6 WAYS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR LUNCH BREAK

Taking a lunch break is important. It’s time when you can step away from your computer and have a little “me” time. Your lunch break should be a time when you can unplug and stop thinking about work so you can re-energize to make it through the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of working through our lunch breaks and some of us even skip lunch entirely, which is not healthy.

To help inspire you to do something better with your lunch break, we’ve compiled this list of ways to take advantage of this time:

1. Work on a side project.

What are you passionate about? Your lunch break is a great time to give your cooking blog some love, or maybe work on your poetry. Find whatever it is that excites you and then throw yourself into it just for fun. But make sure it’s something that helps you relieve stress, not create more of it.

2. Catch up with a friend or loved one.

We often get so caught up in the day to day, we forget what – or, more importantly,who – really matters. Use your lunch break to catch up with a family member or friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. Not only will it make their day a little brighter, but you’ll likely come back from lunch a little extra pep yourself.

3. Have lunch with the most interesting or inspiring person in your company.

No matter how experienced you are, you can still learn a lot from other people. Ask them what their day-to-day responsibilities are, how they stay organized, what they do to stay motivated and what they most enjoy outside of work. Not only could you learn something that you could apply to your own work, but you could gain a friend in the process.

For executives and business owners, taking the time to learn about their employees has made a tremendous impact on their bottom lines. You may be surprised what you learn. You could find out about issues or inefficiencies in your company that you didn’t know existed, and then take action to re-mediate them.

4. Get outside.

Weather permitting, go eat lunch outside. Post up on a park bench and read a book, or ask a coworker to toss the ol’ pigskin around. Depending on how much time you have, you could also go for a walk or a bike ride. Research has shown that taking a break in nature can do wonders to lower your stress levels and improve your mood, and being active outdoors is extra beneficial.

5. Meditate.

Meditating has been shown to improve concentration and help us relieve a lot of that stress that builds up throughout the workday. Click here to learn how to meditate.

6. Challenge your neighboring office to a competition.

Remember how we told you having fun at work ups your productivity. Take our advice and challenge the office next door to a friendly office chair race or a game of soccer, ping pong, pool, foosball, capture the flag or cornhole!

Six Tips For More Clicks With Email Marketing

Email marketing can be daunting if you’re new to it. Assuming you make it past the spam filter, you have a couple of seconds to make an impression or you’re sent to the trash. Despite this, email marketing is actually one of the most successful marketing techniques, offering a return on investment of 4,300 percent. Seventy-four percent of consumers prefer to receive commercial communications via email, and 66 percent of online consumers, ages 15 and up, made a purchase as a result of email marketing messages. That’s a lot of bang for your buck. To help you achieve this level of success, we’ve come up with the following tips for you to get more opens and more clicks with your email marketing campaigns.

1. Choose an effective subject line

Your subject line should be original, yet straightforward. It should pique your target market’s interest while communicating why they would want to open your email. Trick of the trade: Use numbers, they grab attention and let people know what they’re in for. “6 tips? I can skim through that in a breeze!”

2. Demand attention

Crafting an email that looks professional and is on brand is very important. Choose a layout and image that make your email stand out. Trick of the trade: Test your email on various devices. Forty-eight percent of email is opened on a mobile device, and over 70 percent of mobile purchasing decisions are influenced by promotional emails. So make sure the content in your email is responsive and looks good on all devices.

3. Benefit the subscriber

What is the subscriber getting out of opening your email? It could be a word of advice, a sale or promotion, or an invitation to an event. Many companies make the mistake of creating marketing pieces that are too feature focused. You can’t always know which features are most appealing to your audience and it could be different for everyone. Rather, the focus of your marketing should be the benefits your company or your products bring to the customer.

4. Earn your subscribers’ trust

Don’t overwhelm them with emails. Not every email should be trying to sell them something. Offer help or advice, and be concerned about the growth and improvement of their business, not just yours. One goal of email marketing is to establish your brand as an industry thought leader, meaning your company is who they turn to for all of their promotional needs. Once you’ve earned their trust, they’ll engage more with your brand.

5. Persuade subscribers to act

How will your subscribers know what you want them to do unless you TELL them? Do you want them to view a new product? Buy something during a sale? Register for an event? Always include a clear and convincing call to action. Trick of the trade: Adding the same link several times in the email increase the chances of it getting clicked.

6. Track your success

We can speculate all we want, but there is no average subscriber. Some emails are going to be successful with some people and not with others. Measuring the open and click-through rates with your subscribers is the best way to determine what works for you and what doesn’t. You can run A/B split tests by sending sample groups of your subscribers slightly different emails to see which ones get a better response.

