20 ESSENTIAL WEB DEVELOPMENT TERMS EVERY BEGINNER MUST KNOW

Are you new to web development? If so, you’re probably overwhelmed by all of the technical terms and concepts. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! To help you better understand web development, we’ve put together a beginner’s guide and glossary of web development terms.

This guide will provide definitions for the most common web development terms so you can confidently navigate the world of web development.

WHAT IS WEB DEVELOPMENT?

Web development encompasses the tasks involved in designing, building, and managing a website. This can involve anything from writing the code behind the website, to managing the content on it. Web developers may also be responsible for ensuring that the website meets accessibility standards, as well as other legal requirements.

Web development may also encompass more complex tasks such as developing applications for mobile devices or integrating data from other websites.

It is important for web developers to keep up with industry trends in order to remain competitive in the web development market. Additionally, web developers must possess strong problem solving skills in order to debug issues that may arise during the course of web development.

Web developers should also have a basic understanding of database design and architecture as these concepts are integral to successful web applications. Lastly, web developers must have good communication skills in order to work collaboratively with other members of the web development team.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME WEB DEVELOPMENT TERMS:

1. HTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language and is the primary language used in web development. HTML defines the structure and content of a web page, along with other elements such as images, videos, and links.

HTML is written using a set of tags, which tell the browser how to display a particular element. It serves as the foundation for all other technologies and is necessary for any web page to exist. This is one of the first web development terms people hear when they begin their web development journey.

To learn HTML, visit BASIC HTML TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS.

2. CSS

CSS is another popular web development term known fully as Cascading Style Sheets and is one of the key technologies used in web development. It is a style sheet language that is used to define the appearance and feel of webpages. CSS allows you to specify how elements on a webpage should be presented, including font sizes, colors, borders, and margins.

By using CSS, developers can design pages that have a consistent look across different devices and platforms. Html can be likened to a house with no paint, and CSS could be said to be the paint, color used to beautify a house.

3. JAVASCRIPT

JavaScript is an important part of web development, as it is a scripting language that can be used to control user interactions on websites. It can be used to enhance website content by creating animated features, dynamic webpages, and interactive elements. JavaScript code can also be used to manipulate HTML documents and other web-based technologies.

It is typically used in combination with HTML and CSS, allowing for more complex programming. Popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, React, and Vue are often used by developers to simplify their code and create powerful website applications.

4. DOMAIN NAME

A domain name is a distinctive combination of letters and digits that serves to identify a website on the Internet. A web development project typically starts with a domain name registration, which is essentially reserving your chosen website name for use.

The domain name is linked to an IP address, which serves as a unique identifier for web servers and computers connected to the Internet. When users enter the domain name in a browser, they are directed to the server hosting the website.

Domain names help to make the web more accessible to users and are a critical part of any web development project. This is one of the most important web development terms.

5. HTTPS

Https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is a protocol that is used to secure communications between web servers and clients. It is an essential part of web development as it encrypts data sent from one computer to another and authenticates the website or service the user is accessing.

Https also helps to protect sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers by using secure encryption algorithms. When you are visiting a website with https, your browser will show a padlock icon to confirm that the connection is secure. To ensure users experience safe and secure browsing, it is important for website developers to always use https when designing websites.

6. CACHING

Caching is an important aspect of web development and is used to improve website performance. It involves temporarily storing data, such as images, HTML files, and scripts, so that they can be quickly accessed without having to retrieve them from the server.

This can result in faster loading times and improved user experience, as the browser doesn’t have to wait for a response from the server every time it needs a certain file. By reducing the amount of traffic going to the server, caching can also help reduce bandwidth usage and reduce the load on the server.

7. API

Application Programming Interface is used in web development to allow different applications to interact with each other. APIs act as a gateway for allowing different services, such as websites or apps, to communicate with each other without having to manually enter information.

An example of an API might be one that allows a weather website to display data from a weather service provider. By using APIs, web development projects can become much more efficient and streamlined.

8. ALGORITHMS

When it comes to web development, an algorithm is a set of rules that are used to solve a problem. Algorithms are an essential part of coding and programming, as they provide the structure and foundation of the code written. An algorithm can be described as a step-by-step procedure for solving a particular problem.

They are used to create website functions such as search engine optimization (SEO) and user interface (UI) design. Algorithms can also be used to create artificial intelligence (AI) systems, allowing websites to interact with users in a more intelligent way.

9. APPLICATION

An application is a type of software that serves a particular purpose for web development. It’s the end product of a web development project and is typically the result of an iterative process of design, coding, testing, and deployment. Examples of applications include mobile apps, desktop apps, and web-based applications.

Applications can also be used to automate or streamline business processes, such as managing customer relationships and tracking inventory. Web developers are often responsible for developing, deploying, and maintaining applications for their clients.

10. DATABASE

This is a very important web development term. It is a collection of data that is organized and stored in such a way that it can be easily accessed, managed and updated. The database stores information in the form of records and fields which are related to one another.

In web development, databases are used to store website content such as images, videos, text and other types of data. Databases can also be used for user authentication and tracking user activity on a website. Popular database systems used in web development include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB and Microsoft SQL Server.

11. FRAMEWORKS

A web development framework is a software library that provides an application programming interface (API) for web developers to simplify the development process. Frameworks typically include structure, files and code to speed up the development of websites and web applications.

Common frameworks used in web development include React, Angular, Laravel and Symfony. Each framework has its own pros and cons so it’s important to do research to understand which one best suits your project needs.

Popular web development frameworks are easy to use, have plenty of tutorials and online resources available, offer regular updates and are highly customizable.

12. HOSTING

Hosting is a critical component of web development. It is a web development term every developer should know. It refers to the server on which your website will be stored and accessed. Without hosting, your website would not be visible online.

There are many different types of hosting services available, from shared hosting (where multiple sites share a server) to managed hosting (where a company manages the server for you). Depending on your website’s size, needs, and budget, there is likely a type of hosting that is best for you.

13. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

This focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling content in order to make it easier to find and use. It also helps to define the navigation structure of a website so that users can easily move around and access information.

The purpose of Information Architecture is to provide an intuitive way for users to interact with a website’s content by allowing them to find what they need quickly and easily. As such, IA is an integral part of any successful web development project.

14. PLUG-IN

This is a piece of software that adds specific functionality to a larger piece of software. Plug-ins can be used to extend the functionality of a website or web application in order to enhance user experience or increase functionality.

Plug-ins are developed by third-party developers and are typically free for users to install on their websites. Common examples of web development plug-ins include analytics, SEO optimization, forms, shopping carts, and more. Plug-ins are a powerful and versatile tool for web developers as they offer flexibility and expandability to their websites.

15. RESPONSIVE

Responsive web development is a design approach which allows webpages to adapt to the size and resolution of any device. It enables developers to create layouts that fluidly respond to the user’s device, whether it’s a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone.

By using flexible grids and layouts, developers can ensure that a website looks just as great on an iPhone as it does on a laptop computer.This is made possible by using CSS media queries which allow developers to target specific resolutions and display the corresponding design. Responsive design is becoming increasingly important for web developers as more and more people access websites from mobile devices.

Responsive web development is key for providing users with the best possible experience and ensuring that content is accessible across all platforms.

16. RETINA READY

Retina Ready is a term used in web design to refer to the sharpness and clarity of images, text, and other elements on a website. With Retina Ready web designs, high-resolution displays like Apple’s Retina display can display content with a much higher resolution than standard displays, resulting in a sharper, more vivid viewing experience.

To make sure your website is Retina Ready, you will need to use images with twice the amount of pixels that would normally be used for the same image size on a non-Retina display. This will ensure that your content is displayed in optimal quality on Retina Ready devices.

17. SERVER

A server is a computer system that provides services to other computers or web clients. It stores and shares web design files, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, so that when someone accesses your website, they can view the content of your website. Servers also host databases and applications.

There are different types of servers which includes web servers, application servers, database servers, and more. It is important to understand the role that each type of server plays in web design, as they all serve different purposes.

18. SSL CERTIFICATE

This is very important term and a key part in the web development glossary. It stands for Secure Socket Layer, and it is a type of digital certificate that helps to secure online communications between a web server and a client browser. It provides authentication for the website, meaning that users can be sure that the site is legitimate and not an impostor.

The SSL protocol also encrypts all data that passes through the connection, making it impossible for malicious third-parties to intercept it. This makes it essential for websites that are handling sensitive user data, such as payment information or health records. Obtaining an SSL certificate requires verifying the identity of the website owner, which adds an extra layer of trustworthiness to the website.

19. UX DESIGN

UX (User Experience) is a web design term used to describe the overall experience of a user when using a product or service, such as a website. UX focuses on the functionality and design of the product or service from the user’s perspective. It looks at the ease of use, intuitiveness, visual design, and other aspects that affect the user’s experience.

UX is often confused with UI (User Interface), which deals with the graphical elements of a website, such as buttons and menus. However, UX covers a broader spectrum and also incorporates web design, content strategy, copywriting, and other aspects of creating a website.

When it comes to creating a successful website, UX should be a top priority to ensure users have an enjoyable experience while they’re on your website.

20. CMS

A content management system (CMS) is a type of software that enables users to develop, manage website content. This is especially helpful for web design and development professionals who need to build, maintain, and update websites quickly and easily.

By using a CMS, users can store, format, and update content in a simple and organized way, without having to manually code HTML. CMS also provide other useful features such as templates, user roles, and security settings to help users create and manage websites with ease. One of the most popular CMS is wordpress.org.

WEB DEVELOPMENT GLOSSARY AT YOUR FINGER TIPS

This beginner’s guide and glossary of web development terms is a useful resource for those new to the field, providing a better understanding of common concepts and helping to navigate the world of web development confidently.

Check out our previous post, INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT to know more.

20 ESSENTIAL WEB DEVELOPMENT TERMS EVERY BEGINNER MUST KNOW FAQ

What are the 3 languages all Web developers must learn?

