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What Are Mutual Funds? A Guide For New Investors

By Thomas on November 20, 2020

Mutual fund investments have taken a special place in investors hearts, especially those who are new to the investing world. This is because mutual funds are an excellent and convenient way of investing your money. These investment vehicles have proved time and again that they have the potential to generate significantly higher returns. This article serves as a mutual fund investment guide for all investors – new and old. Let’s start with the basics.

What are mutual funds?

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle where an AMC (asset management company) pools the capital of several investors. The pooled money is further invested in different securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments, etc. A fund manager professionally manages the fund and invests it in a myriad of investment options according to your financial portfolio. These fund managers are mutual fund experts that hold an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the volatile markets. In return, the fund houses charge a minimal expense ratio i.e., the annual maintenance fee to manage your mutual fund investments.

How to invest in mutual funds in a way that it best suits your financial needs?

Following are some of the points to be considered before you decide to invest in mutual funds online:

Investment goals
Before deciding to invest, you need to evaluate your financial goals, risk appetite, and the investment tenure for which you desire to stay invested. An investment objective aids in determining the macro-level assortment of mutual fund schemes. Your investment tenure has the potential to have a contributory impact on your investment decisions.
Performance of the mutual fund scheme against a benchmark
A benchmark index is a standard against which the performance and stock allocation of a particular mutual fund scheme is compared. It guides the investment philosophy of the scheme. Hence, the asset allocation of a benchmark index must match with the investment objective of the mutual fund.
Consistent returns
An ideal mutual fund is the one that harvests, desirable, consistent, and significantly high returns over a period and not just whirlwind gains. It must be able to offer decent and consistent returns in both bullish and bearish markets.
Expense ratios
An expense ratio is an important factor to consider as they have the potential to take away a considerable chunk of your earnings. A reasonable expense ratio is anywhere between 0.5 – 1.5%. Anything above 1.5% is usually considered as a high expense ratio. As a thumb rule of investing in mutual funds, the higher the asset under management (AUM), the lower will be the expense ratio, and higher will be the take home earnings.
Fund manager’s experience and expertise
A fund manager plays a vital role in the performance of your mutual fund scheme. Although investing in mutual funds is a process-oriented approach, the fund manager has the final say. As a result, their view counts and experience should be accounted as well.

With different types of mutual funds available to individuals, you must remember that no single scheme or a set of schemes is suitable for everyone. So invest in mutual funds that best complement your portfolio. Happy investing!

Digital Marketing Tips For Small Business

By Thomas on November 16, 2020

Whether or not your small business is digitally based or brick-and-mortar, digital marketing is crucial. The speedy development and growing dependency on technology has made digital marketing arguably the most effective way to spread the word about your business.

It’s more important than ever before to refine your operation’s approach to digital marketing. Make the most of a grand opportunity, and check out a few helpful digital marketing tips for your business today.

Optimize the design of your business website

Your business website is one of your most useful tools in digital marketing, but you have to be mindful of how you formulate your design. Not only do you have to hold the attention of web users, you also have to champion the search engines to be seen in the first place.

Be meticulous about your design, and the response will be your reward. For instance, keyword usage is paramount in placement in the SERPs (search engine results pages). This digital gun store sells AR-15 rifles, and there’s no way to mistake the purpose of their pages.

Google has some useful tools

Google has lots of free tools for business owners to refine their digital presence. Google Analytics will help you see what’s working and what’s not.

A Google My Business listing will boost your local marketing efforts, and there are many other digital tools to explore. Don’t pass on Google’s offer to make your digital marketing efforts more productive.

Build a blog with SEO in mind

Search engine optimization is vital to your visibility online. Take the time to research the ins and outs of SEO, so you can build digital content that indexes well when users search terms that are relevant to your business.

Start your efforts by making certain that all of your content is formatted to perform well for mobile users online. Mobile optimization should be a standard for your online presence.

Social media marketing is essential

Your social media approach should also be a calculated action. Do the research necessary to nail down your target audience, and then work to find out which social media platform best suits that target audience.

Learn what it takes to create a busy social media presence. Start by making regular posts on your profiles. Be present, and answer followers when they make comments on your pages. An active social media presence is a growing social media presence.

Leverage your email mailing list

Use your website and your social media pages to present users interest in your business with an opportunity to opt-in to your email mailing list. Use your email mailing list to build a lasting rapport with consumers, and work to personalize your email correspondence as much as possible.

5 Jobs Where You Can Work For Yourself

By Thomas on October 16, 2020

Whether you’re seriously contemplating resigning from your current job or looking for ways to earn extra income, you enjoy a higher level of freedom and flexibility as a professional when you opt for self-employment than if you were working for a company.

