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Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Tag Heuer

Sam Allcock
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Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Tag Heuer

Are you considering buying a luxury watch, and
you don’t know where to start? Well, you can never go wrong with TAG Heuer. Tag
Heuer is arguably one of the best luxury watch brands in the world today. Since
1860, when it was first introduced into the market, the brand continues to
boast of prestige, class, top-notch performance, absolute reliability, and
world-class technology.

Besides, this exceptional watch makes an
excellent choice because of its affordability when compared to other high-end
watches of the same category. Here are a few more exciting facts you need to
know about TAG Heuer
before you settle on one:

  • Sporting background

Heuer Watch Company, which was founded in 1860
by Edouard Heuer, established a solid reputation for making quality watches
that featured precision, timekeeping and quality workmanship. Because of its
reliability, the watches soon became a favorite tool for sporting stakeholders
who were looking for a reliable tool for timing sporting events.

And in the 1880s, the company focused its
efforts on building brands that were dedicated to the sporting industry. In the
1920s Olympics, the Heuer watches were used to time sporting events. And in
1933, the company launched the first-ever dashboard stopwatch christened
Autavia, which was used by racecar drivers. Because of its precision in
timekeeping, this watch is now synonymous with sports.

  • Simplifying of the chronograph

A long time ago, a watch brand was judged by
its exceptional engineering features that made a product user-friendly. As a
result, watchmakers were focused on making calibers that came with fewer parts
to make the product reliable and its service easier. Edouard Heuer, the founder
of Heuer watches, went a step further to develop and patent the oscillating
pinion. This was a significant development in the watch industry then.

 The
oscillating pinion greatly simplified the watch chronograph. To date, the
pinion idea is still being used across the world by major watch
manufacturers.  The pinion replaced a
more complex mechanism, and it has simplified the watchmaking process in a
significant way. It has also enhanced easy assembly, adjustment, and service of
a watch.

  • First stopwatch

In 1916, Charles-Auguste Heuer launched the
first Mikrograph. This was the first Heuer stopwatch brand with capabilities of
measuring 1/100th of a second. He enabled the watch to move at a rate of
360,000 vph. This was ten times faster than the fastest chronographs at the
time. For its reliability, precision, and speed, the Mikrograph was used as the
official stopwatch for the 1920 Olympics.

  • The first watch in space

TAG Heuer was the first Swiss watch in space.
It has explored the moon and came back safely to mother Earth thanks to John
Glenn. In 1961, through the initiatives of President John F. Kennedy, John
Glenn flew on a space mission to the moon while wearing a TAG Heuer watch. He
orbited the earth three times while wearing a Heuer 2915A stopwatch on his
wrist. The watch, which was firmly held onto his spacesuit by a custom-made
strap, served as the mission back up timer. 
At the moment, this particular brand is kept at the National Air and
Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

  • Automobile racing tag

Some of Heuer’s most famous brands are
associated with auto racing. Carrera watch brand has long been associated with
racing sports personalities. The founder christened this particular brand as
Carrera when he was looking to establish one specific brand for car race
drivers. The name Carrera originated from a dangerous car race runs in Mexico.

Edouard Heuer had a desire to create a watch
brand that was legible, sturdy, and reliable enough to withstand the ruggedness
that race drivers go through during a rough road race. And he not only
succeeded in creating a unique and robust product but also one who enjoys a
near cult status.

Another timepiece that is closely associated
with auto racing is Heuer Monaco. The watch, which celebrated its 50th
anniversary in 2019, gained much of its popularity when actor Steve McQueen
wore when he played the role of a racing diver in the 1971 blockbuster film Le
Mans.  And McQueen’s role in popularizing
the brand was so significant that one of the latest brands, the 1133, carries
the collector’s nickname ”McQueen Monaco”.

What
to Look for When Buying TAG Heuer Luxury Watch

Choosing a suitable Heuer watch that meets your
needs can feel like a daunting task. However, your selection can be much easier
if you consider the following factors:

The
mechanics– most Heuer watches are mechanically operated.
They run on a complex system of cogs and springs that need to be adjusted and
serviced regularly. Maintaining the brands can be expensive. Before buying a
specific brand, ensure you are familiar with its care and maintenance
procedures.

The
materials– luxury watches are made from a wide range of
materials. It would help if you went for brands that are made of stainless
steel. They offer better value, versatility, and sturdiness. They also provide
better aesthetic value. If you prefer a lighter product, then you can buy one
which is made of titanium. Titanium made watches are suitable for people with
sensitive skin because of its hypoallergenic properties. You can also opt to
buy a ceramic made watch. These brands are becoming popular due to its
scratch-resistant properties.

The
features-Heuer watches come with several features. You
should go for a specific brand that has unique features that suit your tastes
and lifestyle. For example, if you are a frequent flier, then a watch that
displays multiple time zones will be the most appropriate one to buy. If you
are into motor racing, scuba diving, or running, then Heuer chronographs that
have stopwatches will be the most suitable watch for you.

Conclusion

You can tell a lot about a man by the watch
they wear. The right watch can elevate your status and help communicate your
passions, priorities, and aspirations to the rest of the world. In case you
want a unique watch that will make the world take note of your existence, then
go for TAG Heuer. Discover TAG Heuer models at
CHRONEXT.