To become a web developer, you must first learn the three basic languages HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

What are 3 types of web developments?

This is the frontend, backend and fullstack web development.

How do I start web development with no experience?

Learn the fundamentals, practice on real-world projects, expand your network, and market yourself.

FROM SQUARE ONE TO FREELANCE SUCCESS: HOW TO MAKE IT AS A FREELANCER

When it comes to making the leap into freelance work, there are several things to consider. It’s important to decide what kind of freelance work you’d like to do first.

In addition, you’ll need to decide which services or products you can offer that other people don’t already offer or know about. After that, you’ll have to decide how to approach potential customers and convince them that you can provide the best service at the most reasonable price.

WHO ARE FREELANCERS?

The term freelancer refers to someone who offers their services as a freelancer, such as writing, design, or development. What does that mean? The freedom and flexibility to choose the projects you want and turn down those that don’t fit into your schedule.

You can take time off when you need it, pursue your own interests and build your portfolio without compromising the quality of work. The only downside? You don’t get paid for vacation time!

THE STEPS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE FREELANCE SUCCESS

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Many qualities make one a successful freelancer, but the most important is believing in yourself. You have to be confident in your abilities and not afraid of what people might say or think of you. The best way to find out if you should pursue freelance work is by asking yourself three questions.

Do I enjoy the type of work I’m currently doing?
Am I good at my job?
Am I interested in pursuing freelance work?

If the answer to all three questions is yes, then you’re on the right track!

GET ORGANIZED

Getting organized can make all the difference in how successful you are as a freelancer. It’s important to create good work habits and develop systems that work for you so that you’re not wasting time on mundane tasks. These simple steps will help get you started on your journey from square one to freelance success.

Decide what works best for you.
Establish your boundaries.
Keep up with your invoices.
Set clear goals and timelines for projects.
Find mentors and ask for feedback when needed.
Utilize social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and more! They’re all great ways to network with other professionals in your field or find potential clients and customers.

KNOW YOUR WORTH

Freelancers are often seen as expendable and easily replaceable. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As a freelancer, you should know your worth and charge what you deserve for your work. Here’s how to figure out your worth and get paid accordingly.

Determine your hourly rate.
Decide on a ballpark estimate of the number of hours you’ll spend on an average project.
Calculate the total cost by multiplying your hourly rate by the estimated number of hours it will take to complete the project. For example, if you’re charging $150 per hour and expect a project to take 20 hours, the total cost would be $3,000.
Use that amount as a starting point when submitting quotes or proposals. If someone is offering less than your calculated quote or proposal price, respectfully decline their offer because they don’t appreciate your value.
Consider setting up an email signature that includes your rates so that potential clients can quickly see them before deciding whether or not to reach out with questions about pricing or availability.

MARKET YOURSELF

Another step for successful freelance work is to market yourself. Your personal brand is the key that will open many doors. To have a successful career, you need people to know who you are and what you do. For this reason, social media is an essential part of your marketing plan. Using tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, spend time developing your own personal brand strategy.

This means coming up with some ideas about the type of person you want to be, what message you want people to see when they look at your profile or read your posts or tweets, and figuring out which platforms will work best for this type of person.

STAY FOCUSED

It can be easy for freelance writers, designers, programmers, and other creative professionals to lose focus. When you’re not working on the project or client that’s paying your bills, it’s all too easy to feel distracted or unproductive. But finding ways to stay focused is crucial if you want your freelance business to succeed. Never take on more than one major project at a time.

This will allow you-or whoever is helping you manage your time-to-prioritize your work and do a better job at everything else in your life while also ensuring quality control on every project.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL AS A FREELANCER

It’s true that some people are afraid of failure and giving up, but taking risks and learning from your mistakes is key to success. In the long run, it will help you avoid making the same mistakes next time.

Many times we are unable to see what’s around the corner, or how much time we need for things like follow-up emails. When things go wrong and failure happens, know that we’ll be better prepared for the future. Freelancers must learn from failures and grow as individuals.

PERSEVERE

You’ve got the skills and the knowledge, but where does all of it lead? Don’t be discouraged if you’re at the start of your career. It can take a long time to get a job your first one. That doesn’t mean that you need to stop. Continue to apply for jobs or to send in proposals and you never know when your time will come.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKEMINDED PEOPLE

Surround yourself with likeminded freelancers

There is no better way to be successful in your freelance career than by surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Seek out groups of freelancers and network with them, or make an effort to connect with other freelancers online.

You may not be able to see their face, but you can feel their support. It’s also important that you make time for yourself outside of work – this will help keep your sanity intact!

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY

One of the best ways for freelancers to stay organized and on top of their work is by using social media. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are not only great for staying in touch with potential clients but also provide an easy way to grow your business and find new opportunities.

I would recommend that you take a few minutes each day to update all of these sites. Not only will you be able to keep yourself accountable for keeping up with social media, but you will also have access to information about freelance jobs before anyone else does.

You might even be able to post about freelance jobs that you have open and fill them without ever posting them anywhere else!

Another great thing about social media is that you can use it to share what projects or jobs you’re currently working on without feeling too vulnerable or exposed.

It’s not uncommon for people looking for freelance help to do quick searches on Facebook or LinkedIn and see if there’s someone who looks like they might be available and who they might contact right away!

NEVER STOP LEARNING

It’s important to never stop learning. No matter how skilled you are, there is always more to know, always learn. This is because you never know when your skills will change or when something new and game-changing will happen in the industry that requires you to re-evaluate your strategy.

Plus, learning will help you maintain and grow your self-confidence. You’ll feel more confident in the work you produce and more confident in yourself, which can lead to higher self-esteem and better performance at work.

IS FREELANCING FOR ME?

Freelancing is an increasingly popular career path, but you should be prepared for the challenges that come with it. With these few steps in mind, you should be able to attain freelance success.

Some popular freelance platforms you can leverage on are upwork, guru, peopleperhour and much more.

Don’t forget to visit our blog page for more interesting articles.

FROM SQUARE ONE TO FREELANCE SUCCESS: HOW TO MAKE IT AS A FREELANCER FAQ

How do I start myself as a freelancer?

It’s simple. First, you need to learn a skill if you don’t already have one, create a portfolio, define your target client and develop a strategy for finding clients.

What makes beginner freelancers fail?

The majority of the time, people struggle because they lack the discipline or business sense necessary to succeed as a freelancer.

What is the easiest freelance job?

Writing job, proofreading, translator jobs, data entry, virtual assisting, copywriting jobs, social media manager are some of the easiest jobs.

Do you need guidance on freelancing or need our other services. You can reach us now via our Live chat or message our team via our CONTACT US PAGE.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR START UPS: 5 MYTHS DEBUNKED

What’s all this buzz about artificial intelligence? Every company has some kind of AI strategy. Some companies are using it to control devices around their offices, while others are using it to schedule meetings and appointments more efficiently. Some have even used AI to write books and articles!

So what’s the big deal? Is artificial intelligence as big of an invention as everyone says it is? To answer that question, we need to address some common myths about artificial intelligence so we can truly understand how revolutionary technology is.

WHAT EXACTLY IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

Before I, continue on the 5 myths of AI, we need to know what is Artificial Intelligence in the first place. Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a branch of computer science that deals with simulating intellectual functions that humans would typically associate with other human minds, such as learning and problem-solving.

The idea behind artificial intelligence is not new. People have been attempting to create machines or programs that can think like humans for many decades and there have been many attempts at making computers act like humans since the 1950s when Alan Turing created the first test for a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour. Most people are familiar with Watson from IBM who won Jeopardy against two former champions in 2011.

Watson uses natural language processing and analysing among other things, to answer questions posed in natural language. And Deep Blue became famous in 1997 when it beat Gary Kasparov in chess.

We have come a long way since then. Today’s AI applications run into billions of lines of code, integrating multiple software tools including speech recognition systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic algorithms and expert systems into something more powerful than any one tool could be alone. So what are some myths about Artificial Intelligence?

MYTH 1: AI IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR STARTUPS

A startup doesn’t need to spend millions of dollars on AI to get started. There are plenty of tools available that will offer an AI-powered solution at a price point that’s manageable for any size of business.

The Myth of Being Too Expensive for Startups is just a myth. If you have the necessary skills, you can use this technology even with a limited budget. But how does one find the necessary skills?

The answer is as easy as finding software and learning it. Artificial intelligence has been around for years, and there are loads of experts who know how to use it, especially when working with big data or specific tasks such as image recognition or language translation.

You might not be able to do everything yourself if you don’t know where to start, but there’s no reason why someone with the right education and experience couldn’t help you out by giving advice or even programming part of your AI project.

Additionally, you may find inexpensive machine learning classes on Udemy, Coursera, and even Pluralsight. These online learning environments are fantastic for self-paced learning.

MYTH 2: AI REQUIRES A LOT OF DATA

Data is not necessarily kinged when it comes to AI, but it is important. The more data you have the better your models will be and the more accurate they will be.

That being said, any company can use machine learning to make decisions with their existing data sets. For AI to work, there needs to be at least some baseline of data set up before it can start making predictions.

Machine learning algorithms are trained on datasets to produce useful results. These training datasets need to contain enough information so that the algorithm learns what patterns exist within them.

If we look back at our earlier example of predicting fruit based on colour, if we had only one instance of blue apples and no other information about fruit colours, then our model would not be very good.

For many businesses, these initial training datasets are an easy way to get started with Artificial Intelligence without having large amounts of data at first hand.

Often companies will find that as they grow, more complex models which require large amounts of data may also be necessary depending on how deep into business processes AI is used.

MYTH 3: AI IS FOR ONLY TECH COMPANIES

AI is not just for tech companies. It can be used for any industry, and there are a lot of startups that have used AI to grow their businesses. Founded in 2016, Buddy is an app that offers on-demand dog walking and poop scooping services.

The company’s founders recognized that people didn’t want to get up early to walk their dogs before work or deal with the hassle of picking up poop after walking them.

