Tag: business advice

Is It Past Time You Implemented Times New Roman Into Your ECommerce Efforts?

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Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Every eCommerce company on the planet knows that website design and content matter. This is old news that’s appeared in nearly every piece of business advice for the past five years or more. But, while you’re distracted taking care of text alignments and describing your products in fewer words, one key aspect of design may still be falling by your wayside.

As you might be able to guess from the title we are, of course, talking about website fonts. While an outsourced design company will call you out here in seconds, your in-house efforts may be fully convinced that Comic Sans or some other outlandish ‘trendy’ font is the best thing for appealing to your millennial audience.

But guess what? Times New Roman and its straight-laced counterparts are and always have been go-to fonts for professional purposes, and implementing them on your website could be the missing key for appealing to the broadest audiences. 

If you aren’t convinced, keep reading to find out why your funky fonts might not be pulling conversions the way you expect. 

Customers are struggling to understand your products

Some fonts are just outright impossible to understand. That bubbly typeface may look the part, but remember that design is predominantly about conveying information. If people are clicking off your site in seconds or failing to convert despite initial interest, there’s a significant risk that they don’t understand your font, and thus your products. By instead turning to a more traditional font option, you can guarantee that everyone who comes to your site can read the product descriptions you took so long perfecting. 

You’re falling foul of compliance

Surprising as it may seem, difficult to read fonts could also leave your site short of compliance. That’s because ADA site compliance dictates that every website is accessible, even to individuals with sight issues. Ultimately, alt-text and even audio descriptions are key here, but font plays a part. If you don’t use readable fonts that everyone can grasp, you aren’t an inclusive provider. As well as limiting your audience, this could see you facing legal action if a court deems it as discrimination. 

You’re struggling to maintain professionalism

There are a whole host of reasons why companies struggle to reach the levels of professionalism they’re aiming towards, but believe us when we say that a ‘fun’ website font can most definitely be one of them. After all, how can customers take you seriously when you’re using comic typefaces or bubbly text choices? As much as you think it looks ‘cool,’ there’s more chance that these additions make your site look like a five-year-old designed it. By comparison, straightforward fonts like Times New Roman are crisp, clean-cut, and, ultimately, professional at all times.

Turning to more traditional fonts can sometimes feel like stepping away from your funky brand image, but trust us when we say that this is always a step in the right direction. It should undoubtedly see business soaring in a way that it merely hasn’t until now.

The Advantages of a Positive Relationship With Your Suppliers

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Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

The relationship between a supplier and a business is incredibly important. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership that helps both companies prosper; without a supplier, businesses can’t operate efficiently and without a successful business, suppliers have no demand. It’s a relationship that can define a business’s success, but also one that can be used to your advantage if you’re willing to nurture a positive connection to your suppliers.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at the advantages of a positive relationship with your suppliers and how it can help you run a successful business.

Minimizing drastic price differences and product quality

Depending on what you’re actually purchasing from the supplier, you shouldn’t be surprised to see prices and product quality fluctuating wildly. There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly, the raw materials required to create the products your suppliers provide will always change in price.  Another reason could be the current market conditions or even political issues that are affecting the cost of importing and exporting goods.

Product quality is also a huge concern when it comes to price fluctuations. For instance, if you’re looking for concrete for contracting purposes, then it’s important to pick and stick to a company such as ridgeconcrete.co.uk that can guarantee superior slabs and high-quality products every time. If you constantly shop around for better deals then there’s no company loyalty which means you’re going to receive an average service every time. With a good relationship, you can learn more about a product’s quality, why prices are fluctuating and perhaps even receive fixed prices for being a loyal customer.

Reducing operating costs

Setting up a deal with a supplier usually involves a slight setup cost. This is because the logistics of a large delivery and producing the amount of stock you need can take some time, especially if that stock is also being bought by other similar businesses. By cooperating with your suppliers in a positive and friendly way, you’re creating a mutually beneficial relationship that helps to ensure that the supplier gets a constant stream of demand.

By creating this demand, you make it easier for the supplier to predict their profits and stay afloat. As a token of their appreciation, suppliers will typically offer discounts to businesses that purchase in bulk and have proven to be reliable customers. The fewer issues you encounter, the more likely your supplier will give you future discounts. It will also help to reduce the amount of time it takes to solve logistics issues and they are more likely to reimburse you with a generous refund if something goes wrong.

Improved customer service

As explained in this article at growingforward.net, customer service can be a big problem when it comes to profit issues. Most suppliers enjoy having cooperative relationships with customers because it helps them offer improved customer service. This, in turn, means that your customer experience will be improved.

Issues will be resolved faster, you might have a contact that you can phone for last-minute deliveries and rush orders, and they may even recommend you as a trustworthy business to companies that are seeking your services or products.

 

 

Being An Artist Is A Job Too, Not A Dream

Scott Asai1 Comment

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

I’m an artist.

More often than not, it’s the kind of statements that parents never want to hear. Being an artist is, unfortunately, misunderstood for laziness and lack of motivation. In reality, you can’t make a living as a creative individual unless you treat your arts like a business venture. Artists are professionals too, and consequently, they need to manage their career like a job. Surprisingly enough, the best tips you can receive as an aspiring artist come from the business industry – not show business, though. Indeed, advice that is designed to encourage professionals to improve their productivity, develop a career strategy and maximize their impact on the market is a fantastic source of inspiration and self-improvement for new artists.

You can follow the same business advice as everyone else

Existing in any business environment – whether artistic or not – is about constantly improving your overall performance to fulfill your full potential. As an artist, becoming better at what you do can seem like a blurry statement. However, you can focus on doing the best that you can, even in the smallest details. This attitude can make the difference between a great creation or something that goes unnoticed. As you dedicate time and attention to all things – small and big –, you get a better insight into your uniqueness, your strengths and the opportunities that are available for you.  

You need a strategic mentor to help and protect you

It’s fair to say that nobody can get to the top without the strategic support of a coach or a mentor who knows and understands the challenges of your industry sector. New entrepreneurs can’t be successful without the careful and knowledgeable plan of a business guru who can advise and protect. Similarly, in the creative world, artists need someone who can help them to tackle the risks without affecting their careers. A music law attorney, for instance, can ensure your audience can gain access to your songs while preventing copyright infringements. It’s a thin line between making your creations available and making them free to use!  

Skills, skills, skills, you can’t have enough

Do you know everything there is to know? In every sector, professionals stay relevant by learning new skills. At a business level, adding significant skills to your resumé makes you more desirable. Additionally, at a personal level, the more you learn, the better your brain gets at connecting knowledge, facts and decisions together. The more you learn, the better you become. For artists, there are new ways of creating, new instruments or even new languages that you could add to your portfolio as a way of opening your mind and unlocking new creative paths. The more you know, the more inspired you can be, and the more relevant you are to your audience.

Make yourself visible

You can’t land a new job without a strong online presence, on social media, and LinkedIn. For artists, your online presence is also part of your career. Making yourself visible to your audience nurtures your bond and your reputation.

Artists are not a different species. They are professionals who act in a specific market. Therefore, they can benefit from developing the business skills, practices, and behaviors that are relevant to their job.