When is a whistleblower not the hero but the villain?

Claire James
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The protection of Whistleblowers is a crucial element in contemporary corporate governance. In the UK they are protected by law and rightly so. But the motivations of whistleblowers and their behaviors vary a great deal. So while it is vitally important that they are protected, they should not be immune from criticism. There are many things that can inspire a person to report his or her colleagues. This is the story of a whistleblower who nearly destroyed a company by his actions. It raises the question: should the whistleblower also be held to account for what they do.

In May of 2009, the Swiss investment house GAM acquired Augustus Asset Managers Limited, a fixed income and foreign exchange investment management company, and brought in Tim Hayward and Daniel Sheard. The two became co-managers of an absolute return bond that made them and GAM a great deal of money over the next decade. (Sheard bought his six-bedroom house with indoor swimming pool in Grantham for £850k cash in 2010 and four bedroom holiday home in “Chelsea on sea”, north Norfolk, for £475k in 2014. Also without a mortgage.)

In May 2011, Sheard and Hayward,  launched GAM’s Unconstrained Bond Strategy designed to generate positive absolute returns with a low correlation to global bond markets – this became the Absolute Return Bond Fund. GAM’s Unconstrained fixed income team was primarily based in London with a team of 28 individuals, including three co-portfolio managers, Hayward and Sheard and Jack Flaherty, who oversaw strategy. Most of them have now been made redundant. 

Haywood had joined Augustus (then Julius Baer Investments Limited) in 1998 from Orient Overseas International Limited in Hong Kong, where he was Chief Investment Officer. He had worked as both CIO and CEO of Augustus, established the hedge fund business, as well as being the founder and original investment manager of an emerging market bond fund. Haywood did his MBA at the University of Cranfield and a BSc in Chemical Engineering at  Edinburgh, and had passed the General Securities Registered Representatives examination. 

Sheard had joined Augustus in 2006 as deputy Chief Investment Officer and became Chief Investment Officer in 2008. Sheard previously worked at Prudential M&G, where he was a Director of the Institutional Fixed Income group. Prior to that he was a Principal within the Advanced Strategies group at Barclays Global Investors, and before that was an Associate Director within the Fixed Income unit at Schroders. Before that he was dismissed from HYPO Foreign & Colonial, who he joined from university, when an overvaluation of an asset was discovered while he was away on holiday. Sheard holds a BSc in Financial Services from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, a Postgraduate Diploma of Law from Nottingham Trent University, and is a charter holder of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.  

Sheard and Haywood, were known internally as the mother and father of the absolute bond. But divorce can be messy. Daniel Sheard is a short, driven individual who is highly competitive, a compulsive obsessive cyclist who likes to be around combative people. In the early days it was clear that Tim, Daniel and sometimes Jack Flaherty were the star team. They were listed in corporate structure diagrams as three equal  co-managers.

After the breakup, Sheard told journalists, including Katherina Bart and Tom Bergin, that he had been the quiet, cautious, background one and Haywood liked the limelight. He tried to paint a picture of himself as the responsible, ethical one. What his actions during the crisis and since make clear, is that there were actually years of cumulative anger building up which in the end destroyed his judgment. Because by 2017 Tim Haywood was getting star treatment in coverage of the team. If Tim Haywood was the star, Daniel Sheard was the grunt. They had worked closely together for years but Haywood was getting the praise and presumably, the bigger bonuses. Sheard was falling behind. People close to the pair suggest that he especially disliked one source of investment opportunities in particular: Lex Greensill. 

Lex Greensill, an Australian, had introduced GAM to the industrialist Sanjeev Gupta. It was Gupta’s GFG group that had been very lucrative for GAM but Sheard was not included in the negotiations for the deals and felt left out and exposed. In Sheard’s view GAM was putting too much investment into GFG companies. Sheard began to confront Haywood in internal weekly meetings, he complained formally to their boss. Sheard became so obsessed by Haywood that he stopped coming into work towards the end of 2017. Some close to the events suggest he had a breakdown. He filed a freedom of information request with the Scottish government that turned up nothing. When fired for misconduct earlier in his career he gave an interview in which he said the “The regulatory environment is a bit of a witch-hunt.” But now he reported Haywood to the FCA. 

After the formal complaint by Sheard, an internal inquiry compelled Haywood to report all gifts he had received from Greensill and these included flights, including one for a holiday. The internal investigation found that Haywood had failed to declare these gifts, he had used work email for private purposes but that there was no impropriety as far as GFG was concerned. Moreover, all of the investments with GFG had shown returns on par with other parts of the fund and there was nothing wrong with any of the investments. The funds exposure to GFG was only 12% of the overall fund. Haywood had his knuckles wrapped by GAM and was given a warning in March 2018.  

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That was not enough for the disturbed Sheard. He wanted to win, so he leaked all the details of the investigations that he could to the press. He contacted Katharina Bart, a financial journalist at finnews.com. She in turn shared the story with her old colleague from Reuters, Tom Bergin. It is not clear if Sheard paid the journalists to push the story but he clearly thought little of the consequences for his colleagues. Since his first firing he had clearly been much more careful. Now he seemed to lose all sense of proportion or collective responsibility.