So they created an app where users could order a dog walker as soon as they needed it by selecting the service on the app and specifying how much time they need and where.

Once the request is accepted, users receive notifications when the walker arrives at their home. Customers like this process because they don’t have to worry about setting a timer themselves and being charged even if they forget to cancel it.

Another example of an AI startup is Puro Sound Labs. Puro specializes in noise-cancelling earbuds for athletes, travellers, business professionals, and more. Their headphones use cutting-edge technology designed to help reduce distractions from outside noise so that listeners can focus more intently on their tasks.

They also come with a free mobile app which allows you to personalize your experience based on your environment so you’re getting exactly what you need from your headphones no matter where you are. AI isn’t just for tech companies!

MYTH 4: YOU NEED TO BE AN EXPERT IN MACHINE LEARNING TO USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Many people believe that to use AI, you must be an expert in Machine learning. This is not true. It is possible to get started with AI by simply understanding the basics of machine learning and how it works.

It’s also possible to use a pre-made algorithm that has been coded by experts and fine-tuned for various purposes.

Remember, machine learning can be used for all sorts of things, so there is no need to specialize.One good way to start your journey into Artificial intelligence is by taking a course on Machine Learning or Deep Learning or reading the aforementioned book on the subject. O

Once you’ve learned about what machine learning is and how it functions, then you will have a better idea as to whether or not it’s something worth looking into for your business.

MYTH 5: AI IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD

We’ve heard the stories before. Computers are going to take over the world, leaving humans in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Whether it’s Skynet or HAL 9000, any machine that can think for itself and make decisions is seen as dangerous by some.

The reality is that we are still far from being able to build a truly intelligent computer. A Turing test measures how well an AI system mimics human intelligence but doesn’t measure its ability to be useful in the real world.

We should be careful not to get too complacent with this technology either. Yes, we’re still years away from developing true artificial intelligence – but even just an incremental increase in computational power can lead to very powerful machines with unintended consequences.

In his book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014), Nick Bostrom notes that there are several ways this could go wrong: Some unfriendly superintelligence might destroy us; more likely our own ever more powerful technologies will bring about disastrous climate change or ecological collapse; maybe nobody will be around any more when future generations finally realize their full potential.

However unlikely these scenarios seem, they do suggest that if we don’t pay attention now, things could get worse later. It’s important to develop guidelines on the ethical use of AI and set clear limits on what it can do.

As one example, autonomous weapons systems need international restrictions since they don’t discriminate between friend and foe.It sounds like Hollywood movies but let’s focus on how AI is helpful instead of focusing on fears about its takeover.

BENEFITS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR BUSINESS (START-UP) OPTIMIZATION

Businesses are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to optimize their operations and increase revenue. AI is a great tool for start-ups in particular because it will help them grow and move into new markets with less risk. The benefits of AI for startups include increased efficiency, reduced costs, improved data insight, increased revenue, and decreased operational risks.

Startup success can be attributed to five factors: team, idea, customers, capital, and execution. An effective AI system would improve on all five factors by optimizing the execution element of the equation.

It’s time to stop worrying about whether or not we have enough data and focus instead on how we can take actionable insights from the data we do have available. The important thing to remember when designing any machine learning solution is that you should know what your input and output variables are before going through the process.

It’s also important to remember that not every problem requires deep learning; many problems are best solved using a simple regression algorithm. AI might make our lives easier, but it won’t solve every problem.

There’s no such thing as over-training your model if you’re doing something wrong – this is one benefit of AI startup success! Many startups use trial and error to figure out how their product or service should work. But that doesn’t always work. By the time they get customer feedback, they’ve already wasted valuable time, resources and money on a product nobody wants!

With machine learning models, you never waste anything because training models automatically adjust based on performance criteria.In other words, training models only get smarter as they go along and adapt to changing circumstances. Not only does this save resources like development time and money, but it ensures customer satisfaction too.

EXAMPLES OF AI’S THAT CAN BE USED FOR BUSINESS

AI can be used for a wide variety of tasks, such as detecting fraudulent behaviour or sorting through massive amounts of data. AI is being used by companies to automate customer service requests, process data more efficiently, and even evaluate job candidates.

The most popular AI tools currently being used by companies are chatbots, machine learning algorithms, and natural language processing programs. Chatbots use AI to answer customers’ questions while they’re shopping online or through social media channels.

Machine learning algorithms can detect patterns in large data sets and make predictions based on those patterns. Natural language processing programs make it easier for computers to understand human language by translating the text into computer-readable code.

THE MOST DISRUPTIVE TECH IN THE WORLD

The AI revolution is here, and it’s just getting started. As AI becomes a bigger part of our lives, we’re going to see more and more companies taking advantage of its powers. But before you start your business or implement AI in your company, it’s important to understand how it works and what the potential pitfalls are.

With these five myths debunked, you’ll be able to run your business smarter and more effectively than ever before. There have been some reports that point to AI being the most disruptive force in tech since the internet!

Don’t forget to visit our blog page for more interesting articles.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR START UPS: 5 MYTHS DEBUNKED FAQ

Will AI replace humans jobs?

No, Due to its lack of certain traits like creativity, common sense, and efficient communication, AI will never completely replace humans.

Why are humans afraid of AI?

In order to feel comfortable, humans are territorial creatures who like to be in charge. We fear things like artificial intelligence (AI) since they are unknown to us and as a result are not within our control.

Does AI make humans lazy?

Yes, but how each person uses it will ultimately determine that. Choices are crucial.

Do you need an Artificial Intelligence for your business but don’t know what kind you need or how to get start. Our team is always here to guide you. You can send us a message on our CONTACT page or message us via the live chat.

DIGITAL MARKETING 101 – A GUIDE TO MODERN MARKETING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

In the fields of business development and branding, digitalization is one of the most important factors. How can we use digital marketing to grow our businesses and what precisely is it?

Digital marketing is the use of digital media channels for company and brand promotion. Today, non-digital media including billboards and transit signs are included in the concept of digital media along with websites, social media, radio, television, mobile, and even social media.

Digital marketing is broadly defined as any marketing medium delivered electronically. It allows you to reach a much larger audience — and make them care — than any other marketing channel available. It can lead to more conversions, leads, and sales with less effort than other channels.

The only remaining forms of marketing outside the purview of digital marketing are direct marketing, print advertising, and person-to-person (P2P) marketing. Still yet, Print directories, billboards, posters, billboard ads, direct mail, and adverts are all starting to connect with their digital equivalents. Conventional marketing and advertising are almost always connected to digital marketing through elements like URL landing pages, QR codes, web banner advertising, online directories, and text codes.

WHY IS DIGITAL MARKETING A TOP PRIORITY?

Entrepreneurs, marketing firms, and consumers all work to hasten the shift to digital media. A digital marketing agency’s ambition, moving digital is made possible by the constant need to deliver quantifiable results. Most forms of digital advertising, including those on websites, social media, and mobile devices, are simpler to track than more traditional marketing avenues like print ads.

Numerous kinds of digital advertising are quite affordable for company owners. Low-cost alternatives to print advertising and direct mail include having an online presence, engaging clients in social media dialogues, and e-mail marketing. These digital channels are accessible to companies of all sizes and help level the playing field for startups, small enterprises, and independent consultants seeking new clients.

The rapid speed of life necessitates digital advertising for customers. When customers seek products and services, they no longer need to flip through a phonebook to locate them. Now, we pull out our mobile devices or go to our laptops to obtain answers, and we do it quickly.

DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS AND BRAND USING DIGITAL MEDIA

Using low-cost digital platforms, you may effectively sell your business regardless of the size of your company—big or small to medium-sized business (SMB or SME). Your marketing strategies will be built around your website. Invest judiciously in your website and ensure that it meets the following requirements:

Represents your company and brand accurately (look and feel, messaging).
Effectively addresses your target audience.
Is current and simple to navigate.
Can be found with leading search engines.
Offers a variety of avenues for consumer communication.
Linked to other marketing initiatives.

It is essential that you engage with a professional web design company that has expertise in site development and SEO. Your website should be one of your top corporate expenses since it serves as the center from which all other digital channels branch out.

SEO/SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

SEO is the practice of raising a website’s natural search engine ranks by creating content that is suited to their demands.

The position of your site in the search results is determined by algorithms used by search engines that consider a number of variables, including popularity, authority, trustworthiness, and relevancy. Your website will rank higher for keywords associated with the more pertinent sites you have indexed and linked back to with your site.

The term “SEM” (Search Engine Marketing) refers to a marketing strategy that uses paid adverts on popular search engines like Google or Yahoo to boost traffic from users who are actively looking for goods or services by using keywords pertinent to their requirements.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEO AND SEM ARE;

SEM: Sem costs more than SEO since it entails purchasing ad space on search engines like Google and Bing to improve your chances of appearing higher on the results page when a user searches for a keyword associated with your company or product.

SEO: Since SEO focuses on improving organic ranks through specific tasks like producing high-quality content and ensuring that your site is mobile-friendly so that all users can access it, SEO does not require any upfront investments.

There are several approaches to execute a SEM campaign:

Using an integrated marketing strategy is the best way to manage a seo and search engine marketing campaign. In order to effectively convey your message, it’s crucial to employ the correct keywords and phrases.
To broaden the audience for your message, you can also use online platforms like Google Adwords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads.
When you use paid search, you can buy advertisements to appear on Google or Yahoo! Each click or each impression earns you money. You place ads in search results, and individuals who click on them are brought to your site where they can make purchases or sign up for services like lead generation programs or email marketing, among other things.

EMAIL MARKETING

Communication with potential clients can be done quite effectively through email marketing. It is one of the most traditional and successful strategies for digital marketing. Additionally, it’s among the simplest and most affordable ways to reach potential clients. This can be done in a few ways.

Lead generation email marketing: This is the most common type of email marketing. The goal is to pique people’s interest enough for them to visit the company’s website and sign up for additional information or products.Email marketing for customer acquisition:
Email marketing for client retention: Businesses who want to keep their customers coming back and spending money with them utilize this kind of email marketing.
Email marketing for customer acquisition: Companies who want to use their emails to reach out to new customers employ this sort of email marketing.

