8 marketing strategies for independent and self-employed consultants

8 marketing strategies for independent and self-employed consultants

8 marketing strategies for independent and self-employed consultants

May 27, 2024

Marketing strategies for independent and self-employed consultants

Implementing strategies designed to increase visibility and trustworthiness is the key to marketing a consulting firm efficiently. You can establish an admirable brand through hard work and dedication. 

As a self-employed consultant, or an independent professional in the consulting industry, successful marketing is the bridge between your skills and services, and clients who would benefit from them. Creating a brand and spreading awareness to generate leads is almost as important as the services you provide themselves.

Here are 8 effective marketing techniques for independent and self-employed consultants, to help attract more clients.

Define your niche

Identifying your niche is essential for establishing a successful consulting career or business. While providing highly specialized services may limit your target market, it also enhances your attractiveness to potential clients. Clearly articulate on your website or social media ads what your consulting services entail and what distinguishes you from other consultants. Once you effectively showcase your expertise, previous clients are likely to trust you with additional consulting areas or recommend you to other businesses.

Register your google business profile

Create a Google Business Profile (GBP), even if your business is not local. This puts it on the literal map for those searching for consulting services, while adding credibility to your company. GBP displays information such as opening hours, services offered, a contact number, office photos, and reviews about your business, which appear in searches. 

This service is entirely free for you to make, and for potential clients to use, so think of it as one of the easiest forms of advertising!

Establish your brand

As an independent consultant, realizing your own brand is vital. Various methods are available to promote and advertise your business, including online, within your community, and among colleagues. Remember, everything said, done, or published online reflects on you as an entrepreneur — so evaluate how you present yourself online and make any necessary modifications. 

This is especially important as an independent consultant. With no nameless company to fall behind, it’s important your persona online and when speaking with potential clients is aligned with your company values.

Write a concise sales pitch

An elevator pitch is a brief, impactful summary of your company, designed to be delivered in 30 seconds or less. Traditional businesses use this method to highlight key aspects of their brand and communicate information efficiently. Modern businesses also employ elevator pitches as part of their brand-building strategy, aiming to get more done in less time and make a lasting impression on potential clients with a succinct promise, statement, or business goal.

Create a professional website

A strong brand starts with an attractive website. Potential clients will likely visit your site first when researching you, so your web design should reflect this, and be created with care and professionalism. Solicit feedback from colleagues and friends before finalizing it for launch. 

Remember to keep it simple and straightforward to navigate, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from a graphic designer or digital marketing agency to optimize your site for a user-friendly experience. If you can’t afford that, consider offering your consulting services in exchange for theirs.

Prove your expertise

Independent contractors can leverage thought leadership for maximum effect. Writing blogs for your website or posting on LinkedIn are two effective platforms to showcase your expertise, enabling you to reach a broader audience than traditional marketing methods. 

Speaking engagements also present an excellent opportunity for independent contractors to demonstrate thought leadership. Offer your knowledge at local media events, professional associations and conferences.

Set up your social media profiles

Social networking can be a potent marketing tool. Displaying your expertise and work online is one of the best ways to expand your network as a business consultant. Your portfolio or website should highlight this work. Include testimonials, provide contact information, engage your target audience and share useful content.

Social media allows you to build authority and credibility by selecting platforms relevant to your goals and niches, and optimizing them with hashtags, keywords and links to your website. Social media advertising is a more upbeat, eye-catching way to attract attention to your business and draw potentially interested clients to your site.

Build your business network

An effective business network is the key to consulting success. There are various methods of networking you can engage in. Attending conferences or local events, hosting virtual meetings with clients online, or meeting people physically can all serve as opportunities to expand your sphere of influence. 

When choosing which method best fits you, ensure you’re interacting with people of different interests and experience levels. Having such diversity within your network can inspire creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

Conclusion

Although approaches may have changed over the years, the fundamentals of growth-focused marketing remain consistent. Knowing who your target market is and what services or products they require as well as the strategies for outwitting competitors remain essential components. Develop a plan to tell your story and promote your point of view to ensure maximum marketing success.

Marketing comes in all shapes and sizes, from traditional billboards to TikTok videos. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the different types of marketing mediums available to you, and remember that some campaigns will inevitably be more successful than others. 

Try a range, and find out what works best for your branding and your services. With these 8 marketing strategies explained you should be inspired to boost your business as a self-employed or independent consultant.

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17 B2B marketing tips in 2026 (Backed by experts)

17 B2B marketing tips in 2026 (Backed by experts)

17 B2B marketing tips in 2026 (Backed by experts)

April 29, 2024

B2B Marketing tips

B2B marketing targets businesses, but don’t forget – there are still humans making the decisions!

Apart from the fundamental B2B marketing tips that B2B companies are using to build stronger brand awareness, every year there are new innovative ways to stand out from the competition. Digital trends are following the fast-changing world, hence B2B marketers are always ready to experiment with their strategies and find B2B marketing tips that will work best in the near future.

B2B marketing tips you need to know 

Effective B2B marketing centers around people, whether it’s building partnerships or selling services.

Enhance video marketing

One of the B2B marketing tips that proved to be most effective is video content and many experts in the field believe that this trend is here to stay. 

Over the past few years, video content was a hot topic when speaking about B2B marketing tips for a reason. Moreover, based on the video marketing statistics, video marketing offers a better ROI and it helps with the lead generation too. Hence, 95% of video marketers plan to increase their spending on video marketing. Using a free online video maker can help you to quickly convert your ideas into video content as it has templates, music, and visual media available in it to enhance your content quality.

For creators looking to further enhance their video content, Videoleap video editor offers a powerful yet user-friendly platform that enables both novice and professional videographers to achieve polished, impactful results. With features that support everything from basic trimming to advanced effects and color grading, Videoleap is instrumental in enabling creators to bring their vision to life with ease and efficiency.

User-generated content

Another B2B marketing tip that is here to stay. Sharing user-generated content as part of your B2B marketing strategy will not only save you valuable time creating content, but it’s social proof that will easily help you earn the trust of your potential customers.