One major advantage that comes with being self-employed is that you can create and grow your own opportunities. Sounds like an enticing prospect? Let’s look at the top five online jobs you can explore when you take the leap from 9-5 to self-employment.

1. Life Coach or Mentor

You are your own boss as a life coach. You can provide people with practical business coaching in your area of specialisation.

You may also choose to mentor professionals and organisations on how to maximise available resources best to create outstanding values that can help get them ahead in their market or niche industries.

But it’s important you have achieved considerable success in your field before being a guide and mentor to other people. Your records of achievement will attract young professionals. Work teams and organisations seek you out for business or professional training.

2. Blogging

Gone are the days when blogs are basically about telling your life stories to random people on the web. Now, you can make a good living quitting your day job to become a full-time blogger. You just have to find and concentrate on a niche that comes naturally to you and you find fun writing on – from food to parenting, home decor to technology, sports to music etc.

Once your target audiences are able to connect with your blog content and general style and gain wide traffic, you’re likely to start earning lots of money as a blogger from targeted advertisements.

3. Freelancing

As a freelancer, you can select jobs that suit your skills and schedules best. This means you pick only those jobs that interest you and you’re comfortable with. If you’re a great writer or graphic artist, for example, you can just register or log in to a freelancing site and find jobs that match your skills online. It is important that you first get all the basics on how to start working freelance.

However, note that building a great profile and trust with clients don’t come overnight. You need to work hard at consistently delivering quality jobs and on time too. You may even need to start with low hourly rates and scale up gradually as you expand your profile and gain wider experience and clientele.

4. Digital Marketing

If you’ve got a background in digital marketing, then you should seriously consider venturing into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) when you decide to go solo.

Businesses are constantly in need of SEO experts to help them increase web presence in today’s digitally driven world. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs the average pay for a digital marketer at $132,000 per annum.

In addition to helping businesses set up and implement effective SEO strategies, as an SEO specialist, you can also help them market their business on social media (social media marketing).

5. Online Surveys and Product Research

Online surveys and product research is one of the easiest ways to make money fast today. While payments by survey companies and sites vary, the fact is you earn money by simply answering a few questions, surfing the web or some other requested online activities.

You can find and complete different surveys all through the day from your computer, phone or other connected digital mobile device and get rewarded for sharing your opinions.

Conclusion

There are several ways you can be self-employed. The chance to earn from the web could just be what you need to work for yourself.

Whether you want to devote just a part of your weekdays or weekends to it as a side gig to earn extra savings or you want to become a fully engaged, work-from-home professional, you’ll find that online jobs give you that level of freedom and flexibility that traditional workers cannot experience.

3 Tips For Prioritizing Your Marketing Budget When Funds Are Limited

By Thomas on September 23, 2020

Every small business owner or entrepreneur knows how vital it is to spend their money wisely. Especially when it’s such a fine line between having enough money to keep everything moving and running into the red, knowing how to prioritize your money is key. So when you know that you need to devote some money to marketing but you don’t have much to go around, prioritization is going to be your lifeline.

To help you in figuring all of this out for your organization, here are three tips for prioritizing your marketing budget when funds are limited.

Work From Your Goals

When trying to prioritize how to spend your money on marketing, the best way to get your head around things and figure out where your money will have the biggest impact for you is to really nail down what your goals are for your marketing in general.

According to Brian Morris, a contributor to Business2Community.com, businesses like law firms might want to attract new clients. For other businesses, getting repeat business or making more sales could be the goal of their marketing. But until you’re able to clearly understand and define what you want your marketing efforts to achieve, you can’t hope to be able to prioritize where you’re putting your money in order to most effectively reach your goals.

Learn How To Best Run Campaigns

Just throwing your money into the category of marketing won’t do you a lot of good, especially if you don’t have a lot of money to go around. In this situation, you’ll want to be very strategic about where you’re putting your money and what’s going to give you the best return on your investment.

To help you with this, Keith Bendes, a contributor to Forbes Communications Council, advises that you allocate your marketing money to whatever is going to give you the biggest impact. Usually, this will mean putting your money only into one channel for any given campaign. So whatever area or platform you think will most resonate with your target audience for that specific campaign is where you should be putting your funds.

Invest Time Rather Than Money

When money is low, there are still ways that you can get your marketing going by investing your time rather than your dollars.

One great way to do this, according to Helen Pollit, a contributor to Search Engine Journal, is to get creative with your online marketing. While you may know the best practices for things like SEO, nitpicking all the little technicalities may not be the best use of your time. Instead, do what you can to set yourself apart from your competitors and make a splash with your audience.

If your marketing budget is small, consider using the tips mentioned above to learn how to prioritize your efforts and investment.

5 Ways You Can Earn Rewards Online

By Thomas on September 10, 2020

The internet provides people with many opportunities, especially those who want to earn extra money. If you want to make money for a road trip, concert or night out on the town simply find online sites that offer rewards for your time.