You can email prospects or customers in the following categories; A discount or coupon, To publicize an impending event, Email customer service.

Initiate monthly or bimonthly e-mail marketing when your website is finished, and engage with customers on social media. These are things that can be done internally (by a qualified person) or for a reasonable fee by an outside digital marketing company if you are really working with a tight budget.

Make sure that all of your efforts are directed toward getting customers back to your website, where they can interact fully with your business, products, and services and select their preferred contact channels.

You may use a wide range of extra digital marketing methods in addition to email marketing, social media marketing, and search engine marketing. Mobile advertising, radio, television, electronic billboards, and a number of other forms of marketing are examples.

Regardless of the digital activities you choose, they should all be related to and built upon your company website as the foundation.

If you want to be aggressive with your search marketing, set aside a chunk of your digital marketing budget for pay-per-click and search engine optimization. Many businesses today rely heavily on their online presence to attract new clients.

A common misconception among business owners is that having a website automatically draws customers. Not so. For your website to rank highly in search engines, it must be built with exact keywords and phrases, meta data, page content, and linking strategies.

Hiring a digital marketing agency to assist with your marketing initiatives might be a wise investment if you have the funds.

Many digital businesses provide a range of service tiers to accommodate enterprises of all sizes. One of the most recommended platform as well for email marketing is HUBSPOT CRM.

TECHNIQUES FOR PROSPECT GENERATION

Successful digital marketing requires careful attention to a wide range of nuanced aspects. This is why working with a firm that specializes in lead generation strategy planning is essential. Lead generation is a crucial part of digital marketing and requires proper strategy and execution.

A good lead generation approach provides value to both the service provider and the customer. For the supplier to see a profit, the customer must generate as many qualified leads or purchases as they expect.

The customer requires access to enough information to make educated choices about the campaign.

The techniques/steps for lead generation are as follows;

1ST STEP: Find out who your clients are:

Consumers in today’s interconnected digital environment want more than a monologue. They want a say in the direction of your company. You must know who your clients are and what they need from you as a business in order to provide for them.

It all starts with a firm grasp of your target demographic and their specific requirements. After that, engage people in conversation by meeting their needs and wants from your business.

If you accomplish this, the client is more likely to feel like an integral part of your business, increasing the likelihood that they will remain a loyal patron over the long haul.

2ND STEP: Set a spending limit:

The budget you have available is a crucial factor to think about when selecting a marketing firm to work with. The price of marketing services may vary widely, from as little as $20 per hour or more.

The amount of time spent on a work, the nature of the deliverables, and the availability of the company’s resources are the three most important determinants of cost. In order to obtain an accurate picture of what is feasible within your budget, you need to compare like services and the number of assets utilized by each company.

3RD STEP: Find the appropriate medium:

If you’re a company owner, you know how important it is to choose the best channel for generating leads. Any digital marketing services you use need to be tailor-made to your own business’s requirements.

Potential customers may be gotten through several mediums which includes but not limited to social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization. You should weigh the pros and cons of each option before settling on a strategy.

4TH STEP: Offer fast and efficient customer support:

Freebies are an excellent way for businesses to get clients and eventually generate money from them. These freebies might range from a trial period or a discounted price on a subscription service, or a voucher.

THE EXECELLENT WAY TO PUSH YOUR BUSINESS

Online marketing has brought success to lots of business, freelancers and as the world becomes more digitalized, it will be something that businesses and individuals will rely on for a long time.

Are you a business owner looking to attract more customers and make more sales or maybe you have a start up in mind but don’t know how to promote it. Fear me, for our team is here to assist you every step of the way. REACH OUT TO US NOW

BASIC HTML TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS (HTML 5)

In this guide, we will focus on the basic html tutorial for beginners. This is one of the most important languages in the world of web development. Html is the basis of almost every website, it is what we use to organise contents, set up headings, paragraphs, images, lists, forms and much more.

NOTE: A code editor will be put at the end of this post so you can practice as you like and also see the outputs of your codes.

WHAT IS HTML?

HTML is a short term for Hypertext Markup Language and it’s the most widely used language to structure pages. It was created by Berners -Lee in late 1991, but HTML 2.0 was the first specification for a standard HTML, and it was released in 1995. And the current version of HTML which is widely used is HTML 5. Likened to a house, we can say HTML is like a building without painting, electricity, furnitures etc.

Most people ask this question “is HTML a programming language?”. There has been lots of debates and arguments on if it is a programming language. A programming language is a language that serves a functions such as declaring variables, modifying data and more. Examples of such languages are Javascript, Python and many more.

We can simply say HTML is a structural language used to create web pages. HTML is open-source and supported by all current browsers makes it cost-free to use and guarantees that your text, graphics, and other elements are shown as you intended. If HTML didn’t exist, all web pages would simply be plain text files like the image below.

HTML helps you format documents with headings, paragraphs, lists, images, videos, audio files, and other elements. And you can also set up navigation to link from one page to another. This language is one of the most important and foremost for every website.

HOW TO WRITE HTML (HTML TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS)

Writing HTML is simple, it has to do with knowing how to position the tags and elements. To begin writing, the first thing we need is a code editor (Visual Studio code, Sublime Text, Atom) ,these are some of the most popular and powerful code editors. A code editor is program designed specifically for writing and editing codes.

After downloading your choice of a code editor, the next thing to do is a create a folder on your local computer, open it up in your code editor and create an html file. To create an html file, you name it (index.html). Index.html specifies the first or rather the homepage of every website, you can also create other html files like (about.html, contact.html and much more).

After creating your html file, you first begin by declaring your version of Html (html 5) to the browser. To do that , you create a tag with the less than symbol “<” and to close the tag you use your greater than symbol “>”. Below is an image of how to declare and set up a page to begin writing your HTML code.

HTML TAGS

Tags, which are typically encased in angle brackets, are used to mark the beginning of an HTML element. The tag <h1> is an example. Tags should be opened and closed to function. (<h1> </h2> ).

In HTML, some of the basic tags are ;

<h1> </h1>
<h2> </h2>
<h3> </h3>
<h4> </h4>
<h5> </h5>
<h6> </h6>

The h1 to h6 tags are used for headings. H1 is the biggest and most important heading while H6 is the smallest and least important headings.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Hello, World!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
      <h1>Hello World </h1>
      <h2>Hello World </h2>
      <h3>Hello World </h3>
      <h4>Hello World </h4>
      <h5>Hello World </h5>
      <h6>Hello World </h6>
  </body>
</html>

This is how headings are written in this markup language.

Another popular tag which is very useful when creating Web pages is the paragraph tag. This is usually done with the p tag.

<p> Hello World, my name is Obawharhe and this is a paragraph tag </p>

Paragraph tag always start on a new line and continues. If you want every sentence in a paragraph to begin on a new line, it is advisable to use the break tag (</br> tag ).

The function of the break tag is to take things to a new line. And it is a self closing tag. As such doesn’t need a closing tag. An example below.

<p> Hello World, </br>my name is Obawharhe and this is a paragraph </p>

OTHER USEFUL TAGS/ELEMENTS IN HTML

Html has so many tags and not every single element will be useful to you in your Web development journey. As such below, I’ll show you some very useful elements that will be needed to customize texts on your website.

S/N	ELEMENTS	THEIR USES
1	<b> – Bold	The name is self explanatory. The bold tag helps highlight text. `<b> Hello, how are you </b>`
2	<strong>	Strong performs almost the same function as bold but when strong is used, it is used to show that the text is very important. `<strong> Hello World! </strong>`
3	<i>	This tag is used to write contents in italic formats. `<i> I am here </i>`
4	<em>	This is used to emphasize a very important content and is most times written in italics as well. The tag is used for image captions as well. `<em> Html is fun </em>`
5	<small>	It is used to make the font size of any text or content small. Note that small cannot replace an h6 tag because an h6 tag is an heading. `<small> A small text </small>`
6	<u>	The tag underlines any content which is enclosed within it. `<u> My underlined text </u>`
7	<del>	Delete tag – It’s used to either remove a text or show that the content is no longer important. When used, it strikes through the content. `<del> 5000 </del>`
8	<sub>	It is used to create subscript text. Subscripts are usually displayed with a lower baseline and smaller text. Popular examples are ” H2O “. `<p> H <sub> 2 </sub>O </p>`
9	<sup>	The tag generates a superscript. Superscripts are characters that are placed above the normal line. A popular example is ” 1st “. `<p> 1 <sup> st </sup> </p>`
10	<div>	This is known as a block tag. A div is similar to a container that is used to hold contents or divide sections.
11	<span>	This is another type of block element. Span is similar to a container that holds contents, but it only takes up as much space as the contents.

Any of these tags could be used in a paragraph or anywhere else. The div tag can be used to divide the header, footer, and other elements, whereas the span tag can be used to divide the content into smaller chunks.

This will be discussed further in another post. Below, I will leave an example of some the tags we’ve talked about being used. You can also copy the code to a code editor to see the result.

<h1> ABOUT HTML </h1>

<div>
<p> Html is a <b>fun</b> language. </br> It is <strong>very</strong> important in the <i>development</i> of most <em>Web</em> pages. It could be <small>likened</small> to a <u>foundation</u> of a <del>horse</del> house.
</div>

INSERTING LINKS IN HTML

Links are very important as they enable you navigate from one page to another or from one website to another website.

To add a link, the anchor tag is used <a>. Now let’s make a link to Google.

<a href="https://www.google.com"> GOOGLE </a>

We can also link it to a blog post on our site by following the same process.

<a href="https://sketchvase.com/introduction-to-web-development/"> INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT</a>

HOW TO ADD IMAGES TO YOUR WEBSITE

Adding images in html is quite simple. This is done with the <img> tag and some attributes. Images are very important in website building, it could be used as a background, for contents and much more.