Furthermore, since you already know that tagging all accounts involved is one of the best practices, tagging the users who created that content will help you reach a new audience and will increase your brand awareness.

Posting user-generated content will help you to show that your product or service is useful and approved by your customers. You can even use your customer’s testimonials as part of your paid campaigns and entice new companies with those trustworthy recommendations.

Being on top when it comes to acquiring new leads and cost-effective, with businesses having already far-stretched budgets, I’m sure many will turn to the idea of establishing a referral program.

Shift to omnichannel marketing

With the changing times, a B2B marketing tip that became imperative to know is shifting marketing strategy from multichannel marketing to omnichannel marketing. Omnichannel marketing is when your intended audience is connected with all the channels, be it social media, physical storefronts, mobile marketing, newspapers, and the web. 

Use full-funnel marketing

Full-funnel marketing means reaching consumers where they fall within the funnel. It is a necessary approach because it allows marketing efforts to be calculated. Creating a successful full-funnel marketing strategy starts with B2B marketers mapping out the three stages of the funnel and the content assets required for each.

That allows marketers to identify which part of the funnel is leaking and where they might be losing customers, and look for ways to improve and enhance the customer journey. Creating a full-funnel marketing strategy ensures that marketing efforts are calculated, with clear potential results, and keeps efforts focused on outcomes rather than just activities.

Dave Toby, Director of Pathfinder Alliance

Start a referral program

A referral program is a great way to find clients online, thus, it’s one of the best B2B marketing tips that can make a change in your B2B business. Create a referral program that allows other businesses to share your products or services with potential clients, track those referrals, all while incentivizing them to keep referring your company.

When creating a referral program, here are a few things to keep in mind: make the sign-up process simple and hassle-free. If it takes too long for businesses to sign up, they will lose interest. Create a simple way for businesses to sign-up and start sharing.

Nina Jensen, Community Outreach Manager at 8×8

Referral marketing takes a huge impact on a business’s approach for a few years now. Being on top when it comes to acquiring new leads and being cost-effective, with businesses having already far-stretched budgets, I’m sure many will turn to the idea of establishing a referral program.

Joy Corkery, Content Marketing Lead at Latana

Listen more market less

One of the B2B marketing tips that no one mentions is to stop marketing. Seriously. Instead, start listening. Then respond. You can even do this in your blog. Before you research keywords, talk to your customers. Find out what their questions are and then address them, candidly, in your blog posts.

Nicolas Jacobeus, Founder and CEO of SaaSpirin

Invert the marketing funnel

B2B companies should completely invert the marketing funnel and focus on driving action first, as opposed to awareness. How would they accomplish this? Instead of focusing primarily on the features of their product or service, they should focus on crafting a narrative around how their biggest advocates use them! 

As we know, reviews and testimonials are gold for businesses and will be for the foreseeable future. Throw in the fact that emotion is often a greater purchase indicator than logic, and you have a recipe for marketing success.

Cory Young, Founder of BCC Interactive

Appeal to the human beings

Stop marketing to robots. B2B companies often fall into the trap of marketing to businesses. They treat their audiences as robots. But remember, there are individual people who see your ads, read your white papers, and evaluate your business proposals. Stop being boring and learn from consumer companies instead.

Ariel Lim, Digital Marketing Consultant

One of the B2B marketing tips that creates the biggest opportunities is to describe and position products in a way that appeals to the human beings they’re trying to sell to. A lot of B2B positioning feels like it’s pulling from the investor deck, rather than an insights-driven effort to understand an audience. 

If you position yourself as a B2B solution platform that finds synergies to streamline operational efficiency, there’s a pretty good chance your audience can’t tell what you really do, what sets you apart, or why they should work with you. If you develop messaging that’s distinct, specific, and benefit-oriented, you’re much more likely to connect with your buyers.

Elliott Brown, Director of Marketing at OnPay Payroll and HR 

We find that the best way to market B2B business is to create personal relationships with customers and use storytelling as much as possible.

Be personal. Connect with real people through social media platforms. People respond to sincere, non-automated, non-sales-pitchy messages. Get interested in their companies and the work they do. Exchange ideas and information.

Creating meaningful, personable, mutually-beneficial relationships can help build a great business environment. Then, use customer success stories to tell your own story and how you help other businesses. After all, that’s the real essence of a successful B2B enterprise.

Natalya, Content Marketer for LiveHelpNow

Bifurcate your marketing funnel

Most B2B marketing teams make the flawed assumption that all marketing qualified leads are the same and convert through the funnel at the same rate. This assumption breeds marketing struggles. The funnel needs to be divided into the following parts:

 

  • High Intent: These are leads that have completed website demo requests, pricing requests, talked to sales, submitted contact forms, etc.
  • Low Intent: These are led like webinar attendees, ebook downloaders, paid social traffic, direct response, etc.*

Once you see the data, you’ll realize that high intent matters most and you can shift your efforts to influence those conversions with greater focus.

Vivek Nanda, VP of Marketing at Jorsek Inc., makers of easyDITA

Pre-validate marketing campaigns

One way B2B companies can improve their marketing is by pre-validating their marketing campaigns for optimal results. For each campaign, publish 3 versions of your content at 25% of the campaign duration using 25% of the budget. Then, use the remaining 75% of the budget on the version of the campaign that performed the best during the trial period.

Nick Swekosky, CEO of Market Metrics

Add your phone number

Add a Whatsapp number and a phone number to your landing pages, social media creatives, ads, and your business website. Many B2B companies just have a contact form or email id. But a lot of clients want to connect immediately. Responding instantly gives you a big advantage over competitors who might respond in 8-24 hours. 

We’ve been able to get the information required to make a quote much faster (usually within 2 hours) and in most cases, send a proposal the same day. When you respond instantly, the client is less likely to contact your competitors.

This has made our marketing much more effective and increased our conversion rate 3x times.

Nikita Agarwal, Director at Milestone Localization

Add a chatbot on your website

Chatbots play a crucial role in engaging the customers as customers nowadays want quick answers to their questions and queries that are accessible 24/7. Thus, Chatbots are the most necessary marketing automation since they help you easily communicate and engage with clients.

