Author: Pamela Swift

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People & Relationships

6 Tips for Running Effective Online Meetings

Meetings may not be your favorite activity, but they’re vital to the success of most businesses. Fortunately, the Internet has largely eliminated the need to get people from different places together in the same physical location. Online meetings make it possible to instantly connect with people in other parts of the country and around the world. They are an ideal solution when you have people working in different offices or when you need to touch base with remote workers.

While convenient, however, knowing how to set up a conference call to ensure maximum effectiveness can have its challenges. It’s easy to get off track, and making sure everyone is on the same page is often difficult. If you want your meetings to be efficient and productive, you need to know how to run them effectively. If you aren’t sure how to run an effective online meeting, here are a few tips to help you get started.

Start with a Well-Communicated Agenda

Creating an agenda and distributing it to participants prior to the meeting helps ensure that everyone is on the same page. It also keeps everyone focused on the purpose of the meeting and the points that need to be addressed and can prevent you from getting sidetracked.

When creating the agenda, include opportunities to ask for input from others. Also, clearly note any points where decisions need to be made. Leave room for last-minute questions or additions, but make sure the overall agenda is concise. No one wants to be stuck in an online meeting for any longer than they have to be.

Send the agenda out to all of the participants a few days prior to the meeting. Ask everyone to read through it, and encourage them to reach out to you in advance if they have any questions or concerns.

Familiarize Yourself with Your Conference Call Service

If this is the first time you will be using a particular service, familiarize yourself with it well in advance of the meeting. It’s important to know how to set up a conference call ahead of time. Also, figure out exactly how the system works and how to utilize any specific features that you plan on using. Trying to learn how to use a new system while the meeting is taking place is unprofessional and can make things take much longer than they need to.

Make Sure Everyone’s System is Ready to Go

Online meetings often get off to slow starts due to technical difficulties. When you have several people participating and a few are having trouble with things like getting the meeting to load, speakers or microphones that aren’t working, etc., it’s easy to waste a significant amount of time.

Ask all meeting participants to restart their computers and make sure their microphones and speakers are working 20 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the meeting. Do the same on your end, too. If you are using a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, charge it up or make sure you have a charger close by. As the other participants to do so as well.

Keep Statements Short and Ask for Frequent, Specific Feedback

Pretty much no one enjoys getting on an online meeting and listening to the host drone on and on for what seems like forever. You may have a lot that needs to be discussed, but if you go through everything all at once, participants are likely to zone out or get distracted by games, social media, or other conversations. Keep your statements concise, and once you’ve made a point, ask for specific feedback. Avoid the generic “Does anyone have any questions?” question until the end. Instead, ask specific questions about what you’ve just gone over. Address them to the entire meeting or to a specific participant. If you are talking about something budget-related, for example, you may have a question to direct to your accountant or a project manager.

Keeping your messages concise and asking specific questions helps keep everyone engaged. People are also much less likely to zone out if they know there is a chance that you may be asking them something that they will need to know how to answer.

Use Video Whenever Possible

One of the great things about online meeting software is that it makes it easy to meet “face-to-face” via live video. People often skip the video portion, though, and choose to communicate through audio online. Many folks aren’t incredibly comfortable with people on camera, so it may seemingly make sense to just communicate via audio unless video is absolutely necessary.

Getting everyone on camera, however, typically results in more effective meetings. For starters, without video, participants have no visual cues to go on. They’ll hear what you are saying, but without being able to see you, they may not grasp the full meaning. Also, having everyone on video helps minimize distractions. Watching a video conference is more engaging, and participants are much less likely to slack off when they know that everyone can see what they are doing.

Finish with Clear Action Items

When your meeting ends, everyone should know exactly what needs to happen next or what to expect. Unfortunately, corporate meetings often conclude with vague promises and half-hearted agreements from participants. As the host of the meeting, it is your responsibility to assign next steps and establish due dates. If you are the one who is promising something to participants, make sure they know exactly when and how you will deliver on that process. Everyone should leave the meeting feeling informed; not like they have no idea what’s supposed to happen next.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to running effective online meetings, proper planning is vital. From making sure you are using the right conference call service and learning how to use it prior to the start of the meeting to creating an agenda and keeping your statements concise, there are all sorts of things to do to ensure that you next online will be efficient and productive.

Categories
Finance & Capital

Is It Better to Have an Emergency Fund or Pay Off Debt?

Credit card debt increases every day that the debt is outstanding. Interest is calculated on a daily basis; so the longer you take to repay it the more it’s going to cost you. However, if you put all of your liquid cash toward debts, what happens if something comes up for which you need to make a major withdrawal?

Meanwhile, U.S. credit card debt has reached an all time high, as some 40 percent of Americans say they couldn’t cover an unexpected expense of $400.