Most people prefer to resize an image (height and width) using Cascading Style Sheet popularly known as CSS ,which is a styling language. However, this is also easily accomplished using HTML.

Images in any format including jpg, png, svg, and gif can be added. The alt attribute is another significant attribute when adding images.

It is essential for visually impaired visitors, as well as when images fail to load properly. You can add images with external links or images from your folder.

The <img> tag is used as shown in the example below;

<img src="image.jpg" alt="about the image" height="150" width="150">

HOW TO MAKE A LIST

Lists are important for so many reasons ,they are easy to read, it makes information organized and it is easy to share. In HTML, there 3 types of list.

They are unordered list, ordered list and description list.

UNORDERED LIST

Unordered list are usually bulleted.

Html tutorial for beginners — *An unordered list code with result*

<h2> LIST OF FRUITS  </h2>
<ul>
<li> Orange </li>
<li> Apple </li>
<li> Strawberry </li>
</ul>

ORDERED LIST

Ordered lists are also known as numbered lists.

<h2> NAMES OF COUNTRIES </h2>
<ol> 
<li> Nigeria </li>
<li> United States of America </li>
<li> New Zealand </li>
</ol>

DESCRIPTION LIST

This list is used to describe or define terms or items.

<dl>
<dt> HTML </dt>
<dd> : Means Hypertext Markup Language 
</dl>

HOW TO CREATE AN HTML TABLE

Tables allow people arrange data (information) in rows and columns. A table was used when we talked about “OTHER USEFUL TAGS/ELEMENTS IN HTML”.

A table consist of a table head <th>, table row <tr> and table data <td>.

When creating tables, some developers also include table header, table body and table footer but that will be left for a more advanced tutorial.

<table>
<tr>
<th> NAME </th>
<th> LEVEL </th>
<th> COUNTRY </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> John </td>
<td> 200 </td>
<td> Nigeria </td>
</tr>
<tr>resources
<td> Lisa </td>
<td> 100 </td>
<td> Belgium </td>
</tr>
</table>

Congratulations on finishing this article! Now that you know the fundamentals of html, you can create a simple webpage.

The following resources can be used for more reference on html;

BELOW IS A ONLINE IDE/COMPILER FOR YOU TO PRACTICE;

To make use of this online IDE, you can remove every detail from the index.html and build the html structure yourself.

To see your results, you can click “RUN” and scroll down.

Do you need an in-depth training on web development and other related digital skills, then you are in the right place. To reach us CONTACT US now.

START 3 OR MORE SAAS BUSINESS WITH MINIMAL OR NO TECH SKILLS

Most of you have probably heard about SAAS business in one form or another. “Software As A Service” is referred to as SAAS. In plainer terms, I’d say employing your own software to offer solutions to customers or clients in order to address a problem.

We use SAAS enterprises in our daily lives because they have merged with us. Netflix, Twilio, Amazon, Ring Central, Canva, and many other major SAAS businesses are examples where you pay monthly or yearly (subscription based) to access these services.

WHAT IS A SAAS BUSINESS?

SaaS businesses are companies that use software to offer services to clients. Most frequently, the product can be a virtual one. SaaS companies have rapid access to the global market and can expand without increasing the cost of product delivery.

Due to the fact that they have more control over their goods than traditional businesses do, they are more likely to have higher levels of security, quicker upgrades, and better customer experiences. They can also offer more transparent pricing because many of them rely on recurring monthly payments from customers.

THE SAAS BUSINESS MODEL

ESTABLISHMENT

At this stage, the founders determine their target market, as well as the necessity for the items they intend to develop. They will also plan the marketing campaign during this phase. This stage is also when a successful marketing and sales strategy should be developed, customer support choices should be thought through, and financial planning should be done.

GROWTH

The company (ideally) expands significantly after the products hit the market. SaaS organizations should expect new customers to use the goods since they can widen their target market, which will increase the demand for marketing, sales, and customer service staff.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR SAAS BUSINESS

If you don’t know how to code, you might now be questioning if this is actually doable. The good news is that you don’t need to employ a programmer or even learn how to program. Below, I’ll show you how to do this.

Purchase a SAAS script.
Choose a nice domain name and purchase a hosting service as well.
Upload your script.
Make customizations if you want.
Promote your service.

Some might be wondering how do they purchase SAAS scripts and can they get the one with the particular idea in their mind? Yes, you can always find SAAS scripts with the ideas you have on mind and purchasing it is easy.

WHERE TO GET SAAS SCRIPTS AND HOW TO DO SO?

You can simply buy a script for as little as $14-$50.

STEP 1: Go to codecanyon.net , click on the drop down menu and select php scripts.

STEP 2: In the search box, search for SAAS. After searching, you will see SAAS scripts in different niches (social media, accounting, email marketing and much more).

STEP 3: You can preview the selected script before adding to cart. After previewing, choose between regular and extended license.

REGULAR LICENSE

The regular license is used by you or one client, in a single end product which end users are not charged for. The total price includes the item price and a buyer fee.

EXTENDED LICENSE

The extended license is used by you or one client, in a single end product which end users can be charged for. The total price includes the item price and a buyer fee. This license usually comes with payment gateways prebuilt in them.

STEP 4: Purchasing a domain and hosting your script. You can purchase .com domain at the price range of $8 to $11 or more depending on the domain provider. There are many good domain hosting providers out there such as namecheap, godaddy, Google Domains.

As for hosting, there are several kinds of hosting and I did a brief run down of what hosting is in my previous post ” INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT “. There are so many reliable hosting providers out there and a few recommended on my list and are Siteground which is expensive but has a good service, next is bluehost which is also recommended by WordPress themselves. Another good hosting service is Wpengine; they are well known for their Managed WordPress hosting.

Most script sellers usually suggest buying a Virtual Private Server hosting (VPS) as they have more bandwidth, they make your website fast and can also support a lot of traffic.

HOW TO HOST AND INSTALL ANY SAAS SCRIPT

Steps to begin;

Choose a domain name.
Setup SaaS script.
Domain mapping.
Upload SaaS script.

CHOOSE A DOMAIN NAME

Using Hostinger as an example.

First of all, you need to open an hostinger account. After opening an account, go to domain, click “Get Started” search for a domain name which suits you.
After selecting a domain, add to cart and make your payment.

SETUP SAAS SCRIPT

Using Vultr as an example.

Sign up for an account on vultr.com, click the plus button and deploy a new server.
Select cloud computing and select a region.For server type; select LAMP on Ubuntu.
For server type; select LAMP on Ubuntu.Select your server size depending on your budget.
Select server hostname and label (which is your SaaS domain name i.e. sketchvase.com) and click deploy now.

After clicking deploy, everything will be set up and the server will be ready. And you can see your IP address. Your IP address is a unique identifier of your website .Some hosting providers also set up domain for you so you can just get on with uploading and installing your script.

DOMAIN MAPPING

This is linking your domain name to your server. The process works the same on all hosting providers.

Go to your account, click manage beside your domain.
Click on Advanced DNS Settings and select “Add New Record”. You will see a space with the “@” symbol, then in the IP address you can paste your domain’s IP address and finally click the save button. The “@” symbol signifies it’s pointing to your domain.

UPLOAD SAAS SCRIPT

Go to “WinSCP“ (winscp.net) and download the application, it is a free application used to upload PHP scripts.
Open the WinSCP and fill in the following; { HOST NAME – Enter your domain IP address; USERNAME – Enter “Root”; PASSWORD – Go to your domain management and copy your password, paste it in your password box and then login. }
Now, upload your zipped SaaS script in your server.
Next, extract the zipped files on the server, Go to “PUTTY” (www.putty.org ). It is a free application used to connect any server or any linux server and also manage it. After installing putty, open it, then enter the domain IP address in the hostname box and click the open button and for the Host name – Enter your domain IP address.
Enter “root” and password.
Type “clear” , then enter, after that, type “apt install unzip”, click enter , wait a few seconds to complete and click enter again, finally type “clear” once more and click enter.
Type “cd / var / html ”, click enter and then type “ls”, click enter again and it will display a file name then type “unzip (the file name).zip” and click enter and the file will be unzipped.

Now your script has been hosted, you can make customizations as you wish which most script providers add a section for in the script to make it easier.

HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR SAAS BUSINESS

After installing, hosting and making customizations, the next point will be to set up a price for your business. Using the extended license most times gives you a SAAS option with payment gateways to make things easier and faster but you can also achieve this with a regular license.

To do this, you can set up PayPal or payooneer and any other available in your country and handle your payment procedures manually. After earning from your first set of customers, you can purchase an extended license to fully automate the payment process for your SaaS.

Marketing or promoting a product, service or business rather is usually the hardest part. After hosting and customizing your script, what next??

Lots of services out there usually offer a free plan or a 7/14 days trial, this makes easier for your new customers as they will be able to test your services with the free trial or free plan. After testing and seeing how good it is, they could go for the paid plans and also invite friends.

Another important way to promote your services is through ads (advertisements). You should usually have a budget for advertising through platforms like Facebook or Google. But it’s advisable to learn more about digital marketing so you don’t waste unnecessary money on ads. You could check out some YouTube videos and read articles on how to promote businesses using Facebook and Google Ads.

One more way to promote your SaaS service is through affiliate marketing. You can create your own affiliate programs on popular platforms like Shareasale, Cjaffiliates and many more and set up a commission that will be paid to the affiliate marketers.

Email marketing is also another popular way, it’s recommended to start building up your email list from the first day of your business or even during pre-launch.

There are so many ways to promote your businesses and these are some of the major ways to begin.

TOP TEN SAAS BUSINESS IDEAS IN 2022

AI writing Assistants.
Chatbots and Virtual Assistants.
Website Builders.
E-wallets.
Marketing Automation Tools.
Learning Management System (LMS).
Link Shortener.
Accounts Management Tools.
Dating Sites.
Social Media Management Platform.

Ideas for your next start up will always be there. What you need to do is find a problem which people have and you come up with a solution. The problem could older men finding it hard to date and you could make a dating platform for that.