Once GAM knew that the press had the story, they had to then confirm the reports and issued a statement suspending Haywood and promising to protect the identity of the whistleblower: Group CEO Alexander Friedman saying: ‘At the heart of every modern financial services firm’s systems and controls should be a culture that encourages people to come forward with concerns about colleagues’ behaviour. The only way to maintain that culture is to protect those who are brave enough to do so and to hold accountable those found to be breaking the rules.’  

In the aftermath the absolute bond was liquidated and all the funds were returned. Sheard was taken off any role in the fund. The news was released by GAM at 7am on 31 July 2018. The share price collapsed.  GAM went from a net  profit of CHF123.2 m in 2017 to a net loss of CHF929.1 million in 2018. As the profits collapsed so redundancies followed. They included Daniel Sheard. He did not go quietly, leaking the story to his existing journalistic contacts including Katharina Bart. He also continued feeding stories to the FT. When he was first fired from a job in 1994, the company made clear there had been no fingers in the till. This time he was fired because his actions had resulted in the till being emptied. 

The whistleblower in this case outed himself to the media. Destroyed the company that he spent years helping to build up. Caused most of his close colleagues to lose their jobs. He did this while failing to show that any losses were incurred by the investments that he questioned. GAM has maintained throughout that Hayward did not break any internal or external rules as far as the actual investments were concerned. So the matter could have been dealt with internally but instead Sheard set fire to the house. This represents a fatal lack of judgment on his part. It is vitally important that whistleblowers be protected when they are acting in the public interest. But what if they are not? What if they are compulsive obsessives who have been driven by jealousy comparable to a lover scorned or a wife betrayed. Surely in these circumstances it should be the whistleblower who is prosecuted for the irresponsibility of their actions and it is the whistleblower who should face up to and admit the consequences of those actions. Mr Sheard does not appear to be doing that. Rather he is set on trying to further undermine and destroy the lives and reputations of old friends and the current and former clients of GAM . Sometimes it is not the whistleblower who needs to be protected in the public interest, it is the public interest that needs to be protected from the out of control whistleblower.

Effective Ways to Get to Know Your Customers Better

ABC Staff
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Effective Ways to Get to Know Your Customers Better

The most successful businesses don’t sell the products and services they think customers will buy. Instead, they find out what their customers need and sell to them accordingly. While getting to know customers can be a challenge, it’s certainly worth undertaking for the sake of greater brand loyalty and higher revenue. It can start by taking advantage of social media and break your echo chamber by sharing your stories at The Doe site.

Modern Businesses Must Have a Social Media Presence

What better way to interact with and get to customers than to be in the same place where they hang out online. With a business account on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other major platforms, businesses can learn more about the habits, interest, and buying habits of customers without ever asking them a thing. It also gives customers the chance to interact and give recommendations to each other.

By conducting social listening, then responding to inquiries, praises, and complaints publicly, the brand can demonstrate its firm commitment to customer service. Creating a private Facebook group for select groups of customers makes it even easier to learn who they are.

Turn Unhappy Customers into Loyal Customers

Before the Internet era, an unhappy customer might grumble to a few friends and leave it at that. Today, hundreds or even thousands of people can read his or her poor review of a business almost immediately. That can feel discouraging and intimidating to a business owner, but it doesn’t have to feel that way. 

Looking at the negative review as an opportunity to reach out to see what went wrong can turn everything around for the better. Customers are often so impressed that a business wants to improve because of their feedback that they return as loyal customers from that point forward.

Create a Short, Open-Ended Survey

People often don’t want others to see them as a complainer or feel too modest to share their honest feedback with a business. Unfortunately, the lack of authentic feedback can be detrimental to brands and prevent customers from getting what they really want and need. Giving customers the opportunity to complete an anonymous survey with open-ended questions is one way around this dilemma. Be sure the survey is no more than five questions to avoid taking up a lot of customers’ time.

Hold or Sponsor a Community Event

Any business with a physical location has an excellent opportunity to get to know its customers better by attaching its name to a local event. It could host a family carnival on a Saturday, for example, or sponsor a Little League team. This not only gets the business name out there it also brings management and customers together on a closer level. Brands should be certain to take advantage of the extra time with customers to learn more about them.

Create a Profile of the Typical Customer

After gathering data about groups of customers, creating a profile of a composite customer can help to serve everyone better. It should include a thorough understanding of customer likes and dislikes and demographics like age range, income, and family status. When used correctly, the customer profile is often the first step towards improving service and increasing profits.

How Spread Betting is Turning Everyone in the UK into Traders

Claire James
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How Spread Betting is Turning Everyone in the UK into Traders

Spread Betting is a type of trading that can
turn anyone into a trader. It is especially popular in the UK because of the
incredible tax benefits it brings. For UK and Ireland residents any gains made
while Spread Betting have tax write offs and are also exempt from stamp duty.
That’s because the UK considers Spread Betting as a type of gambling rather
than trading.

The interesting thing here is that Spread
Betting is almost exactly the same as CFD trading, which globally is regulated
as a type of trading. However this distinction very much works in the favour of
the UK/Ireland resident. TRADE.com is a very well known brokerage firm
that offers a platform to both the home-based beginner or even the more
professional and experienced trader. The platform which is available through
the web can be accessed by anyone that has a computer and of course access to
the internet.

