"Stop Mixing Business and Personal Travel Expenses! Discover How Navan Can Save You Time and Money"

Managing business and personal travel expenses can be a complex and often confusing task, especially when both types of expenses occur simultaneously. Not to mention how fast a trip can go by, what receipts weren’t collected, which were, which part was business, and which part was personal.

This article will explore the importance of differentiating and tracking these expenses in an automated way, discuss effective methods for doing so, and highlight how tools like Navan and Refresh.me simplify the process. By the end of this article, you'll have a clear understanding of how to manage your travel expenses efficiently, ensuring compliance with tax regulations and maximizing your travel benefits.

Importance of Tracking Business vs. Personal Expenses

Keeping business and personal expenses separate is crucial for several reasons. Mixing these expenses can lead to accounting errors, making it difficult to accurately report business expenses on your taxes. This can result in lost deductions and potential issues with tax authorities. Additionally, separating expenses ensures better financial management and clarity in understanding your business's profitability.

Real-World Scenario

Imagine you're a small business owner attending a conference in New York. You decide to extend your stay for a personal vacation. Without a clear system in place, it becomes challenging to differentiate the costs associated with the conference (business expense) from your vacation (personal expense). This confusion can lead to incorrect bookkeeping, resulting in either over-reporting or under-reporting your business expenses. How about the tax deductions you could be missing out on?

Methods for Keeping Track of Expenses

1. Separate Bank Accounts and Credit Cards: Use dedicated accounts and cards for business transactions. This helps in easily identifying and tracking expenses without the need to sift through mixed transactions.

2. Detailed Expense Reports: Maintain detailed records of your expenses. Include receipts, dates, descriptions, and the purpose of each expense. This practice helps in accurately categorizing expenses and supports your claims during tax filing.

3. Digital Tools and Apps: Utilize expense tracking software like Navan and Refresh.me. These tools automate the tracking process, ensuring accuracy and saving time.

How Navan Simplifies Expense Tracking

Navan offers a comprehensive solution for managing travel expenses. Here’s how:

• Automatic Categorization: Navan automatically categorizes expenses as business or personal based on predefined rules. This feature reduces manual effort and minimizes errors.

• Integration: By automating the reconciliation process and integrating directly with tools like Refresh.me and QuickBooks Online, finance teams can eliminate frustrating, manual work and close the books faster.

• Real-Time Expense Tracking: With real-time tracking, you can monitor your expenses as they occur, ensuring immediate identification and correction of any discrepancies.

• Integration with Accounting Software: Navan integrates seamlessly with popular accounting tools, ensuring that your expense data is always up-to-date and accurate.

Navan travel expense tracking visual - version

How Refresh.me Enhances Expense Management

Refresh.me complements Navan by providing additional features for expense management:

• Expense Insights and Analytics: Refresh.me offers detailed insights and analytics, helping you understand spending patterns and make informed decisions.

• Customizable Reports: Generate customized reports that meet your specific needs, whether for tax filing or internal reviews.

What Business Travel Expenses are Tax-Deductible

Understanding what qualifies as a tax-deductible business travel expense is crucial. Common deductible expenses include:

• Transportation: Costs of flights, trains, taxis, and car rentals for business purposes.

• Accommodation: Hotel stays and lodging expenses incurred during business trips.

• Meals and Entertainment: Business-related meals and entertainment, typically up to 50% of the cost.

• Conference Fees: Registration fees for business-related conferences and events.

• Miscellaneous Expenses: Other necessary expenses such as internet fees, shipping of business materials, and tips.

Business Tax Deductible Expenses

Effectively managing business and personal travel expenses is essential for maintaining accurate financial records and maximizing tax benefits. By using tools like Navan and Refresh.me, you can simplify the tracking process, ensure compliance with tax regulations, and gain valuable insights into your spending patterns. Start integrating these solutions into your financial management practices today to experience the benefits firsthand.

For further reading on expense management and financial tools, check out our other articles and resources. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for the latest tips and updates!

Wave of Bank Mergers: How they Affect You And Your Business

Co-authored by:

Garit Boothe Owner of Content Marketing Agency “Digital Honey”

Most people don't think about the banking business unless it's in the news. In the same way, banks may look like they will always be there, but many of them change or join with other banks for different reasons. Experts say it's nothing to worry about, but there are some things to think about and changes you might have to make.

Dive In:

• What is a Bank Merger

• Watch for changes in your account & Decide if you will stay: Co-authored by: Garit Boothe Owner of Content Marketing Agency “Digital Honey”

• Replacing cards and changing information

• Setbacks to business accounts

• Commotion in customer service?

What is a bank merger?

When two banks join together to make one company with new ownership and a new legal structure, this is called a bank merger. People usually consider it a friendly purchase because the two banks have agreed to work together, however, this is often not the case.

A bank might start deciding to merge with some other bank to cut costs or move into a new market. It also helps a bank grow and get more customers, giving it more money to use. When banks have more capital, they can give customers more loan options.

Two banks might also join forces to make up for gaps in technology or products. One bank may have a great team of people who lend money to businesses, while the other might be good at managing wealth. By coming together, the two banks can give their customers better services.

When banks join together, the name is sometimes the only thing that changes. In other cases, many products and services have been added to improve customer experience. Even though your bank has joined with another, that doesn't mean you need to find a new one. Most of the time, the new bank will be very similar to the one you've used.

Watch for changes in your account & Decide if you will stay:

Co-authored by: Garit Boothe Owner of Content Marketing Agency “Digital Honey”

After a bank merger, the new bank may change how it does loans. This could mean different loan options, interest rates, or rules for getting a loan.
For example, you may need a higher credit score or make more money to be approved for a loan.

It's also possible that the new bank will stop offering certain loans or change the terms of the loans that it does offer. If you have a loan with the bank, it's important to pay attention to any changes that are made and to check your loan documents carefully. If you have any questions or concerns, you should contact the bank's customer service team for help.

When two banks merge, they will combine their mortgages, business accounts, and loans together. This means that the terms and conditions of these accounts may change, as well as the interest rates and fees. Customers may also have changes in their account numbers, login information, and online banking portals. Some customers may not be able to use certain products or services that were offered by one of the banks. It's important for customers to read any information they receive from the bank and to ask any
questions they may have.

When thinking about staying with a bank after it merges, you should look at a few things. Some examples are:

• If the bank's fees and charges are good compared to other banks

• If the bank has the services you need, like online banking or loans

• If the bank's branches and ATMs are convenient for you

• If the bank's customer service is good

• If the bank is financially stable.

Replacing cards and changing information

One thing that will always happen when a bank changes hands is that customers' basic banking information will change. Since your account numbers will likely change after the switch, you'll need to replace any credit or debit cards you hold with the bank and stop any automatic payments linked to those cards.

Even though it's inconvenient, this might not seem like a big deal in the big picture of your banking life. But remember that this does not always go as seamlessly as the bank says it will. During mergers, debit cards, as well as other digital services, don't always work well. Hinsdale Bank & Trust's SVP and head of retail banking.

Customers already going through a lot of change quickly can find this very frustrating. Since many other customers will be trying to stimulate their new cards simultaneously, as you, this rush could cause delays. And the longer you go without your cards, the harder it will be to do the things you need daily.

Read Also: 10 New & Old Ideas For 2023 Businesses

Setbacks to business accounts

Problems with transitions can be annoying and inconvenient for personal accounts, but they can be very bad for business accounts. Sometimes, changing to a business bank account is harder than changing to a personal account. And if you can't get into your business bank account for a long time, your way of life is in danger.