MAKE HAY WHILE SUN SHINES

Starting a new business isn’t hard, all it requires is research and keeping your ears down. After getting an idea, draw a business plan which will contain your budget for setting it up and promotion. Your plans could also contain how you intend to get your first 10 customers and much more. As long as you follow these simple steps, you can begin making a good passive income which could be converted to an active income later on.

Do you require a business planning services, you want assistance in setting up your SaaS business or you want a website, you are in the right place and you can get all this for a very little or no fee. CONTACT US now to know more.

IS A NO-CODE PLATFORM RIGHT FOR YOUR APP OR WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT ?

A no-code platform is a software that allows non-coders to build apps and websites. The best part about no-code platforms is that they allow you to create an app and websites without any coding skills.

The no-code technique involves creating and deploying online or mobile applications utilizing visual software development environments (no-code platforms) rather than writing and modifying code. This is because all you have to do is drag and drop blocks of content and change the settings on the blocks, which makes it possible for anyone to build a website with coding skills.

With no-code development, you can build;

Single-page websites.
Landing pages.
SAAS websites.
Blogs.
Websites and App prototypes and much more.

NO-CODE PLATFORM VS. CUSTOM WEB DEVELOPMENT

No-code platforms have become a popular choice for startups and small businesses who may not have the time and resources to hire a developer. Many people believe that custom web creation will become obsolete as no-code development gets increasingly widespread.

The global software developer shortage seemed to be addressed by no-code development. By dragging and dropping features into a canvas and contributing photos, anyone may become a citizen developer. People from various backgrounds are shown a visual depiction of software and given the option of designing its logic using predefined settings. They also use drag-and-drop tools to organize the software’s user interface.

Custom web development is more expensive than no-code platforms but it provides you with the freedom of designing your site however you want it. This is a great option for those who want their website to be unique and stand out from their competitors.

In this case, the client collaborates with their in-house or outsourced development team to determine all of the features the product should have. Once all sides have agreed on a plan, the IT team begins developing the software.

After that, the process moves on to the testing stage, when quality assurance specialists test it to ensure it does what it’s supposed to.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING A NO-CODE PLATFORMS?

No-code website builders are a great choice for people who don’t want to code, but they can also be a good option for those who do want to learn how to code.

No-code development platforms are growing in popularity for a number of reasons. They can be used by businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprise organisations.

The benefits of using these platforms are numerous, however it’s important to understand what they are and how they can benefit you. Here we take a look at some of the benefits of using no-code platforms:

Time savings.
Reduced costs.
Improved efficiency levels.
Flexibility and scalability.
New opportunities.

The benefits of using a no-code platform are many and varied. The most obvious benefit is that you can build an app without writing a single line of code. This makes it easier and cheaper for small businesses or individuals to start their own app development projects.

The other major advantage is the speed at which you can create your app. No-code platforms use drag-and-drop software to allow you to build your app without having to learn any programming languages. This means that you can build an app in less than half an hour if you know what you need it to do, or even faster if you have some experience with building websites or other online tools.

The final advantage of using a no-code platform is that they are very easy to use, even if you have little or no previous experience with developing websites or mobile apps. You don’t need to be an expert in any field – just follow the instructions and make sure that everything works according to plan!

LIMITATIONS OF A NO-CODE PLATFORM

No-code makes web development simple and fast but there are still some disadvantages;

1. Vendor Lock-in and Limitations

You are compelled to keep using the product or service, regardless of its quality, because switching away would be impractical and risk losing your website.

This restriction usually applies exclusively to free or basic memberships for website builders. Advanced pricing options grant access to a developer mode, which allows for custom code to be added.

2. Scalability and Maintenance

Customers’ ability to scale their solutions is, of course, dependent on the provider. The vendor handles platform upgrades and maintenance, so you don’t have to. But the disadvantage is if something goes wrong on the platform, it might end up affecting all users and you have fixing things would be reliant on the vendor.

3. Security Risks

Your website’s security is only as good as the provider’s. Most no-code platforms take security seriously but you are vulnerable to what happens to the company that provides your no-code platform if it experiences a security breach because you have no control over the code.

EXAMPLES OF NO-CODE PLATFORMS

Some of the no-code platforms listed below are used for Web development and some for mobile app developments. We will talk about these no-code tools and platforms in details in our next post.

1. ADALO

Adalo is a platform that allows you to build native apps without writing any code. It lets you create apps using a drag-and-drop interface, either with pre-made design pieces or your own.

2. BUBBLE

Bubble is a no-code development and application platform as a service that allows non-technical individuals to create online applications. It might be used to create MVPs, SaaS, and a variety of other applications.

3. WEBFLOW

Webflow allows you to work with three computer languages without having to learn them: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Your attention is drawn to the design’s visual aspect, or frontend. It’s ideal for folks who enjoy customizing things but don’t need to learn how to code. It’s absolutely worth a chance to see if it’s perfect for you, especially since it’s free to use as a beginner.

4. APPGYVER

This is a no-code platform for creating React and React Native-based mobile, web, and other applications. One app works on all platforms, which means you just have to undertake no-code development once and your app will work on anything from phones to smart TVs.

5. WIX

Its drag-and-drop feature makes creating a website faster and easier than using traditional approaches.The hosting is free with Wix; all you have to do is increase your package and connect a domain.It includes everything from basic functions to dynamic pages and ecommerce. Booking system, blog, and other features.Its drag-and-drop feature makes creating a website faster and easier than using traditional approaches.The hosting is free with Wix; all you have to do is increase your package and connect a domain.It includes everything from basic functions to dynamic pages and ecommerce. Booking system, blog, and other features.

6. THUNKABLE

This is a great platform for developing mobile apps without writing code. Thunkable is a native mobile app builder for iOS, Android, and web apps. You can absolutely do something completely unique with Thunkable.

7. APPYPIE

Appy Pie makes app development easier. Individuals without technical expertise, coding experience, or a large budget can create any type of platform for their company. They are also ideal for ecommerce store development.

8. DRAFTBIT

With react under the hood, Draftbit lets users to create progressive web apps and native mobile apps for Android and iOS. You can also export your source code and host it elsewhere.

9. GLIDEAPPS

GlideApps is an online platform that converts data from spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel) into mobile apps for your phone or tablet in real time. Glide doesn’t have a sophisticated visual editor; instead, it has scalable visual blocks that may be used to show data and it also has a drag and drop option.

10. WORDPRESS

WordPress is a popular open-source content management system (CMS) that allows users to utilize themes and plugins to create blogs and other types of websites. It’s completely free to download, use, and change. To know more about WordPress, you can also check out our post titled, WORDPRESS; WHAT IS IT???

IS NO CODE RIGHT FOR YOU?

Although no-code solutions makes development easier, this doesn’t mean that traditional development will someday become obsolete No-code platforms are ideal for websites and apps with basic functionality. You’ll need to write code if you want to create a unique product with a lot of features. Many factors influence whether or not no-code website creation is right for your company. But as the world keeps growing, no coding development keeps evolving.

Do you need a blog or a website for your business, CONTACT US now to get one for free. However terms and conditions apply.

SECRETS TO LIVING A HAPPY AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, 60 percent of factors affecting individual health and quality of life are linked to one’s lifestyle. Adopting a healthy lifestyle appears to be the most rejuvenating decision.

Living a vibrant and peaceful life is wonderful! However, it is necessary to emphasize that a healthy existence is dependent in part on a healthy way of life. While some may argue that leading a healthy lifestyle does not ensure a long life, it does increase life expectancy and has various benefits.

Atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke are examples of lifestyle diseases, as are obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as disorders linked to smoking and alcohol and drug misuse. That simply means that a healthy lifestyle help people prevent diseases including obesity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, colon cancer, and premature death.

There are a lot more benefits to living a healthy lifestyle, and this article went through it all.

WHAT DOES A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE MEAN?

The term ‘healthy lifestyle’ refers to living a balanced existence and incorporating healthy habits into your everyday routine. Although not all diseases are preventable, many, notably those caused by coronary heart disease and lung cancer, can be avoided by improving one’s level of life.

Health means a state of total physical, mental, and social well-being, not only the absence of sickness, according to WHO definition. The methods, behaviors, and strategies that one does to obtain optimum health are the true meaning of Healthy Living. A healthy lifestyle entails accepting responsibility for your actions and making informed health decisions for the present and future.

HEALTHY LIVING TIPS

It can be tough to break old habits that are harmful to our health, just as it is with addictions. However, there are things you may do to improve your overall health. It all starts with recognizing unhealthy habits and learning to replace them with new, healthier ones like:

The Physical ( mainly for the body)

1. Maintaining a High Standard of Personal Hygiene is Critical to Your Health:

Maintain a clean and fresh appearance at all times, especially in the morning. Cleaning up after yourself daily is critical for your health as well as your corridors.

2. Eating Nutritious and well-Balanced Meals:

You’ve probably heard about the dangers of skipping breakfast and eating imbalanced meals. Make sure you’re getting enough amount and quality food every day.

3. Exercise Regularly:

Exercise isn’t just for women or men who want to lose weight. Of course, it’s beneficial for losing weight, but it’s also beneficial for those who want to keep in shape and live a better lifestyle.

4. Getting Enough Sleep:

This is another important thing to do. A good night’s sleep is just as crucial as a good breakfast. Do not go without sleep unnecessarily. You will develop health problems as a result of your prolonged lack of sleep. To stay fresh, get enough sleep, especially night sleep.

5. Safe Sex, Responsible Alcohol Consumption, and Drug Abstinence:

Sex, booze, and drugs are all pleasurable and invigorating. However, if not handled properly, it can shorten one’s life. Be cautious of your surroundings, as much as you want to appreciate them. No matter how cute or playful a tiger might be, in the end its still a tiger.

6. Being Physically Active:

One of the most submissive and sluggish ways to damage our health is to live a passive, sedentary lifestyle. For example, waking up every day merely to eat and sleep again can be tedious, unrewarding, and even harmful. Get up, take a walk, and dance if you need to. Alternatively, you can ride your bicycle.