The platform itself was developed and built in-house by this intuitive European brokerage firm. When you think of traders, you might instantly think of bankers looking at 6 or 7 screens and shouting into  a sqwawk box in order to place a trade. However now the parameters have completely shifted and retail traders can use laptops, tablets or even a smartphone to trade with.

How to
Trade?

Spread betting is quite simple in theory. The
idea is to trade the price movements of a variety of assets. For example, will
the price of Oil rise or fall? The price of oil is always moving. A number of
factors moves it, for instance how much inventory there is how much demand
there is for oil and geopolitical factors like tensions in the Middle East.
Every asset you can think of is always moving in price and has a variety of
factors that makes it move.

Your job as a trader is to understand the
factors that can move the asset, and to identify if the asset price is moving
upwards, downwards or across. Noone can predict these movements correctly all
the time, however it is something that you can become better at doing. That
happens by learning. In effect the more you learn the better you become at
understanding where the price of that asset will go.

The
bulls and the bears

One of the key aspects that makes Spread
Betting desirable is the fact that you have the option to trade in both bullish
and bearish markets. You have probably heard these terms before so what do they
mean?

Bullish like it’s name suggests is a market
that is charging forwards, where the trend is usually going upwards as a sign
of strength. Bearish markets are the opposite. If you imagine a bear hiding
behind a tree, this will help you understand why bearish markets move
downwards.

You can place a trade in both of these types
of markets. As an example let’s look at the price of Apple stock. Apple releases
its company earnings, and let’s say that they have had a great quarter, earning
more than analysts had predicted. This positivity will usually push up the
price of Apple as it becomes more valuable and desirable. If you buy at a lower
price and sell at a higher price then you can realise profits by the gap
between the two prices.

The converse is also true. If you believe that
the price of Apple will surely sink due to some negative news coming out about
them, then you are better off selling or shorting the price. This means buying
high and then selling low.

It is important to note that with Spread betting, you will never actually own the underlying asset as you will with stock trading for example. If you are trading the EUR/USD (Euro dollar) you won’t be buying the currency, rather you will be speculating on the price movement.

Why trade with TRADE.com?

TRADE.com gives you the ability to trade
through their platform. It’s worth noting that the platform comes with some
really useful features like news events that can move the assets prices,
technical analysis on advanced charts which can help you add studies in order
to help understand where the price trend is going. They also give you price
alerts which you can set up for notifications on asset price movements.

TRADE.com falls within the umbrella of a
regulated firm. In fact the group has regulations in many regions in the world.
Regulation is important when choosing a broker to work with as it brings
certain levels of security, reliability and protection.

If you are interested in engaging with the
money markets, start by checking out the TRADE.com website and
remember if you have any questions or need some guidance their support staff
are available to help you.

HIGH RISK INVESTMENT WARNING: Spread bets and CFDs are
complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to
leverage. 73.84% of retail investor
accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and
whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Reducing your overheads: The key to startup success

Claire James
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Reducing your overheads: The key to startup success

Anyone who wants to run a financially successful business needs to keep a close eye on their costs, no matter how experienced you are in running one. It is particularly important, however, for startups to cut costs where possible.

This doesn’t have to mean cutting out essentials, but rather
getting smarter in the way you make your purchases. Overhead costs, which are
those that are not linked to the creation of your product but rather running a
business in general, can be surprisingly expensive and eat up a large portion
of your overall budget. Prevent this from happening by utilizing our tips and
tricks on reducing costs to keep your startup successful.

Own-brand vs branded

It’s always tempting to choose the most raved about name
brand, but they’re usually an expensive investment. While some elements, such
as computers or essential pieces of technology, are worth spending extra on,
there are some swaps that are well worth making in order to save some money.
For example, you can find non-branded alternatives to expensive branded ink and
toner on Toner
Giant, which are more affordable but produce the same results.

Things like stationery, storage and some furniture don’t
have to come from premium brands but rather from other reputable companies that
offer a similar product for a lot less. Oftentimes we’re simply paying for the
name of the brand when the cheaper alternative is just as good.

Buy in bulk

Every office needs a stocked up supply cupboard consisting
of stationery, printing paper, notebooks and other essentials, but keeping on
top of everything can be time consuming and expensive. Solve both issues by
purchasing items in bulk through a speciality wholesale website. Doing so is wise
as you often get a significant discount on big purchases and they’re typically
listed cheaper than in high street stores, making it easier to grab a bargain –
or 100.

Stocking up in advance means you can wait for sales to make
your next big order, making it even cheaper in the long run. This is also a lot
less stressful than making last-minute purchases when you realise you’ve run
out of stationery before the next big office meeting.

Invest in automation

Technology has changed both the job market and businesses
themselves, with many turning to program over people when it comes to
repetitive administration tasks. Not only is using automated systems cheaper than putting someone
on the payroll, it eliminates the risk of human error and is typically a
one-off cost unless you choose a pay monthly program. Other tasks that can be
automated are email marketing, payroll, accounting and social media posts, of
which you can find a variety of automated systems to take over for you.

