Maxwell

Digital marketing has seen incredible growth as a marketing career path – with no signs of slowing down – however even if you aren’t looking to switch careers and become a marketing expert, this set of skills is crucial for small business owners and others who are working to attract and convert customers.

When small businesses open their doors, their focus is frequently on how to get the first customers making a purchase. They could rely on traditional forms of advertising, for example print ads, coupon mailers or even outdoor advertising. SMMEs may believe that as they offer a good product or service however it’s just a matter of time until customers discover their way to them.

While this strategy could bring in a small trickle of business, there is a much better and a far easier way. Small businesses should think about the global marketplace of prospects online and benefit from merging their traditional and digital marketing. No small business, no matter how new they are, should ignore digital channels as a way to produce leads and convert interest into customers.

Here are a couple of reasons why digital marketing is a non-negotiable for small businesses.

Easier For Customers To Find Your Business

When looking for a business, customers tend to use Google as their main source of information. If your business is not listed online, chances are very good that the customer will seek out one that is.

For this very reason, it is important to set up a Google My Business account. This is the card that appears on Google Search Results with your company’s details and the platform you use to receive Google reviews from your customers.

A Google My Business account will assist customers with finding your local business when searching for products or services near them. This listing provides customers with information such as store hours, address, and phone number.

Without this listing, you risk losing local business at a much higher rate.

Provide Equal Opportunities For Everyone

It doesn’t really matter what the size of your company is. You could be a one-man online store or a massive online casino South Africa company. Digital marketing for SMMEs is available for everyone. It’s not something that you can’t reach, even if your budget is limited. Even a small business can easily reach its target audience through the use of various strategies.

Digital marketing is the space where everyone is equal. This is where small businesses are able to compete with big companies via leveraging various marketing tools and strategies. The selection of digital marketing tools is massive, so you can choose the one that suits your business needs and, most of all, your budget.

You’ll Learn A Lot More About Your Customers’ Needs So That You Can Profitably Fulfil Them

Another stumbling block for small businesses is attracting, capturing and converting leads into customers. In order to successfully do that, a small business has to identify what its target customer needs so that it can fulfil those demands.

Effective digital marketing assists small businesses with learning the online habits of customers so that they can better target ideal customers. It relies heavily on solid market research to inform the next course of action.

Clever small businesses do not make hypotheses. They utilise digital tools to learn what their target customers search for and need.

 

Working hard so you can earn enough money to retire in comfort and be well looked after is undoubtedly an admirable thing to do. However, there is a fine line between working and working too much. Statistics show that the people with the least amount of regrets in their lives are the ones that spent enough time with the people that they love most.

Although there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in devoting your energy to a career you’re passionate about, there’s something more to be said about finding a balance. So where does working end, and workaholism begin? Here are some of the signs that you may be a workaholic.

You’re Never Satisfied With Your Work

If you’re the kind of person that ends your work day and feels like you didn’t do well enough and you’re lacking pride in your results, then this could be a sign of an issue. When you leave your job at the end of the day you should be walking away and going back to your personal life. The constant impression that you’re not doing enough is a clear indication that you have an unhealthy relationship with your job.

You Dream About Work

In a recent study, it was found that workaholics don’t just think about their job when they get home, they dream about them. It’s so all-consuming for them that it creeps its way into their subconscious so that they are even working in their sleep! How’s that for a sign of addiction?

To avoid this, consider listening to a daily meditation before you go to sleep. Close your eyes and focus on anything but work before you fall asleep. Otherwise, if you’re thinking about work before you rest, it’s no surprise why work could make its way into your dreams.

You Never See Your Friends

Have your friends been proposing to hang out with you and you never seem to have time? If you’re sacrificing nurturing your relationships with your friends for the sake of your job, then this could become an issue over time.

Workaholics lose contact with the ones they love most because they made work their priority. Even if you work an intensive job, try to make time to see your friends during your lunch hour, or even for a quick drink or bite to eat following your work day. It can help you unwind, and remind you that there is life away from your job.

Your Family is Sick of Hearing About Your Job

When you get home to eat dinner with your family, is the only thing you talk about your job? Even though your family may be too nice to tell you that they’re tired of hearing about your work, the truth is they’d probably like to talk to you about something else. It’s okay to talk a little bit about your job, but don’t make it the primary subject of discussion every night. It’s not fair to your family or yourself.