According to a census conducted by digital marketing research firm, Econsultancy, companies that use an email service provider are more likely to be satisfied with their email marketing than those who do not.

Survey Finds Salary Influences Millennials’ Job Loyalty

Salary is as much a motivator for Millennials as it is for their older colleagues, reported in a study of office workers in the U.S. and Canada. Almost one third of Millennials (29 percent) report that higher salary is the biggest contributor to their loyalty, despite only 20 percent of the broader workforce reporting the same.

“Millennials are becoming the largest demographic in the U.S. workforce—about one third of all workers—so it’s critical for employers to understand how to attract and retain millennial talent,” says John Burke, senior vice president, chief culture officer, at Staples, Inc. “Our Workplace Index found that, contrary to popular belief, salary is important to Millennials just as it is to older workers.” The survey also revealed that flexibility and office perks are key to retaining Millennials.

U.S. office workers as a whole consider title and work responsibilities (38 percent) and work-life balance (30 percent) as leading contributors to their loyalty. Millennials favor more nontraditional benefits in the workplace, including flexibility regarding where and when they work, office perks, eco-friendliness, trust in leadership and a relationship with their direct boss.

6 Content Ideas Your Company Should be Posting on Social Media

If your company is new to the social media arena or even if you have had channels set up but weren’t sure what to post, we have some content ideas to help you fill your channels with excellent and engaging content.

One of the most important things to remember with social media is to consistently provide content, updates, and engage without always trying to sell something to your fans and followers. Here are 6 content ideas to keep your company top of mind and engaged with your customers.

• Company News: You may not think that your customers are interested in the newsworthy events that go on in your company, but they are. It is always a good idea to fill your social streams with content about your company’s news. It can be that you moved or opened a new location. Maybe you have a new hire or want to spotlight the employee of the month. Winning an award or even being nominated for one are all news bits that are perfect to share on all your social channels. All of this type of news helps show insight into your company and lets customers in.

• Local News: This works especially well for local businesses that are not solely internet based. Although some local news can even benefit internet-only companies. Posting about local events, things happening in your town, or things happening in your shopping mall or plaza will attract the attention of the fans and followers of the other businesses and the city or town. Tagging the other businesses and your city as well as neighboring cities is a great way to make new connections by getting extra exposure on their social networks as well as yours.

• Industry News: The news from your industry can also be big news for your social media followers. They might want your take on industry news or just want to come to you as a source for the industry. This establishes your company as an authority and is one of the best ways to remain top of mind with your customers and potential clientele.

• Offer Tips and Advice: Are you an authority on the things you sell or services you provide? Show your readers the great ideas you have, how to use your products, or tips to enhance the services you offer.

• Use Humour:  Even the most serious businesses can utilise humour in a tasteful way. Funny posts attract more people and make it easier for them to remember you.

• Images: Whenever possible, include images in your social media posts. People are very visual and a post with a picture in it attracts much more attention than just text alone. Always look for a relevant image to post with your content.

Reasons for Recognition

Thirteen great reasons why you should be recognizing and motivating your employees - we provide simple solutions for all your recognition requirements.

Recognition and Rewards Do Make a Difference

A successful recognition program can assist you in recognizing and rewarding the people that have made a difference in your organization and provide an ROI for your company. Studies have shown that the prime "job specific" motivator in the work place is recognition and that employees are drawn to activities which enhance their own self-esteem.

"Recognition is the key component of self-actualization". Maslow Herzberg 

Our Affinity programs are hassle-free and provide an excellent return on investment. Our unique symbolic approach combined with highly visible utilitarian or displayable items that are packaged for maximum impact, will provide you the positive and long-lasting impression you seek. 

• Recognition and rewards Motivate Employees 
• Appropriate recognition at the appropriate time is the best practice that ultimately improves the performance in any organization. A Gallup poll found that 82% of employees say that recognition or praise they receive at work motivates them to improve their performance. 
• Employees who feel valued and trusted are more productive 
• High performing employees will leave companies if they do not feel valued 
• Create a positive work environment 
• Motivate high performance 
• Reinforce desired behavior 
• Create a culture of recognition 
• Increase morale 
• Support organizational mission/values 
• Increase retention or decrease turnover 
• Encourage loyalty 
• Support a culture change

  

View our Affinity Awards program ~ Click HERE

How to Activate and Use Gmail’s New Unsend Button

Chances are anyone reading this has suffered the wrath of sending an email they didn’t mean to or shouldn’t have. Whether it was the dreaded “reply all” button accident, having second thoughts about a rant, or just recognising a simple type-o you wanted to fix, everyone has likely sent an email they immediately regretted. Now, Google has finally instituted a solution for you!

