The Top 5 Soft Skills to Learn in 2021
In today’s professional world, learning soft skills has become very essential. It has gone beyond just adding it to your CV or resume, it is actually now a necessity in the workplace today. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to improve your communication skills, or be more emphatic, or think more creatively, or learn how to collaborate, soft skills will keep you at an advantage over your peers. Check out how these soft skills can help you in 2021. Collaboration The beauty of collaboration is that it can generate brilliant ideas and can help a team work more efficiently. Enhance your ability to work as a team member in a team and you could improve your chances of helping your team members and the organization you work for be highly productive. Creative thinking Think about answering the most difficult business question or coming up with a solution to the most toughest problem – creative thinking does all of that. The job itself doesn’t have to be creative, you simply need to grow your creative skills to a point where you can generate new and exciting ways to improve a situation in your organization. Leadership The ability to lead and manage others is a sought-after skill in the workplace today. Similarly, individuals with leadership skills have the ability to motivate and inspire others to success. It really doesn’t matter if you’re just starting your career, never be afraid to show what you’re made of and be actively involved in pushing others to greater heights. Adaptability In 2020, we saw how adaptability was a necessity. As a matter of fact, it still is. The ability to demonstrate willingness to accept change, new challenges and pivot quickly without any hesitation. People who are adaptable are always ready to accept change when it stares them in the face. If you’re unfazed by change, then you’re super hot on the radar of prospective employers. Work Ethic A strong work ethic is also a good sign that you simply take your job or any task assigned to you seriously. You come to work on time, you complete tasks and meet deadlines, you pay attention to details and stay organized. You are able to manage your time effectively and complete your task with little or no errors. People who have strong work-ethic offer immense value to any organization. ALSO READ: Top 10 Sites for Learning Online Don’t wait for soft skills to develop on its own. Be proactive, take steps to attend required trainings that can create huge benefits for your career.
These Mistakes can Kill Your Social Media Account
Mistakes happen very often on this social media space. Some people believe that growing a social media account to a reasonable amount takes only a few days. Others think social media is all about interaction, connecting with people and building relationships. Truth is, there are so many misconceptions with social media and what it does (or can do). What I do know is, you need a good strategy to grow and manage any social media account. ALSO READ: 5 Critical Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Businesses But first, what are those mistakes to avoid? Follow to unfollow: When you follow to unfollow, what exactly is the aim? What is the purpose of that one single action? Incase you didn’t know, when you keep doing this, you’re flouting the policies guiding the social media space, and this will gradually take a toll on your engagement. Ghosting: Ghosting on social media means inactivity. Simply put it as disappearing. Or in many cases it means an inconsistent presence on social media. Today you make one post, and the next time you’re seen active is 30 days later. Remember, the algorithm favors consistency and you need the algorithm on your side. Spammy comments: Now that you’ve decided to become active on social media, should there be any reason to force engagements by using bots to like and comment on posts? absolutely not. Doing this makes your social media account lose credibility and value. At the worst case, you may actually have your social media account blocked. Repeated content: Posted it once and it didn’t get traction, so you posted and kept posting it again? Well, what’s the assurance that would bring about the engagement you’re looking for? Your followers don’t need to hear from you every second. Give room for your content to travel far, be consistent and stick to a content time frame. Not being social: The best way to use social media is to be social. You’re supposed to have fun with the experience, share your journey, learn and inspire others. Yes, you can use social media to get a job, meet business professionals, or find the love of your life. The point is you should be social, find new ways to have fun and connect with amazing people. Follow us on social media to get all the good stuff we talk about: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
How to Plan Better with your Money
Being very conscious with your money is far beyond working, paying the bills and just generally trying to make ends meet. You live better when you plan your money better. This doesn’t generally mean you need to have some financial skills or experiences, it is really about the basics. Like how do you spend your money? How do you allocate money to your priorities? How do you save your money? When you plan better with your money, you are able to make certain purchases, afford some expenses, and just live your life without any money problems. Simple Ways To Plan Your Money Better Always create a budget A lot of people avoid budgeting because they see it as a long and boring process of listing out expenses and allocating their cost. Honestly, you have no excuse with budgeting. How else do you want to keep track of your expenses? Think about all the value and ease budgeting will bring to your overall monthly or weekly spends – that should give you the right motivation to creating a budget. Spend less than you make Look, this is the time to cut down on expenses that literally don’t add value to your life. If it ain’t necessary, don’t buy it. This is how you spend less than you make. Keep your expenses on a minimum – buy only what you need. Save more than you spend How can you do this? It’s simple. You can allocate a percentage of your monthly income in a savings account plan. Some financial institutions have these saving opportunities, so you may need to check for that. But what is important is that you’re saving consistently. Invest wisely This is to further state that, while saving consistently is good, investing a portion of your income can actually be even better. Stocks, bonds, real estate etcetera. Just make sure to do your due diligence before committing. Use budgeting apps Keeping up with your finances can be quite complicated. There are a lot of budgeting apps to uncomplicate them for you. Some of these tools are free, like mint and pocket guard and they will show you ways to manage money as well as do all the hard budgeting and computational work for you. Appreciate and value money Because you earn a steady or a fat income does not mean you have to live lavishly or flamboyantly. Your mindset should always choose to appreciate and value money because it would give you the foundation you need to succeed. Pay your bills on time This is very important. Never ever allow your bills to pile up. They could run into debts and worst case, you may lose your properties. If you can, set a reminder for due dates to pay bills. When you pay your bills on time, you have clarity to focus on any other expenses. It is just the right thing to do. Believe you can make it We are back to mindset again. Because it is everything. Believe you can hit your financial goals, and you will. This goes to cultivating a habit of financial discipline, building self-confidence and living life with no regrets. What else would you add to this list? Tell us in the comments.