Very important transactions could fail, which would be bad for you and your customers. Most business owners have set routines for one's books, and any changes that happen when banks merge can hurt their businesses. Also, remember that your bank's move could make it less familiar with the local business scene, making it harder for your bankers to help and understand you than before.

Commotion in customer service?

When you encounter a problem with your bank's transition, it makes sense to call customer service to help you find a solution. During the busiest time of a transition, however, customer service is likely to be busy, leaving you to deal with the effects of high volume.

If you need help, you might have to wait up to an hour because hundreds or thousands of other customers are also going through the change. Even if you get in touch with a customer service rep, they might not treat you like a person and give you a solution that isn't good enough or doesn't work.

It's also possible that your problem is so complicated that you'll be passed around to different people repeatedly, but nothing will get fixed. Staying with a bank that wants to treat you like just another account number isn't worth it.

Through all of life's ups and downs, you need a bank that you can count on to meet your long-term needs and understand your community just as well as you do.

Google Analytics Tracking Optimization Tips

How can I better track my website with Google Analytics? is often asked. It's an excellent question! We've put together a list of our top 10 Google Analytics tips for better website tracking to help you set up your analytics account correctly.

Create view accounts for best practices

Even though our first Google Analytics tip is obvious, you wouldn't believe how many Google Analytics accounts only have one view. Usually, this is called "All Website Data." Raise your hand if you've done this. Google strongly recommends that you add at least three views to your account.

A view that gets raw data from a website. This is a copy of the data that hasn't been changed. The reporting view is a filtered view where filters and goals are implemented. A view where you can test any changes to your account settings, filters, goals, and e-commerce tracking before putting them into the reporting view.

Positioning of the Google Analytics tag

Did you know there is a recommended place for the Google Analytics tracking code? If you said no, you might want to keep reading. Google says that you should put the tracking code for Google Analytics right before the closing /head> tag on every website page you want to track. You have to copy and paste your tracking code exactly as it is. This is very important!

Set up filters to keep out traffic you don't want.

Under "filtered view" in your Google Analytics account, you should make filters to keep out traffic you don't want. It is suggested that you eliminate internal traffic sources like yourself, your employees, and any third parties who regularly work on your website. This will ensure that your Google Analytics data is clean and doesn't get inflated for no reason. To do this, go to Admin > Filters > New Filter after selecting your Filtered view.

Set up filters to stop spambots and fake referrals.

It would be best if you also thought about filtering out spambots and ghost referrals when making filters in your Google Analytics account. These things mess up your Google Analytics data.

Track macro and micro objectives with goal conversion monitoring.

When people visit your website, you want to know what they do there. Get ready for tracking goal conversions. Goal tracking checks how well your website helps you reach your marketing goals. Goal conversions track when a user on your website does something you want them to do. There are two kinds of goals: big ones and small ones.

Organize material into groups to find the categories that perform the best.

This is a bit more complicated, but it's well worth doing! You can see which content categories are doing the best by creating content groups in your Google Analytics account. You can also create content groupings that divide your data by product category.

For example, you can put all women's clothing into one group and divide it into categories like tops, bottoms, dresses, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories. This will help you determine which part of your site brings in the most traffic and leads.

Integrate Google Analytics with Google Webmaster Tools.

Google Analytics can be linked to other Google products, like Google Webmaster Tools and Adwords, to name a few. You can learn more about your SEO data when you connect Google Analytics to these other products.

When you connect these two tools, you can use the data from Google Webmaster Tools in Google Analytics and the other way around. Google has added a cool new search Analytics report feature to Google Webmaster Tools. It will replace the Search Queries report. Google has said that this new addition will add more features to improve analysis.

Track e-commerce sales conversions

If your site has places where people can buy things, you must set up e-commerce conversion tracking in Google Analytics. Google Analytics gathers information about the sales funnel, products, and transactions. This will help you determine which products sell and give you other useful information, like how much money each product made and how many times it was sold.

By analyzing this data, you'll find the products that bring in a lot of sales and those that don't do as well as you'd expect. This will allow the site owner to improve their products to suit their customers better.

Create Personalized Notifications for Google Analytics updates.

Imagine getting a message when the number of people visiting your site drops below a certain level. Magic? I want to say yes because I like Harry Potter. Sadly, this isn't true. It's just a simple feature in Google Analytics that lets you know when certain things happen on your site. This information is important because it lets a user find strange things in the data and analyze them to figure out what caused them.

Read Also : Types of Entrepreneurship

How To Increase Productivity In Your Small Business

Take advantage of tools for communication and working together.

Never before has communication been so important. In a world where people spend less time together in person and more time working from home, sending emails back and forth is not enough. Teams now must work together across many different apps, even for the simplest projects. Adding extra steps to a process that used to be simple can make even the most basic tasks less efficient and slow down the whole operation.

Investing in the new digital collaboration tools that are taking over the business world is the best way to manage a virtual team. These can make communication quick and easy by using easy-to-understand visual displays, live updates, and performance analytics that measure each employee's productivity.

Software like Slack, Asana, and Trello, as well as cloud-based file-sharing services like Google Cloud and Microsoft OneDrive, let your company streamline all communication through a central hub, easily transfer files, and edit living documents in real time. Every user can make changes, and many of these services show which changes each team member made. These kinds of software make things more open and help hold everyone responsible for doing their jobs.

Set reasonable goals and be responsible for reaching them.

Transparency is very important for businesses that don't have a physical office. Productivity is how well time is used, and just because there are more hours in the day does not mean that those hours will be useful or even used. The first step is ensuring employees put in at least the minimum hours. Tools that track when your employees sign on for the day will let you know they are there and working the required hours. If you can't keep track of this information by hand, you can install time-tracking software like TSheets to do it for you.

Help workers make the most of their day after you've confirmed that they are putting in the required hours. Giving employees clear daily goals or targets will boost morale and increase productivity since people tend to work better when they are focused on a clear goal with a clear deadline.

How do you set a goal like this? By working backward, you break it up into smaller goals that are easier to achieve. Reverse-engineering the process will help you figure out what you want your employees to do and give you a list of possible results.

For instance, let's say you want to ship 100 chairs by the end of the week. First, figure out where a chair needs to be in the production chain on Friday morning for it to be shipped that weekend. Do this for your product every day of the week or every week or month for long-term goals. This makes detailed rules with clear expectations for both you and your workers. This process can also help you know the more difficult tasks your staff has to do and give you a better idea of each position's monthly, weekly, and daily goals.

Set up good conditions for work.

Google and Facebook invest a lot to provide great workplaces because they recognize the importance of employee satisfaction for productivity. Being productive includes organization and being prepared. That doesn't mean you have to turn your office into a full-fledged gym. Researchers found that raising the temperature in an office by just a few degrees can make people more productive. The change here has a big impact despite its small size.

If your employees work from home, they might be unable to use office amenities like the high-end heating system you just bought. If this is the case, think about virtual alternatives. Was the pizza party at work every six weeks a big hit? Send your employees a small coupon for lunch, and set up a video call for one afternoon so you can all eat together. When a team feels important, they are more likely to work hard and reach its goals.

Eliminate things that waste time.

You and your workers need to pay attention if you want to get more done. Even the most enthusiastic and involved employees will allow their thoughts to stray and spend an additional five minutes on social media. Every hour spent at your company has to be valuable.

To stay productive, limit the number of times you can get sidetracked. Delete distracting phone apps or put them on mute at work. Please turn off your phone's alerts, or even better, turn it off and put it in your desk drawer. Use tools and resources that eliminate tedious tasks.