If you’re not sure where to start, perhaps today’s article will help you. Below are the top five ways you can earn rewards online. Continue reading to find out more.

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1. Take Part in Online Surveys That Pay

There are companies out there who do extensive research on their target audience. One way these companies conduct their research is by collecting data from surveys. Typically companies will offer you cash for each survey you complete. All you have to do is answer all the questions on the survey honestly and submit it through the company’s website to earn your rewards.

2. Play Online Slot Machines

Did you know that you don’t have to go into a physical casino to play slot machines? You can play online. So if you’re sitting at home, bored, log onto one of the best online casinos Canada, South Africa or Ireland has developed. There are impressive sites from across the globe, all safe to play on. You’ll love how easy it is to earn rewards and you’ll get exclusive offers if you’re a first-time player.

3. Get Discounts on All Your Favourite Products

If you shop with a store often and you have a loyalty card you can save on products that you buy regularly. You’ll have the opportunity to earn discounts during sales or simply because you’re a loyal customer. Find out about offerings in your local stores so you don’t miss out.

4. Earn Rewards Through Insurance

Some insurance companies offer you rewards based on your activities. For example, certain medical insurance companies offer you bonus points if you eat healthy food or run every day. You can use these points to get discounts on travel or when you buy food and other items you need.

Earning bonus points on your health insurance could help you reach your fitness goals quicker. You’ll eat healthier and get regular exercise to earn your points. Not only will you be physically healthier but you’ll be able to spend your points on various products or services you need, without using cash. For example, depending on the type of benefits your insurance company offers, you can get discount on fuel and gym memberships.

And it’s so easy to make this work for you! Simply swipe your card or enter your details online to start earning these rewards.

5. Review Books, Movies and TV Shows

Some sites need the public’s honest opinion on books, movies and TV shows. So find a site that will offer you rewards for reviewing content. You’ll be helping those who need more information about what they’re reading and watching & you’ll get paid to practice one of your hobbies.

Final Thoughts

If you want to earn quick money that will help you pay for the activities you want to do or the items you need, consider the ideas on our list. These ideas are safe, fun and won’t require much time. Have fun with these rewarding sites and see how much you can earn in a month.

How To Ship A Motorcycle Across The Country

By Thomas on September 1, 2020

If you own a motorbike and you are planning to move house soon, moving your bike is a simple task, right? Well, not really. If you are moving within the same town or city, then you can just ride your bike to your new home. On the other hand, if you are relocating to another state, then riding your motorcycle there is not a good option simply because you would also need to take your household items with you.

Some people may think that it is more practical to ride their bikes than to have it shipped but do not forget about the cost of gas, food, wear and tear and other travel expenses that may incur. It is definitely more economical to hire the service of a professional motorcycle shipping company to do this work.

You will need to find the best motorcycle transport company to move your motorcycle cross country as it is a delicate matter. Read on to find the best way to ship a motorcycle across the country. Some of the common options are:-

Transporting the bike with a truck

You can use your own pickup truck, or borrow one from a good friend. You will need to know how to load your motorcycle into the truck, and then secure it to the ruck’s flatbed.

Moving your motorcycle on a trailer. Another motorcycle transportation approach is to rent a trailer to move your motorcycle across the country. Once you load and secure your bike on that motorcycle trailer, you can attach the latter onto that back of your car and haul your motorbike to its end destination.

Move the bike on a trailer

Rent a trailer and attach it to the back of your car. Load and secure your bike on the trailer and haul it to your destination.

Hire the service of a motorcycle transport company

It is without a doubt, this transportation method is the easiest way to ship a motorbike long distance.

The motorcycle shipping company offers a variety of benefits when shipping your motorbike such as individual shipping crates, enclosed transport and professional service. In order to move your bike successfully, you have to choose a motorcycle shipping company that specializes in the transportation of motorcycles. This way, the company will have the required experience to complete the job safely and quickly. Finding the right one for you may seem like a daunting task because there are many options to consider.

Don’t worry because Shiply can make your life easier. This online shipping marketplace can connect you to the shipping companies listed on its platforms and offer you with an easy environment to compare costs and companies.

The cost for shipping your motorcycle depends on a few factors such as distance, size, locations of pick up and delivery and the time of the year. The motorcycle transport service type such as open method or enclosed method will also influence the cost.

An open carrier means your bike may share the shipping truck with a few other vehicles and are openly exposed to elements throughout the journey.

Enclosed carrier means the item will stay inside the truck the entire journey and is safe from any outside elements. This will of course cost more.

Ultimately, the transport mode you choose will depend on your preferences and budget. Make sure to take the correct methods to secure your bike arrives in one piece at your new location.