8 Facebook Advertising Goals and What They Actually Mean
Facebook has recently updated their entire layout, the user interface looks more friendly, and the best part is the Ad Center on Facebook pages. Now, advertisers have a concise range of choices when it comes to running ads. In this article, you’ll learn 8 Facebook advertising goals, what they mean, and how best to use them for your next campaign. 8 Facebook advertising campaign goals What is a campaign goal? This simply means what action you want people to take when they see your advert. Realizing what your campaign goals are, is the first step you must take when creating a new campaign. ALSO READ: 6 Online Businesses You Can Start Now Get more messages This ad goal aims at getting people to send you messages on messenger. Facebook shows your advert to prospects who are more likely to require further information before they convert. So when you’re trying to sell a product and you want customers to send you private messages to discuss about the price, quality, or delivery of the product, get more messages campaigns are ideal. Build Your Business If you want people to learn more about your business, this option is your best bet. Facebook will display your advert to people with the same or likely interest as your business and directs them to a landing page. E.g. Through the learn more button. Get More Website Visitors Want more traffic to your blog, website or app? This the the ad goal you should go for. Your advert would be charged based on link clicks. Remember to optimize your landing page for conversion results. Boost a Post This is one of the most popular advertisement goals on Facebook. If your goal for that advert you’re about to run is to get likes, comments or shares, Facebook will show your advert to the maximum audience each day. In less than 5 clicks, you’re good to go. Boost an Instagram Post This also works like the Boost a Post option, but the difference here is that you can boost an Instagram post right on your Facebook page. This works when you’ve linked your Instagram account to your Facebook page. Get More Leads I’m such a huge fan of the lead generation goal because it is so easy to use and can be really versatile. When you create a lead generation form, people interested in your advert can fill the form (capturing their contact details like email addresses and phone numbers). In essence, you can use this ad goal to build your email list, drive downloads, or give exclusive access to discounts. Promote Your Page This objective is super straightforward. Promote your page and get more likes. Simple! This is only available for your Facebook page (Not available for Instagram). With this goal, you can optimize your Facebook page likes but you may be charged for impression or likes depending on your bid. Get More Calls This advert goal is pretty self-explanatory and serves its purpose. Great for promoting your business to get more calls from prospects interested in what your selling or the services you’re rendering. Develop a habit of testing out different campaigns to determine what works and what doesn’t. What advert goal would you be testing first?
Creating a Content Plan in 5 Easy Steps
As with most online activities, content creation involves a high level of creativity. I mean, you don’t just want to create something that is below standard because you want to meet your daily content task. This is where a content creation plan comes in. One amazing benefit of this is that it helps you create timeless content and ultimately, you become an effective creator. The internet of course gives everyone the free will to create and publish. So most people just create and publish. But you’re not just like most people, you’re different. And different people create different content. In this article, you’ll learn how to create a content plan in 5 simple steps. Shall we? RELATED: 7 Things That Make a Great Content LISTEN If you’re really going to succeed in the long term, you must pay attention to what people are saying in your niche. Listening to your audience can help you plan high-quality, effective and consistent content. When you listen, you can be inspired to create content that solves the pain points of your audience. SET YOUR GOALS If you’re not setting goals, you’re setting up to fail. For every content you create, there should be a goal set for it. Why are you creating this content? What does your brand stand for? How can your content be useful to others? These goals drive and motivate you to never lower your standards. CREATE YOUR KPI Measuring your successes helps you determine what types of content are working and the ones that aren’t. If you don’t evaluate and measure, you’ll never know IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE Everyone is not your target audience (you’ve probably heard this before). Who is your target audience? Where do they meet? What kinds of content do they like? Identify your minimum viable group and serve them! CREATE YOUR CONTENT CALENDAR & AUTOMATE Of course, this is the last and final step. Using a content calendar and automating your content helps you stay up to date and it gives you the ability to never miss an important date. If you may have forgotten to post on certain days, an automated content calendar will solve that problem. If you manage several social media accounts, you can understand how overwhelming it can be when you’re doing everything manually. Automation saves you time. What else would you be adding to these steps?
