos.You can place affiliate links in the description that brings sales and commissions.Place your blog links and drive traffic to your blog. 3. Start Blogging: Blogging is king of all ways anytime and it is the most powerful way to make solid money while sleeping. I don’t know whether you believe or not If I say there are some people who are making more than $1 million per year with blogging. Blogging will helps you to impact people and you can teach them what they want to learn. As you are getting more readers to your blog, you can monetize your blog. You don’t need to be a computer expert to set up your own blog. With BlueHost, you can create your blog in the next 20 minutes. Once you set up your blog, you have lots of opportunities to monetize the blog. You have to build a trusted audience and interact with them regularly with your posts. How can you monetize from blogging: You can earn money from Google Adsense by placing Google ads on your site.You can earn by placing other people’s banner ads on your site.By placing affiliate links or recommending products.Selling your own products and eBooks.Selling backlinks and promoting other people’s websites. Most Popular Related Articles: 7 Epic Ways To Become A Successful Freelance Writer Best Platforms To Get Paid To Test Websites From Home Top 3 Master Ways To Earn Solid Income Online For Beginners How to Make $2000/Month with CPA Marketing 4. Affiliate Marketing: We have mentioned about affiliate marketing in above discussions of blogging & YouTube channel. So what is affiliate marketing? It is all about promoting other people’s products and earning commissions when someone purchased the product using your link. There are plenty of ways to start making money with affiliate marketing like promotion on a blog, YouTube channel, social media profiles, advertising on PPC & search networks etc. Affiliate marketing is a great option to start. It is all based on the promotions. If you learn the techniques to make sales, you can earn $100 per day from next week onwards. You need to apply the strategies that bring lots of sales from your links. Mostly Recommended: Affiliate Marketing Training Course To Make $50,000 per Month. 5. Create & Sell Online Courses: If you are an expert at something and extremely knowledgeable in that field like business, or study, or marketing, whatever, people want to learn directly from you as your brand grown up. They will follow all your suggestions you make on your blog or channel or social media accounts. It helps both you and your followers if you make a course on what they want to learn from you. This will also save time because you cannot teach each and everyone personally. Making a course will helps lots of students. You can sell you courses on Udemy Teachable CourseCraft etc. You can upload your course on this sites and fix one price for it. People who are related to your course will find your course on those websites and simply they can buy from there. This is also a great way to make money using your skills and branding. 6. Invest In Shares of Stocks: You will become a stakeholder in a company when you invest in their stocks. This probably means you are a partner in their profits too. This is the most popular way for years to make a solid income. Using the internet, you can research and invest in good companies on your own. You need to follow the news related to the companies you are investing to predict the upcoming fluctuations in their market. You can easily decide the companies to invest by following news. So here you have 6 successful ways to start making money while you sleep. These are the proven ways by so many people on the Internet. These are the ways that everyone can able to do. Pick your best way to start making money.
How to Start a Business: 13 Steps to Get Your Business Up and Running April 5, 2019 bizadmin Running a business can have a powerful impact on your life and the lives of those around you. But before you can run a business, you need to start a business. Deciding to start your own business can seem like a daunting prospect if you’ve never done it before. Luckily, plenty of other entrepreneurs have, and you can benefit from the wisdom they gleaned from their successes—and their mistakes. These 13 time-tested steps will help you start a business—whether it’s your first or your 10th—with tips on everything from finding and validating your money-making idea to figuring out your shipping strategy to finally launching your product or service. Use the time you have availableIdentify a business ideaValidate your business ideaFind a business nameMake a planUnderstand business financesDevelop your product or servicePick a business structureResearch licenses and regulationsSelect your software systemsFind a business locationPlan workload and team sizeLaunch your business 1. Use the time you have available No matter how ambitious your business goals ultimately are, you can still start a business in your spare time, working around the current commitments in your life. Not everyone has the ability to quit their full-time job and pursue launching something of their own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get started. For example, it’s possible to launch a handmade goods company on the side of a full-time job, or start a blog that you later turn into a business. If you’re looking for further inspiration, here are seven more ways to start a business without quitting your day job. 2. Identify a business idea Finding a business idea is something you can approach systematically by relying on time-tested approaches that have worked for other entrepreneurs. Here are 12 ways to identify a product you can sell, including strategies like: Mining your personal interests. What do you like to do in your spare time? Are there products you can sell that relate to your hobbies, or that would solve a common frustration you have? Research existing products. Peruse product reviews to see if there are common complaints about popular products, and see if you can identify gaps in the market. Capitalize on trends. If you notice a particular product seems to be popping up everywhere, or you have a great idea to help make the most of a popular product, those can make for great business ideas. In addition, here are 17 places entrepreneurs often look to find new product and business ideas. Remember, all you need is one idea to get started. Many successful businesses launched with a signature product and expanded into complementary goods from there. 