So, is it better to have an emergency fund or pay off debt?

Paying Down Debt

The biggest reason to pay off debt first is the one we listed above. With credit card companies calculating interest on your average daily balance, you’ll save a lot of money if you pay off your debt as soon as possible.

Further, the lower your debt, the better your credit score will be. One of the determining factors of your credit score is the amount of money you owe in proportion to the amount of credit to which you have access. The less you owe in proportion to your credit limit, the better the risk you appear to be to lenders.

Further, debt can often get out of hand and consume larger and larger chunks of your take home pay. In situations such as these, it’s a good idea to consult a firm like Freedom Debt Relief and let them help you develop a plan of attack to get your debt back in check.

Creating an Emergency Fund

Life happens and with that, bad things could happen to good people. Jobs are lost. Accidents and illnesses occur. Pets get injured. Appliances break down. Roofs leak. Pipes burst. In short, all sorts of things happen that can saddle you with large unexpected expenses.

Most financial experts recommend having at least three to six months of your monthly expenses set aside in liquid cash (like a savings account or some other financial instrument you can access quickly without penalty) to cover such emergencies.

Furthermore, if you don’t have the cash on hand because you’ve been putting all of your money towards eradicating obligations, you’ll have to go right back into debt to resolve the situation.

So Which Comes First?

Simply said, neither and both come first.

In other words, the best play is to do both simultaneously. You have to hedge your bets. Relying solely upon a credit card to deal with emergency situations can be outrageously expensive as well as detrimental to your credit rating.

What’s more, you’ll be hosed if you’re close to your limits and don’t have enough credit to absorb the situation. Meanwhile, if you’ve been putting cash away for a rainy day, you’ll be in a better position to bargain your way through situations. All things being equal, the best move is to build the emergency fund first. However, you can’t overlook that ever increasing obligation credit card debt represents. Nor can you turn a blind eye to the fact that things often happen when you least expect them to do so.

Take stock of your income and measure it against your expenses. Look for ways to move things around so you can save even as you pay off your debt. As you develop your spending plan, you may find you’ve been spending on a lot of items more properly classified as “wants” rather than “needs”. Dialing back on those will help you do both. If things are really tight, look for a side hustle, a part time job, or scour your home for things of value you can sell that are just languishing in your closets and your garage.

With creative thinking and determination, you can accomplish both.

Categories
Starting Up

With Healthcare Startup Funding On The Rise, New Financial Issues Emerge

Startup funding is its own enormous industry, and healthcare companies have cornered the market recently. According to a Pitchbook analysis summarized by Forbes, healthcare startups raised $15 billion in venture capital in the first six months of 2018, which was 70% more than they did in the same period in 2017. But, as any business owner knows, an increase in funding comes with its own problems. In particular, VC funding has allowed healthcare startups to kickstart operations, but now they have to grapple with individual clients and the subsequent cashflow challenges.

Common Cashflow Problems – And Solutions

It doesn’t matter what type of business you run; every company is vulnerable to cashflow problems. That being said, healthcare organizations tend to face several very specific issues. These include the high – often unaffordable – cost of medical care and issues with insurance providers. Luckily, these problems can be solved with a few simple solutions.

First, be sure you’ve established clear payment policies. Too often, companies will keep sending bills, but don’t act to collect on unpaid invoices or ever directly address those invoices with clients. Be willing to cut off services until accounts are settled. Companies often avoid this because they’re afraid to alienate clients, but it’s good business to protect your financial interests.

Another way to stabilize your startup’s cashflow is by outsourcing your medical billing. This is a particularly valuable strategy if you’re combining startup technology with a more traditional medical practice. Outsourced billing allows companies to harness the specialized skills of claims specialists – and their technology – and keep in-house staffing to a minimum.

Consider The Extended Office

Outsourcing your medical billing can help your startup manage cashflow, but the approach still has a limited reach. That’s why, if you want a more comprehensive approach, your startup should consider an extended business office (EBO). EBOs are precisely what they sound like – an extension of the traditional office, and that’s what makes them so useful to startups.

Rather than investing in a large staff, training, and technology, and EBO provides financial transparency for clients, insurance claim management, and can take your accounts from pre-registration all the way through to collections when necessary. Additionally, EBOs let your existing staff focus on what they do best – providing innovative healthcare services – while ensuring the financial issues are taken care of with expert attention.

Think Outside The Box

Finally, it’s important for startups to realize that the classic “spend money to make money” approach to building a business needs to slow down eventually, so keep that in mind as you attempt to balance your startup’s cashflow. This means that you may need to do more than just collect on existing bills if you want your business to thrive. You also need to consider other financial elements.

