Setting Up A New Home Office

Not only is becoming self-employed a huge decision to make, but it can also be expensive and stressful too. It’s not always difficult to make these changes, but most people report finding some difficulties in the early days of being a business owner. Even if you know your field, and the product free or service that you are producing for others, there will be many aspects to your business that you may not have considered. And a business advisor can help you with these. But what essential things do we need to think about being self-employed? And are there any potential problems you can prevent in setting up your own home office? 

IT solutions 

Your home office will ultimately need a PC or laptop to be able to keep up with the demands of the business. No matter what your industry there are Always business related things that need to be created and maintained via digital recordkeeping et cetera. Some industries require quite a lot of software and IT knowledge, such as photography and graphic design. But you are going to need to find the right equipment for you and your business. When do you know exactly the spec you need to, and you have purchased your IT equipment, it’s important to gain some IT support, to ensure that you aren’t missing anything important.

Storage 

Storing your products, all the paperwork, invoices and purchase orders is an important aspect of business. Once you know your marketing materials are going to be kept safe and secure, then you can get on the road.

Since Security is a consideration when it comes to secure need taking care of your life be heard. But it’s important to switch off and do what you enjoy. Some imaginative storage solutions have been created over the recent years, and not only do we have units that will fit into any space effectively, we also have plenty of learning, developing and growing to do in these offices! Also don’t forget that decluttering, can reduce the amount of storage space needed, if you can tell that you are going to outgrow this storage space quickly, you could also hire a unit Or anything that doesn’t fit your new amazing Home Office.

Decor

Being sat in nice surroundings, that you enjoy, can help with productivity. Studies have shown that if you enjoy the area that you are working in, you are going to be much more productive and produce a much better work. So creating a beautiful decor that you enjoy if your Home Office is actually going to help you in the long run. It doesn’t have to be a full renovation, but just making some positive changes with adding a splash of colour here and there can make all the difference. So if graphics with funny slogans are going to help you along the way then go for it. That is one of the beauties of being self-employed, be able to make decisions and go with it.

Relatable SEO Quotes For Digital Marketers

SEO is a TASK. When it comes to areas of marketing, SEO has always been notoriously complex and time-consuming. It is a branch of marketing that many try to steer clear of but it is an integral component to an online presence and successful marketing strategy. 

Whether you are trying to figure out SEO yourself or you are on the brink of hiring an agency like Boutique Digital Media to help you, we wanted to share some quotes that are super relatable and might even help you get to grips with SEO this week. 

“SEO is only not seen as rocket science by those who already know it” — Danny Sullivan

“The success of a page should be measured by one criteria: Does the visitor do what you want them to do?” — Aaron Wall

“Crawling is not a guarantee you’re indexed” — Rand Fishkin

“A real estate agency in Wichita has no shot at ranking for the phrase “real estate;” a lawyer in Fresno has no shot at ranking for the word “lawyer.” Optimize for relevant, specific keywords that will bring targeted traffic.” — Matt McGee

“SEO is a noun, verb and adjective.” — Todd Malicoat

“My rule of thumb is build a site for a user, not a spider.” — Dave Naylor

“Social may be sexy, but search still pays the bills.” — Tom Pick

“SEO is no longer just a job title, it has become part of everyone’s job description” — Rand Fishkin

“Optimize for what would happen IF you ranked, do not optimize to rank.” — Will Critchlow

“If I spent my time reporting every competitor of mine breaking a rule, that’s all I’d EVER do and my own sites would suck because they’d be getting no attention.” — Rae Hoffman

“Never lose sight of the fact that all SEO ranking signals revolve around content of some kind.” — Duane Forrester

“If you’re not meeting your visitors’ needs, it doesn’t matter how ‘optimized’ your site is.” — Stoney deGeyter

“By creating and publishing remarkable content in the form that educates, informs, inspires and entertains, marketers can begin to build relationships with prospects early on in the buying cycle”. — Jonathon Lister

“On-page SEO is no longer satisfied by raw keyword use. Matching keywords to searcher INTENT is critical.” — Rand Fishkin

“Focus on how to be social, not how to do social.” — Jay Baer

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” — Wendy Piersall

“Think about what a user is going to type.” — Matt Cutts

“Marketing has never been about keywords, it’s about people.” — Simon Penson

“If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing.” — Guy Kawasaki

“Build it, and they will come” only works in the movies. Social Media is a “built it”, nurture it, engage them, and them may come & stay.” — Seth Godin

“To educate is not just the best way to sell. It’s also the best way to build links.” — Jason Acidre

“I have done zero SEO on my websites and online platforms, but I still rank well on them because of the fact that I focused on content, providing value, answering questions.” — Chris Ducker

“You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” — Steve Jobs

“Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” — Mike Volpe

“When taking a content-first approach, our job as marketers is not to create more content … it’s to create the minimum amount of content with the maximum amount of results.” — Robert Rose

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” — Lee Odden

“You can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything.”– Beth Comstock

“If you’re a good marketing person, you have to be a little crazy.” — Jim Metcalf

“It is not the job of Search Engine Optimization to make a pig fly. It is the job of the SEO to genetically re-engineer the web site so that it becomes an eagle.” — Bruce Clay

SEO is a marketing function for sure, but it needs to be baked into a product, not slapped on like icing after the cake is baked.” — Duane Forrester

“Great marketers have immense empathy for their audience. They can put themselves in their shoes, live their lives, feel what they feel, go where they go, and respond how they’d respond. That empathy comes out in content that resonates with your audience.” — Rand Fishkin

“Today it’s not about ‘get the traffic’ — it’s about ‘get the targeted and relevant traffic.’” — Adam Audette

Building An Office – Tips For Success

The creation of an office, space just for you to work in can be something pretty special. It is going to be the space that you create, think, work and earn from. In the age of the startup, freelancer and small companies, it makes sense to have a neat space for you to work in. But, much about the office will depend on what you really need it for. 

Plan 

The chances are you have a reasonably modest budget, so planning is going to pay off when you take your time to do it. You want to have something that feels warm and welcoming so the door and the immediate view is essential. Consider the kind of flooring and walls that you think are going to work best. Try to source something local to you too, for example, rather than searching for ‘concrete for flooring’ search ‘concrete delivery Birmingham’ so that you can work with someone closer on creating the floor. If you are a dab hand at decoration, then you are free to create something amazing. If not, and it is in your budget, get in touch with a decorator and create something special for yourself. Think about where you’ll put things like your computer – for example, is there an area in which the sun will hit your screen and ruin your working time? Where are the outlets? 

Inspiration

Your office should inspire you. So you should take care to fill it with things that you enjoy. Photos that you have taken on your travels, words or quotes that set you off in the best mood, and artwork that gets your creative juices going. Try to include colours that are known for naturally boosting productivity and creativity too. Green plants can go some way in creating this for you. They will also keep the air clean for you too. In fact, it is suggested that plants can increase your productivity by as much as 15%. 

Brain Dump Space

The chances are some of your most excellent ideas will not come while you are sitting behind a desk, but instead, they will appear as you pace the room, fidget with pens or doodle on a notepad (all of these are great things to help your brain make connections). How you create the space is up to you, but you ideally should have some. A pinboard is typically easy to use, and you can move things around, adding new elements and continually reference it. Make sure you have notepads, a range of pens and a printer to help you. 

Being able to run your business from home is a beautiful thing, so it makes sense that you should create a space that is perfect for you to work in. To help you do your work to the best of your ability, having a comfortable chair, and ergonomic desk is just one part of it. Being surrounded by images and works of art that naturally boost your mood is going to make the whole thing even more enjoyable.