3. Validate your business idea Validating your business might sound difficult, but it’s really just a matter of testing whether customers are willing to pay for your product before you sink too much time and money into it—and it’s important to do no matter what type of business you’re starting. There are plenty of ways to validate your business, from the simple to the complex. Here are some tactical examples that can help you figure out how to gauge market demand before getting in too deep. Set up a store to take preorders Launch a crowdfunding campaign Create a beta of your product or service to sell There are other ways to validate your product ideas, but when in doubt, start selling as quickly as possible. Learning from direct customer feedback, and understanding how your products are being used, is invaluable when growing a small business. Take PopSockets, a now-ubiquitous way to confidently hold a smartphone in one hand. Initially, David Barnett designed PopSockets as a way to manage headphone cords. It wasn’t until he saw students in his class using their PopSockets to get a better grip on their phone that he realized the unplanned value his customers saw in the product. That insight helped PopSockets sell more than 35 million units. 4. Find a business name Work on finding a name for your business that makes it clear what you do, that’s short and memorable, and that isn’t already in use in your industry. This isn’t an easy task, but it’s one that’s achievable with a bit of effort and imagination. Name generators can help you come up with a list of unique ideas, and there are also plenty of time-tested naming best practices you can lean on to help build your own list. A strong name will usually have a few characteristics: Short and simple. You want customers to be able to quickly remember your name, and the best way to do that is to avoid long names. One or two words is ideal, although three to four short words can also work if they create a memorable phrase. Different. If your market research shows that everyone in your industry seems to have similar names, or relies on similar elements, it can be helpful to avoid them in order to come up with a name that really stands out. Original. Beyond just avoiding similar names, you’ll need to make sure that your business name isn’t in use by a competitor already. To do that, run a free trademark search in the countries you’ll be doing business in, and make sure to check Google and social media sites, too. (The same goes for URLs, so do a domain name search too before you register anything.) Even if someone hasn’t registered a trademark, in many jurisdictions they can legally challenge your use of a name they’ve been using to do business in the same industry. If you’re unsure, it’s best to consult independent legal counsel for advice specific to your situation. 5. Make a plan Writing a business plan helps validate and formalize your idea, and can streamline the business-creation process by getting you to sit down and think things through methodically. A classic quotation that’s especially applicable to the business plan process is, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Many entrepreneurs say they rarely look at their plan once they’ve launched—but they’ll also tell you there’s value in thinking through and researching your idea while creating a plan. If you’ve never done it before, here’s a comprehensive guide to writing a business plan, and a business plan template to help you structure your thoughts. When creating your plan, make sure to pay extra attention to the competitive analysis and SWOT analysis sections. While nothing can replace validating your idea by confirming that people will pay for it, the research involved in completing these sections can be further proof you’re on the right track. 6. Understand business finances The shared goal of any business is to make money, which means the flow of money is an integral part of running a business. You’ll need to understand some basics to get started and scale that knowledge as you grow. There are plenty of businesses you can start with only a small startup cost, but others will require money for inventory, equipment, or physical space. A clear view of your total investment—before you spend a cent—is a must, and can help you make important projections, like when you’ll break even. A clear view of your total startup costs is a must before you spend a cent. If those calculations show you you’ll need more funding than you can afford to spend out of pocket, you can look at funding options like a small business loan or a crowdfunding campaign. Bookkeeping needs to be one of your primary financial tasks as soon as you’re ready to start making purchases for your business. Accurate records of your income and expenses will help you keep an eye on cash flow, and make for a smooth transition to working with an accountant or bookkeeper later on. To make the process even easier, consider opening a separate bank account and credit card for your business. Keeping your personal and business finances separate makes doing your business taxes much simpler, and can help you automate some of the steps as well. Resources: Shopify Capital. Helps approved merchants get the funds they need without lengthy bank approvals or giving up part of their company. Profit First. A book designed to help make sure your business is profitable, no matter what kind of business you run. Accounting tools. Apps that work directly with Shopify to streamline your accounting processes. 