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How about a life where you get to do a job you like the most, get paid for it and be your own boss? Yes, that’s what sums up the life of a freelancer. However, having said that, the apparent perks of a freelancing career usually come in after the initial years of fracas and chaos. The decision of opting for a freelancing career is generally by choice which is either related to the need to work independently or more often than not, non-availability to work continuously for a specific number of hours. Besides, with the upcoming trends in the modern world facilitating it, there are lots of available avenues for a person opting to be a freelancer. According to a survey, 65% of Americans think that freelancing is a great career option and want to go for it. Why is it then that, to set a foothold in any industry it takes quite a while for a freelancer? Let’s understand. WOES OF A BEGINNER * Although a freelancer gets the flexibility of working as per his choice, the shift of routine from a 9 to 5 job to a freelancer is not all that easy, as the factor of discipline is left to one’s own choice. With the right motivation, however, one can hit the bull’s eye. * Scoping for work and getting the right clients to keep you busy is the next challenge. In this process, one might be prone to instances such as frauds, doing thankless jobs, ill-timed payment practices, etc. However, it is only after a series of trials and errors that success strikes finally. So, patience is the keyword here. * The process of marketing oneself never stops, even after striking gold as a freelancer. The brand building exercise is ongoing and one needs to be persistent, until a niche is created. Then, there is no stopping or looking back. THE PERKS OF A FREELANCER * Be your own boss: The best thing unmistakably in the life of a freelancer is that, you can be your own boss. There is no one to give you orders, nor are there any escalations or performance assessment issues. You can pick just the jobs best suiting your profile and work towards unleashing the talent within yourself. * Assured Clientele: Once a person has established himself in his line of interest, there is no dearth of work. The reason being, an assured clientele has already been formed with the resilient hard work put in, over the years. * Choose your own team: At a juncture when there is assured work and in fact much more than you can handle, one can even choose to have people work for you and increase your bandwidth. What’s more, you can also have a cut from their freelancing jobs! A successful freelancer is no doubt an inspiration to the society. THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND LIFE Whatever the profession, it is imperative to strike the perfect balance between work and life, more so in today’s fast paced world. Freelancing offers more scope for a person to do it with ease. * Getting to spend quality time with family: Because of the flexibility of hours of work, one can have more time to spend with family or look after their needs. For instance, young freelancing mothers can work when their toddlers are taking their afternoon nap or when they have been packed off to a playschool. * Save time on commutation to work: Not having to commute to work is one major advantage that a freelancer gets and that could be channelled towards something else, like pursuing a hobby or spending time with near and dear ones. * Take a break whenever you want: As against a corporate job, you don’t get a paid vacation here. But, think about it, you don’t have to apply for leaves or get harassed by your manager for not granting you leave, when you need it the most. You can pack your bags and go for that much needed weekend retreat with your partner when you are craving for it! Juggling between things effectively and wisely, and striking the right chord is the essence of life and the key to one’s happiness. After all, yin and yang are two sides of the same coin.

How about a life where you get to do a job you like the most, get paid for it and be your own boss? Yes, that’s what sums up the life of a freelancer. However, having said that, the apparent perks of a freelancing career usually come in after the initial years of fracas and chaos.

The decision of opting for a freelancing career is generally by choice which is either related to the need to work independently or more often than not, non-availability to work continuously for a specific number of hours. Besides, with the upcoming trends in the modern world facilitating it, there are lots of available avenues for a person opting to be a freelancer. According to a survey, 65% of Americans think that freelancing is a great career option and want to go for it. Why is it then that, to set a foothold in any industry it takes quite a while for a freelancer? Let’s understand.

