For those who are completely new to the world of marketing, it can be quite daunting as well as expensive. And we’re here to tell you that no matter where your skill level is when it comes to marketing, you don’t have to be afraid or think negatively at all! And, with five FREE, yes, completely free wins compiled by Leapfrog Internet Marketing, you’ll be able to practice them right away and actually see results within just a couple days.

1. Google My Business

Google My Business is known for being one of the industry’s leading platforms when it comes to business listing and is owned of course by Google, so it’s completely free. When users search using Google within their region or even where they are based it is extremely important for your business to be completely visible.

However, you’re going to also need to have an appealing front or simply look attractive in the eyes of all of your prospects. So, this is how Google My Business comes in to save the day; users can view all the useful info that you’ve put in about your business. Of course, you’ll need to add in your closing and opening hours, some info about yourself, your contact and most importantly you’ll need to put your location with the use of the map function.

Additionally, customers will flock to your location and then go on to leave a detailed review of your store on Google My Business. Be sure to keep in mind that roughly 80% of online viewers trust these reviews, so you should kindly ask your customers to leave reviews which will go on to influence future customers.

2. Subscribers.com

This particular site has the potential to increase traffic to your website with the use of push notifications for both mobile and web browsers. And when your potential buyers view your site, they will be prompted by a pop-up that asks if they want to block or allow any notification from you. So, in the case where they eagerly click allow, you’ll be able to give them tons of info over time in order to re-engage their wants and needs back to your product.

Simply put, this can be a very easy and fast way to establish some form of communication with previous customer or previous visitors. And it is 100% GDPR compliant and you’ll no longer need to reach out via email and in some cases spam their inbox anymore.

3. Leadfeeder

This amazing tool allows business owners to actually get an idea of who their customers are. It goes on to track visitors and also gives details about any particular company that has also viewed your site. And it also supplies info about what pages they viewed and how much time they spent as well as how they stumbled upon your site in the first place.

When it comes to operating a successful business, any bit of information becomes valuable. And it provides a clear-cut picture of your warm leads, or rather simply those who are actually ready to purchase. And you should aim to follow up with these people since more than 97% of viewers don’t actually go on to make contact.

4. MozBar

If you’re in the marketing field, we’re sure you’ve heard about Moz.com before and their leading tool MozBar is quite essential since it allows you to actually view the Domain Authority of competing sites. And like we’ve said before; any bit of info is critical in being successful.

Simply put, the Domain Authority is a huge factor that determines the rankability of your website as it ranks on engines such as Bing, Google and others. However, it consists of roughly 40 signals such as your link quality and others. So, when your DA is relatively high, it is more likely to be ranked higher on a search engine.

5. Think With Google

This tool tests the speed of your site for both mobile and PC users who visit you and it also gives a clearly detailed report in cases where your generated results are not where you’d like them to be. When it comes to your site, your load speed is extremely important since it influences who stays and who goes because it takes too long loading. In essence, it’s all about creating an experience that keeps your customers interested in every single way; this goes on to show the true quality of your brand!

Are you looking for a new way to revamp your house? Maybe you should consider an outdoor kitchen because it will bring about some sophistication to your home, much more than a regular BBQ in your back garden. An outdoor kitchen is a great place to entertain guests, and you can even improve them further with the addition of games like a Bonzini table football.

You don’t need to keep your guests stuck in your house while you are preparing food in your regular kitchen. Actually, you should opt for an outdoor kitchen where you can grill hamburgers outside while chatting with your guests sipping cocktails. It’s a good way to boost the value of your home especially if you are planning to sell it.

Outdoor living spaces have become more popular especially across Europe. Now that you know the benefits of having outdoor kitchens, you need to know what the specific kitchen needs to have to serve its purpose. First, you should make sure that it is spacious. Of course, you don’t need to have a large back garden to make this work.

Next, make sure your outdoor kitchen has enough counter space for preparing food. There should be a large enough space to place items besides the necessary appliances. Here’s what you need to know to make sure your outdoor kitchen works as it should.

1. An Outdoor Kitchen Grill

A grill is integral for any outdoor kitchen. It’s a very important appliance that shouldn’t be missing from your outdoor kitchen. The grill can be built right into the counter in the outdoor cooking area. Make sure you choose a professional grade grill and choose the best model if you want an ideal outdoor kitchen. You can choose anything from pellet, charcoal or gas grills depending on your preferences. There are even some newer grills that can self-ignite. They often come with built-in burners to keep your food warm at all times.

2. Refrigerator

You need a refrigerator to keep all the fresh items cold. With an outdoor refrigerator, you can keep your meat cold as you wait for the grill to get warm. As well as your drinks.