7. Develop your product or service You’ve done the legwork, and you understand the financials—now it’s time to dig deep into the product or service you’d like to offer. For a product-driven business, developing your product could mean taking one of three general approaches. Creating your own product. Whether you’re making items by hand, or sourcing an original product from a manufacturer, developing your own product to sell can help you stand out in the market. Customizing an existing product. With print on demand options, you can add your unique designs and ideas to products including t-shirts, leggings, towels, backpacks and more. Curating a selection of products. Dropshipping is a way to stock your store without creating a new product, so you can start selling almost immediately without managing inventory. As you develop your product, keep your total costs in mind when figuring out your pricing. While your product’s price is not solely driven by costs—and there are many factors that influence pricing strategy—it’s important to price your product profitably. 8. Pick a business structure Your business structure influences key parts of your business, from taxes to operations to your personal liability. Choosing the right structure is about balancing the legal and financial protections you need with the flexibility offered by different options. It’s an important decision, and it’s one you should consider carefully before you launch your business. Choosing the right structure is about balancing the legal and financial protections you need with the flexibility offered by different options. Business structures vary based on your country and area, but two common types—that may go by different names in your country—are sole proprietorship and incorporation. A sole proprietorship is great if you’re the only person involved in the business, and is usually the lowest-effort structure to pursue, but you remain personally liable for the business and its activities. You can even hire employees as a sole proprietor, but you’ll need an employer identification number to do so, which means registering your business. On the other hand, if you opt for a more formal structure like a corporation, it’s easier to involve multiple owners in the business, and you’re not personally liable for the business—but there’s more paperwork and steps involved in starting and maintaining a corporation. When it comes to choosing a business structure, there are a few factors you’ll need to consider. Where is your business located? Your country’s laws will outline the different business structures you can form., and whether or not you need a business license to get started. What kind of business are you running? Some structures are more suited to businesses of a certain scale or within a certain industry. There might come a time when you need to restructure your business in order to work with new partners. It’s not uncommon for large businesses to ask that their suppliers or partners be incorporated, for example. How many people are involved? If you’re going it alone as a solo founder, you may be able to look at streamlined options. If you have a business partner or multiple people with ownership in the company, you’ll need to look at more advanced options to ensure everything is set up and shared properly. An accountant or lawyer can be helpful in evaluating the different options available in your area and with the process of setting up your business. 9. Research licenses and regulations No one wants to end up in legal trouble. Your business is subject to the laws governing businesses in your area, as well as laws and regulations specific to your industry. For instance, a food service business needs to follow specific licensing and regulations for handling what it sells, but it also has to pay attention to the legalities of its marketing efforts and to trademark and copyright laws. With so much to know, and a lot of it specific to your location and industry, it’s worth consulting with a lawyer to get advice before you launch your business. Investing time and money upfront to obtain legal advice can save you from considerable headaches down the road. 10. Select your software systems One of the best ways to reduce the heavy lifting involved in running a business, and to set yourself up for future success, is choosing software that can help you automate or streamline the things you need to do. Often, when you choose the right software systems, you’ll be able to set them up once and have them run efficiently with little ongoing work. Consider looking into software to help you manage the following: Accounting. With multiple options to help you track everything from a meal with your business partner to a big inventory order, accounting software is one of the best ways to start your business off on the right financial foot. Email marketing. A good email marketing tool will help you stay in touch with your current (and future) customers and make sure you’re able to send the right messages to the right people at the right time. Ads. Paying for ads is often a cost of doing business, especially online, but there’s marketing software that can help streamline the process and make the most of your advertising budget—no matter how much you have to spend. Project management. Even if you’re a sole proprietor, having one place to plan your work and keep track of important tasks can help you stay on schedule. Tools like Trello and Asana can help. Website or online store. Choose a platform that allows you to easily manage all the critical tasks involved in running your business. Look for a theme that supports your product lines to the ability to take and manage orders easily. To get an idea of what you’ll need to do, here’s a comprehensive store launch checklist. Free Course: Getting Started with Shopify. Learn everything you need to know about starting a Shopify store, with step-by-step video walkthroughs, from a six-figure store owner. 11. Find a business location Your business plan will help guide what kind of space you need for your business. If you’re selling print-on-demand t-shirts, you may only need to find space in your home for a small workspace, a desk, and a laptop. On the other hand, if your business requires in-person retail space, you’ll need to find a place to rent. To help narrow down what you need from your business location, consider these questions: How much space will you need for inventory? If you’re accepting deliveries of thousands of items at once, you may not be able to accommodate it in your living room. Do you plan on offering in-person retail sales? While selling out of your home is certainly an option for your first orders, if in-person is an important channel you’ll want to find space that’s comfortable and easily accessible for customers to visit. Will you be packing and shipping orders from your location? Depending on the scale of your shipping operations, that may necessitate more space than you have available in a home office. It’s possible you’ll be able to run your business from a space you already have available, especially if you don’t plan to sell in-person. If that’s the case, here are some home-office design ideas to help you create an effective workspace while you get your business off the ground. 