So where should healthcare startups try to re-balance the books? One option is at the level of supplier contracts. If you’ve established yourself as a reliable customer with growing purchase volume, then you’re in a position to renegotiate those contracts. Alternatively, if you can’t reduce the costs, you may be able to rearrange when payments come due. Moving around your bills to better align with income can make a big difference.

Every company eventually finds its own cashflow groove, featuring strategies like discounts for prompt payment, payment plans, and efficiency measures, but most don’t figure out these best practices until they’ve been in business for years. With that in mind, though, healthcare startups should use the recent influx of VC funds as an opportunity to grow wisely.

Set some money aside, revamp the budget, and see how you can maximize income while still providing top quality service.

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Never Underestimate The Value Of Instagram As Social Media Channel, Effecting Growth Of Business

Your business growth will be deteriorated if you don’t get the chance to move online. Unless you have an online and active platform, none of your prospective clients will be able to know more about you. Your physical center will be able to attract the local residents but not more than that. But, for the growth of your company, you have to attract more clients, nationally and internationally. For that, heading online is the only way out. Creating a website is a good choice but not the end of the story. You have to grow your business on social media channels as well.

There are multiple examples of social media channels and some of those are FB, TG, Twitter and more. You should try to open an account, preferably business, on these sources. However, if you are looking for a social media platform to attract maximum crowd, Instagram is the name that you should consider.

Why Instagram of all?

According to the recent survey made this year, Instagram is currently known to have over 1 billion active monthly users. There are over 500 million pictures and videos posted on the channel and 500m+ stories added on a daily basis. So, going through this statistic, it can be clearly portrayed that IG is the social media channel to consider whenever you are dealing with the growth of your firm. For that stronghold, it is important to check out more about the ways to grow followers for Instagram. For that, simple and effective tips will go a long way.

A Successful form of social presence:

For enjoying that successful social presence, it is always a known fact that stunning imagery is required to force the IG user to stop mid scrolling. If they ever overlook the stunning imagery, the caption is the one that might guide the followers towards your website. It is always mandatory for you to know that unconsidered, off hand and a nonexistent caption is always a missed opportunity.

Even though IG is a predominantly visual platform, but the words you care to choose to accompany the content posted need to be powerful and should not get wasted at all. This is here another platform where the marketers can look to the influencers for some inspiration.

Help you get from the influencers:

Influencers are often known to cultivate connection. Captions are noted to offer a direct form of a communicative line to the said IG followers.

  • Whether you are planning to use words for sharing how any image was created, provide advice or just explaining the way you are feeling, the caption is a great way to add value and even help audiences to know not just you but your business better.
  • Captions are here to provide you with the chance to produce the followers with something extra and not just the visual post. These notes will allow the followers to feel like they are actually part of this journey.
  • It helps in creating one better relationship with the audiences over here. On the other hand, it is true to state that captions help to cultivate more of a loyal following that you have always thought of.

Perfect use of captions for boosting engagement:

Whenever people think of IG, the caption is the last thing they actually think about but they are drawn towards the one-liner without knowing. Therefore, businesses, which are using visual posts alongside captions, are the ones which are gaining more popularity when compared to those firms using only visual posts. These captions are perfect to work as those CTA values to the business out there, in the market.

  • Even though the IG algorithm is always a contested hot topic, one thing which is true is that this social media generally favor posts getting hold of extra engagement. In case, the post is boosted by algorithm, more people are likely to have a chance to see it and might end up going for the Discover tab.
  • Captions are noted to be the perfect way to boost engagement. Here, IG is known to be measured in comments, likes and even time spent on post.
  • You get the chance to encourage comments by just asking the followers some questions or by just crafting some of the longer captions so that followers will spend more time on your posts.
  • With the value of using 2200 characters for the captions, there are endless options waiting for you to grab right now. It is up to you to test out multiple lengths with the audiences and get to see which one resonate best with them.
  • Always remember to make sure that the first sentences are always engaging as that’s what will make the people more interested to go through your captions and even get engaged in your content.

Captions are perfect to help your business get discovered:

Adding up hash tags in captions is a great way to extend the reach of the posts. They can always help you to get right in on the trending conversations and enable the post to just pop up among some of the other similar content. So, there are high chances of your contents to be found by some of the likeminded communities well and in advance. So, be sure to cover up the valuable user of hash tags while creating captions for the IG post. There are maximum 30 hash tags you are allowed to use. The average use will be within 9 to 10 hash tags, max to max. On the other hand, using way too many hash tags can create spam content, which will degrade the value of your post more.

Use of the generalized hash tags can be seen always so be sure to use those variations while creating caption for the IG posts. You can check out some of the engaging posts of your competitors and try to use their ideas to create your own tags. The more you search the better.

Author Bio:

Walter Moore is a notable management consultant and digital marketing expert. He is an experienced digital marketer and has helped e-commerce businesses in all niches gain real with his effective marketing strategies and guidance.

