Author: Mario

Online Business Ideas You Can Start on a Budget

Posted on by Mario

If I were to ask the majority of people what they wanted to do to earn money, I’m almost one hundred percent sure they would want to build their own empire as they sit back and let their employees do the jobs instead. Even I would want that. However, not everyone can have the courage to take risks when it comes to building a business. Yes, building a offline or online business might cost you a lot and sometimes if things don’t run smoothly, it will even cost you more. Oftentimes, the most common problem is the budget. Many people don’t want to start a business because money becomes the obstacle to overcoming fear of business failures. As a digital marketer, I have always found some clients reluctant to invest some of their money for Melbourne SEO services, because it is expensive and might take long to see results. Of course there will be risks and consequences, right? This is the main reason why people are reluctant to start their own business and hold back even though they desire that plan and hate their regular job. Are you looking to start your own business but feeling like you are on a tight budget? Well, in this article, I’m going to give you some online business ideas you can start on a budget. Keep reading this article to find out!

Drop shipping

This type of business requires little or no money at all. All you need to do is; have a deal with a supplier or a drop shipper and you can start selling. The good news is; you don’t have to handle any delivery to your customers and you don’t have to store your products. Even better, you don’t have to buy the supplies first before selling. You only have to focus on marketing and advertising to gain customers and make the sales. Once the sale is made and you have received payments from your customers, you only have to purchase the products your customers have ordered from your supplier or your drop shipper for a lower price. After that, the supplier or the drop shipper will handle the rest including the packing and the delivery. This type of online business actually will not cost money, but if you want to have a good start, you can start with investing in digital marketing and advertising – that will be the only cost you need to consider in gaining more customers.

Blogging

Blogging helps you gain more opportunities to connect with your existing and potential customers in a different, more conversational way. Through high quality content blogging, you can build trust with your target audience and even help them find answers in your blog articles. When you are getting used to writing blog, improving your writing skills and having your own audience, you will then get more opportunities for your online business, such as connecting with new people, gaining recognition, as well as building your online identity. This, in the future, will lead you to another opportunity to be an influencer. Once you become an influencer, many companies might start recognising you and hiring you to include their products in your blog, which means, you get money from this. I know this seems delusional and this might also take time, but if you focus on relevant and unique content, you can gain something from this.

Online video

Okay, maybe this is almost the same as blogging, but the only difference is that you don’t write things this time, but you are talking in a video. Yes, setting up a YouTube channel can be your own business. Find something specific that you like and you know of; make it more specific for your channel theme. All you need to prepare is a camera or even your mobile phone camera. Make sure you know your theme and what you want to share on YouTube. If you have zero idea about what kind of video content you should make, you can consider these options:

  • Beauty care or cosmetics (reviews, tutorials or swatches)
  • Family, friendship and relationship (advice or sharing)
  • Video games (walkthroughs, gameplays, or reviews)
  • Electronic and gadgets (reviews or overviews)
  • Do It Yourself (tutorials)
  • Travelling (advice, tips, tour or knowledge)
  • Education (advice, tips, knowledge or tutorials)
  • And many more

That’s all the simplest ways to start earning money from a business you can start today with less budget. Of course, even if you can start this business without money, you still need plans and strategies. Any type of business needs plans and strategies with a focus on targets. Of course, it also needs your consistent focus on achieving goals.

Can you start an online business even with a tight budget?

You can start an online business with low budget as long as you plan it carefully.

How do you start an online business with a budget?

Start an online business with a good research, then make consistent plans that include careful calculation for marketing and your budget.

What makes a small online business stand out even with small budget?

Marketing strategy is always the answer for success. Focus on content quality and make everything easy for your customers.

Design Archetypes: Why Leaning into Familiarity is a Virtue in Web Development

Posted on by Mario

web development tips

In life, we’re frequently told and advised to just be ourselves, to not constantly cater to what society expect of you and just focus on what brings you joy. For the most part, this is not actually a bad advice but let me remind you that this kind of thinking is what led Ted Bundy into becoming Ted Bundy and sometimes, fitting in is your best course of action. The unknown might be exciting at times but they can be equally disheartening and this is why in the world of web development, it’s not exactly a bad idea to lean in to the concept of familiarity every now and then.