How to Position Yourself for Job Opportunities on LinkedIn in 2021
This past week, we asked a number of people if they had an active LinkedIn profile, only 30% said yes. Which brings us to the conclusion that a lot of people are missing out massively on the benefits LinkedIn has to offer. It’s not just about the job prospects, but about building your network and meeting like-minds, prospective business partners, and people of interest. But today, we’ll be focusing on how you can position yourself to get your dream job on LinkedIn in 2021. So now, let us go into details: RELATED: How to use LinkedIn Ads to Boost your Business. Optimizing your profile: Follow the steps below to optimize your LinkedIn profile. STEP 1: Update your LinkedIn profile picture and header to something more recent and professional STEP 2: Include previous roles and state your duties STEP 3: Update your LinkedIn header with your current work experience (Some people use this space to include 3-4 of their core expertise – this is pretty much allowed) STEP 4: The summary section on your profile is where you give a proper description about yourself. Your educational background, achievements, projects etc. This is basically the section where you sell yourself. STEP 5: Keep making necessary tweaks till your profile becomes All-Star. Start Networking Now that your profile is fully optimized, wouldn’t it be nice to start reaching out to like minds in your industry? I bet your answer is yes! But how do we do this? STEP 1: Send personalized connection requests Why? Because people are more like to accept such requests. STEP 2: Engage with your existing connections. Respond to questions, comments, and messages. STEP 3: Share relevant and useful content. STEP 4: Join strategic groups and share your opinion on popular discussions. STEP 5: Show kindness, empathy and be professional in your character. Tell Your Story What is your story? Your stories are your experiences. Make it so memorable that it resonates with your audience. Your growth journey, lessons learned, are all opportunities to tell a story. And the good thing about this is that people naturally respond to stories. So we strongly recommend that you share these things. Who knows?! Your story might just inspire someone. Reach Out That’s right! On LinkedIn, you don’t wait to be reached out to. You have the opportunity to reach out to opportunities rather than waiting and hoping it comes to you. You can reach out to HR Managers of prospective businesses or individuals you’ll love to collaborate with. RELATED: Effective strategies that can help boost your career. Remember that opportunities are out there. Collaborate, ask questions, and reach out! What’s the worst that could happen? One Question for you! Do you currently have an active profile on LinkedIn?
Top 10 High Paying Tech Jobs In-demand Now
With the disruption of the technology sector, joining the tech space has never been this timely. Of course, you’ll require certain skills, trainings, certifications and even experiences to take you to that next big tech role. Once you’ve got it all figured out, and decided you’re ready for the next big thing, things seem to be set in motion, then it is time to give it a shot. But first, what are those tech roles you really should look out for in 2021 and beyond? We’ve made a list of some of the highest paying tech jobs that are hot right now. Grab a seat my friend! RELATED: Top Digital Marketing Careers Tech jobs that are high-paying at the moment 10. Senior Web Developer The development of web-based applications, and management of web properties are usually carried out by the Senior Web Developer. In addition to providing technical support to website administrators, they also work with different kinds of content management systems. The average yearly salary for this role is $88,000. 9. Mobile Applications Developer Your smartphone is an indication of how mobile applications are pretty much in-demand. This profession requires the experience to develop applications on platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows etc. Experience in coding, mobile and development languages are essential skills. The average yearly salary for this role is $96,000. 8. DevOps Engineer This profession is the focal point for closing the gap between engineering and coding. They handle Artificial Intelligent initiatives within an organization, and also improve IT systems. As with most IT roles, DevOps engineers need to be familiar with coding languages, machine learning, neural networks and how other similar technologies work. Average yearly salary is about $99,000. 7. Product Marketing Manager The product manager role is very essential to the development and conceptualization of a product, from start to finish. Even after that, the product marketing manager is responsible for planning the launch of the product, using product management tools, building and managing product portfolio, as well as implementing other marketing activities. Average yearly salary is over $100,000. 6. Big Data Engineer This is one tech role that is really in-demand right now. Companies are actively seeking big data professionals who can transform raw data in large quantities into actionable information for setting strategy, decision making and innovative ideas. Big data engineers usually have skillsets in mathematics, analytics and databases. Average yearly salary for this role is $103,000. 5. Full Stack Developer This tech profession is so versatile, it is difficult to actually pin down what they actually do. Both front-end and back-end development, designing and building APIs, and making sure the code that has been created are intact, correct and responsive – these are just a few areas that are covered by a full stack developer. Average yearly salary for this profession is $106,000. 4. Cloud Engineer This tech profession are for people who are experts in cloud software and hardware. They are responsible for deploying and overseeing the day-to-day support of cloud services. Candidates with a strong background in security, server infrastructure, analytical and problem-solving skills are a plus. Average salary for a cloud engineer is $107,000 per year. 3. Data Scientist Undoubtedly one of the tech jobs in high demand today. In the last decade, there has been an unprecedented increase in data scientists, and this is just the beginning. 