Werner Jorgensen, Marketing and Sales expert at Tooleto

Free offers

After working with dozens of B2B businesses all around the USA, I can say with confidence that offering a tool or service for free is the best way to get new business in your door. Whether it’s a template, a spreadsheet, information, or something else – give  it away.

You’ll earn trust and get your foot in the door faster than an aggressive sales strategy. So much of the online space is inundated with sleazy sales and smoke and mirrors that you have to earn someone’s trust before you ever get a conversation.

Mike Funkhouser, CEO of Small Business Mentor

Approach branding differently

Branding, a customer’s perception of a product or service, has become more important for B2B than ever before. I believe we’ve fallen in love with our B2B partners just like we have to fall in love with a consumer brand. B2B companies are going to have to really home in on the following things:

 

  • People will buy on the long tail – Brand and product differentiation will matter, even for commoditized products and services as products become more accessible.
  • Transparency and positions matter – Businesses have to be more concerned than ever about ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) than they have had to in the past.
  • Multi-channel is key – Traditional “smile and dial” will be replaced by automated programs that feel personal. 

Bo Bothe, CEO of BrandExtract

Podcasting

I’ve found podcasting has been a tremendous help in B2B brand building over the past few years. Although I’ve co-hosted 2 podcasts over the past 10+ years, our experience helping create and market podcasts for B2B clients is more compelling.

A few years ago, we helped build a content and marketing strategy for the Craving The Future podcast, which resulted in the host landing a global hotel client within months after launching.

The best way to get into podcasting is to leverage your network to secure interesting content and interviews. The bigger the names, the more likely they are to generate interest and provide further leverage to secure future high profile guests.

Industry influencers are also likely to have their own following and market the podcasts to their networks for added reach.

Kent Lewis, President & Founder Anvil

Niche marketing

Niche marketing makes selling easier because you are targeting a specific audience and you can ensure that your offering is tailored to meet the needs of your audience. They will immediately know that you are perfectly positioned to help them.

Because you are clear on what you’re offering then your content will flow more easily. Everything that you create can be done so with your target audience in mind.

Louise Burke, founder of  Zapp Communications

Conclusion

Do you see it? The line between B2C and B2B marketing is blurred and you can’t really tell where one’s beginning or ending. That’s because in both cases the human should be in your focus. Moreover, marketing trends that really work for B2B companies are rapidly changing, so to stay in the game you must always be ready to implement the newest B2B marketing tips. 

Although part of these B2B marketing tips were popular for some time now and showed how effective they are, some of the B2B marketing tips listed in this article are new in the marketing world. That means, you are lucky you find out about them before everyone else and you can become an early adopter and leverage this advantage.

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11 best online networking events (free and paid) to attend in 2026

11 best online networking events (free and paid) to attend in 2026

11 best online networking events (free and paid) to attend in 2026

April 16, 2024

Online networking events to attend

Online networking events flourished since 2020 and they’re here to stay. They made networking easier and much more accessible, even for the smallest businesses. 

As a business owner, you have to become noticeable and the best way to do that is by connecting with other professionals. Whether you want to trade information, build relationships, or exchange opinions, virtual networking events are a great opportunity for your business to blossom.

Luckily, the number of online networking events is only growing – 21% year over year. Yet somehow, it’s hard to find a virtual networking event for business owners and professionals that’s not a complete waste of time

So let’s have a look at some of the best free and paid networking events online, and the key benefits of attending one.

Online networking events you need to attend to create big business opportunities

To save you some valuable time doing research, we’ve done it for you and we created a list of the best online networking events. Moreover, because networking is only effective if done regularly, we put the focus on weekly or monthly online networking events.

Evolution Virtual Networking

Evolution Virtual Networking is one of the finest online networking events for entrepreneurs.

These virtual networking events are ideal for entrepreneurs who want to promote their message and acquire new skills from other like-minded company owners. Guest speakers are often invited to speak on particular subjects and offer deeper insights. 

When: Every other Thursday at 9 am CET

Who is it for: Owners of small businesses from all walks of life.

Cost: Free to attend

IWant2Network

IWant2Network is one of the most known online entrepreneur networking events for company entrepreneurs. This corporate networking event has no membership requirements or a one-profession restriction since it’s all about making contacts.

In other words, IWant2Network is one of those networking virtual events that are intended to assist and grow your company and career while maintaining a professional and enjoyable atmosphere.

When: Several dates per month.

Who is it for: UK based businesses

Cost: Starts at £15

WoW members monthly meeting

WoW members’ monthly meeting is one of the finest online networking events for company entrepreneurs. This is a regular Women of Wearables business networking event. A casual online meeting where you may share your experiences, get assistance, or meet and connect with other people who share your interests.

When: Every first Wednesday of the month.

Who is it for: Professional women and anyone with an interest in wearable technology and providing women with a platform for growth

Cost: Free to attend

The Rebellious Business Network

The Rebellious Business Network will provide you with noteworthy training sessions, the latest strategies, tips, and tricks to help your business thrive.

The best part is that every week, there are industry-leading guest experts and Keynote Speakers that share some serious value and practical advice around the subject of getting your business seen and heard online.

When: Every Wednesday at 10:30 am BST.

Who is it for: Small business owners. 

Cost: Free to attend

Every.Black Entrepreneur International Masterminds

Every.Black Entrepreneur International Masterminds is one of the top online entrepreneur networking events for small company entrepreneurs. These virtual networking events are well-known for the exciting speakers and cutting-edge technical insights they feature. They discuss books, their perspectives, and their insights on entrepreneurship.

When: Every Monday at 8:00 a.m. EST.

Who is it for: Ambitious entrepreneurs from around the world.

Cost: Free to attend

ONLE

Speaking of networking virtual events, ONLE is another brilliant opportunity for business owners. Just like regular business networking, the meeting is just the starting point for building relationships. They hold a group chat where you can quietly listen in and learn or you can jump in and share your views.