Encourage your workers to keep a notebook where they can write down any thoughts that are getting in the way and then let them go. This visualization exercise helps you get rid of thoughts that are getting in the way of your work so you can focus on it.

Most importantly, reassure your employees that they shouldn't be hard on themselves if distracted. Instead, they should help them get back to work gently.

Maximize automation.

Many tasks and procedures still need human labor, as anybody who has worked in the company for any time will attest. Most of the time, these are small but important tasks.

Suppose you could automate these processes so that you and your employees could devote more time to complex tasks and procedures. By analyzing your company's operations and investing in software that automates as many of those procedures as feasible, you may complete the tedious job quickly while allowing your staff to concentrate on other duties. Because of the demand for mobile infrastructure, more of these solutions are available now than ever. As a result, now is the perfect time to evaluate which of your job functions can be eliminated so that you can devote more time to important tasks requiring higher critical thinking.

Read Also: Tips For Effective Time Management For Your Busy Days

Best Search Engine Optimization Methods For A Small Business

One of the best ways to help clients discover your company online without spending money on advertisements is via search engine optimization or SEO. In a word, SEO is a technique for organizing your website and optimizing your web pages so that they appear at the top of search engine results when your clients use Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Since most search engine users click on one of the first few results, SEO is a crucial component of any plan for company expansion. Even if you don't know much about SEO, you can still make a plan for your small business.

These nine SEO techniques for small companies will help you increase your readership regardless of whether you currently have a website or are building one for the first time.

Best SEO Methods for Small Businesses

Content Quality Matters

Before using other, more technical strategies, ensure you keep your content's quality high. Even if your website is at the top of the SERP, customers won't stay on it if they can't find what they're looking for. Make sure your website is easy to use and has useful information for visitors.

You can improve the user experience by following these tips:

• Optimize your website's content according to the keywords and headlines.

• Talk to the people you want to reach. Put yourself in the shoes of a potential customer and try to figure out what they want.

• Add photos, audio, and video to your content to help make it more interesting.

How to Use Keywords Correctly

Keywords are terms or phrases your target audience will use to find articles about topics of interest to them. Do keyword research to find out your target audience types into Google to find information about your business. You can use free and paid tools, many of which have tutorials to help you get started.

After you develop a list of keywords, use them throughout your content. Your keywords should match what you think a potential customer will look for, not just what they type into a search engine.

Follow these best practices to make sure your website is optimized for organic search:

• One keyword should dominate each page.

• Don't put your main keyword on more than one website page.

• Think about including the target term throughout the content, including in the title, headers, and subheadings.

• Use long-tail keywords as an experiment (longer phrases that generate lower search volume but can be highly successful).

• Use secondary keywords on your website that are related to the main keyword.

• Avoid filling your material with keywords to the point that it seems forced. This is known as keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing not only hurts the credibility of your content, but it also doesn't help your pages' rankings.

Local SEO Matters

In a nutshell, local SEO optimizes your website for certain places. Customers may discover you if you operate a locally focused or brick-and-mortar company while looking for local businesses. If that's the case, you should be ready for them.

Here are some easy ways to get the most out of local SEO:

Set up a Google Business page for your business to show up in local search queries and include your contact information.

Add the website for your business to online business directories.

All of your social media profiles should have a link to your site.

Make sure your business's name, address, and contact information are the same everywhere online.

Put the address of your business in the footer of your website. This information may be connected to a location by internet search engines, enhancing local search results.

Link Internally and Externally

When you link your website, visitors and search engines can find the new content you add. Your target audience can use internal links to find more of your content instead of going back to Google. Anchor text.com/learn/seo/anchor-text is the text you click on to go to a linked page.

A link from another site to yours is usually called an "external link." Getting high-quality backlinks from other websites tells ranking engines that your website is an authoritative source on a certain topic, which helps your sites do better in the search engine results. Build relationships with other websites and even reach out to people to see who would be willing to link to your content to get more external links.

Make an obvious website structure.

What if you set up your website in a way that makes it hard for people to use and search engines to look into? If you do that, you'll lose people's interest. Simply establishing a hierarchy with various categories, pages, subcategories, headers, and connections to and from other regions of your website may result in a well-defined website structure.

 Also Read : Best Tips For Social Media Marketing For Small Businesses

Tips For Effective Time Management For Your Busy Days

When starting and running a business, time is of the essence. It doesn't matter where you are in the process. It would be smart to use your time in the best way possible. The goal should be to work smarter, not harder. That needs self-control, patience, and a plan. There were times on my journey when I was motivated but didn't know what to do next. I'm very well-organized, work best when everything is in its place, can perform tasks efficiently, and know what to do when I get there. Good time management can help you be more productive, less stressed, and have more time to do important things. Getting more done will be easier if you use the following tips:

Set specific goals

Setting a timeline and goals are two things you should consider when making a business plan. Creating deadlines keeps me alert. While creating a schedule offers you a sense of how long something will take, creating objectives enables you to concentrate on the things you want to accomplish. Also, think about the short-term and long-term goals you want to reach.

Say No

"No" is a strong word. It's the one word that has given people the most freedom over their time. When someone says "yes" to everyone else, they don't have much time to work on their goals.

People have trouble saying "no" because they don't want to disappoint others. You want to be seen as a good member of the team. You want people to like you. You don't want any trouble. So, you say yes, even if it involves letting up your objectives, aspirations, and even happiness.

To say "no" takes guts. This simple word with only two letters can make you free. When you say no to other people, you're saying yes to what's important to you. When you say no, you can do your job instead of someone else's.

If you believe in the "just say no" philosophy, you don't have to say "no" in a rude way. You can say no to your boss, a coworker, or even a potential customer in a way that is kind but still makes it clear that you don't want to do what they want.

Prioritize

Prioritizing is one of the best ways to stay on track to reach your goals. How you organize your work affects how much time you spend on tasks and how well you do overall. Start by making a list of all the things you need to do. Make sure to put tasks in order of how hard they are, and then plan your time accordingly. Making a list will help you see your goals and determine what is most important and what needs to be done immediately. A list of things to do can't go wrong.

Set up a routine.

The more you do what you're supposed to do, the easier it gets. Plan your tasks so that you know you will be most productive, whether early in the morning or late at night and stick to it. I work better at night. I've pulled many all-nighters and felt like I did a lot of work in that time. When you do the same thing repeatedly, your body reacts naturally.

Avoid distractions

Don't waste the time you've set aside to work on that project. Don't watch TV, use social media, or send text messages during that time. Find a quiet place if you have to work in a public place. Some people like to work in silence, while others prefer soft music. No matter what, be sure to stick to that time.

Follow the four D

Delegate, Do Defer (Delay), and Delete. Putting a project or task into one of these categories helps you better use your limited time and stay focused on what's most important to you. Your first time might hook you if you've never done this before.

Don't multitask

The way I used to work was to do a lot of things at once, which was productive, but since I've cut back on that, I've been much more productive. It's better to give your full attention to one thing at a time than to split it between three different things. Try putting them in time boxes to make them work better. That means setting a time limit for each task, making it more likely to be finished successfully.

Sleep

Studies have shown that we are healthier, more productive, and less stressed when we sleep well. Sleep is a bad thing that could have both good and bad effects on many things. Sleep helps us feel refreshed and re-energized, and it also helps us live a healthier lifestyle. The opposite is true: insufficient sleep can worsen health conditions like diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, etc.

Don't worry about failing.