Set and stick to
budgets

Before doing any of the above, however, it’s important to
figure out your budget. This gives you a figure to work around, plus you can
haggle with sellers as you’ll always have a top price to stick to. While you
may have to overspend in emergencies, it’s important to stick to your budget as
much as possible. If you’re noticing an issue where you always overspend on one
area, such as printing or stationery, it’s wise to rethink your budget as it
may be too low for what you need. Having a budget makes it easier to keep track
of your money while ensuring each sector of your business is fulfilled.

Getting your
overheads sorted in advance could be the key to getting the best deal, but
don’t panic if you’ve already started. Implement our tips on your next
purchase, whether it be for ink or diaries for the team, and you’re sure to
save some money to spend elsewhere.

5 Ecommerce Automation Tips for Entrepreneurs & Marketers

Claire James
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0
5 Ecommerce Automation Tips for Entrepreneurs & Marketers

Running an eCommerce business is a job with colossal responsibilities. Especially in the current scenario where there is massive competition from both domestic and international brands, you can’t expect to stand out without adapting to modern trends and strategic eCommerce solutions.

E-Commerce
Automation is one such strategy. Even as a one-man army, you can’t manage
everything about your business manually. Even if you could, you would always
find yourself lagging behind your rivals on one or the other grounds.

Therefore, if not all then at least certain aspects of your operation deserve automation to keep things seamless and competitive, especially, when your business grows big with time. In this article, we are going to enlist five such marketing automation ecommerce hacks that you can implement in your business and win conversions much better than your competitors.

Benefits of eCommerce automation for entrepreneurs

Automation might
seem like a deep word that demands hefty investments in AI and expensive custom
developments. However, automation is not always about expensive solutions.
Whether you are operating in the inventory model or multivendor marketplacemodel,you
can adopt various small and inexpensive automation strategies to streamline an
array of complex tasks with simple clicks of buttons:

  • You can reduce human errors
    from repetitive tasks
  • You can streamline your
    business for expansion
  • You can save a lot of time,
    money, and effort
  • You can increase your overall
    productivity

E-Commerce automation hacks for your business

Be advised that automation and benefits of eCommerce automation are not limited to your back-end processes alone. You can enhance your eCommerce marketing strategy, shipping infrastructure, conversion optimization strategies, and many more things with simple automation.

1.
Automating your welcome notes

Greeting your
new customers with a warm note seems like a trivia. However, not many
entrepreneurs realize that this could be the first step towards acquiring a
loyal customer and building trust in your business. It looks like nothing, but surprisingly,
only 75% online stores greet their new customer and newly registered users with
a welcome note. It’s because sending welcome notes is a repetitive task and
requires manual labor traditionally.

Did you know that welcome emails receive 400% better engagements than any other kind of email you would be sending to your prospects at any time? It’s time you automate your welcome notes and use the opportunity to gain happy customers, promote your business, and build trust factors. You can automate your email notes with simple SMTP settings from the back-end of any decent eCommerce platform you are using. Here is a screenshot from the Magento back-end interface where you can set up your email SMTP with simple steps.

All other
popular eCommerce platforms have a similar setting that you can use to automate
your emails. In fact, many of these platforms also have the option to
streamline different welcome email templates either. If not present, you can
always install a custom module, plugin, or extension to get this feature; they
are not expensive.

What’s more interesting is you can add yet another channel to this automation with web push notifications as well. Besides welcome email, you can also start sending welcome push notifications to your customers and new users. The best part is push notification does not require any personal details of the customers or users. With a simple click on the ‘Allow’ button of a push notifications subscription dialog box, users agree to receive push notifications from your website.

Once allowed,
you can send any number of push notifications to such users at any time you
wish too. Remember this tool, as we will discuss further in this article about
how you can automate many other things with push notifications.

2.      Automating your drip campaigns

Once you sort
your welcome campaign with email and push notifications, it’s time to order your
permanent communication channel with your customers in the long run. Drip
campaigns are all about streamlining a seamless conversion funnel for your
website that encourages a newly joined user to finally become a customer and
keep coming back. We are talking about restructuring your conversion funnel with
small automation.

The same email
and push automation tools we used for step one can also help you create smart
drip campaigns. You can set up different email, push, and even SMS templates to
keep in touch with the prospects in different stages. Here is an example:

  • Day 1: Send a welcome note
  • Day 2: Send an exclusive offer
    for the new users. You can also club this with a welcome note.
  • Day 8: If converted, send yet
    another offer or an update about new stock, other product recommendations, etc.
    However, if not converted, send a gentle reminder with some FOMO elements, such
    as limited time.
  • Days 15: It’s time to engage
    with customers by being useful. You can send tips, links to shopping guides, or
    anything that doesn’t sound like a sales pitch. You can also ask them to follow
    you on social media, participate in polls or contests.
  • Day 20: Send new offers and
    deals based on their past purchase history. Encourage them to shop more.

Get started with
drip email, push, and SMS campaigns. Some examples of email, SMS, and push
automation tools you can use for creating drip campaigns are MailChimp,
HubSpot, Twilio, iZooto, etc.

3.      Automating your social media FOMO campaigns

Social media is
the best place to create FOMO among your prospects. This is the place where
they remain updated of your new stocks, new offers, and about what everyone
else is buying these days. In simple words, you can use your customers to
encourage others to purchase by simple FOMO automation via social media.