Each meeting, you’ll also be given the opportunity to have an improvised one-to-one chat with someone from the group. Therefore, if you’re looking to strengthen your professional network, ONLE is a sound choice.

When: Multiple dates per month.

Who is it for: Business owners from all industries.

Cost: Paid membership £39 per month

The Three Martini Lunch National Virtual Networking Event

The Three Martini Lunch National Virtual Networking Event is a virtual networking event for meeting new people, establishing connections, and networking digitally with highly engaged professionals, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers. It is one of the greatest events for entrepreneurs to attend if you want a more laid-back vibe. 

When: Every Tuesday at 5 PM EST

Who is it for: Entrepreneurs from everywhere who want to stay socially distanced but virtually engaged.

Cost: Free to attend

Network After Work Virtual Networking

Network After Work Virtual Networking is a virtual networking event that brings together busy, socially active individuals who appreciate the value of networking and expanding their network. Hosted by A Network After Work moderator, it’s the ideal virtual networking group to network, create ideas, solicits feedback, and meet others who share your aims. 

When: The dates vary according to the location.

Who is it for: Entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders interested in establishing and maintaining significant connections.

Cost: $0 – $99

MPWR Networking

This online networking club is for all those businesswomen who have been ruling their businesses fiercely. It is for all those women who have just started a side or full-time business and even for the ones with business going strong for a long time.

If you are someone who is having a minor crisis and feeling like your mind has gone numb about what to do next, there are people in MPWR Networking to help you out. Grow your network to people across the globe and find the ones who can help you.

When: Twice a month on Tuesdays

Who is it for: Businesswomen who want to connect, grow and thrive.

Cost:  £0 – £22.15 per event or £24 monthly membership

V5O

Virtual 5 O’Clock (V5O) was created during the COVID-19 pandemic by entrepreneurs, business owners, and thought leaders to recreate the sense of community lost during the pandemic. Their members, ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 executives, are at the forefront of the constantly changing business landscape and share a passion for discovering and shaping what’s “next.” V5O provides a tailored, guided approach to collaborating that ensures members make meaningful connections that lead to actionable business opportunities, long-lasting relationships, and tangible results. Unlike traditional networking communities, V5O takes a personalized approach to help members connect in a natural, fun, and productive way. 

When: Thursday Night Happy Hours at 5:00 pm EST

Who is it for: Business professionals who share a common desire to connect with others, share ideas, and discover opportunities for collaboration and mutual advancement.

Cost: $19.99, Free for members. Membership cost $99 per month but includes more events and opportunities.

SEO Office Hours

Every Friday Jo Turnbull and Michael Chidzey from Good Signals host an unofficial SEO Office Hours to help SEO proffesionals with their SEO and organic traffic challenges. While not all questions may have immediate solutions, the combined expertise aims to provide valuable insights for each problem.

The best part of SEO Office Hours is being able to join live and interact with the other guests. You can either chat to everybody or direct message.

When: Every Friday 9:30 BST

Who is it for: SEO and digital marketing proffesionals

Cost: Free to attend

Conclusion

With online networking events becoming a new norm, it’s easier than ever to find professionals who share the same vision, since you have a chance to connect with entrepreneurs anywhere in the world.

Choose which entrepreneur networking events are most suitable for you and enjoy creating your next big business opportunity.

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How to write a SWOT analysis paper (2026)

How to write a SWOT analysis paper (2026)

How to write a SWOT analysis paper (2026)

March 29, 2024

How to write a swot analysis paper

Being a business owner means making many impossible decisions without effective instruments. SWOT analysis is an excellent tool for looking at your business aside. Business planning assumes that you, as a business owner, must control all processes and things. Thanks to a SWOT analysis paper, you can do it most effectively. 

Planning, business development, finance, and more aspects of the business will be easily controlled and resolved using SWOT analysis. If you are still determining if your writing skills are enough to write an excellent SWOT analysis paper, you can delegate this activity to a proficient online paper writer. 

Choose a reliable writing service that cooperates with skilled authors who can create any type of paper for business or any purpose. All you need to do is register on the site providing brief information about how you see the SWOT analysis paper. A skilled writer will create compelling work for you following your instructions. Reaching out to such services is confidential, fast, and affordable. Read on to find out how to write a SWOT analysis paper and make it flawless.

What is a SWOT analysis paper

The abbreviation of SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Even though it may sound like a simple list of pros and cons, it is not. The main purpose of writing a SWOT analysis paper is to identify various factors that lift your business or tear it down.

Define the objectives

Start writing a SWOT analysis paper by identifying your objectives. You will need to write a table to make analyses easy-going and clear. The table must contain four main points. It would be better if you start with Strengths.

Strengths

To write a compelling list of Strengths, you must answer the following questions: 

  • What does your business do best
  • What attracts customers to your company
  • What do customers like about your business
  • What can your business offer that competitors cannot do well

Weaknesses

Recall the reviews left by customers and pay attention to what made them not satisfied. Consider the feedback of employees who worked with your business or currently working on you. 

In order to improve the weaknesses try to answer these questions:

  • What are the resources of your business that need to be more 
  • What are the areas of your business that must be improved 
  • What are the reasons your potential customers decide to work with your competitors instead of you

As an owner, you must be genuine and realistic when you define your business’s weaknesses. Forget about optimistic expectations and look with a fresh eye on your business processes, products, and services. Remember that defining weaknesses will help you to reduce them and approve your business.

Note that it is crucial to divide weaknesses from threats. The main distinction between them is that weaknesses are internal factors you can improve inside your business. In other words, you can control weaknesses. Threats, instead, are external factors that you can hardly control.

Opportunities

It is crucial to start defining opportunities only after you are clear about your business weaknesses and strengths. 