It's in our nature to fear failing, so most people do. But worrying about failing wastes time that could be used to get things done. Just give it a shot and face your fears. In my own life, I learned that failure wasn't always a bad thing. I learned from what went wrong. I built on those failures. I got better because of them. Think about why you're doing what you're doing and believe in it.

Read Also : 5 Effective Strategies For Expanding Your Affiliate Program

10 Effective Simple "Back to Basics" Practices Used by Business Owners

Everyone knows that the more productive we are, the more productive we will become. The key to success is getting things done. We can look at and use hundreds of different types that claim to tell us how to be a successful entrepreneur, but in the end, productivity is the only thing that matters.

Whatever suggestions, opinions, or consultations we heed, if they don't increase production, they are all worthless. It would be excellent if you also realized that each individual has a daily capacity limit that varies from person to person.

Even though most entrepreneurs can also make routines that fit their lives and goals best.

Sleeping Regularly

You need to rest both physically and mentally. Getting enough sleep (six to eight hours is ideal) and sleeping simultaneously every night will do wonders for your productivity. Get some sleep and sleep at the same time every night of the week if you want to feel less stressed and better overall.

Routine Exercise

For our minds to work, our bodies need to be in shape. Many young business owners aren't health nuts, but most still think keeping and staying fit is important. Gyms do not require hours of dedication. You can either do cardio or walk for 30 minutes every day. You'll love yourself for it, and your productivity will go up greatly. Ride a bike or walk to work for a change of pace and some extra exercise. You could even think about riding a bike to work every day.

Prevent Meetings

Meetings waste a lot of time, and most entrepreneurs feel like they're discussing things that don't need to be discussed. They are always too long and, most of the time, have nothing to do with the subject. Whenever you can, avoid meetings. You can ask any of your subordinates to come to your party, and there will probably be a few things to discuss. To save time, the topics for discussion can be quickly planned, printed, and passed around. You can give the meeting a certain amount of time and ensure it is done in that time.

Mindfulness

You don't have to sit on the floor with your legs crossed, but you need to give your mind a break if you want to push yourself. Your mind is everything; it's not just something. You will be taken care of if you take care of it. It would be best to control your mind and thoughts as much as possible. Meditation will help you settle your mind and calm your nerves.

Your ability to concentrate better and come up with more ideas will increase as a result of practicing meditation. Meditation is also a great way to deal with anger. The more you can control your mind and senses, the more you can get done.

Interaction with others

Socializing is crucial whether we are executives, CEOs, or business owners. But hanging out with people often takes up more time than we have. The best thing to do is to avoid people who don't help us. We should not care about them. This will save us time and help us meet people who can help our business.

Invite assistance

It doesn't hurt to ask for help. Even if you have the best ideas, that doesn't mean you have the skills and knowledge to implement them. You can ask for help from people with the skills you don't have, like investors or a technical guy.

Ask for People's Opinions

Even if you think your idea is the best, your customers may not agree. Ask customers what they think about your business and its products or services. This is the best way to find out exactly what information your customers want.

Life and work are unrelated.

Because you love what you do, work is your life. If your job isn't your passion but just a way to get to your passion, treat it like a necessity and try to see it as positively as you can. Your work doesn't stink because it gets you where you want to be. It would be best if you did it to achieve your goals and live your desired life. Don't keep work and life separate. It's the same, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you can stop feeling bad when you think about all the work you have to do.

Get Creative

Entrepreneurs do well because they are different from everyone else. Yes, you can open another restaurant or store, but it has to be unique. They have to be different from every other store or restaurant. Ensure your business attracts people and makes them want to be involved. You want to move up in this situation.

Positive Outlook

Entrepreneurs always have positive thoughts and never let negative ones in. This isn't easy, but you can learn to be a very positive person over time. You should avoid creating lengthy preparations for the best-case situation but create provisions for any worst-case scenario. No situation works as you think it will, and planning too much won't help. Plan the worst-case scenario for the next step you need to take. Most people are wrong about how long it takes to plan the next step.

Having your own business means you have multiple jobs. You have to play about a dozen different parts. You play various roles in society, including innovator, storyteller, employer, product designer, professional, salesperson, cooperation designer, fundraiser event designer, administrator, supporter, change manufacturer, risk analyst, etc. You must be easy to use and flexible, connect in a humble but strong way, and focus on growth and plans.

Read Also: Remarkable Tips for the Placement of Ads on Google AdSense

Small Business Weekend Marketing Tips: Small Business Saturday, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday

Small businesses are the center and soul of the U.S. economy. They are also an important part of the community where they live. As a small business owner, you help people eat, dress, have fun, and prepare for life. Unfortunately, the rise of big companies that do everything has made it hard for small businesses to compete.  

The coronavirus pandemic made this problem even worse. Lucky for small businesses, there are a few marketing plans to help them compete with the big ones. Small Business Weekend is one of these projects. Seventy-seven percent of consumers told the Small Business Association (SBA) that Small Business Weekend makes them want to shop small for the holidays and the rest of the year. 

If you own a small business, participating in the celebration could significantly impact your holiday profits. Let's look at 12 ideas for marketing that you can use to help your business during Small Business Weekend.

What is a Small Business Weekend?

Small Business Weekend is a shopping holiday that began in 2010 with a campaign by American Express. Now, the goal is to allow small businesses to compete with big chains. The holiday falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which is perfect.  Small Business Weekend is on November 27 this year.  

You can bring in more customers with the right Small Business Weekend marketing ideas. Even though Small Business Weekend isn't as well-known as Black Friday, it's still a good idea to prepare for it. The SBA found that about 110 million people shopped during the event in 2019, which led to almost $2 billion more sales than the year before. 

Weekend Internet Marketing for Small Businesses 

Whether you have a storefront or only do business online, digital marketing can help your business. 

Send email campaigns 

Email marketing can help you stand out, and it's a great choice for small businesses that wish to make a big difference. At least a week before Small Business Weekend,  mailing lists should start. So, customers will know about the holiday and any sales that might accompany it. 

Make a statement on social media. 

Brand awareness can be helped by promoting a business on social media.  Customers will be more interested in your status updates if you use humor,  promotions, sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes looks, and information about your products. 

Use Instagram ads or Facebook ads. 

If you run a small business, you likely already have a social media presence. Ads on  Facebook and Instagram can be very effective ways to market. You decide how much you devote, so your costs can be as low or high as your budget lets you. 

Non-digital marketing for small businesses 

If you do most of your business in a physical location, these marketing strategies could help you. 

Utilize your community

Get to know people in your area by going to local events. You could sponsor a Little  League team, a 5K walk for charity, or a run. You could also give away things or services or help at charity events. At community events, you can naturally talk about your business. You can show your support while making your customers feel good about buying from you. 

Organize a party. 

Shoppers like to be involved and moved by what they see. You can make plans ahead of time for an event, such as an evaluating demonstration or a hands-on,  interactive activity. You can keep things simple for a Small Business Weekend promotion by playing music outside your store or putting up balloons. The goal is to make your store fun, so people will want to stop by independently. 

Serve your customers. 

Have you ever assisted a buddy or family member in moving for the whole day because they offered to purchase your lunch? Or have you ever driven five miles to a  certain coffee shop to use a coupon for free coffee? Shoppers like getting free food.  During this pandemic, use single-serve canisters with lids if you want to give out bagels from a local bakery or other snacks. You can also ask restaurants in your area how they make sure their food is safe. 

Get a billboard. 