7. Creating and Maintaining Friendships:

Even if your work environment encourages a passive lifestyle, you can associate more with your colleagues and friends every other day. When done regularly, it can help you break free from your passive existence. Aside from that, there is a slew of other advantages to engaging with others. Give it a go!

8. Pay Attention to Your Health:

Being aware of any potential health concerns, including those related to your condition and treatment, and working with your doctor to monitor and address them helps you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Take responsibility for your overall health, including regular eye and dental examinations.

Spiritual, Emotional, and Social Well-being are all Aspects of Being Healthy. You Must Also:

1. Have attitudes of self-advocacy, viewpoints, and positive thoughts. Self-confidence.

2. Enjoy inner serenity. Love and be loved. Allow yourself to forgive and be forgiven for your mistakes. Enjoy laughter and true happiness with others.

3. Have the ability to be open to your creativity. Believe in your guts feelings.

THE ADVANTAGES OF LEADING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

1. Mental Well-being:

No doubt, a healthy lifestyle has great mental health benefits. And you won’t experience it until you live healthily. For instance, for some weeks now I have not been able to keep up with my morning exercise routine due to leaving home early for work. And that has had a serious impact on me.

I felt very differently on days I was able to jog the mile before leaving for work. Exercise releases chemicals like endorphins and serotonin that improve your mood — preparing you for a good day ahead. It makes your day cool and refreshing.

It can also get you out in the world of people, helping to reduce any feelings of loneliness and isolation, and put you in touch with other people.

2. Fewer Health Issues:

Leading a better lifestyle reduces the likelihood of developing a variety of preventable diseases. It implies that there will be fewer ailments to cope with. To add to what has already been said, a combination of physical activity and a healthy diet can help to minimize the risk of diseases including cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and others.

You’d agree with me that leading an unhealthy lifestyle is a surefire way to invite ailments that can be avoided.

3. Saving Money:

Living a healthy lifestyle is financially beneficial. It helps you save money. You don’t even have to spend money on diseases that can be avoided. Apart from that, being healthy means that you can master new abilities and work. You can’t prosper no matter how simple your job or business is if you’re not in good health.

Hence, ‘Health is Wealth,’ as the adage goes. It’s also a huge plus not to have to live in a hospital. Every business owner wishes for more time to plan strategies; yet, such time is not available to hospital patients. Days spent in hospital beds could be better spent planning revenue-generating tactics. Furthermore, smoking, eating junk food, and consuming sugary drinks or alcohol are all costly habits to maintain.

4. Life Insurance is Less Busy:

As people grow older, they begin to consider death and what will happen to their families once they pass away. Then it occurred to them that they needed to assure their survival to safeguard their families in the event of their death. Although insurance policies are available to anyone ready to pay for them, persons who live a healthy lifestyle are more likely to pay a reduced rate.

5. Increases Fertility:

Our way of living has an impact on our fertility. Particularly in terms of our eating habits. Cigarette smoke, for example, is reported to contain over 4,000 compounds that have been linked to a variety of health problems. Men who are chain smokers have a lower total sperm count and fertilization capacity than non-smokers.

Men’s semen quality can be enhanced by eating foods high in carbs, fiber, folate, and lycopene, as well as fruits and vegetables. In general, men’s fertility is improved by consuming fewer proteins and fats. Overweight men may have poor sperm quality, resulting in lower fertility. Excessive alcohol use in men can cause problems with erection maintenance, ejaculation, and sperm quality.

Women are not left out either. A woman’s diet can have an impact on her fertility, especially ovulation. It has been proven that replacing carbs with animal protein hurts ovulatory fertility. Adding only one dish of meat, especially turkey and chicken meat was linked to a 32 percent increased risk of ovulatory infertility.

Women who are overweight and have irregular periods are less likely to ovulate (release an egg) each month than women who have regular periods. As a result, your chances of becoming pregnant are diminished. Losing weight, even if it’s only 5-10% of total body weight, can help re-establish a regular menstrual cycle, improving the chances of becoming pregnant.

Obesity is also linked to a higher risk of miscarriage and complications during pregnancy and delivery. It has been proven that losing weight improves fertility and increases the chances of becoming pregnant. Although no single diet is superior to another, group fitness programs that include both exercise and dietary guidance are associated with a higher rate of pregnancies than weight loss advice alone.

6. Increases Lifespan:

Everyone wants to live a good life for as long as possible. Although people maintain healthy lifestyles for a variety of reasons, everyone who strives for a healthy lifestyle does so to live longer. And believe me when I say that leading a healthy lifestyle is rewarding.

If you wish to live longer, there is evidence that a healthy lifestyle is linked to living longer. For example, according to one study, drinking alcohol in moderation, avoiding smoking, exercising frequently, and eating a good diet can help you live up to 14 years longer. WHO also noted that a healthy lifestyle reduces the chances of being seriously ill or dying prematurely.

7. Take Charge of Your Life:

You, not sickness or ailments, would be in charge of your life if you were well. You will only go to the hospital if you want to. Good health also permits you to go where daily accomplish things that an unwell person cannot.

8. Good For The Environment:

The decisions we make on a daily impact not only on ourselves but also on the environment. Consider how the food choices we make daily have a significant impact on the environment. It may surprise you to learn that even minor adjustments in what we buy and consume have major environmental consequences. Less harmful chemicals reduced global warming emissions, and natural resource conservation is some of the potential benefits.

TRUE SECRETS TO A HEALTHY LIFE

Treat your health like it’s more valuable than money; it’s your life. Get up early to exercise a mile and make a meal plan. Sleep well, love deeply, live fully, and leap. Staying healthy allows you to live longer.

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HOME!! – WANT TO KNOW HOW??

Do you know you can start a business right from your home and earn $5000 monthly or even more??

Financial constraints are one of the most significant impediments to launching a business. A lot of people have fantastic business ideas. However, only a small percentage of people succeed in turning their outstanding company ideas into viable businesses. Many would-be entrepreneurs are stymied by the high prices of office space, land, raw materials, labor, and other necessities.

However, now that you’re reading this post, you shouldn’t have any excuses! You will agree with me that nothing can keep you from achieving your goal of starting a business! Especially because there are simple companies that may be started just in your backyard.

There are a variety of simple home businesses to start. And as long as you have a roof over your head, you may conduct business. The globe is more connected than it has ever been in human history, as it swiftly transforms into a global village.

You can reach a million or more people right in your living room. You can expand your customer base and expand your company. There are numerous, simple-to-do small enterprises waiting for you if you are ready to start small. Take out your jotter and pen and make a list of the enterprises you plan to start soon.

1. Home Daycare Business

A daycare business is one of the easiest businesses to start from home. It’s very easy to grow from scratch. You must have heard of notable schools/investments that started just as creche or daycare centers. You can also form a part of the statistics. All you need to start with is to make a portion of your home welcoming to children.

With a signboard arrow pointing towards your house and just one child for a few hours a week, you already have a business running smoothly. If you are passionate and consistent, you’d be amazed how much you can make out of the daycare business. You can even grow it into a giant investment as Bright Horizons grew to a Billion Dollars enterprise with more than 700 locations.

Daycare is a massive industry on its own. There are about 77,000 daycare centers in the United States alone, generating over $40 billion in annual income. It’s that large! So if you are passionate about grooming children, it’s time to follow your passion and still grow your business.

2. Professional Photography

Although what you need to start up professional photography is more than a fine camera and computer laptop. For a beginner, professional photography can be a little bit unthinkable. Despite the lots of tricky operations and equipment required starting a photography business as a side gig isn’t a bad idea at all. The beautiful thing about it is that you can start small. And it can still be rewarding.

There is a belief flying around that smartphones have taken over the photography business. Whoever told you so didn’t research extensively. Moreover, photography has gone beyond just your neighbors. About a few days ago, I read of a Nigerian man who took Photos of an Old Man and sold them for over N1million naira as NFTs.

There are websites (such as Shutterstock) to even sell your photos as far as they are original. The demand for professional photography is on the increase every other day. Perhaps it should be reiterated that photography can take many forms such as photojournalism, fashion photography, landscape, and many more. Find your niche, start small, and grow big.

3. Catering Services / Baking

Most times, many people take the idea of working or doing business from home to mean having classic, twenty-first-century digital skills to offer clients. Well, that’s not all it means. You can also render catering services from the comfort of your house.

It’s not compulsory for you to be a sensational chef or own five-star kitchen space to start. You could start by serving simple foods to friends and neighbors. Back then in my university days, I knew a friend who started serving simple food to fellow students from his off-campus, single-bed apartment. You too can start from your house, offering only a few foods you can cook well, then expand your offering and customer base later on.

Baking is another simple-to-start home-based company. You can establish a modest home bakery or even a restaurant with the little you have and adequate information. If it’s a pancake, potato chips, or hotdogs, that’s a good place to start. All you need is a safe area to cook at home, then follow commercial foodservice safety rules and practices.

4. Freelance Writing Business

Writing has always been a necessary talent. Did the scribes come to mind? Even now, there is a growing demand for professional writers. Some people have an urgent need to write but lack the necessary abilities or technical knowledge.

Others are simply too busy to keep up with their daily writing obligations since they have so much on their plates. Furthermore, many companies would pay you a lot more if you helped them write their commercials, sales pages, landing sites, blog posts, and other materials.

If you’re a good writer who hasn’t yet begun to profit from your abilities, now is the time. Begin with your mobile phone at home. Writing is a valuable ability that may be monetized. Don’t worry if you’re not very skilled at writing; all you need is a willingness to learn. Freewriting classes can be found all over the place.

You’ll be OK if you can polish your talents in copywriting, content writing, or creative writing. You might join other dedicated writers making thousands of dollars monthly if you have a good profile on Upwork or LinkedIn.