Answer the following questions regarding opportunities:

  • Look at the market you’re working at and define the current trends, also trying to predict future trends in the business 
  • What are the trends you can use to grow your business
  • Can you grow your business by partnering with a reliable company or an entrepreneur
  • Consider whether there are any opportunities to get investments or sponsorship for your business 
  • Think over the opportunities to grow your business by developing new products or types of services

Threats

Now you’re ready to think over the threats to your business. Here are the most crucial factors to consider:

  • Is your business seasonal 
  • Is your business completely legal 
  • Doesn’t it have an unreliable cash flow process that could become a threat
  • Are all your partners and suppliers reliable enough to trust them
  • Are there any situations that make it impossible to grow your business, and what are these obstacles
  • How do laws in your field affect your business
  • Is there any opportunity for changes in this area

Structure your paper

Now you’re ready to start writing your paper. Draft your SWOT analysis paper and add it with the following sections:

Start with an introduction that will provide your main goal and set the main questions you want to answer with the help of a SWOT analysis 

Proceed with writing the body. Briefly describe the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats you included in the table while preparing for writing. If there are too many items to consider and you cannot reduce any of them, use bullet points to make the section readable

The next part of the body of a SWOT analysis paper will be the analysis itself. It is the most crucial part of the paper. The goals of the analyses part are developing an effective strategy for your business and creating an action plan to achieve the set goals, and finalizing a conclusion.

Write an analysis part

When analyzing, consider all four factors together and find connections between them. Here are the most important questions to make the SWOT analysis section practical and useful:

  • Think about the threats from the point of your strengths and define whether it is possible to use one of the strengths to beat a thread
  • Think over the possibility of minimizing the weaknesses of your business by using its strengths
  • Is there a way to eliminate the weaknesses of your business by using one of its opportunities

Generate a plan

Now that you have found connections between the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your business, proceed with developing an action plan. It would help if you generated working ideas that can be clear and measurable to start acting immediately. After you create a list of ideas for your business, prioritize them and decide what you can do now and what is the easiest way to start improving your business. Arrange the plan of action to make it readable by using bullet points.

Application of SWOT analysis in other areas

Let’s look at the three examples of how a SWOT analysis can be used both for personal development and for the development of a company.

SWOT analysis for non-profit organizations

Non-profit organizations can use SWOT analysis to help inform about their strategic planning.

The SWOT process is a great way to understand how your organization fits into the market and to make an impact by running campaigns and fundraising initiatives. Incorporating a SWOT analysis early into the development strategy can help you make better decisions.

SWOT for business development

Business development is a crucial part of every company and being aware of the company’s strengths and weaknesses is an invaluable asset.  Doing a SWOT analysis helps you identify any weaknesses that may become a problem for the company’s growth. 

Personal SWOT analyses

SWOT analyses can be applied even in evaluating your personal growth. For example, if you are looking to level up in your career, creating a personal SWOT analysis can help you compare your strengths and weaknesses. That’s how you will be able to make better decisions about what areas you can improve.

Conclusion

The last section of the SWOT analysis paper will be a conclusion. Recall the initial purpose of writing an essay and remember the information you included in an introduction. The conclusion must provide your vision of how a business can grow. Also, it is crucial to add a conclusion with some points from an action plan. When finalizing the paper, set a deadline to complete all planned improvements.

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Managing remote teams: Best practices and tips

Managing remote teams: Best practices and tips

Managing remote teams: Best practices and tips

March 25, 2024

Everything you need to know about managing remote teams

Some people will say that now, we’re in the golden era of remote work. Technology and tech related jobs are leading the way as remote tech jobs are becoming virtually the norm all around the world. But anyone who’s ever worked this way knows how challenging managing remote teams can be on a daily basis. 

When it comes to managing remote teams, communication is probably the toughest nut to crack. And when you struggle to get on the same page with your team, many things are likely to go off the track. Increased project costs and failure rate, longer task delivery periods and decreased productivity are only a few to name. Hence the importance of managing remote teams effectively.

Challenges of managing remote teams

Before we get to the remedy, we need to assess the problem that bothers your team. No remote team management tips will ever be effective if you don’t understand where the issues with remote team collaboration come from in the first place.

Virtual decision making to include the team 

Virtual decision making often makes teams feel excluded from the process. Virtual decision-making, such as virtual voting, is one innovative solution to provide a platform for team members to participate in decision-making processes and contribute to the team’s goals.
Virtual voting can foster a greater sense of ownership and accountability among team members, even if they are not physically present. Moreover, virtual voting can improve communication and reduce misunderstandings, providing a space for team members to discuss ideas and share feedback.

Your team tries to apply old ways to the new setting

Imagine this: you’ve got a task for your colleague. They work just a few steps away from you, in the same office. What you’re going to do, most likely, is to get up, approach them and delegate said task verbally.

Now, in the remote setting, there’s quite a bit of distance between you. Many companies try to replicate this “approach and delegate” method. Doing so, they end up on endless video conferences or call each other several times a day.

When you look at it from the side, it doesn’t make much sense to do so. Just because something worked in the office, it doesn’t mean it will work in the remote setting. Things once effective may now be your biggest time wasters.

And nobody likes daily calls anyway, right?

Your team has got no idea on how to get organized

If your team is new to remote work, then it’s likely you’ve got no idea where to even begin. Should you just get video conferencing software and call it a day? Do you need more tools? New processes?

Don’t beat yourself about it if you’ve got no idea how to organize your team’s work in the new setting. It’s not an easy task even for the seasoned remote workers.

That said, keep in mind that being clueless on how to organize things could lead to mistakes that damage effective remote team collaboration.

Lack of shared working space

In an office, you share a common space where you see your team on a daily basis. Maybe you meet up in a social room. Maybe you’ve got a giant whiteboard where people pin their messages and add notes about projects.

With remote work in the picture, the physical office vanishes. And with it, the precious aspect of sharing your working space.

Suddenly, you lose all ties to your colleagues. You’re alone in your own home office. You’ve got no idea where others are and what they work on. To get an update on tasks, you need to get on a (yet another) video call.

It’s hard to communicate when most that you’ve got in common are spreadsheets you’ve shared online.

Unclear rules and undefined processes

It can be related to the fact you’ve got no idea how to manage the work of your newly remote team.