 

In recent years, there has been a far greater prevalence in employers and employees alike recognizing the need for a good work-life balance. There is now a greater understanding of how beneficial it can be both for individuals and organizations as a whole. The benefits encompass many areas of the employee’s life, while also enabling them to become more effective at work. Many employers are putting in measures to support a good work-life balance, recognizing that they need to do this to enhance productivity and attract the best candidates to their workplace.

Work-life balance over time

The desire for a good work-life balance is not a new one. The phrase first came into common use during the 1970s and 80s as workers learned to juggle the demands of both work and family. Coming into the 21^st century, the desire for balance grew greater, starting a trend of remote working and making the most of vacation days. Now, many young people who are entering the workplace for the first time are searching for a job that will fit around their lifestyle, rather than shaping a lifestyle to fit around work, as was more prevalent in the past.

The recognition of the need for a good work-life balance is generally a good thing, helping to prevent burnout and facilitate a more fulfilled life. However, it is not without problems, placing on today’s employees an expectation that they should be succeeding in both work and life, and causing stress when that does not happen.

Physical and mental health

Our understanding of how stress can impact on mental health has grown considerably in recent years. It can lead to anxiety and depression, with sleep problems such as insomnia only exacerbating the stress. It can also spill over into alcohol or substance abuse, as stressed individuals struggle to find ways to cope with their feelings.

We are also gaining a greater understanding of how good mental health is beneficial for health as a whole, with issues such as high blood pressure and heart disease known to be a possible consequence of severe stress.

In a good work-life balance, there is time for relaxation and exercise, a known factor in reducing stress. However, also simply ensuring that there is enough time for everything in itself reduces stress.

Benefits for employers

With employees today expecting to be able to maintain a good life away from work, employers who recognize the importance of a good work-life balance will attract more candidates for open positions in their workplace. This allows them to select employees of the highest caliber.

It will also help them get the best out of all employees. Many days each year are lost to ill health, and while sickness can never be eradicated, reduced stress levels can at least lessen the numbers of sick days taken each year and may also speed the recovery time.

Healthier, happier, less-stressed workers are also likely to be more productive. Employees who are exhausted or stressed are likely to at best result in sluggish levels of productivity, and at worst can cause mistakes that can take a financial toll on the company, damage their reputation, or even physically endanger others.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the medical profession, where life and death decisions happen every day, and mistakes could even result in the loss of life. Anybody who enters the medical profession expects a demanding work environment, and for the most part, medical professionals are able to find strategies that help them cope with the stress that occurs naturally in a fast-paced medical environment. Increasingly, medical workplaces are also rising to the challenge, putting strategies in place to help their employees leave the work behind to also enjoy a happy, healthy home life where work does not intrude.

Helping medical professionals to manage the demands of the work can start at the very beginning of their career, with the universities involved in training the new generation of medical professionals starting that support. Walsh University is a good example of this, offering online nursing programs that not only aim to teach students the mechanics of nursing, but also help them to develop in mind, body, and spirit so that they can find a good worklife balance. As the courses are fully online, students can schedule their studies around their other commitments – further helping them to avoid stressing out. Nursing is, of course, a challenging career and therefore qualifications will be hard-earned so learning to look after yourself in the process will stand you in good stead.

Technology

The development of technology has provided new ways that employers can offer a good work-life balance. The remote working that became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic would have been impossible 20 years ago, but thanks to video conferencing platforms and internet in the home, it allowed collaboration and monitoring to continue. Remote working is often seen as a very simple way to improve a work-life balance, as by taking away a time-consuming commute, it provides employees with more time away from work without reducing their working hours.

How flexibility is the key

People’s expectations of what constitutes a good work-life balance vary from person to person and can even change for the same person at different stages of their career. There can be times when the career is the main focus, with the employee wanting to devote their time to it. Later on, perhaps after starting a family, a fulfilling home life needs to be factored into the equation. And, as already stated, the quest for a good work-life balance can be stressful if it is not fulfilled.

The more flexible a workplace can be, the easier it can be to facilitate everyone in balancing their lives to their personal requirements. The possibilities are endless, with job shares, a mixture of part-time and full-time positions, flexible working hours, the option to work more hours over fewer days, and remote working just some of them.

Not all options will be possible for all workplaces, but it is well worth employers taking a look at the possibilities to see what will work for both them and their employees.