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Moving to a professional cloud-based solution

Change is always uncomfortable. That simple statement suffices an elaborate detailed explanation. Once we get comfortable with something, we refuse to move on even though there is something better out there. There is nothing wrong about any of this. However, there is a hack to this. Nudging ourselves bit by bit, we can embrace change and make it a part of our lifestyle or habit. Considering this as our premise, we would begin our article. Most of the freelancers use complete and offline software to track their time management, projects, and essentials. Billing, invoice as well as a number of calculations. However, this was before the introduction of cloud which offers completely new possibilities and advantages. Though Excel is an independent and powerful software, cloud-based solutions are made for freelancers. Time statement allows users to track time, assists in professional invoicing and also, includes tracking expenses. It is an exclusive platform. Practically, moving from Excel to cloud in one shot seems extremely difficult as well as uncomfortable. However, you can slowly start using cloud-based software and transition from one to another. In that respect, here is what the advantages the cloud offers a freelancer: Remote Access: Expected and delivered. Cloud gives the freedom to access your work from anywhere around the globe as long as you have a good internet connection and the right login details. Whether it’s your smartphone or laptop or iPad, you have access to your data. * Automation: instead of manually typing in the excel formulas and arriving at the results, automate the simple and recurring calculations to avoid error, focus better on your actual work and make the whole data more comprehensible. * Ideal Solution: As you get more new projects and your area of work expands, you are more involved in doing the work and getting things done. In that case, it is difficult for you to track things manually. That is where cloud solution matters, it is more sensible for you to let things automate and run on their own rather than depending more on yourself to manually update things. You will also be able to understand the project overview as well as tasks you require to complete. Those little things make a difference. * Simplicity: cloud gives you the freedom to accept or reject new projects. It gives you a clear picture of your entire work so you can make decisions quickly and easily. Along with that, you can also know the finances part clearly. That amount of clarity is crucial for freelancers. * Price: Yes, this is where cloud-based solutions take a hit because if you have quit your job and just started freelancing, you wouldn’t go to a cloud-based solution unless you can afford that kind of capital plus you need to renew monthly or quarterly or yearly whichever package you choose. However, for an experienced freelancer, cloud-based solutions work better in the long-term. * Organized: The cloud platform gives you a complete organized workspace and that is important for freelancers. As a freelancer, organized workspace helps you to assess your situation accurately and correctly which proceeds to help you with your work in general. Also, your clients will be satisfied when you understand your business really well because then only, you can deliver a high rating quality of work. These are some of the reasons you must consider before making the switch. In addition to that, here is one more tip: use both excel and cloud-based solution. Excel will be your backup data storage whereas the cloud-based solution will be your primary source. This will give you confidence that you can access your data without the requirement of a stable internet connection and also, you have access to data wherever you go which is exactly what cloud does offer.

Change is always uncomfortable. That simple statement suffices an elaborate detailed explanation. Once we get comfortable with something, we refuse to move on even though there is something better out there. There is nothing wrong about any of this. However, there is a hack to this. Nudging ourselves bit by bit, we can embrace change and make it a part of our lifestyle or habit. Considering this as our premise, we would begin our article.

Most of the freelancers use complete and offline software to track their time management, projects, and essentials. Billing, invoice as well as a number of calculations. However, this was before the introduction of cloud which offers completely new possibilities and advantages.

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Freelancing has never been an easy profession. Though it promises independence, flexibility, and exciting opportunities, it is also associated with a certain level of risk and a variety of challenges. Once you accept the risk and feel ready to take on new challenges, then freelancing will feel a lot easier and enjoyable. We want to remember this quote from Steve Jobs because it applies very well to freelancing. ”People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things.” – Steve Jobs. It is vital to maintain your focus and continuously make sure you are heading in the right direction. With that in mind, let us understand how you can navigate your day as a freelancer effectively and efficiently. • Planning: A Bullet Journal helps. The way you approach your day sets the entire tone for what comes along. Bullet journal or an application like trello will help you manage your probable activities throughout the day. Organizing your day will help you estimate the tasks and make your work hours productive and fun. • A time schedule: It doesn’t have to be the typical 9-5 schedule, but setting aside time intervals along with the tasks you intend to do is crucial because it makes the whole thing more disciplined and accountable. You know where you are investing your time and how many tasks you are completing. • Prioritize: You can use Stephen R Covey’s priority model or feel free to choose the system that feels comfortable. However, make sure you prioritize tasks for the day or the week. This comes in handy when you just receive an immediate or urgent task that requires your full attention. Then, your priority model will grant you a better overview of what tasks lie ahead and extend the timeline of the projects if necessary. • Sanctum Sanctorum: You need a private, personalized space. Never underestimate the importance of a good workstation. This will get you in the zone and help you work much better. It is also worthy to make the workstation a distraction-free zone. As much as communication with your clients is important, constant interruptions and personal obligations will keep you away from focused work which ultimately affects your performance and pay. You can also work in café, shared workspaces, or libraries. • Days off: Yes, you require days off too and during those days, make it a point that you will get away from work and spend the day on any other things you would like. It is important to rest and relax. • System: Keep a complete system in place. A structured system will give you more freedom than not having one. You will feel more responsible and accountable. The system includes everything from the way you work to how you work. However, be very aware of your work style and continuously ask yourself ‘Is there a better, easier and efficient way to do this?’. As you explore more and more, you will surely understand that you can a lot more things in a lot less time and this will put you on top. If we missed anything, do contact us and let us know. Happy Freelancing!