Because of their limited ability to quickly communicate on the changes, distributed teams have double the need of working according to strict patterns. When questions arise and you can’t immediately get in touch with the right person, processes and tasks get delayed.

Remote team collaboration suffers from lack of processes. Getting them right could solve quite a few of your problems.

Different expectations and habits related to remote work

Imagine the situation in which the team switches to remote work. They were happy in the office and collaborated well. Now, the manager, full of trust towards their team members, believes they are fully capable of getting around the new setting.

Meanwhile the employees, even though having the best of intentions, are lost in the situation and count on being guided.

This is an easy example of how different people can view remote work. Some people need more flexibility. They want to be trusted and left to work independently. Others, on the other hand, need guidance and a daily to-do list delivered to their inbox.

Using tools for managing remote teams successfully

Now that you know what troubles your team most, let’s talk about the solutions. For example, software is a wonderful addition to your workflow. There are so many different apps and tools for managing remote workers that could help you resolve any issue.

So let’s have a look how you can leverage tools to manage remote teams.

Get into (extreme) details

If you go with a task assignment/project management tool, you’ll have plenty of room to describe what you want from your team. Use it to the fullest. Include checkpoints, control lists, useful materials, examples, samples, templates – anything that your team can use to get the job right.

Think of it this way: you’re not in the office and you can’t look over your colleague’s shoulder to check the progress. Oftentimes, you won’t see the task until it’s delivered to you. That’s exactly why you want to offer sufficient information to get it done right from the get-go.

Pick the right communication channel

You and your remote team needs to agree on one crucial thing: your main communication channel. It could be email threads, once-a-day video calls or setting up a chat room. You may also keep all the discussion to the comment section of your task. Don’t be afraid to innovate and experiment.

Another powerful tool for managing remote teams is SharePoint, which offers a comprehensive solution for creating dashboards that enhance collaboration and productivity. SharePoint allows you to design visually appealing and customizable dashboards, providing a centralized hub for your team to access important information, track progress, and share updates. By exploring more on how to create a dashboard in SharePoint or its other functions, you can leverage this platform to streamline communication, improve task visibility, and foster a collaborative remote work environment.

Use task tags, deadlines and assigned Users

The majority of tools for managing remote teams you will pick comes with deadlines, tags and user assigning (if they don’t, they’re probably not good enough for you ). These are features we often underestimate in managing workload of our teams.

Meanwhile, by applying such simple filters you can easily see if your work is evenly distributed across areas, employees and deadlines. Depending on your software, it may take two to three clicks to understand if someone is overloaded or whether deadlines come too closely together.

Use appointment scheduling tools

Most teams use an appointment scheduling tool to arrange meetings and calls with their clients. While popular options like Q-nomy and similar appointment scheduling software handle the basics, there’s a clever way to use them, scheduling internal team calls. By picking dates from a shared calendar, you can skip all that back-and-forth about finding a time that works for everyone.

11 tips for managing remote teams by experts

As a company that has operated fully remotely since the beginning, we know how important experience is. What we thought would work, sometimes proved ineffective and vice versa. With this in mind, we reached out to leaders who’ve been through the same and have the best remote team management tips at hand.

Being on the same page

The key to managing a remote team for me is trust and communication – namely a healthy balance between the two. 

You need to make sure that all of the team is on the same page and aware of what’s expected of them while working remotely, but it’s also important to trust your employees enough to take the initiative and work sensibly and independently while they’re remote. No one feels empowered to do their best work if their boss is micromanaging. 

Remote working is actually a really productive time for a lot of people – without the constant ping of emails or colleagues coming over for a chat – so keep communication channels open but trust people enough to get on with what needs to be done. 

At Untapped, we use Slack for the team to communicate and have different channels organised by projects and clients. It’s super handy for keeping files and notes in one place, plus a quick and easy way for the team to communicate and get answers quickly (without being piled under by emails).

Corrie Jones, Founder of Untapped Digital

Ask four questions

On days when my team works remotely I set up a brief conference call at the start of the day (2 minutes) to ask each member:

  • What their goal is for the day;
  • What they want to achieve;
  • If they need any help to achieve it;
  • How confident they are in achieving it. 

Then at the end of the day I make a follow up call to see how everyone got on. I find this helps get everyone focused.

Nathan Kelsey, Managing Director at Make Me Local

Sharing knowledge

I work for a VA Agency. Myself, the two founders and one other work remotely alongside our team of 40 + VAs. We use some great tools for working collaboratively. 

Slack for instant messaging, with threads for different teams. TikTik is a great tool for getting tasks done, assigning tasks and can integrate with calendars such as Google Calendar. 

Finally, Kipwsie which we use as an online knowledge base so everyone who works for us knows where to find essential information about our business, whether it is our VAT number or FAQs we get from clients about how we work. It is such a great tool for sharing knowledge and even better integrates with Slack.

Anita Vickers. Client Engagement Manager at Virtalent

Personal communication

When the team is in the office they have a banter, they play some table tennis, they drink coffee and chat. You need to create a time and space for people to share personal stuff. Add some time at the beginning of your weekly catchup to give each person to share what they did over the weekend. Create a virtual bulletin board for people to share their photos. Don’t forget that they aren’t just colleagues… they’re friends.

Susan Hallam, Founder and CEO of Hallam

Being laser-focused

Youmanage is an HR software developer based in Scotland. Many of my colleagues work from home, and we use Microsoft Teams to keep everyone connected, no matter where they are. Regular communication through Teams is essential to ensure no one is left out and that productivity is maintained. We do this by using multiple channels within Teams, so that information is relayed only to relevant team members, which means that everyone remains laser-focused.

Craig Hynd, Marketing Executive at Youmanage HR

Individual vs team conversations

We run as a virtual PR agency, so we have always been a remote team.  

We use Slack a lot – it was a slow burn but now everyone loves it. The threads allow you to have a conversation with the whole company or individual project teams, which keeps things focused and means people only read what they need to do. The ability to chat with the whole company is really valuable – as remote workers, we can all feel isolated at times, we can all suffer from imposter syndrome and anxiety, and we can all miss out on office banter and gossip. Slack gives us access to a time management tool and a digital water cooler moment.