Encourage your
customers to follow you on social media, tag you in their posts, and share your
offers and deals. You can use some motivation factors like exclusive discounts
or entry into an exclusive membership plan and events. When others will see
these people engaging with your business, they would also develop an interest
in knowing what’s going on. You can use different social marketing tools to
automate this entire process. For example:

  • A tool to schedule your social
    media posts
  • A tool to track social media
    mentions about your brand
  • A tool to fetch your social
    media feeds on your website
  • Social media Ads re-targeting
    tools and services

Examples of the
tools you can use are CoSchedule, Hubspot, FOMO, Buffer, BuzzSumo, Hootsuite,
etc.

4.      Automating your referral and affiliate marketing programs

Referral and affiliate marketing have become an eminent part of any eCommerce marketing strategy these days. Whether you run a small online store or a giant multivendor marketplace, you need these two components to entice your prospects.

By giving some
benefits to both referrers and referred users, you can expect to gain quick
popularity; thanks to the strong influence of word of mouth marketing on online
shoppers these days. Users can reoffer other users to join your store or
purchase a product and gain exclusive discount coupons, or affiliate
commissions.

Luckily, many
eCommerce platforms have inbuilt systems for discount coupon management,
affiliate marketing, and referral programs. However, those who lack these
features have the option to install certain modules and extensions to acquire
these features.

For example, you
can search on Google about Magento affiliate marketing extensions, PrestaShop
referral program modules, WooCommerce discount coupon add-on, or for any other
platform you use. There are also standalone solutions in the market that you
can integrate using their provided APIs, such as ReferralCandy, RewardStream,
etc.

5.      Automating your abandoned cart recovery

It’s now a fact that small web stores as well as massive multivendor marketplace.

sites can’t
avoid the cart abandonments. You can reduce them up to an extent using some UX
optimization strategies, but some of the abandonments are just eminent.
Therefore, you shouldn’t stop optimizing your store but also create an
abandoned cart recovery strategy in parallel.

One such strategy is creating automated email and push campaigns to send gentle reminders to the users who abandon your shopping carts. There are two ways to create such campaigns, and you must use both for better results:

Email: You can use a shopping cart recovery module or extension in your eCommerce platform for tracking the abandoned carts. Such tools are capable of capturing the email address of the users who add products in their carts but don’t complete the purchase. The module will create a separate email list of these users in your database, which you can integrate with your email marketing tool to create an email drip campaign.

Push notification: There are push notification tools and services in the market that possess inbuilt abandoned cart tracking systems. You can program these tools to track such users and send automated push notifications using set templates. You can create a drip campaign and set different push templates that the tools will use accordingly at different stages of the cart recovery campaign.

In either of the
cases, you have to create some templates and tweak some settings to design your
campaign. You can program the tools to use certain coupon codes, the timing of
the reminder, frequency of the messages, and segment users based on different
behaviors. Strategic utilization of a mix of these tools can automate your
abandoned cart recovery and help you win back your conversions without manual
labor. If you want to stay competitive in the market, that’s the kind of eCommerce
automation you should aim for today.

To conclude

There is no
shortage of ways to acquire useful eCommerce automation for your business.
Let’s not forget about the AI chatbots. Although they are expensive, but have
proven to be one of the biggest automation tools in not just eCommerce but
every other domain. Besides, there are tools to automate certain pop-ups on
your site either. You can trigger exit intent pop-ups, newsletter subscription
pop-ups, stock alert pop-ups, and many more.

In short, AI chatbots and virtual assistants maybe the ultimate automation solutions for the entire business process automation, but they are not accessible to small ventures easily. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t automate your eCommerce marketing strategy and many other aspects without spending a fortune. There are ways to do it, and we saw that in this article.

Want to learn shopify drophipping and Amazon FBA?

Checkout this thorough discussion on dropshipping vs amazon fba pros cons! It’s an informative read that will save you getting down the research rabbit hole!

Kevin Neal: The Key Differences Between Equity and Debt Capital

Claire James
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0
Kevin Neal: The Key Differences Between Equity and Debt Capital

Running
a business usually requires a significant amount of capital. Capital takes various
forms, from economic capital to human and labour capital.

The
term ‘financial capital’ is usually associated with money. Financial capital is
often represented by cash, assets and securities.

Cash
in the bank can make all the difference to the future of any venture, enabling it
to grow and expand. In its absence, companies are often left behind.

Companies
use two different forms of capital funding: equity and debt. Effective
corporate finance strategies determine the most cost-effective mix.

Equity
Capital

Equity
capital is generated by selling shares in company stock. Shares fall into two
distinct categories: common and preferred.

Individuals
who own common shares have voting rights, though in terms of ownership, they are
at the bottom of the ladder. If the company liquidates, other shareholders and
creditors are paid first.

Preferred
shareholders are guaranteed payment of a specified dividend, taking precedence
over payments on common shares. In exchange for financial security, preferred
shareholders have limited ownership rights and forego voting rights.

The
primary benefit of equity capital is that companies are not obliged to repay
shareholder investments. Instead, shareholders receive a return on their investment
according to the company’s performance. These returns take the form of stock
valuations and dividend payments.