Because although digital advertising is the norm now, don't underestimate the power of a billboard. Let's say you don't have enough money for a big billboard. If that's the case, it's fine. You can get the same result by posting flyers in communal spaces, parks, coffee houses, libraries, and supermarkets around the neighborhood. 

Advertise in the newspaper. 

Newspapers are a great way to reach out to people in your area. Use Small Business  Weekend to get the word out and advertise your business in your local paper.  Restaurants, bars, and cafes can use the weekend entertainment section. On the other hand, service providers usually do better if they focus on classified ads. 

Small Business Weekend advertising and marketing 

When it comes to advertising, all businesses can count on it to bring in customers.

Use your current customers as your best marketing tool. 

Positive word of mouth is the best way to sell something. Your happy customers are  the best and biggest way to market your business. Reaching out to current and past customers is a cheap and easy way for a small business to market itself. Please tell them to return to your store and tell their friends about it. A 10% off coupon could be a small incentive if they already like your business. You can show them how to sell your business. 

Contact the news media. 

Getting mentioned in the news may seem like a big job, but local reporters are always looking for new stories. Help them out by getting in touch with them first.  You can ask them to include you on their list of participating businesses, do an interview, or come to your store to broadcast. Assist a Reporter Out (HARO) is another place where you can sign up as a source or an expert in your field. 

Give a special discount. 

Try to think strategically instead of giving a 20% discount on everything in the store.  For example, you could offer a deal to anyone who chooses to follow you on social networks or signs up for your trade journal. 

Work with other businesses. 

Teaming up with other businesses works best if you have a storefront and are close to other small businesses. Try to work with other owners of small businesses to spread the word about Small Business Weekend and get people excited about it.  After all, it is best for everyone if as many individuals as possible go shopping.

How To Participate In Small Business Weekend

Now that the holidays are here, it's time to shop for many people. Many big shopping days are coming up, and our favorite is one of them. This post will discuss how you can spend your money on purpose this holiday season to help small businesses and your local economy. 

How and why Small Business Weekend started 

During the recession of 2010, American Express came up with the ideas of Small  Business Weekend and the Shop Small Movement to get more holiday shopping at small businesses. After the first event went well, the movement started to pick up speed.  

Business owners and local officials promoted Small Business Weekend all over the country. In 2011, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution in support of the day with no votes against it. Also, in 2011, business groups, non-profit trade groups, cities, and public officials came together to form the Small Business Weekend Coalition.  

This group encouraged everyone to shop at small businesses during the weekend.  Nationwide, people jumped in to help their communities by signing up as 

Neighborhood Champions and planning events and activities for Small Business  Weekend and beyond. 

How to Plan for Success in Business This Year 

This year's Small Business Weekend occurs on November 27. Here are some hints to assist your business during and following the big day! 

Before Small Business Weekend 

Make your business known. 

If you haven't already, ensure that the information about your business on the  American Express Shop Small Map is up to date. This map is made to help customers quickly and easily find a list of smaller companies in their area. Putting your biz on this map makes it more visible online and lets Amex Card Members know about it for free through targeted marketing. 

Benefit from exclusive discounts. 

The Shop Small Movement is important to a lot of different groups. This is why  Google, FedEx, Dell, and other companies have special deals for small businesses like yours. You can locate a list of some of these offers, which are meant to help you reach out to customers, compete online, improve operations, and more by clicking here. 

You can get free graphics and change them to fit your window, webpage, or social media pages. 

American Express makes it easy for your business to promote Small Business  Weekend by giving you premade graphics that you can change and use online or in print. The best part is that you can download and use them all for free! Here on the  American Express website, you can change the look of your materials in less than two minutes. 

Plan a kickoff event! 

Holiday shoppers today want to find great gifts, but they also want to have fun while shopping. You can give them what they want by holding a kickoff event for Small  Business Weekend.

This doesn't have to be a big party with live music and catered food. You could do that, but sometimes smaller things feel more personal. Here are some small ideas  that can make people very happy: 

● As people enter the store, offer them small drinks or baked goods.

● Offer a discount depending on the number of customers (e.g., the first 100) or the time of day. 

● Set up an activity in your store that shows how some of your best products or services work. 

● Partner with other smaller firms or charities and feature them in your store.  This is a wonderful way to celebrate the giving season! 

Promote your business to both new and old customers! 

The best way to ensure your business does well during Small Business Weekend is to talk about it everywhere. Use the above-mentioned digital materials on social media to get people to shop at your small company. You can also use this and other materials to make emails about Small Business Weekend. 

During Small Business Weekend Get involved with special events in your area. 

Small Business Weekend is a time to shop locally and support small businesses. It is also a time to help communities grow. Take some time to help out while you and your society are celebrating small businesses. 

If you are putting on your event, you probably won't be able to attend it in person.  Instead, send a shout-out on social media or tell your customers that when they're done at your business, they should go to the home decor store down the street. 

Customers need to be reminded to get their gift cards! 

During the holidays, gift cards are a reduced, high-reward way to make more money for your business. 44% of shoppers say that a gift card makes them want to go to a  store they normally wouldn't.  

And don't forget that people typically spend approximately $59 more than their gift card is worth. Encourage your customers to buy a gift card for a friend, friend,  relative, or themselves before leaving your store or restaurant. 

On this special day, you should stay open later.

Having longer hours is a great way to keep making money during Small Business  Weekend. This is likely to be the busiest day of the year for you. A few additional hours of work could make a big difference in sales. 

Find strategies to keep your employees pumped up and looking forward to the day. 

We've already said that it's likely to be a busy day. That means the team members will be tired and maybe even stressed out. Try your best to ensure everyone enjoys this day. 

During the day, you could give your staff snacks or drinks or even hold a friendly selling competition with a fun prize. The promise of a bonus check or an extra day off can keep your staff motivated and ready for work. 

After Small Business Weekend:

Take a break and pat yourself on the back. 

You did it! Give yourself and your team a chance to get back on your feet. If it was a  very busy weekend, you might want to close on Monday or cut back on hours to allow your team more time to rest. 

Thank your employees and express gratitude for their efforts. 

Small Business Weekend can only be a success if everyone works together. Show your squad how much you enjoy all their hard work in a way that makes sense for them. This could be a handwritten note with a gift card to a coffee shop, a small bag of vacation treats, a free result, or more time off. 

Look at the books and figure out how well the campaign worked. 

Of course, you won't know how well your efforts worked unless you do some analysis.  Take a little time to sit down with your books after the weekend. Watch what proceeded well and what didn't. This can help you figure out your plan for the coming year and give you a starting point for your future work.

How Does Refinancing Work? When Should I Refinance My Mortgage?

Co-authored by:

Raul Hernandez Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer Leading “Competitive Home Lending”

Raul Hernandez is a licensed mortgage loan officer with over 20yrs of mortgage experience, a B.S. in Management and Finance, with a M.S. in Management. Currently, he leads Competitive Home Lending, a mortgage company that originates mortgage loans in Texas and Colorado, with the mission to promote direct-to-consumer wholesale mortgage loans.

When you refinance a loan, you pay off your old loan and get a new one, usually from a different lender. In general, the process is a lot like getting a regular mortgage. When you refinance a mortgage, you get a new loan to pay off your old mortgage. Before you start, you should know how the process works and the pros and cons of mortgage refinancing.

Let us Take a Look:

• Deep Dive with an Expert: Co-Author Raul Hernandez Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer at “Competitive Home Lending”

  • Refinance?

  • How it works

  • Why Refinance?

  • When Should You Refinance?

  • What to Consider Before Deciding to Refinance

  • 3 Major Tips for Shopping for any Home Loan

  • What to Consider During a Housing Market Change

    Tips and Hints
    

• How to Analyze your Situation

• Count the Numbers

• Put in your application.