Charlie Le Rougetel, Founder and Director , BIGTOP PR

Flexible timings

Keeping morale and employee motivation high is top of many leaders’ priorities, but more so when your workforce is remote or suddenly has to self-isolate. When many workers are remote, more consideration has to be given to company processes and methods of communication. 

Some tactics that have worked for Degreed, where over half the workforce is remote, involves using video conferencing as the default (versus calls) with the video on, as this helps communicate non-verbal messages. Over-communication is essential to keep everyone fully up-to-date and to set expectations. 

Being a global company, Degreed also emphasizes flexibility with timings, to accommodate different time zones and work styles (fitting around the school run, for instance). Messaging tools like Slack allow for constant communication and spontaneous moments, similar to office watercooler chat. 

Learning and upskilling are vital for engagement, as it keeps workers constantly challenged, growing and can change the pace of the working day. It helps to build a strong and innovative culture that supports people at all stages of their career and also cultivates personal passions. Notably, during this time, workers may have more downtime than usual (because of a lack of commute, for instance) and having access to learning content can keep days fresh and interesting.

Sarah Danzl, Director of Communications at Degreed

Juggling the right apps

Our entire team is based remotely and over the years I have discovered some useful apps for managing the team effectively. 

I use Zoom for regular face-to-face catch ups and I also love Microsoft Teams, either on the phone or the PC. We use Minute Dock for managing timesheets as it integrates with Xero so well. There are many great apps for working on live documents and sharing them that we use including Google Docs, Dropbox/One Drive and Sharepoint and we also have experience of Trello and Slack. 

Personally, I find the Pomodoro technique of 25 mins work with 5 mins rest, using the Focus Keeper App, really keeps me on track and motivated.

Rebecca Newenham, Founder & Director, Get Ahead VA

Retrospective calls

Best tips for managing remote teams? Daily stand ups every morning to keep the team in the loop about what each other are working on in the day!

Running a retrospective video call every Friday in the afternoon to discuss what the team has achieved throughout the week and if they have had any issues during the week 

We run everything online including Asana to update tasks that have been done, Slack for the team to have immediate contact with each other, Zoom to create videos/call clients across the world and G Suite so every doc is kept online and can be seen/amended by anyone.

Elliott Davidson, Founder and Director of Contrast

Staying on top of everyone’s work

One of the challenges many managers that are now working remotely face is how to stay on top of their employees’ work. With everyone working from their homes, managers cannot simply walk over to an employee and take a look at what they are doing.

For this reason, many remote companies are relying on remote team management software to help them keep track of their employees’ work. With remote employee monitoring software, managers can easily monitor their remote workers, just as if they were sitting at the desk next to them.

Vojin Deronjic, Content Writer at Workpuls

Staying organized

Melewi has been a remote company since day 1. We’ve been through quite a few trial and errors until we’ve reached a daily work process that makes us collaborate effectively as a remote team. I would say it’s a combination of many small things we do: 

  • Daily standup.
  • 4-hour overlap, when everyone’s online and we schedule meetings
  • Single source of truth – a very well organized place where we keep our internal knowledge, so everyone knows where to look for answers.
  • Spending time for causal chit-chat – something that’s taken for granted in an office environment, but is equally important for team morale. 
  • Well-structured client communication – everyone from the team knows what to do at which point, so we never have to wonder whether the ball is in our court. 

Rumen Manev, BD & Partnerships Manager at Melewi

Conclusion

Managing remote teams is not an easy task. As much as technology helps, nothing can replace face-to-face communication. However, with right managing remote workers tips and tools nothing is impossible. After all, there are thousands of companies around the world successfully operating with fully remote teams.

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How to start a wholesale business from scratch (2026)

How to start a wholesale business from scratch (2026)

How to start a wholesale business from scratch (2026)

March 21, 2024

How to start a wholesale business a zero experience
With consumerism hitting record highs, and eCommerce flourishing, “how to start a wholesale business?” is a question that beats many wannabe entrepreneurs. If you’re one of them, you’ve landed on the right page.

In this article, we’re going to cover all the basics you need to know about starting a wholesale business from scratch and excelling in it. With the wholesale market size predicted to reach USD 73.13 Trillion by 2029, the timing couldn’t be better. We even went the extra mile and spoke to several professionals from the wholesaling sector to ensure we got the best tips for you

Starting a wholesale business – what do you need to know?

Before you let your mind weave an entire wholesale business plan it’s important to understand its essence i.e. what is wholesale business? Moreover it is also important to learn how to buy wholesale for resale purposes.

Wholesalers are business entities that buy goods in bulk directly from manufacturers or distributors, and then sell them in smaller quantities to retailers.

Although in modern times there are examples of B2C wholesaling, wholesalers per definition sell their goods to other business entities. This means their buyers are not the end consumers, but instead the retailers and similar business organizations the consumers buy from.

Because wholesale businesses buy in bulk, they usually get special discounts and overall cheaper prices.

In conclusion, wholesalers are sort of mediators between manufacturers and retailers. This puts them somewhere in the middle of the supply chain

18 tips for starting a wholesale business from experts

We asked fifteen exeprts to share with us the 

1. Get an ERP system set in place that integrates with your inventory management tool such as scanners.

2. Have an accessible website that allows for wholesale pricing that integrates with your inventory system and accounting system

3. Set incremental sales goals every 6 months to build steady growth

4. Determine the wholesale or distribution model. Wholesale and distribution are two different models. Wholesale is to connect wholesalers and retailers, and then retailers sell products to consumers. And distribution directly links the manufacturer or wholesaler with the final Consumer.

5. Choose a suitable and reliable supplier. Understand and analyze suppliers through multiple channels and multiple dimensions, and reach cooperation. Suppliers cannot be selected based solely on the price of the Product.

6. Know the necessary legal documents. Before starting a business, you need to obtain the necessary wholesale license

7. Find a direct supplier of the goods or products you want to sell because if it will come directly from them, the products will be priced lower compared to if you will be buying it from other resellers too.