3. Outdoor Oven

If you love making pizza, you should keep an outdoor oven in your outdoor kitchen. Quite a number of people love eating cold pizza but most people prefer when it’s warm or dripping hot. You can choose the warming drawer where you can keep the food warm until you are ready to serve your guests.

4. Sink And Tap

Just because it’s outside it doesn’t mean it will not work as a regular kitchen. You need to wash dishes and wash food as you prepare it. With running water, it means you will not waste a lot of time going back indoors each time. There are many sinks and taps suitable for your outdoor kitchen unless the manufacturer quotes say otherwise.

5. Cover

Although you are operating an outdoor kitchen, the appliances are still running using electricity. Therefore, you need to protect them from any bad weather. If any water gets in the appliances, they will start rusting and could be zapped. With covers, your electrical appliances are properly protected.

6. Electrical Outlets

Of course, your electrical appliances need sockets to work properly. Well, don’t start breaking walls down when you are done with your outdoor kitchen because you forgot to install plug sockets. Make sure you install enough to allow you to use multiple appliances properly.

7. Extras

Although you won’t need it as much, you might need to add a wine cooler in your outdoor kitchen. You can keep your beverages cold and your guests can enjoy a cold glass of wine whenever they want one. Of course, your fridge will still serve the same purpose but a wine cooler will also work well for your outdoor kitchen if you have a little extra money to add to your renovation project.

Employee turnover is one of the issues many employers/companies have to deal with today. One way to prevent this from happening is by encouraging employee loyalty to the company. This however means you need to make specific changes to cultivate and grow loyalty. Here are a few tips on how to make this possible.

1. Demonstrate Strong Leadership Skills

As long as you have strong leadership skills and do show loyalty to your team, chances are they will follow your footsteps. Inspiring dedication builds the foundation needed to earn the team’s support and loyalty.

2. Create a Connection With Your Staff

Although you might not have plenty of time to interact with all employees, it’s essential to connect with them each chance you get. How well you can create a connection with the members of staff depends on how big/small the company is. As long as you haven’t built a wall around yourself, and make it easy for them to reach out to you, they too will start opening up.

3. Ensure Employees Feel Trusted and Valued

Loyalty is double-sided. You need to show your employees that you do value and trust them for them to reciprocate. If you don’t trust your employees, they too won’t have a reason to believe you. That said, giving the employees an authority to make decisions they feel are right for the company is in itself, satisfying. The result will be more responsible and loyal employees who feel they have a place in the company – this translates to an improved work environment.

4. Provide a Two-Way Mode of Communication and Honest Feedback

Honesty is one of the essential virtues in business that drive success while building loyalty. This can be demonstrated by how you provide feedback to customers, clients, and employees. If employees are forced to lie to customers, chances are they’ll drop out on the way. Create a two-way communication system to help everyone outline their views and experiences. This also lets the employees to be heard without getting judged. Proper communication also helps streamline business processes.

5. Have a Millennial Mindset

Market dynamics are always changing. Embracing these changes makes it easier for new employees and graduates to want to work for you. Millennials want to have a perfect life and work balance to build their career. According to a survey conducted by Accenture, more than 59% of all graduates prefer working in a positive social atmosphere to a huge salary. Understanding what millennials want and making it a reality will go a long way in improving employee retention.

6. Create an Employee Reward System

Taking note of even the smallest achievements by employees go a long way in winning their trust and loyalty. Appreciating and rewarding their efforts and accomplishments makes them feel appreciated and valued. This doesn’t have to be professionally alone; any positive step they take in their personal life counts too.

Why not help contribute with parties? Christmas party venues in East London are cost-effective and might help the employees more willing to stay if they know they’ve got a fun night out coming up.

7. Minimise Unnecessary Uncertainties

Market dynamics are always changing, making the economy highly unpredictable. Although you might not have control over such uncertainties, it would be advisable to remove or contain any unnecessary uncertainties that might make employees miserable or stressed. Always keep the employees informed on various issues, and warn them if inevitable changes are to be made.

8. Practice Neutrality and Fairness

Working with an abusive boss or co-staff can be stressful for most employees. Keeping a blind eye to this will only make the workplace more miserable for all, a factor that could see a mass exodus of employees. Strive to improve the work environment by ensuring everyone feels valued and discourage bullying. Be fair to all and learn to listen to everyone’s concerns.

9. Show Genuine Care and Support

We all want/wish to work in a supportive environment. You can encourage this in the workplace by helping employees learn from their mistakes and opening doors for suggestions. Refrain from bashing employees in front of their peers, but talk to them in private if you have to. This helps strengthen respect between staff and their managers.

10. Provide Training and Development

Workshops come in handy, especially when you wish to have your employees trained to improve their competency. Some of these training programs make it possible for staff to build their career by advancing their skill. Training your employees and allowing them to grow is not only beneficial to the company but them as well. This contributes to even higher employee retention.