5. Book (eBooks) Publishing

Book publishing might sound similar to freelance writing. They both require you to write. And they both could fetch you money. But they are also largely different. Freelance writing is writing for others. Writing solely on the instructions of clients. Meanwhile, you can publish books for others and yourself. Interestingly, you don’t have to have a degree in creative writing to be a good writer. There are free online courses that would be of help in honing your writing skills.

The common questions on the lips of many would then be: ‘what do I have to write about?’ Well, no matter who you are, you have a story to tell. We all have stories to share. You have an experience or a wonderful idea that someone somewhere is waiting to hear about. Some of us are good at preaching sermons, explaining a task, simplifying concepts, teaching, cooking, gardening, and more.

You can pen down those pursuits and your thoughts into a book — an ebook especially. Just with your smartphone, or your computer laptop, you can write a book. Even as a student you can do this. And thanks to technology that has made self-publishing possible. You can also self-publish your book and sell it online to the whole world audience.

6. Amazon Store

You may not be financially buoyant to own a physical store. You don’t have to worry, you can own one online. Amazon store is right there for you. Right from your home, you can set up an Amazon store and make sales.

According to a publication on businesstown.com, more than 200,000 entrepreneurs are achieving revenue of over $100,000 annually on Amazon. What else are you waiting for? Getting started on Amazon is fairly easy. You can even start with a single product. Make sure to create your storefront that has your unique look and touch.

7. Start a Blog

Yes, you can start a blog. And you can monetize your blog later on. Last night, I read about Ariana Huffington. She ran and failed the race for the governorship of California in 2003. Ariana Huffington started a blog with her friend Ken Lerer. They refreshed their blog by collecting several news stories and sometimes providing political commentary.

It would interest you to know that The Huffington Post, the blog, was sold for $315 million eight years later. There are many more people who have sold their blogs for a whopping sum. And they were just blogs that started as a joke. You too can start your own. To start a successful blog you have to;

Write a list of all your skills and expertise.
Find a niche for yourself. A niche related to your skills.
Find the right audience.
Build a blog.
Create contents.
Promote your blog.
Monetize it.

Although it cost some dollars to get professional web hosting, there are also free web hosting platforms like WordPress.com. So nothing holds you back from running your blog at home. Do you need a blog. Feel free to Contact Us to get yours for free. However, terms and conditions apply.

8. Jewelry Making

You can start your jewelry business right from your home. It is a good business to start right at home. Although you need to master the nitty-gritty to sustain the operation, with time you will do just fine. The best place to sell jewelry is online. You can sell it on your website.

If you can not set up your website, you can sell with others such as eBay. You can even take them to neighbors or local jewelry stores for patronage. You may have to read more about how to start a jewelry business, but be rest assured it’s what you can start right from home.

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing may just be the perfect setup you have been waiting for. First, it’s simply put as mentioning a few products and services and waiting for buyers to click and buy from the links you included on the products or services.

Then you get a cut from each buy — thereby making some passive income online. Like other businesses, affiliate marketing has its numerous challenges too. So, be rest assured it’s not like a get-rich-quick scheme.

You need to be consistent with a brilliant strategy to earn in some of its overly saturated niches. Meanwhile, it’s simple enough to follow through on. It’s what you can easily do to earn from home. You don’t even have to have a product to sell, or a service to render. It’s about selling products, courses, and services of others and earning a cut from each sale. Recently, the industry is projected to soon reach 8.2 billion by 2022.

10. Craft Making Business

As a beginner entrepreneur, this is quite appealing to you. Making crafts can be that easy to do at home. You can build a thriving craft business if you are willing to. And the good thing about it is that you can sell locally and also online on your private website. If you don’t have a website, you can also sell with other websites as well.

OTHER EASY BUSINESSES TO START AT HOME

Dropshipping.
Selling on ebay.
Landscaping business.
Home tutoring.
Social media services.
Yoga classes and exercise coaching.
Exportation/Importation business.

TAKE A STEP TODAY

Now you have a list of home businesses to choose from. Simply decide on one or two which tallies with your interest and skills. Unlike other businesses that are capital intensive, the above businesses are simple enough for you to start at home. You have enough capacity to start any of those. You don’t even need an office space to be a boss. Take a step today!

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GETTING STARTED: THE FIRST STEPS IN STARTING A BUSINESS

There are three main things that you need before you can start a business. These are skill, knowledge and ready cash. But even before these three things, you must have the entrepreneurial spirit: a desire to own your own business, be your own boss and make your own working hours.

While other people will take longer than you to start a business of their own owing to their laziness or lack of self-confidence, you could go ahead and kick-start that business idea of yours immediately. Here are some steps you should follow for success.

STEP 1: GET STARTED

The first step is figuring out if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, or deciding whether you should start your own business at all. Are You Ready To Be an Entrepreneur? You have come up with an idea, so what are the next steps? Build your business baby — also known as a business plan.

It will help you take your idea and write it out so that you can lay out exactly how and when you want to start your business. It’s the first step in terms of starting any business and is absolutely essential if you want to launch quickly and successfully. Even if you have a plan, update it if it’s not recent or thorough enough.

STEP 2: FIND YOUR NICHE

There are billions of business, small and large, operating in the world, and that number grows every year. The sheer volume of potential customers is enough to make anyone feel overwhelmed when they think about starting their own business, but there’s no need to be intimidated.

At least not yet—you still have plenty of time to find your niche. It doesn’t matter if you want to start an independent consulting firm or a neighborhood barbershop; there’s something out there for you.

Start by looking at what people around you already like doing. Do they love watching sports? Are they constantly talking about their favorite TV shows? Chances are good that if people love one thing, there’s probably room for another business doing it better or differently somewhere nearby. If you can identify a gap in existing services, then go after it! Remember: success starts with finding a solution to a problem.

To help get started on identifying your unique selling proposition (USP), here are some questions to ask yourself: Why should someone hire me instead of someone else? What am I really good at? What do I enjoy doing most? How can I use my strengths and interests to create value for others? When will I start my business?

STEP 3: CREATE AN MVP

(Minimum Viable Product) – In order to start your business, you need to have something that can be sold. For example, if you’re starting a business that will have t-shirts for sale, then you’ll need at least one physical prototype of your shirt design. Or if you’re creating an app, then you’ll need an app that works on paper with real pictures or wireframes rather than simply in PowerPoint.

These prototypes (which is not necessarily what they look like — it could just be an explanation of how things would work) are called Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). An MVP helps validate your idea: if people are willing to pay money for it and use it, then chances are that it’s something worth working on further.

STEP 4: BUILD YOUR PRODUCT

As you research your idea and validate that it is viable, move towards deciding what it will be and how you’ll produce it. Identify: core features, competitors, market size and addressable audience (demographics). Build an MVP (minimum viable product) to test out your assumptions and then build out your team.

Hire salespeople first. Choose co-founders who are better than you at some critical aspect of starting a business or managing people. For example, if you don’t have someone on board who can keep up with all of customer support, you could very well destroy your own company before it even gets off the ground.

STEP 5: LAUNCH IT

Once you have a great idea, you’re ready to go public with it. Launching your business is exciting — but if you’re not prepared, it can also be stressful.Consider these tips before you open your doors:

Get a business license. Don’t wait until after you’ve opened for business to learn about licenses, permits and insurance requirements. You need to know what’s required for your type of business and location. Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.

Create a secure website. If you want to get paid online, you’ll need to accept credit card payments through a payment processing service such as PayPal or Square. These services are safe and generally inexpensive.

Choose a name for your business and do a trademark search. A great business name is the beginning of a great brand. Don’t limit yourself to something that describes what you do — think in terms of how your brand will grow. Check whether the name is available as a web address and make sure that no one else is already using it on social media sites (Twitter, Facebook and so on).

Even if you don’t plan on selling what you’re creating, there are plenty of other ways to release something publically: publishing ebooks, writing guest posts, sharing videos on YouTube. When you launch something publically and build up some buzz around your brand or idea people are going to start talking about it and they’re going to remember who started it all—that person is going to be you.

STEP 6: REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS

Choosing a business name is important, but it isn’t enough. Your customers won’t trust you or come back if you just have an idea; they need proof that you are capable of following through. That means being registered as a business. If you start your business as an LLC or a Corp, your customers will take you more seriously because they know it takes more than just good ideas to run an effective company.

Customers want to do business with people and companies they can trust, so having some legal backing is key when starting any kind of new business. It makes sure that everyone knows what’s going on and it helps ward off potential problems in business deals and relationships down the road. And, let’s be honest—it’s also just good for branding purposes!

STEP 7: GROW YOUR CUSTOMER BASE

Branding, marketing and public relations are key components of starting any business. When you’re first getting started, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity. You want people who will buy your product or service and make repeat purchases — not just one-time users. But with each new client comes brand awareness and word-of-mouth advertising that spreads to other potential customers.

While there’s no magic formula for boosting your customer base, here are some pointers:* Choose a niche market: A small audience is much easier to reach than a large one. Determine where your customers spend time online — say in Reddit forums or Instagram — then join those communities with targeted content.

Starting a business is a powerful step towards building something you care about that can support you financially. These are just a few steps to begin with. In another article, we will talk about some of these steps in details such as registering your business or funding. When you work for someone else, there’s only so much you can do. As an employee, you can’t change the way the company is run. You can’t hire who you want and fire who you don’t. You can’t set your own hours or wages.

But when you start your own business, all of that changes. You’re in charge. Your success depends on your actions: how hard you work, how well you strategize, and how much money you make for the company. In a business of your own, your value to the company is directly correlated to its success—success that is dependent on YOUR actions and YOUR decisions rather than someone else’s.

ARE YOU READY TO START YOUR BUSINESS?

If you have an idea, today is the day to start working on it. Most of the great stories that we know from successful entrepreneurs involve them getting started early.

The sooner that you begin, the sooner that you can finish, which will lead to something great becoming reality. And whether you want to eventually open a store front, or just sell through an ecommerce channel, don’t let your dream stop at a dream. Get up and take action, and turn your dream into reality.

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