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Recommendations

Employment Opportunities for Those Who Have a Passion for Helping Others

Do you have a desire to help others? Have you ever wanted to work in a position that supports a valuable cause or improves the lives of others? Though most jobs in some way or another helps people, some have a larger impact.  In many industries like healthcare, education, and law, assisting others is the main priority and purpose.

There’s such pride to be taken in going to work every day and making a difference for someone else. Not only do those employed in such positions benefit psychologically, but monetarily, they’re some of the highest paid jobs in the country. Many who work in these fields find it to be enjoyable and worthwhile. If you’d like to put your talents to use for the good of others, the list below may suit your interests.

ER Doctor

When it comes to helping people the healthcare industry is at the top of the list. Emergency room doctors save lives on a daily basis. From injuries and dangerous illnesses to strokes and respiratory issues, there’s a lot that can be done to save and/or improve someone’s life. To enter this field you’d essentially need to get a medical degree.

Registered Nurse

If medical school seems too daunting to manage there are other careers in the medical field that improve the lives of others. Registered nurses are a huge part of patient care in medical facilities. From taking vitals and recording medical information to drawing blood and providing support and companionship, the required duties of a registered nurse are plentiful. After going to school, you can look for companies like Fusion Medical Staffing to find temporary and permanent positions in medical practices in your area.

Police Officer

A police officer is another example of a profession that enhances the safety and well-being of others. Hired to protect and serve the community, police officers help to keep the peace and keep criminals off the street. Though you don’t need a degree to become a police officer, you will have to go through police academy training and go through several physical and psychological tests to be considered for a position. Once you are out in the field, you may find yourself becoming interested in being part of the team that digs deeper into the forensic evidence in order to solve crimes, and this career guide for a crime scene investigator can show you how.

Dentist

Maintaining proper oral health is just as essential as keeping up with your physical health. Dentists help patients to maintain proper oral hygiene and often diagnose and treat oral problems. This can include filling cavities, performing root canals, teeth whitening, fitting dentures, and oral health education. To become a dentist you’ll need to attend dental school and obtain the proper licensing.

Personal Trainers

Getting fit and staying that way aren’t always the easiest things to accomplish. Be that as it may, maintaining the proper weight is imperative to an improved quality of life. If you have a love of fitness, you could help others to love it just as much as you do. You can work with clients to create customized workout regimens that help them to reach their fitness goals faster. In most cases, there’s no education required, but if you really want to get your foot in the door and make a decent living, it would be advised to have a certificate.

Nutritionist

Another part of sustaining good health is getting the proper nutrition through the things you consume. A nutritionist is a health professional that assists schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and individuals with making more effective eating choices. You could educate school-aged children on the importance of eating vegetables or work with diabetics to reduce their glucose levels. To become a nutritionist, you’ll need to have former training and education in either food science, nutrition, or dietetics.

Attorney

Lawyers are called on to help protect their client’s legal rights as a US citizen. As there are many laws, there are various specialties you can get into. You could work as a divorce attorney and help families split as amicably as possible, you could fight as a personal injury attorney helping injured parties get rightfully compensated, or you could practice immigration law. To become a lawyer, you’ll have to complete law school and pass the bar exam.

Social Worker

Social workers are passionate professionals who assist individuals in dealing with personal and social issues. This might mean helping low-income families get affordable healthcare, housing, and food or some other cause. Though no formal education is required, you will need to check within your locality to find out if you need to be registered to become a social worker.

Elementary School Teacher

Educators help improve the lives of children on a daily basis. Through the use of tested curriculum and other educational experiences, they are able to shape the minds of kids everywhere. As children absorb the most information when they’re young, elementary school teachers are thought to be some of the most influential people in their lives. You too can become a part of this by earning a degree and receiving the necessary certifications.

Spiritual Leader

If you’re looking for a meaningful career that touches the hearts and souls of people within your community becoming a spiritual leader or clergyperson is an ideal pick. You can provide guidance, educate them on religion and spirituality,  and organize events to serve the community. To become a clergyperson of any denomination you’ll have to obtain a college degree.

Therapist

Mental illness is running rampant in society today. People need trained professionals they can talk to about their problems and seek proper treatment. Therapists are a valuable resource when it comes to improving one’s mental health. Through talk therapy and other measures, therapists work with patients to help identify issues and develop new methods of coping. You’ll again need to obtain a college degree as well as proper licenses and certifications.

Helping people is part of what makes life so meaningful. Though you could work to improve the lives of others in your spare time, choosing a career that allows you to fulfill a purpose on a daily basis is to be rewarded. As you can see, there are a plethora of career paths you could take in a number of industries to do your part in shaping and healing the world. Take a look at these jobs and others and start creating a career plan to get the necessary education, training, and certifications you need to make a difference.