As an analogy, look into some of the biggest films in 2019 and you’ll start to see a pattern. We have the updated, live-action version of Disney classics such as The Lion King and Aladdin, the final entry in Star Wars third trilogy, and a Terminator sequel that brings back some of of the more notable characters from the earlier films. As much as we clamor for the new and exciting, we are naturally drawn to what’s familiar and this is something you can always take advantage of in web development.

Staying in our comfort zone

The common adage is that familiarity breeds contempt, that the longer you comes into contact with something, the less respect of affinity you’re going to have for that particular thing. Honestly, I would very much like to call hogwash on that particular adage. I’ve been regularly playing Pokémon games since the very first one came out in 1998 and even after two decades, I’ve always eagerly anticipated the latest video games. Because of how the games have largely stuck the same formula, I know what I’m going to get with Pokémon but instead of diminishing my interest, it has instead raised my anticipation because I know I’m going to have a good time.

The phrase staying in the comfort zone tends to carry a negative stigma because it implies a lack of a sense of adventure and an inherent conservative attitude but there’s virtue in sticking to your lane. Being open to new ideas but if you’re confident in what works, why fix what isn’t broken? Trying to engage in something novel and a desire to innovate can sometimes lead to unreasonable expectations and that can be particularly damaging as the potential for disappointment would be high.

Setting you up for failure

When you promise something new and exciting to the general public, you’re basically setting yourself into having to fulfill two different goals; that the public is willing to adapt to whatever you bring to the table and what you’re bringing is an improvement to what’s currently out there. The first one can be especially hard and typically, it’s the kind of thing that only companies that have accumulated a lot of goodwill can safely navigate. There are plenty of real world examples of the difficulty in being a trailblazer.

In a conversation of when online video gaming first appeared on consoles, Microsoft’s Xbox Live that launched in 2002 is frequently cited as the starting point when in fact; it was Sega’s Dreamcast that first had the audacity to start the trend in the late 90s. Despite the critical acclaim received by games like Phantasy Star Online, which has been frequently cited as a landmark title in the history of video game, the console market as a whole didn’t warm up to online games until Microsoft took the baton.

Forcing the public to adapt to your ways isn’t always a good idea

Whenever I boot up a new Pokémon game for the first time, I always know what I’m going to get. It always comes down to the choice between three starter Pokémons, a limit of four moves per Pokémons and a limit of six Pokémons at any given moment. There are 8 gym leaders across the region I have to beat before I could enter the Pokémon League in which I have to battle the Elite Four and the region’s champion and hundreds of Pokémons to catch and train. Thanks to my familiarity with the system, there’s only a small learning curve and this is why familiarity can be such as powerful tool in the world of web development.

In websites, usability has always been an important factor. With so much competition and so little in terms of attention span, you can’t risk having a website that has a steep learning curve as that could easily push away potential customers as they look for an easier website to navigate. Best practices and generally accepted standards exist for a reason and it’s easy to overlook what is familiar in search of the exceptional as designers focus on what they think look best instead of putting the focus on users.

Falling back on design archetypes isn’t a sin

For the more creative designers, relying on archetypes tends to be strictly verboten but trust me when I say that those archetypes exist for a reason; they tend to work. Radical reinvention is a risky bet and 90% of the time, it’s better to use archetypes as a starting point and focus in improving them one step at a time. I’m not saying that thinking outside the box isn’t useful but that’s the kind of advice that could only work when you have the necessary resource to back it up, something that might be too out of reach for small businesses.