8. Find an in-demand product that is not easily perishable so you won’t have any problems even if you won’t be able to sell everything all at once.

9. Find resellers whom you would pass your products to. These resellers will be the ones to sell the product for you and you would serve as their supplier.

10. Don’t forget to focus on service. It’s a core function which will create the most customer loyalty for your business – whether that means answering customer questions, pushing out upgrades on your products, or repair and maintenance.

11. Your relationship with the manufacturers of the products you distribute determines your strategy. Whether you primarily focus on margin or volume depends on how much exclusivity the manufacturers will grant.

12. Build an A-team to help you manage all the complexity of a wholesale business: managing supplier relationships, developing new customers, tracking inventory and warehousing, purchasing, estimating, billing, and financial reporting

13. Most important is to ensure you’ve got the basics right:

  • Have you worked out a sales forecast?
  • Have you got enough stock to fulfil the forecast, not just the initial pipeline fill, but also onward sales.
  • Have you calculated enough margin for everyone in the chain, including building in a promotional allowance.
  • Hitting launch date is all important. Make sure you’re confident of production timelines.
  • Marketing campaign is next and whilst it runs in tandem with stock, logistics and warehousing, it really is no good if you have nothing to sell.
  • Focus on selling online, use popular ecommerce tips to see how to take advantage of online opportunities for wholesale. 

14. Build trust not only with your customers but also your suppliers:

  • Make sure to build a rapport of trust. There will be times when cashflow is tight and someone will let down the other.
  • Trust is nurtured at the outset by being clear from Day 1 particularly around trading terms, payments, deliveries etc

15. Have a clear vision:

 

  • As I have often been told by those around me whose words I listen to, ‘nothing good ever comes easy’.
  • Have a plan for the best of times ahead but be absolutely prepared for the worst of times. Plan ahead and try to foresee scenarios of things going wrong with the business and its supply consistency. These times will come, so best to be prepared.
  • At the end of the day though, try to have fun. This is business, its trading, not healthcare. So take a deep breath and get stuck in!

16. Consider what IP (intellectual property) you may be able to build into your business. You don’t just want to sell other brands, you ideally want to build up a brand that you also own.

17. Cash flow.  As a wholesaler yo u will be dealing with a large number of customers, each with different payment terms.  Think carefully about what terms you are getting offered from your suppliers, and try to extend those as much as possible to offset the terms you will need to give to your customers.

18. Marketing and product training.  Products don’t just sell themselves, so think about how you can support your customers with marketing, promotional initiatives and product training to make sure that your customers are doing everything they can to sell your product to their end customer.

19. Invest in streamlined logistics. A successful wholesale business depends heavily on efficient storage, packaging, and delivery systems. Consider partnering with reliable shipping companies that offer wholesale rates, optimize your warehouse layout for quick order fulfillment, and implement inventory tracking software that updates in real time. The ability to consistently deliver products on schedule without damage will significantly increase your reputation among retailers and help you stand out from competitors who struggle with logistics.

9 wholesale business ideas to help you started

Here are some ideas that could help you decide your niche before you start your wholesale business.

1. Home improvement products

We’re all at home. Even after the lockdown eased up, we’re still gravitating towards our home. So it’s no surprise that people have turned to renovations, DYI projects and home improvements. Considering that, the demand of home improvement products is rising and will continue to do so. Especially in the Northern Hemisphere where summer is at full speed.

2. Food

Food is something that has always been and always will be in demand. That’s for sure. However, food sales have hit record highs during the lockdown, so it is no wonder that refrigerated distribution services are on the rise ass well . And since people are still scared of a second wave, they won’t stop stockpiling. Especially not when autumn arrives and colder temperatures are on the horizon.

3. Electronics

Food is something that has always been and always will be in demand. That’s for sure. However, food sales have hit record highs during the lockdown. And since people are still scared of a second wave, they won’t stop stockpiling. Especially not when autumn arrives and colder temperatures are on the horizon.

5. Beauty products

I don’t know who the first woman was, but I guess it all started from her. Women love beauty products. And as appears, in recent years men seem to like them too. There isn’t a single celebrity left without their own beauty line: Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Jenner, Gwyneth Paltrow… The list goes on and on.

According to Forbes “The cosmetic industry is growing faster today than ever before with an estimated market value of almost $805 billion by 2023. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.14% from 2018 to 2023.”

6. Backyard entertainment

I may have come up with that term on my own but trust me on this one. Borders are closed, travel is restricted. In other words, a lot of people won’t go on their traditional summer vacation this year. So they’re naturally looking for alternatives. A friend of mine recently wanted to buy an inflatable pool. And guess what: 6 stores he went to were out of stock! 

Market potential! Heck yeah!

Add grilling, outdoor furniture, pool floats, sunbeds, umbrellas, lighting, sound equipment… to the equation and you have a ready-to-go wholesale business idea.

7. Fitness

As contradictory as it sounds, the most obese generation in history is also the most athletic one. Everyone’s (at least trying to) eating healthy, exercising daily, jogging, meditating… Many during lockdown started exercising because they were afraid to get fat with all that food and staying at home. 

I mentioned the celebrities owning beauty brands, but activewear and athleisure are not far behind.

8. Kids toys and educational materials

With the closing of many kinterdens, nursery schools, playgroups and maternal schools around the world, parents are practically held hostage. They are expected to work and take care of their children at the same time. 

The logical direction of this situation is that children need to entertain themselves and parents will buy all sorts of toys to have just one uninterrupted video call with their boss.

9. Organic goods

Organic this, organic that. Suddenly, the food, cosmetics, and consumer goods we used until yesterday are no good and causing all sorts of health problems. Several years ago it was hard to find a shelf in the deli with organic products, and now we have entire stores selling organic-only products.

This isn’t going away anytime soon and the demand is growing by the day.

Conclusion

Starting a wholesale business from zero can be a dauting task for anyone new in the field. We hope that with the extensive list of resources that we have gather in this article, you will feel more bold when it comes to work on your dream and start your own wholesale business. 

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