Freelancing has never been an easy profession. Though it promises independence, flexibility, and exciting opportunities, it is also associated with a certain level of risk and a variety of challenges. Once you accept the risk and feel ready to take on new challenges, then freelancing will feel a lot easier and enjoyable. We want to remember this quote from Steve Jobs because it applies very well to freelancing.

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Freelancing requires structure, discipline, and vision. The structure will help you navigate your work on a daily basis. Discipline will set the standard and tone for the work you do and vision will give you a mental picture of the path you are wanting to take and give you a clear direction of the goals you would want to achieve. With these three in place, you can set out to start freelancing. We have already written an article compiling all the necessary tools for freelancers. Link: https://timestatement.com/blog/some-freelancer-tools-to-make-your-work-easier Before you take the leap, here are some things you would want to consider before committing to be a full-time freelancer. * Market: What is your target market? Do you have the skills to deliver the standard or above standard expectations in that market? If no, what would it take to build that skill? Do you have the necessary tools and how would that process work? As soon as you start asking these questions, you will surely get more questions and do remember, you don’t have to answer all the questions at once. The only reason to ask questions is to get more clarity on the whole process. * Tools: Depending on the segment of work, choose the tools that will help you do your work faster and with more accuracy. Tools make your life easier and give you a particular advantage in your type of work. Determine the tools you need for your requirement. * Client: Do you have any client to start working as a freelancer? No? Find one. Get at least 3 clients to start with and pay great attention to them. You are still setting up your business and they are not only clients but your primary assets as well. * Contract: It is always best to draw up a contract between your client and you. This should mostly cover clauses on project confidentiality, the work you do, the payment terms, etc. * Focus: It is easy to lose focus as a freelancer. Since you are in charge of your time and work, you may be juggling too many tasks at a time and by doing this continually, you lose your focus. Here is what will help you: Stephen R Covey’s priority quadrants will assist you to get focused for the week. The Pomodoro technique is useful for checking off tasks and getting work done. On top of that, the vision you set will indicate whether the task you are performing will bring you closer to your vision or take you away from it. Focus is one of the most important considerations in freelancing success. * Time Management: Along with focus, time management is also important. You can use time management tools but here is a more effective way. Buy a diary. Write your tasks for the day as well as the tasks you completed on that day. Make the diary a complete visual map of the work you are doing and constantly remind yourself about the vision. In addition to that, this will give you an overview of how you are spending your time. Adding to that, you can also use time management software to track your day-to-day work or the time that you spend on specific client projects. However, it is always useful to have a diary or a notebook or else you may even maintain a record on your phone too. * Pricing: To start with, you can set prices competitively but as you progress and gain more traffic, you can set higher standards. * Professionalism: Let your client know you are available at certain hours. Though freelancing gives you flexibility, you have to draw a line so that you can maintain respectable boundaries and a healthy relationship. * Transparency: Clients value transparency. If you were a client, you would value it too. Clients want to know how and where their money is spent. Of course, these are very simple things, but it is easy to get caught up in the process and forget about it. Maintain the value of transparency. The guide will serve you in establishing a proper structure for your work and help you kickstart your new profession as a freelancer. If we have missed anything important, do let us know. Good Luck on your career! Thanks for reading!