The Access to Success: The Complete Guide to Understanding Mobile Commerce

Posted on by Mario

content marketing tips

Phew, I am kind of proud of myself for my self-control because I didn’t just spend money recklessly this month. Yes, all these online shops just can’t leave me alone and I sometimes curse myself for letting my guard down. Back then I used to be so lazy to shop because I had to get ready first and go to the mall, looking at people, crowds and many things I didn’t want to see as an introverted person. Now, I can literally buy anything I want in a flash, straight from my phone. The lesson from this is that we know how powerful ecommerce in this day and age. As time goes by, the inventors are trying to make things easier for us – shopping included. That being said, 2019 is also the year of changes and new stuff. Yes, it’s more like mobile commerce instead of just ecommerce. What’s the difference, actually? On the surface, ecommerce and mobile commerce are virtually identical. The former means selling products over the internet via desktop or laptop computers. The latter means doing exactly the same – but through handheld devices like smartphones or tablets. Ecommerce may focus on a company’s online store, while mobile commerce targets people who shop straight from their phone. Customers shop from brands and retailers through several channels on their phones, including social media, mobile commerce apps, mobile websites and many more. Why? It’s simple; shopping through your phone is easier and you can do it anytime and anywhere. For that reason, big shopping brands like Sephora, Zalora, etc. have started using mobile apps to ease transactions.

If you are a new business owner looking to start mobile commerce business, I know it can be hard sometimes knowing the competition between mobile commerce has been vastly strong nowadays. As a person who provides content marketing services, I have been helping clients get over their fear of starting out because of the tight competition between them and their competitors. Yes, nowadays the rise of mobile commerce is inevitable and the competition is rising high as well. Don’t worry; I’m going to guide you to the access to success through mobile commerce with this article. Keep reading to find out!

Before we start with the guide, let’s talk about benefits of mobile commerce from user perspective first so you can grasp the essential knowledge of mobile commerce. Here they are:

  • Easy transaction anytime and anywhere
  • Additional discounts if ordered from the app
  • New app member benefits
  • Easier access to products
  • Faster loading time

Now that you know the benefits from user perspective, let’s move to the types of mobile commerce. Mobile commerce is not just limited to buying and selling goods through mobile-specific channels. There are other ways you can make use of mobile commerce application, such as:

  • Mobile bookings: Now we don’t have to go to the train station to get tickets anymore. We can just book straight from our phone. All types of bookings like plane tickets, hotels, trains, etc. are available through mobile commerce
  • App-specific marketing and discounts: Perhaps Starbucks is the perfect example for this specific marketing strategy where LINE users can get a buy 1 get 1 promo by showing a specific message they get from Starbucks official LINE ID denoting a buy 1 get 1 promo to the cashier. Yes, this is something that can only be done through mobile commerce.
  • Mobile banking: Going to the ATMs is tiring enough if you only need to send money, right? Mobile banking provides solutions to send money anytime and anywhere you go, unless you are in need of cash, though.
  • Mobile payments: Why do you need cash when you can pay it straight from your phone? With a cashback, no less! People are basically cashless, right now.

So, how do we get started with mobile commerce?

Optimise your mobile commerce site or app

You may have different kinds of marketing strategies and plans, but if your business mobile app or site is not user friendly, no one will end up buying from you. According to research on Google, more than 60% of mobile users will quickly abandon a mobile site or uninstall an app if it’s glitchy or hard to use. Your mobile commerce presence needs to designed and coded for different devices, platforms, and browsers to ensure that end users get a seamless experience.

Use responsive design

I remember the first time I accessed a website through my mobile phone, where there was no laptop and only PC at home while I was on my way to a mall. It was such a bad experience that I couldn’t help going straight to home after that to access my PC so that I could buy something. Why was it such a bad experience? It was because the site was not adjusted to my mobile device size and it ended up ‘freezing’ the whole screen. It’s a good thing that now we can access any site from any device because of the rise of responsive design in this day and age. Responsive design is a design approach to adjust a site size to the size of any device so that the site can be accessed by any device. If your mobile commerce company knows this approach, implement it immediately or your visitor will lose interest in your mobile app or mobile site.

Make it simple for the users

Sure, unique design may attract the eyes of your visitors, but as soon as they find it difficult to access your mobile app or mobile site, or your mobile app or mobile site is hard to understand, they will lose interest already and leave it. Therefore, make it unique but make it simple as well. Use clear and easy navigation so that users can understand where they go and what they should do.

That’s how you understand mobile commerce. In the end, how successful a business is depends on how persistent we are. If you are afraid to take risks, then having a business is not for you, because starting a business needs courage and determination to succeed and that includes taking some risks. If you are ready to start mobile commerce, you can contact us now and let our team help you.