• Close Your Loan

• Advantages of Refinancing a Mortgage

• Downsides to Refinancing a Mortgage

• Conclusion

Deep Dive with a Motgage Expert:

Co-Author Raul Hernandez Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer at “Competitive Home Lending”

Refinance?

A refinance home loan is traditionally a type of mortgage loan used to adjust the rate and term of an existing loan- known as a rate and term refinance. While a refinance can also be used to consolidate debt or for home improvements, those particular loan types are usually referred to as debt consolidation loans or home equity loans and home improvement loans, or renovation loans. Two main goals of a refinance home loan are to reduce the monthly mortgage payment and to reduce the amount of interest paid on the home loan. Here is how a refinance home loan works, how to get the best rate, and other helpful tips.

How it works

A refinance home loan is similar to a home loan used to purchase a home. The biggest difference is the fact that the borrower already owns the home. Therefore, the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is based on the homeowner's equity and not based on a down payment.

Best Practices to Ensure if You Should or Shouldn't Refinance

Common reasons to refinance are to change a loan's term or rate with the goal of reducing monthly payments or interest paid over the life of the loan. A homeowner may decide to change a loan term from a 30yr mortgage to a shorter term such as a 20yr or 15yr term. The goal of a change in term is to reduce the amount of time remaining on the existing home loan and pay less interest over the life of the loan. A change in term can also mean refinancing from an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a balloon payment mortgage. In this situation, the homeowner is realigning the loan term to reduce the risk of increasing rates which would lead to an increase in the monthly payment on an ARM loan or paying a lump-sum balance with the end of a balloon payment's term. Another popular reason to refinance is to get a lower rate.

When Should You Refinance?

As with any refinance boom, it goes without explaining, homeowners should refinance when mortgage rates drop. A refinance is also beneficial when it makes sense to reduce a monthly mortgage payment to maintain a manageable household budget. Extending a loan's term can help reduce the mortgage payment. This is helpful when consumers need a little more flexibility with their discretionary income, or when combining a first and second lien into one mortgage for a lower payment.

What to Consider Before Deciding to Refinance

Closing costs and the breakeven point are two main things to consider before deciding to refinance. A home loan refinance has two costs a consumer must consider. The first is lender fees such as origination fee, underwriting fee, processing fee, etc. These fees can vary from lender to lender, and it is best to find a lender without excessive costs. The second cost to consider is third-party fees such as appraisal fees, title agent and title insurance fee, recording fees, and verification fees. These fees can be estimated prior to committing to a lender or running a credit report. However, these third-party fees should not vary much from lender to lender. An appraisal can be waived under certain circumstances, and title insurance can be discounted based on the age of the current title insurance policy.

3 Major Tips for Shopping for any Home Loan

1. Shop multiple lenders. Data from Fannie Mae states that the majority of borrowers do not shop around for the best home loan.

2. Work with a wholesale mortgage broker. A broker can offer the same products and services as the major lenders but at a lower wholesale rate.

3. Update the shortlist of lenders at the same time. Rates can change from day to day and even intraday. If rates drop, they will drop for every lender; the same goes for rate increases. An outdated quote can cause a borrower to pay a higher rate or even discount points.

What to Consider During a Housing Market Change?

A change in the housing market can affect a refinance in several ways. If housing prices are flat or begin to decline, then the loan-to-value ratio could alter the refinance terms and loan amount. Adjustments to market conditions on the secondary market can increase or decrease refinance rates. However, improvements in market conditions and home prices could offer an incentive for a homeowner to refinance even if their current rate is the same or a bit lower than current rates. An example would be to refinance from an FHA loan where the MI will continue for the life of the loan to a Conventional loan where MI is not required with an LTV of 80% or lower.

Tips and Hints

The best way to find the lowest rate is to avoid a major retail mortgage lender. Wholesale mortgage rates from mortgage brokers are usually lower. Mortgage brokers have the authorization to offer mortgage loans from the nation's best lenders at a wholesale rate. It is still wise to shop between mortgage brokers to get an even lower mortgage rate.

---

How to Analyze your situation:

To refinance a mortgage, you must meet the same requirements as a new loan. Lenders will examine various things, including:

• The history of credit and score

• Your loan's past payment history

• What you make and where you've worked

• Equity in the Current home value the home

• Other loans and debts

So, to see if you qualify, you'll need to look at where you stand in these areas. For example, if you have a good income, good credit, and a lot of home equity, you may get a new loan with better terms. If your credit score has dropped since you got your first mortgage or if you have more debt in general, it may be harder to get better terms.

Research: Browse around

Do the preapproval process with more than one mortgage lender to compare interest rates and other terms. This will provide you with the greatest chance of getting the best deal you can get. You should also compare the terms of the refinance offers you're looking at to the terms of the mortgage loan you already have. This can assist you in determining if refinancing is a good idea.

Count the Numbers

Once you've picked the best offer, look at how much you could save and how much it could cost. For instance, if refinancing your loan with such a new lender costs you $5,000 upfront and your new monthly payment are only $100 less than what you were paying before, you'd have to live in the home for at least 50 months for refinancing to be worth it.

If you don't plan to stay in the house for very long, refinancing might not be the best choice. Also, keep an eye out for penalty fees, which can cause problems if you repay your mortgage early or remortgage again.

Put in your application.

When you're ready to send in an official application, you'll do that directly with the lender you choose. You will have to give this information about yourself, your home, and your mortgage loan. You'll also have to show proof for different parts of the application. Potential documents include:

• Recent pay stubs 

• W-2 forms

• Bank statements

• Tax returns

• Statements of income for a business

• Investment account statements

• Details about alimony and child support, if applicable

• Copy of the photo ID you got from the government

• Legal proof of living in the U.S.

• Funding sources

• If needed, a gift letter says you don't have to pay back the money you were given.

ICE Mortgage Technology, a firm that works with lenders, says that this process can take an average of 48 days from the date of the application to the date of the closing. But some lenders say they can close the deal faster.

Close Your Loan

When the lender is prepared to close the loan, you will meet up and sign some papers to make it official. Then, the creditor will pay off your first loan and set up an account for your new loan. If you get a cash-out to refinance, the money will be sent to you by check or bank transfer.

Advantages of Refinancing a Mortgage

Homeowners want to refinance their mortgage loans for several reasons. 

Lower interest rate and payment: 

If your credit has gotten better since you got your first loan or if market rates have gone down, you may be able to keep money on interest by getting a lower rate and monthly payment. This is possible with a loan called a rate-and-term refinance.

Change the type of rate: 

With a rate-and-term refinance, you can also change your loan from having an adjustable rate to having a fixed rate. This can help you avoid the effects of market changes.

Change the length of the loan: 

If you change the length of your loan from, say, 30 years to 20 or 15 years, you can usually get a lower interest rate. If you do this, you can save money on interest over the loan, but you'll probably have to pay more each month. On the other hand, you might be able to lower your monthly payment if you stretch out the length of your loan.

Get cash from your home: 

If you have a lot of equity in the home, you may be able to utilize a cash-out refinance to get some of that equity. Homeowners may do this to pay off debt, make a big purchase, invest, or buy out an ex-spouse during a divorce.

Pay down your balance:

 A cash-in refinance a rare way to pay off your loan. Instead of taking cash out, you will refinance your loan and put cash into it to pay down the balance. You might think about this if your loan is worth less than what you owe or if you want to get rid of private mortgage insurance.