Activity Alliance recently released an eye-opening report on the attitudes of many non-disabled people towards inclusive activity for the disabled. Although the report did indicate some signs of a welcome improvement, there are still many barriers to changing the everyday experience of disability, due to ingrained perceptions.

The data presented on non-disabled people’s perceptions of disabled people were collected through an online survey in which more than 2,000 non-disabled adults participated. The focus was on inclusive activity, which involved the participation of both non-disabled and disabled people, and how the participants perceive and experience the concept.

The results showed great variations in the perceptions non-disabled people have of inclusive activity and why they may not want to participate in activities in such a setting.

The Potential to Change Perceptions through Sport

The results showed a great potential to change perceptions of disabled people through sporting activities. Almost three-quarters of the non-disabled people interviewed said they were open to the idea of taking part in a sport with disabled-people. They were also quick to recognise the various positive benefits that these inclusive activities could have on themselves personally. The benefits cited most often included meeting new groups of people (75%), learning more about the disabled (60%) and feeling more comfortable around disabled people.

Roughly a quarter of all respondents were quick to admit that disabled people were ‘equal to non-disabled people’ – it is believed that awareness of discrimination and its awful effects underlies this common response. Many respondents also recognized that those suffering from physical or mental conditions, learning disabilities, behavioural conditions and the like are among the groups experiencing the most discrimination and prejudice in the UK today.

Still, some of the respondents expressed concerns for the negative effects these activities could have on the disabled participants. The primary concerns from the respondents were that they would patronise the disabled participants (53%), the disabled players would get physically injured (47%) and that a non-disabled person may say something inappropriate (37%).

The failure to properly disseminate awareness of inclusive activities was also evident in the results. Almost two-thirds of all non-disabled people were totally unaware that the concept of “inclusive sports” even existed. 74% of disabled participants were aware that inclusive activities did involve everyone including the disabled.

Lack of Experience with Disabled People

Other factors that were made evident by the study showed that general lack of awareness as well as unfamiliarity and inexperience with disabled people contributed to the situation. Disability is a fairly common part of our society – one in five people is disabled. Nevertheless, only one in seven non-disabled people in the test could recollect ever participating in inclusive sports with disabled people. Only half actually knew a disabled person.

This report from the Activity Alliance adds to their already formidable collection of research into the reality of disability and the perceptions and barriers keeping them from getting more active.

Gap between Ambition and Reality

In a Lifestyle Report, a considerable discrepancy is noted between the ways that disabled people like to keep active and the opportunities available for them to be active. The report found that six out of ten (64%) disabled people would prefer to engage in a sport with disabled and non-disabled participants. However, only one out of every ten (51%) actually did.

This sentiment was reiterated in Motivate Me. This study showed that disabled people were more likely to get involved in activities if there was a chance for them to get involved in the things that really matter to them. These things include building friendships, increasing independence and maintaining good health for greater quality of life. Organisations like Gabriel’s Angels can help with this.

Activity Alliance’s Chief Executive, Barry Horne, had this to say: “If we want disabled people to get more active, we must first provide them with opportunities that suit the demand and also provide meaning and value. We understand that not all disabled people want to participate in these mixed activities; most would rather be active with their close friends and relatives.

“We have seen great accomplishments from some of our programmes like ‘Get Out and Get Active” that promote going beyond segregated sessions. This points to a greater need to create activities suited to their participants and choose the messages we broadcast more carefully. This will lead to greater opportunities for everyone and we all agree this is a good thing.”

Renting a home has its benefits compared to owning a home. For starters, you don’t have to worry about important maintenance and improvements to the property. Also, you are not faced with paying expensive property taxes. Additionally, you have the option to relocate at the end of your lease term, thus giving you great flexibility when it comes to moving. However, it’s important to be mindful if you decide to rent a property; renting also has its fair share of obligations and responsibilities. In this read, we’re going to take a look at some of the things you need to do when renting a house.

Properly Research the Neighbourhood Before Relocating

Yes, a rental isn’t permanent, but you want to ensure that you are not moving into the bad side of town, even it is just for several months. Before committing to a rental property, ensure that you thoroughly research the neighbourhood to ascertain it is a convenient and safe place to live.

Inspect the Property

When renting, you are generally required to put down a security deposit. If you want to be refunded when you decide to move, then you’ll want to document any pre-existing damage to the house. For proof, ensure you take photographs and send them to the landlord. Ideally, you may want to ask the landlord for a move-in and move-out checklist. This should include the things that they will inspect before and after you leave the property for the purpose of assessing any damage.