Equity
capital does have some disadvantages. Firstly, ownership of the company becomes
diluted, since each shareholder effectively owns a small stake in the company.
Business owners are beholden to shareholders. They have a responsibility to
ensure the company maintains profitability, elevates stock value, and maximises
dividend payments.

Debt
Capital

Debt capital is also known as debt refinancing. For
a company to utilise debt capital, it will usually borrow money from an
investor, agreeing to repay it at a later date. Common forms of debt capital
used by companies are bonds and loans. Companies use these forms of borrowing
to finance new projects or expand the company.

Credit cards are a form of debt capital that are
often used by smaller businesses or early start-ups.

Companies seeking to raise funding through debt may apply
to a bank for a loan. Here the company is the debtor and the bank is the lender.
The company compensates the bank for providing funding by paying interest on
top of the original amount borrowed.

Another form of debt capital is corporate bonds.
They are sold to investors and mature after a set date. Up until the maturity
date, the company has a responsibility to issue investors with regular interest
payments. Because bonds attract a comparatively high element of risk, with
increased chances of default, they tend to pay a higher yield.

Debt capital has several disadvantages. While it is
an effective method of raising capital, it attracts a significant expense in
the form of interest. Interest payments must be made to lenders irrespective of
company performance. In a poor economy or low season, debt payments may exceed
the revenue of a highly leveraged company.

Important Considerations in Raising
Capital

Entrepreneurs need funding to establish and grow
their business. At some point, all businesses need to raise capital. In days
gone by, this usually came in the form of a bank loan, or perhaps investment
from a wealthy family member. However, in today’s internet age, corporate
funding takes a wide variety of different forms, from crowdfunding and venture
capital to microfinance.

Business owners need to be clear about what company
rights they are prepared to surrender, and which they are determined to keep.
The good news is, with such a wide variety of different funding options to
choose from, finding the right investment option for a new venture is easier
than ever before.Kevin Neal serves as Distribution Director for Bluefin
Capital (Luxembourg), overseeing wealth management and distribution across the
company’s Luxembourg, Dubai, and Far East operations. As a former Independent
Financial Advisor, Mr Neal has extensive experience of various
aspects of the money markets, including corporate finance. Mr Neal is a large
shareholder in La Sala Group (Spain), an organisation that specialises in hospitality
and entertainment.

Here’s why Biometric Technology is Great for Business

ABC Staff
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0
Here’s why Biometric Technology is Great for Business

At the very start of last year, Causeway announced that they had acquired Donseed. This was a move that actually enhanced the range of products that the company can provide to the clients that they serve. According to Phil Brown, who is the chairman at the company, Causeway, the move really was a strategic acquisition, but it was also one that reflected the growing recognition amongst subcontractors.

The Front End

The world of technology really has changed for the better. Tej Kohli has made so many technological investments during his time and he has also given so many start-ups the chance to operate at the maximum level of efficiency. Causeway are known for providing solutions and they have also secured a large amount of funding for contractors as well. Rather than trying to develop and generate back-office products, the company specialise in helping contractors with managing their supply chain and also delivering projects as well. As mentioned above, they tend to not do back-office stuff but they do work at the front-end to try and help them understand if they are losing money on projects or whether they are dealing with budget constraints. They also have software which helps them to integrate processes in the chain as well, whether this is down to supply chain accreditation or even through electronic invoices.

One Key Area

One key area that Causeway chose to focus on actually related to investments for productivity and digital timesheets. They wanted to know how much workers were clocking in and how much they were clocking out. Traditionally this is done with paper records in the same way that office workers document their time off. Causeway did notice that the market is changing and that the demand for workforce attendance was increasing. There was a need to try and provide critical intelligence in various areas. On top of this, the company observed that such products were not just being deployed by contractors, but they were also being used by subcontractors as well. They felt as though the industry employed so many people and that the issues lied with the employment of them. Having a solution to try and capture the data and then combine it with other data would be a great thing to do and that is what Causeway are trying to do.

Critical Data

Biometric technologies that are being deployed at the time have been developed time and time again by companies who provide a hard infrastructure. This was somewhat of a challenge because Causeway did want to try and invest in something that could be used on construction sites just about anywhere in the country. They saw Donseed as being a solution to the overall problem and so far it has worked out really well for them. Of course, they are doing everything they can to try and give people the support they need and with the help of technology, they have been able to really surpass expectations.

Top tips for business

ABC Staff
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0
Top tips for business

In this competitive era, if you want to
succeed in business, you need to be flexible and have proper planning and
organizational skills. Many people start a business thinking that they will
turn on their computers or open their doors and start making money, but this is
a bad idea in mind. To have some useful tips and ideas, you should consult
someone, like Arshiya Jahanpour, who
is a well-known business consultant.

Starting a Successful Business:

You need not worry about the success before
starting a business but have in mind the results of the business. Taking the
start of a business is not a big deal, but reaching the top is hard. Initially,
you will feel painful and will get disheartened so many times, but with the
following top tips from Arshiya
Jahanpour can carry out you from these situations towards your goal.