Read Also: 10 Effective Best Practices Used by New Business Owners for 2023

Downsides to Refinancing a Mortgage

When you think about why you want to refinance your mortgage loan, it's important to consider the risks, such as how they will affect your credit. Here are several things to believe about before you start:

More interest: 

If you extend the loan length, you may pay more interest throughout the new loan.

Chance of getting paid more:

 If you cash out some of your equity, your new mortgage loan will be for a higher amount, which could make your monthly payment go up.

Closing expenses can be expensive:

If you expect to sell your house before you break even on closing fees, it may make sense to keep your present mortgage.

How the market is doing can change your choices: 

You can't be sure that the new loan will have better terms. During times when interest rates are going up, this is especially true.

Affects length of credit history: 

This credit score element, which makes up 15% of your FICO® Score, could take a hit when your old mortgage loan is paid off and replaced with a new one.

Knowing where your credit stands are important when considering applying for a refinance loan. Check your credit score often to ensure you don't get caught off guard by bad or wrong information. If possible, don't take out any new credit before or during refinancing. This can help you get your credit ready for the process and find problems that could affect your approval until the closing.

2023 Back to Basics: Best Tips For Social Media Marketing Small Businesses

Establish and abide by brand guidelines:

When you start using social media for your small business for the first time, it's important to make a content marketing plan that includes your brand's rules. These guidelines are rules that set the look and feel of your brand. For example, it tells you what colors, fonts, and voice to use in your social media posts and what main topics and values should come through.

Stick to these rules once you've made them. Consistent small business branding will help you create memorable and trustworthy brand experiences on social media. This can lead to more brand awareness and loyalty, which are important for growing businesses.

Do: Stick to your brand. Shoppers are becoming more loyal to brands every year, which necessitates uniquely "you" content to keep your fans interested.

Don't: Give up on being creative. To follow brand guidelines, you don't have to discuss the same subject matter every week.

Always post high-quality content.

"Consistency is key" is a phrase you may have heard before if you've read about digital marketing tips. Customers like things to be the same, which is why it's so important to offer the same brand experience on all social media channels. This is also why it's important to post on a regular schedule, like twice a week on LinkedIn.

Still, posting content regularly will only help you grow your presence on social media if it's always good. Don't post just to put out new information. Even if you're entertaining your customers, your social media content should have a clear message and be useful to them. For instance, if you run a landscaping business, you could use a post to teach customers how to prune properly or tell them about a discount on landscape design.

Connect with your audience.

A common social media marketing tip is learning as much as possible about your target audience, from their demographics to their interests and values. But to be successful on social media, you need to do more than learn about your potential customers. You have to talk to them.

Take the time to answer comments, messages, and posts that have been tagged, and like and comment on other people's posts as well. When you do this, you give your followers a chance to talk to you. As this two-way relationship grows, your most loyal followers will soon become loyal customers who spend more money on your brand.

Your company should be promoted to local consumers.

Use tools for marketing on social media.

Even administering two social networks may consume considerable time for small company owners. The good news is that most social media marketers do not spend their days hopping between platforms. They use digital tools to make it easier to make content, publish it automatically, and do other things.

You can save time with a core social media management tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social. With these tools, you can use automation to run your social media accounts from a single dashboard. Depending on the platform and plan you choose (basic versions are usually free, but you can pay for upgrades), you can create and schedule posts, interact with your followers, and see where you've been mentioned all from one place.

You don't know how to make graphics or edit videos. In that case, there are a lot of easy-to-use tools that can help you make good images for your social media posts. Canva, for instance, has eye-catching graphic templates that you can change by adding text, images, and your brand's colors or fonts.

Experiment with caution.

The way people use social media is changing quickly. When everyone was looking at TikTok, the audio-only app Clubhouse became the most downloaded social platform on the App Store. Also, each platform changes its algorithms throughout the year.

To stay relevant, you have to be willing to try new things. Try out new ways to present content. Change up the length of your captions. Change when you post from what you usually do. Trying new things (while staying true to your brand) helps you find new opportunities and keeps your audience interested and excited.

Utilizing influencers, target particular audiences.

Most of your followers will see posts that you don't pay for. Advertisements and micro-influencers are two of the best ways to get your brand in front of more people. Both can be very cost-effective and give you a great return on your investment (ROI).

You only have to pay for social media ads when someone clicks on them. Your ads may show up in more people's news feeds, which helps you build brand recognition and get more for your money.

Also, social media sites let you narrowly target your ideal customers based on age, gender, income, and interests. You'll be able to tailor your messages to different parts of your audience, making your marketing much more effective.

Micro-influencers do the same thing. Even if they only have 1,000 followers, these influencers tend to have higher user engagement, more affordable rates, and niche audiences. When you pay them to post about your brand, you can reach a smaller group of people who are likelier to care about what you say.

 Also Read: Tips For Approaching A B2B Customer

Importance of These Social Media Optimization Factors

Social media optimization is based on several important factors.

Here are some of them:

Improved Content

"Content is King" is a well-known SEO phrase. It also applies to SEO for social media. You shouldn't use social media if your content isn't meant for the blogosphere, regardless of country, region, or religion. Articles on blogs or websites need to be based on good data and a lot of research. You can add interesting content like how-to videos, statistics, memes, infographics, how-to pictures, and short stories that help the brand stand out. Feeds give more weight to blogs with images, data, stats, or lists.

You can post two different kinds of things on social media.

Original Content

Original content is anything made in a way that has never been done before, whether text, video, or something else. For example, content is considered original if it has never been posted online.

Content Picked Out

Curated content is any media shared from different places on the web.

Website Design That Works Best

Designing a blog or website well is important if you want people to stay on it longer and vote for it. It will get a vote if the website's layout is hard to understand. Social network spiders often prefer access with less advertising.

Make a profile that stands out.

Branding is a big deal, and social media profiles are a big part of that. Make sure your profile pictures show your brand in a real and interesting way. Make sure your bio has your logo and information on how to reach you. When people use the business logo, it leaves an impression on their minds that lasts. Some people on social media might not go to your website. Putting your email or phone number in your bio makes it easy for them to email or call you.

Keep it different.

Make sure your social media presence is unique and shows who you are. Make it look better by coming up with new ideas and being creative. Choose humor and a unique voice that will help your brand stand out. Think outside the box and create a voice that makes people feel something and react. Regardless of your brand, getting followers is easy when finding a voice that speaks to most people.

Give your brand a personal touch and a touch of the everyday. Add stories and little-known facts to your posts. Story-based content usually has a lot of followers and is a good way to keep people interested. Use original content that will make your posts popular. Keep the tone simple and upbeat. Something that makes the users' lives and experiences better.

Use color in your posts.

If you want more views and shares on your social media profiles, use pop colors when you need to. Colors are great for content marketing and make the content more interesting. They are easy to notice and make any ordinary post stand out. In addition, when you use colors in your social media profiles, you are more likely to have more people view and read your posts.

Improve the visual appeal of your content to increase views and shares. The colors and content must go together and create a mood that makes people feel something. Use an image creation tool to make creative content that stands out and is easier to understand. It's interesting to people of all ages and from different backgrounds.

Start Conversations with Tags

Make interesting posts and tag people who could help users get involved. Please don't do this too much, because it could turn some people off. To promote the material you submit, people may be tagged on social media sites, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook posts. This is an easy way to keep people interested in your brand and get them talking about it.