12. Plan workload and team size How much work will you need to do and what skills will be required to launch your business? These are fundamental questions you’ll need to answer, because they’ll guide both your timeline and your level of investment in the launch. If you plan to do all of the work yourself, you’re limited by the time you have available to invest. If you plan on hiring help, you’ll need to account for those costs—as well as the time involved in finding and onboarding freelancers or employees. Here’s an overview of the basic skills you’ll need to learn, know, or hire as you launch. Design There are many design decisions that need to be made as you set up your business, from designing a logo to choosing your brand’s colors. There are tools available to help make some initial decisions and guide you in the right direction. Logo. You can rely on a logo creator like Hatchful or online image software Learn more about designing your own store—even with no previous experience—in this free design course from Shopify Academy. If a DIY approach to setting up your store is too far outside of your area of expertise, you can find professional designers by asking for referrals from other business owners or searching for a Shopify Expert. Photography Great photos are essential to your business, especially if you’re selling online, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t DIY your product photography. Shopify Academy Course: Product Photography Photographer Jeff Delacruz shares how you can create your own photo studio and take beautiful product photos for less than $50. There are also templates you can use to mock up product designs, like these t-shirt mockups. Marketing Marketing is an integral part of your business, and can require multiple skill sets. Start by deciding which marketing activities will have the biggest impact for your new business, and use your plans to make a list of the skills you’ll need to execute them. For example, running paid ads is a much different skill set than taking lifestyle photos to build your Instagram following. Research and understand some of the most common promotional tactics used in your industry, and make sure you have the skills required to implement them. How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy: A Beginner’s GuideInstagram Marketing 101: Using Hashtags, Stories, and More to Grow Your BusinessThe Google Ads Playbook: 13 Campaign Types And What to Expect From Them Shipping Once products are ordered, how will they get from Point A to Point B? Make sure you have a shipping strategy in place that covers key details like: Pricing. Will you offer free or discounted shipping to your customers, or pass on the exact cost to them? This is a nuanced decision that impacts many parts of your business, so it’s important to run the numbers and weigh the options. Packaging. Lighter packaging often means lower shipping costs, but you’ll need to balance weight with protection. Cardboard, while heavy, is more protective for many products than a poly mailer. Locations. Will you ship internationally, nationally, or just locally? The answer will depend on your products and your goals—and it can change as your business grows. Whatever your shipping strategy, Shopify Shipping is here to help with negotiated rates with USPS, UPS, and DHL in the US, and Canada Post in Canada. Hiring help for your business If you don’t have the time or skill to DIY everything you need for your business, hire help. You can find a virtual assistant for ongoing, routine tasks, or work with an expert for more involved projects, like creating your website or your marketing plan. Managing your workload Once you have a good understanding of what needs to happen and who will be completing the work, it’s time to add a bit of project management to make your life easier. Consider using a time management tool like Trello or Asana to write down, assign, and track tasks. Time management tools are especially helpful for keeping teams on schedule, but don’t underestimate the value of structure for yourself as well. 13. Launch your business You’re ready to take the last step in starting a business: launching. The preparation you’ve already done has laid a solid foundation to support your launch, so you can focus on marketing activities and making your first sale. However, a plan of attack, especially as you’re trying to build traction, can help make your launch even more successful. While every launch will be unique, there are some elements that can boost any business’ first few days of sales. Leverage your network. Promote your store first and foremost on free channels that are already available to you, which includes your personal social media and your contacts list. Sending one-on-one emails asking for support, which can be as simple as a social share, can go a long way towards gaining traction. Consider offering discounts. Rewarding early customers with a discount code that fits with your profit margins can help you get traction early on, especially when your store is new and may not have many customer reviews or social proof points. Test paid ads. Even if you start with a small budget, paid ads can be one of the most effective ways to get in front of your ideal audience. Testing early and learning from your results can help you drive your first few sales and optimize your ad performance as you scale. Start a business and make an impact Starting a business isn’t easy, but it also doesn’t have to be daunting. Whether you want to bring a product into the world to solve a problem you’re having, build a profitable business to be self-employed, create opportunities for the people around you, or bring in some extra money every month, these steps can help you make your dreams a reality.