Freelancing requires structure, discipline, and vision. The structure will help you navigate your work on a daily basis. Discipline will set the standard and tone for the work you do and vision will give you a mental picture of the path you are wanting to take and give you a clear direction of the goals you would want to achieve. With these three in place, you can set out to start freelancing.

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Read this before you quit your job and start working as a full-time freelancer. When you are working in a 9-5 job, the freelancing landscape may appear to be greener. With freelancing, you can enjoy flexible work timings, design your own schedule, and get an opportunity to interact directly with your clients. In a nutshell, you get to decide and choose everything you would want to do and how to do it. Nevertheless, there are some prospects that you require to consider before you quit your job and get on board with freelancing. * Time Management: Most freelancers find time management to be quite a challenge. Since there is no proper schedule or time you require to adhere, you may end up wasting your time and regretting it later. Therefore, you require a ton of self-discipline and tools to manage time-management better. You can also go to coffee shops or cafés and work there. This will lead to minimum distraction. * Schedule: Selecting and organizing a schedule is critical. Since there are no fixed timings, it is easy to lose focus and work 24x7. Schedule breaks in between days or take one day off or two if you really want it. You have to be able to organize and correctly define your day so that you can work systematically and efficiently. * Structure: Keep a well-defined structure in mind. Draw a line between your personal and professional life especially in the communication domain. For example, if you use WhatsApp, keep that only for personal use. You can install and direct your clients to another social networking app. Keep things in one place. It is easier said than done but in the long-term, it will help you establish a particular structure and system in place. A system keeps things organized. From time to time, take a look at the structure in place and ask yourself whether you could do what you are doing more effectively. * Money: - Don’t be caught up under the impression that you will be making loads of money when you start off. In the first year, you must establish yourself and your work ethic. Everything requires to be in order. Whatever opportunity or client projects you get, pick them up and execute them properly. It may seem like a one-time thing, but you may never know if the client would come back with a bigger project. Drop the idea that you will have a constant inflow of money all the time and instead, embrace the idea that money will be fluctuating, and your income will solely depend on you. You have to get clients, ask for payments, request feedback, improve your game and work at it before you can earn loads of money. * Interested vs Committed: If you are choosing to freelance only because you want to get out of the 9-5 work routine, then you are choosing freelancing on the wrong grounds. Only and only choose freelancing if you are committed to it long before you even start it. Just a misconception-based interest in freelancing won’t ever help you. It will make things difficult. If you are passionate or willing to commit 100 percent of your time and energy to freelancing, you may go ahead and get into it. There is no real happiness in half-hearted work. These are some factors that you would need to consider before joining the freelancing world. Above all, before taking a plunge, have a clear idea whether freelancing would really make you happy and whether you would want to pursue it as a full-time earning opportunity. Thanks for reading. Good Luck!

Read this before you quit your job and start working as a full-time freelancer.

When you are working in a 9-5 job, the freelancing landscape may appear to be greener. With freelancing, you can enjoy flexible work timings, design your own schedule, and get an opportunity to interact directly with your clients. In a nutshell, you get to decide and choose everything you would want to do and how to do it. Nevertheless, there are some prospects that you require to consider before you quit your job and get on board with freelancing.