  1. Organize yourself

Once you wish to be successful in business,
you need to be organized. This habit of the organization will help you complete
tasks and stay on top of things to be done. The easiest way to do this is to
create a list of tasks to be done each day. As you cover each task, check it
off your list. It will help you get to ensure that you do not forget anything,
and you are completing all the essential tasks to the survival of your
business.

When you try to organize your business and
reduce the confusion, you will feel reenergized. You will be motivated to get
straight to work when you do not have a mess to deal with the work. You will
save time otherwise wasted looking through piles or searching for a document on
your computer that is lost somewhere.

  • Stay Focused

The old saying by John Heywood, “Rome was not built in a day,” implements
here. Just because you start a business does not mean you are going to start
making money at the same time. Stay focused on attaining your short-term goals
because it takes time to let people know who you are. It’s necessary to have a
close look at how (and where) your time is being consumed. In the initial days,
hire staff to save all the time that you’re currently spending on activities
that are complete “inside” of the business.

Being a business owner, you have multiple
small flames to put out before you’ve even had your coffee, not to mention your
inbox. But you can’t allow that stop you from pursuing the growth of your
original business insight.

  • Provide better service

Many successful businesses forget that
providing excellent service is essential. According to Doman Richards, “Your customer doesn’t care how much you know
until they know how much you care.” So, if your customers receive better
services from you, they will be more willing to reach you in the future.

Final
Words:

If you take these tips, you’ll be well on
your way to becoming your boss. It would be best if you kept in mind that you
are not alone in your journey. If you aspire to become your boss but still feel
stuck, reach out and connect with other business people in a variety of ways.

7 Budgeting Tips for Summer Vacations

Claire James
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0
7 Budgeting Tips for Summer Vacations

The temperatures are starting to rise, the snow is melting, and families everywhere
are starting to plan their summer vacations. But before you put in that PTO
request at work, we have a few tips and tricks for budgeting for your next trip.

Here’s how to make sure your relaxing getaway doesn’t become a financial burden:

Be realistic

As you start to plan your summer vacation, try to keep your budget in mind. Look at
your current financial situation and consider whether an international trip, a
cross-country flight, a road trip, or even a staycation is right for you.

As glamorous and relaxing as those day cruises on the Amalfi Coast might look, a
temporary vacation is never worth going into debt. Instead, look for vacations
that won’t cause financial stress.

Find out where summer is the
off-season

If you are looking to get away from home this summer, research places where summer is
the off-season for tourists. Doing so can result in cheaper flights, nicer hotel options, and fewer crowds.

If you’re looking to try off-season travel, Outside Magazine recommends New Zealand, Bonaire, South Africa, Puerto Vallarta and Lake Tahoe. Travelling to the pristine beaches in the US is also a good option. The Seabrook Island Rentals offers the finest vacation rentals in the beautiful Seabrook Island.

Anticipate how much you’ll need

Once you pick your destination, start looking at how much money you’ll need to get
there, explore, and get back. Look into flights, hotels or BNBs, excursions, and food costs so you can start saving.

“ … the reality is putting things on a credit card and paying it back afterwards is the worst thing that you could do when it comes to travel,” Samantha Barry, Glamour’s editor-in-chief and host of the She Makes Money Moves podcast, recently told Conde Nast Traveler.

Start saving well in advance

When it comes to summer vacations, Jade Beckman, vice president of consumer loans at Mountain America Credit Union, recommends “start saving 6 months to a
year in advance. Figure out roughly what your trip will cost, then set up
automatic monthly contributions to a summer vacation savings account. This
might mean you have to pass up your morning caramel macchiato from Starbucks,
but it’ll be worth having more peace of mind during your vacation knowing the
trip was paid for upfront. Another smart way to budget for summer vacations is
to utilize credit card rewards. Put a lot of your purchases throughout the year
on a rewards credit card – making sure you pay off your balance in full each
month – and then use the cash back to help pay for your vacation or use the
travel rewards points to purchase flights or hotel rooms.”

Use credit card rewards

Your credit cards can be a major tool when it comes to saving for your vacation —
and getting there. Create a spending strategy that helps you earn
credit card rewards — either cash back or air miles — to relieve some of the
financial stress of travel.

Create a budget for the vacation

A few weeks before your trip, use the research we mentioned earlier to create a
budget that you and your family can stick to.

Start by looking at how much you successfully put away in savings, then subtract your flights or estimated gas costs and your lodging expenses. Using that, you can decide how many times you can afford to eat out, which adventures to go on, and what other fun money you have to spend throughout the trip.

The tricky part is sticking to this budget. You might be on vacation, but your money isn’t. Try not to let yourself get carried away.

“The key to enjoying your travels while also sticking to a budget is BALANCE,” writes Katie Diedrcihs of Two Wandering Soles. “Splurges are fine when they are balanced out with days with a little spending.”

Don’t worry about souvenirs

Finally, don’t fall victim to the souvenir trap. Too often, friends and family return
from a trip with half a suitcase full of tchotchkes that will live on their
shelf for a few years before being donated to the nearest Goodwill or Salvation
Army. Skipping this tired routine can save you money and time that can be spent
creating valuable memories with your loved ones.

You work hard, and you deserve a vacation this summer. But don’t let financial stress ruin a relaxing getaway. Take a little time to plan before you book, and you’ll be well on your way to the perfect summer vacation.

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