95% of businesses in the world needs a data scientist, which makes it one of the highest paying tech jobs at $113,000 salary per year. 2. Data Warehouse Architect What does a data warehouse architect do? They simply store information that a business acquires from internal and external sources to make wise business decisions. This person is also tasked with the responsibility for designing the storage capacity for that information to be securely stored. Average yearly salary for this role goes for $118,000. 1. Software Engineering Manager The highest-paying tech role goes to the Software engineering managers, and some cases, developers. They carry out and oversee new computer software while improving on existing computer programs. They constantly find solutions to any software issues that might pose a threat to businesses. This tech role gets an average salary of $131,000 every year. Did you find this article super useful? Share to your friends on social media! Follow us for more tech insights: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
New Year Resolutions are NOT Dead
So you made it to the new year and you’re super pumped-up and ready to give it a good shot, well, that’s the energy we all want to see in 2021. There’s a good chance that, how you mentally start the new year would ultimately impact how you end it. There’s power in your mindset. We’ve seen a couple of “hot takes” on social media lately about new year resolutions, we call them hot takes because that’s what they are – a hurried response to simply get attention. The thing about New Year Resolutions is that it starts with a single step. And that step entails writing what your goals are. It is obviously a mundane thing to start the New Year bland – without a plan, a vision, or a roadmap. If you’re like us, who takes growth seriously, a new year can be another opportunity to achieve something new. So in a nutshell: New Year Resolutions = Realistic Goal Setting. It is okay to start the year with a couple of things you’ve set out to achieve, a new house, a new job, a new car, a weekend getaway in your dream country, or maybe a new business. If you make these plans realistic enough and you follow through with focus and discipline, you will win. So, we strongly recommend that you create your resolutions – a realistic plan and make it happen. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt in 2020, it’s the power of consistency and what it can do for you as a person when you’re zealous to succeed! So, here are our recommendations you should follow in the new year: Write down your goals. Small, achievable and realistic goals Have a journal or a guide you take with you everyday. Celebrate your small wins. Oh yeah! When you’ve achieved one of your goals, give yourself a pat on the back – you did well. Review and track your goals. That’s one legit way to stay on top of your growth and progress. If you don’t track, you may never know where you stand. Be flexible to change your goals when they don’t align. That’s right – change is constant and the world keeps evolving, so you should be adaptable to change. Keep your head tight in the game, focus – neglect distractions, be consistent and you’ll win. Do these things and you’ll look back by the end of the year with nothing but wins. Looking forward to all your feedbacks in the course of the year.
How to Influence Other People Successfully
There are certain techniques behind influencing other people. We would be highlighting them so you can use to your advantage. You will gain a leadership mindset that grows with time and turns you into a great influencer. If you want to change and impact other people’s lives, then you need to influence them in a way that makes you more respectful. Here are the best 5 ways to do that: Use Emotions Connecting with other people’s emotions means that they are more likely to do things for you, even without asking them. Similarly, when you connect other people’s emotions to a goal, your business can be driven to the next level. Respect Opinions Never ever tell anyone that “you’re wrong”. You need to respect other people’s opinion as well as their perspectives. They might believe in something different and they think they are right from their viewpoint. Show Empathy If you want to influence other people, then you need to correct people in a specific manner when they err. Not harshly, but in an empathic manner. This will help them understand you better without being misunderstood and hurt. Listen and Give If you want to influence people the right way, you need to listen to their needs. People will always like what they want, so when you think about giving people what they want, it will turn you into a great person in their eyes. Lead by Example As a leader, your examples are a proof that others can do better. Therefore, to influence people in a positive way, you must lead by example, lead with conviction and execute with quality. Drop a comment if you found this useful!
DigiNext: The Marketing Experience Summit | Nov. 26th 2020
Are you ready to be part of a life-changing event? Join this visionary and actionable virtual summit to learn the latest highly-effective marketing strategies (through best practices and real-life scenarios) for driving and maximizing your marketing channels now and beyond. About DigiNext: This is a One-day free Marketing Event led by industry professionals with proven track record. Covering topics ranging from Digital Marketing, Content Creation, Growth, Brand Communications, Content Marketing Strategies and Digital Marketing Trends for 2021. Each panel session offers valuable advice to skyrocket your marketing initiatives and improve your existing marketing channels. At the end of this event, attendees will have loads of tactics they can implement to generate quality results. To register, you need to complete the form below. LIMITED SLOTS AVAILABLE! Loading… See you at #DiginextSummit