The unsend button feature that they previously only had in beta is now a full-fledged option available to every Gmail user. The setting delays the sending of the email and a button pops up that allows you to click “unsend” for anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds depending on how you adjust your settings. Here’s how:

Step One:

Settings Button

Click on the settings button at the top right of your Gmail screen. Choose settings from the drop down menu that appears.

Step Two:

Gmail Settings

Scroll down to the Undo Send section. Click the check box and then choose the amount of seconds you want the delay to be before sending, called the ‘send cancellation period’. The longest time frame is 30 seconds, shortest is 5 seconds. I would suggest just leaving it at 30 seconds.

Step Three:

Unsend Button

Scroll down and click the save button.

That’s it! It is that simple to save you a world of hurt! Keep in mind that this is not available for mobile yet. From now on after sending an email, you will see the following at the top of your Gmail screen:

Google says it will be available on mobile phone versions of Gmail soon. So still be extra careful when sending email from your phone. Also keep in mind that you only have those 30 seconds to click unsend. If you refresh the screen, close your Gmail, archive, or delete the email, that option goes away.

Check Out Other Gmail Settings

While you are in the settings, scroll through and check out all of the options available. There may be some conveniences that you didn’t know about and might also get some great use out of. You can adjust the page size, set your default country for using Google Voice calls, set up the conversation view style, set up a vacation message and customise your closing.

If the unsend button isn’t news to you, perhaps you have been using it since 2009 when Google implemented that as a test option in the labs section of Gmail’s settings. There are many other options available in the Labs Section of your Gmail account. You should check it out now and go back every month or two to see what’s new and what fun things you can make use of in there to make your emailing experience even better.

Here are some of the things I found in there today:

Canned Responses: This is great if you use Gmail for customer service, you can set up common responses to frequently asked questions here.
Authentication Icon for Verified Senders: This helps you identify authentic messages from known senders like eBay that are often mimicked by spammers.

Mark as Read Button
Pictures in Chat
Apps Search
Google Voice Player in Mail
Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
Google Calendar Gadget
Google Maps Previews in Mail

Just to name a few of the long list. Feel free to play around with them and see what works for you. Don’t worry if you don’t like a setting, you can go back and uncheck it to disable it.
Will the unsend button option make you switch to Gmail if you aren’t already using it?

Posted in Internet Marketing

6 Content Ideas Your Company Should be Posting on Social Media

If your company is new to the social media arena or even if you have had channels set up but weren’t sure what to post, we have some content ideas to help you fill your channels with excellent and engaging content. One of the most important things to remember with social media is to consistently provide content, updates, and engage without always trying to sell something to your fans and followers. Here are 6 content ideas to keep your company top of mind and engaged with your customers.

Company News: You may not think that your customers are interested in the newsworthy events that go on in your company, but they are. It is always a good idea to fill your social streams with content about your company’s news. It can be that you moved or opened a new location. Maybe you have a new hire or want to spotlight the employee of the month. inning an award or even being nominated for one are all news bits that are perfect to share on all your social channels. All of this type of news helps show insight into your company and lets customers in.

Local News: This works especially well for local businesses that are not solely internet based. Although some local news can even benefit internet-only companies. Posting about local events, things happening in your town, or things happening in your shopping mall or plaza will attract the attention of the fans and followers of the other businesses and the city or town. Tagging the other businesses and your city as well as neighboring cities is a great way to make new connections by getting extra exposure on their social networks as well as yours.

Industry News: The news from your industry can also be big news for your social media followers. They might want your take on industry news or just want to come to you as a source for the industry. This establishes your company as an authority and is one of the best ways to remain top of mind with your customers and potential clientele. Offer Tips and Advice: Are you an authority on the things you sell or services you provide? Show your readers the great ideas you have, how to use your products, or tips to enhance the services you offer.

Use Humour: A few weeks ago we did an entire blog post on the benefits of using humour in your content. Even the most serious businesses can utilise humour in a tasteful way. Funny posts attract more people and make it easier for them to remember you. Images: Whenever possible, include images in your social media posts. People are very visual and a post with a picture in it attracts much more attention than just text alone. Always look for a relevant image to post with your content.

Images: Whenever possible, include images in your social media posts. People are very visual and a post with a picture in it attracts much more attention than just text alone. Always look for a relevant image to post with your content.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing Advice