Making useful posts and tagging people will encourage people to share your content. Please choose the right people to tag, so it's easy to tell people about your brand. When you tag people, you will also spread the good news about your brand. It's also a good idea to shout out someone and bring their attention to your content and brand. When you tag someone in a post, that person will immediately see it. It only takes users half a second to start paying attention to the content you share.

Monitor & Improve Statistics on Social Media

The SMO activities of your business will be tracked by Social Media Analytics, just as SEO is. Google Analytics UTM codes can be used to do all of these things. With UTM codes and shortened URLs, you can link traffic from social media to your website to a certain channel or project. Use the reports from your social media marketing tool to get a full picture of how well your campaigns are doing. Other social media indicators like Conversation Rate, Amplification, Applause, Economic Value, etc., and measuring traffic improve performance.

Develop and Boost Social Media Engagement

Connecting with as many people as possible on social media would be best. Making good connections is important when trying to get more people to visit your website. It would be best if you networked with the tiny percentage of people who use social media and meet your demographic criteria. Using hashtags, you can find and talk to people who like the same things as you on social media sites. You can also add call-to-action buttons to your social media accounts to get people to like and share your posts or visit your site to learn more.

Conclusion

Your approach to managing social media sites for marketing, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social networking sites, will alter considerably due to social media optimization. So, we've learned what Social Media Optimization is and how to get more people to visit your website in this article. Here, you can use these tips to determine if you need to optimize your website.

Read Also: 10 Effective Practices Employed by New Business Owners

How To Handle Taxes For First-Time Homeowners

Co-authored by:

Andrew Latham Certified Financial Planner & a Director at SuperMoney.com

Tax season can be the most exciting or anxious time of the year for anyone. It can be a little stressful when you're not ready for something. If you have or are moving into a new home, you might wonder what else you should know.

What you should remember as you prepare for tax season this year:

• Who is considered a first-time homebuyer?

  • Who qualifies as a first-time buyer?

• The current reality of First-time Homeowner Taxes & steps to get Ready: Co-Authored by Andrew Latham of SuperMoney.com

• What is the First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2021?

• What are first-time buyer tax credits?

• How does the $15,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers operate?

• Take advantage of available tax deductions.

• Conclusion

Who is considered a first-time homebuyer?

It would be best if you met a few conditions to get a first-time homebuyer's tax credit. The credit isn't just for people who may have never bought a home, despite what its name says. If you haven't owned a home or been a cosigner on a mortgage in the last three years, you are considered a first-time homebuyer.

You must meet one of the following requirements to qualify as a first-time buyer:

• Have not owned a house or been a cosigner on a home loan in the past three years

• Be a single parent who only owned a home with a former spouse when they were married. Be a displaced homemaker who only owned a home with a spouse.

• Have only lived in a house that was fixed to a foundation.

• Have only owned a home that doesn't meet state or local building codes and can't be fixed for less than what it would cost to build a permanent structure.

The current reality of First-time Homeowner Taxes & Getting Ready: Co-Authored by Andrew Latham of SuperMoney.com

Buying a home for the first time can be an exciting but overwhelming experience. The tax side of things is pretty straightforward, though. As long as you pay your property taxes, you should be fine. Realtors like to wax poetic on the tax benefits of buying a home, but the truth is most homeowners don't get much nowadays.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced the maximum mortgage principal eligible for the tax deduction, removed the personal exemption, and nearly doubled standard deductions. These changes made it pointless for most taxpayers to itemize since they could no longer take both the personal exemption and itemized deductions. In most cases, first-time homebuyers are better off claiming the standard deduction even if they do qualify to itemize the mortgage interest payments.

That doesn't mean buying a house doesn't come with extra tax homework. The first step is to get organized. As soon as you close on your home, gather all of the documents related to your purchase and keep them in a safe place. This includes your mortgage statement, closing statement, property tax bill, and any other related documents.

As a first-time homeowner, you may be eligible for certain tax benefits, such as the mortgage interest deduction and the property tax deduction. However, these deductions don't apply to most homeowners because the vast majority of homeowners are better off claiming the standard deduction. Nevertheless, itemizing does make sense for some homeowners, so do the math and check which option works best for you.

• Keep track of home improvements. If you make any improvements to your home, make sure to keep track of the costs. These improvements can also be tax-deductible, so it's important to have documentation of the costs.

• Keep accurate records. Make sure to keep accurate records of all your expenses related to your home. This will make it easier to claim deductions and credits on your taxes.

• Hire a tax professional. If you're unsure about how to handle your taxes as a first-time homeowner, consider hiring a tax professional to help you navigate the process. Most tax preparation programs, such as TurboTax and TaxAct, are all you need to navigate homeowner tax questions, but in some cases hiring a tax professional can save you a lot of time and money. They can answer any questions you have and ensure that you're taking advantage of all the tax benefits available to you.

What is the First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2021?

Several Democratic lawmakers put forward the First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2021 in response to a campaign promise made by President Joe Biden. This bill would have brought the tax credit first used after the housing crisis in 2008. It would have included many of the same requirements.

Under the new bill, however, eligible homebuyers could get a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of their home, up to a maximum of $15,000. The proposed homeowner tax credit for 2021 is meant to help low-income and middle-income Americans buy homes and build wealth in communities of color that will last for generations. This bill hasn't been signed into law as of December 2022.

What are first-time buyer tax credits?

Tax credits are a method by which the government rewards taxpayers financially for doing certain things or acting in certain ways. When you file their tax return, they directly lower the amount of tax you owe. For instance, if you owed $10,000 in federal taxes and got a $1,000 tax credit, your tax bill would drop to $9,000.

Tax credits are a better way to get people to do something than deductions, which let you lower your taxable income. Deductions lower the amount of taxes you have to pay, but not as much as a credit for the exact amount. People who buy their first home can get credits against their federal income taxes through first-time homebuyer tax credits.

How does the $15,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers operate?

The first-time homebuyer tax credit in 2021 would work the same way as the one in 2008. Homebuyers who were eligible could get a loan for up to 10% of the purchase price of their home, up to a maximum of $15,000.

Unfortunately, this credit no longer exists. However, bills to create a new refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 for first-time homebuyers were introduced in April 2021. As of March 2023, the legislation still has not passed in Congress.

Even though the original first-time homebuyer credit from 2008 has ended and the First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2021 has not yet been officially passed, there are still some other programs you can glance into as a new homeowner:

Mortgage interest deductions: 

This detailed deduction lets homeowners take any interest they paid on loan for their home and deduct it from their taxable income. You'll need proof this tax season to get the mortgage interest deduction. The lender you used to buy your home will send you a 1098 Form that shows how much interest you paid on your mortgage over the past year.

Read Also: Google Analytics Tracking Optimization Tips

Property tax reductions: 

When you buy your first home, paying property taxes can be scary. However, when it's time to file your taxes, you can write off the state and local property taxes you've paid. You can get a tax break for your main home, vacation home, land, cars, and boats.

Home office costs: 

Over the past two years, more people have started working from home. This may have caused your costs for home office supplies to go through the roof. Depending on what you bought, you might be able to get a tax break if you are self-employed or work from home full-time. If you want to save money on your tax return for office costs, your room must be used mostly as an office and be less than 300 square feet.

Conclusion

If the First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2021 becomes law, many Americans with low and middle incomes could get a tax credit for buying a home. Plus, you wouldn't have to pay back the tax credit unless you sold the house in the first four years of owning it.

In the meantime, first-time homebuyers must look into programs like FHA loans, MCCs, and IRA withdrawals that can help them buy a home for less money. If you just bought a home, ensure you understand what costs you can deduct from your taxes. This could help you pay less in taxes.