Go Through the Lease’s Terms

Before you sign the lease, ensure that you go through the tenant’s terms. It is even better to have an estate agent or a solicitor go through it to ensure that the terms are fairly standard. Some of the clauses and rules to examine include upkeep and maintenance expectations, pet policies, when and how to pay your rent and even the guidelines for breaking a lease. Every tenant in England must receive a copy of the ‘how to rent’ checklist from their landlord, ensure you receive yours on moving day.

Deep Clean the Home

When moving into a rental, it is highly advisable to conduct a deep clean of the house on the very first day. After all, you do not know who was living there before you moved in. Ideally invest in commercial cleaning or ask the landlord to do this before you move in as part of the deal.

Once You Move in, Purchase Renters Insurance

You can never tell what is going to happen once you move into a rental property. Even a house in the safest part of the neighbourhood can experience unforeseen mishaps. From break-ins and theft to natural disasters like flooding and fire, these events are not uncommon and the best thing you can do to protect yourself is purchasing renters insurance.

Inquire About the Rules of Customisation

Do you hate the paint colour in your living room or bedroom? Do you want to get rid of the unsightly wallpaper? Before you do anything drastic, it is important to talk to the landlord regarding any customisations that you wish to do in order to make the interior appealing for you and your loved ones. As a matter of fact, if decorating is a must, you should discuss this aspect with the landlord before signing the lease.

Set-up Automatic Rent Payments

The last thing you want is to pay rent late or forget to do so altogether. If the landlord accepts payments through online bank transfer, consider making the process automatic. This way, you will never forget to pay your utility bills and rent. It will ideally give you one less thing to fret about at the beginning of every month.

Try and Nurture a Solid Relationship with the Landlord

You do not need to be friends with the landlord, but at the very least, try and have a respectful and civil relationship. This will not only encourage communication regarding problems with the house, but it will ensure that the landlord is more willing to work with you in the future. An example is when you need to break the lease early or want to find a sub-letter for a particular period. Nurturing a healthy relationship with the landlord can make a huge difference in your rental experience.

So, you have undergone your HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) training, passed the tests and got your licence. Congratulations! You are now ready to go out there and become a professional HGV driver. As with any other profession, there will be a learning curve and you’ll become better as you gain more experience. However, because you are new it is important that you take heed of the wisdom of those who have been on the road for longer. In this post, we are going to give you a few tips that you can utilise while driving an HGV for the first time.

Be Prepared

If you want to succeed as a heavy goods vehicle driver, it is important that you do thorough planning and be prepared. You may think that your job is to drive from one destination to another, but in reality, there are many things that can go wrong and even change at the last minute. However, if you have taken the time properly plan for every trip, you are less likely to be caught off guard. This implies that you have to assess the entire journey and not just view it as driving from point A to point B. It is important that you consider refuelling, rest stops, alternative routes just in case you run into bad traffic or an accident, and any other stops you need to make during your journey.

Stay Hydrated

This seems obvious, but it’s so important we decided to include it in this read. If you want to be successful in HGV driving, you need to know how to take care of your body. Water is key to human survival and dehydration is the last thing you want while on the road. That’s because it causes dizziness, loss of alertness and fatigue. All these are bad news when driving an HGV. As such, ensure that you have adequate drinking water in your cab at all times. Also, rather than waiting until you are thirsty, consider sipping it throughout the whole journey.

Take Breaks

Your employer will constantly remind you that you need to take a particular number of breaks and they have to be a set length of time. Pay close attention to this aspect and ensure you adhere to the guidelines. It can be tempting to work through, especially if you are on a tight deadline and/or are running late. So, when it’s time to take a break, ensure you actually stop the HGV and rest. Stretch your legs by taking a walk, grab a cup of coffee and if you begin feeling sleepy at any point while on the road, do not hesitate to stop and take a break.

Check the Height of Your HGV

One of the most common mistakes that new HGV drivers make is attempting to drive their vehicle through a section that is too small for it. This often happens at bridges and we have all seen photos and videos on the internet of stuck HGVs and even some that get destroyed due to the attempt. As an HGV driver, it is your role to prevent damage and accidents by ensuring you know the height as well as the weight of your vehicle and make decisions accordingly. Also, if you think that a gap is too tight, don’t attempt to drive through it.

Communication Is Essential

Being a heavy goods vehicle driver can be lonely. As such, it is advisable to stay in touch with someone close to your life. Profession-wise, it is important that you communicate with your end clients, traffic officers, and the individuals arranging your pickups as well as drop-offs. By taking the effort to create good relationships, you’ll find that your job will be way easier.

These tips may seem simple and obvious, but it is important to keep them in mind, particularly if you are a first-time HGV driver. You can get further advice from Surrey and Hampshire HGV Training.