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Freelancing can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are exceptional tools to make the work easier. We will list proper freelancing tools that will help you to do the job effectively and efficiently. Here we go: Note: - For more detailed product description, please visit the respective product websites. 1. Project Management Tools: Project Management Tools help you manage and organize your project. You get a very proper visual overview of what you are dealing with and how you organize your projects throughout the week or for the entire year. * Monday.com (https://monday.com) – The UI is very visual and great for managing your projects as well as group activities. * Trello (https://trello.com) – Trello is fast, flexible and intuitive. It is great for small businesses and freelancers. Asana (https://asana.com) – if you are just starting out, start using Asana. Its free version is fantastic. It has everything (email, reminders, calendar, alerts etc…) A powerful freelancer tool. Many non-profit organizations use it. * Slack (https://slack.com) – The free version of Slack offers you up to 10k messages limit. Slack is very impressive. You can create channels, communicate effectively and get notified immediately. Try it before you buy it. * Wunderlist (https://www.wunderlist.com) – You can use it for your personal use or freelancing. It is simple, keeps you productive, and delivers immense value. 2. Finance Tools: As the name suggests, these tools manage your payments and receipts better. With a proper account and data, it is easy to understand and balance the financial aspects of your business. Tax and business-related expense become easy to handle. * Xero (https://www.xero.com/us/) – has a great reputation. Xero is amazing for its ability to support its users to manage multiple clients and promises excellent customer support. * PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/home) –unique and very easy to learn and use. It’s got excellent UI. * Pancake (https://www.pancakeapp.com) –a one-time buy. This is not a subscription-based service that boasts a variety of features. Efficient invoicing software. * FreshBooks (https://www.freshbooks.com) – features really neat billing and invoicing features. * Gusto (https://gusto.com) – a simple and organized platform. Best software for HR -payroll and makes HR process efficient and effortless. 3. Communication Tools: As a freelancer, you are always on the go. These tools make communication with clients and others much easier. We know how important and powerful communication is. * Stride (https://www.stride.com) – offers you essential plugins, gives you room to create new chatting rooms. Customizable and perfect for remote communication. * Redbooth (https://redbooth.com) – fantastic project collaborator. Gives you detailed information on the projects. Easy to track tasks and timing of the projects. * Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/) – known for its call or video call quality. Seamless and powerful communication software. Provides excellent customer support. * Ryver (https://ryver.com) – good for group task schedules and video conferences. Features project management too. Overall, it is a great collaborator. * UberConference (https://www.uberconference.com) – extremely easy to use for video conferencing. Has a simple design and serves the purpose as promised. 4. Cloud Storage Tools: Data backup is important and these tools support constant backing up of data so that you don’t lose your crucial data. * Google Drive ( https://www.google.com/drive/) – economical, easy to use and widely accessible. Google is also extremely intuitive and Google drive is one of Google’s best products for personal and professional use. * Spinbackup (https://spinbackup.com) – automatically backs up your data. Provides ransomware protection. Allows for Easy restoration. * Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/?landing=dbv2) – allows for quick sync. integration with Microsoft Office. File management is very easy with Dropbox. Backblaze (https://www.backblaze.com) – offers automatic backup feature. Encrypted backups. Very economical. * Amazon Glacier (https://aws.amazon.com/glacier/) - stores large amounts of data in the long term with competitive pricing. 5. Productivity Tools: Productivity makes things easy. You take less time to do a certain task with the same value and output. Productivity tools will help you organize work processes effectively. * Pocket (https://getpocket.com) –stores articles from the web. Accessible from phone, web, and desktop. Great for reading content later. * IFTTT (https://ifttt.com) – automates different processes. Innovative and creative. Powerful integration. * OmniFocus (https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus) – makes workflow smoother and effortless. Helps you focus on the most important tasks. * Cushionapp (https://cushionapp.com) – freelancer focused, comes with a variety of features and displays great design. * Textexpander (https://textexpander.com) – saves you ample time and effort. Allows you to insert “snippets” (email addresses, signatures, code, form letters, images, and more) using a simple keyboard shortcut or abbreviations. A powerful productivity machine. These are some of the tools that will help you do your work in an organized manner. Time is money, so invest it in the right way. Thanks for reading. Good Luck!

Freelancing can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are exceptional tools to make the work easier. We will list proper freelancing tools that will help you to do the job effectively and efficiently. Here we go:

Note: - For more detailed product description, please visit the respective product websites.

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Freelancing promises independence, financial freedom, and flexibility. Freelancers have a strong potential to earn good amount of money. Freelancing gives you complete control over your work and this stimulates your creativity and bolsters the effort that you put into your work. You perform better when you know that you alone are responsible and accountable for your work-outcome and achievement. Most people are unsure whether they would succeed as freelancers but here is another question – when to really consider this profession? A stable job has its benefits. When you are working in a company, a lot of things are taken care of by the organization’s administration. These may include your leaves, pay, policies, procedures etc. There are a structure and system in place. You are expected to focus on your work and performance accordingly. Therefore, when you switch to a freelancing role, make sure it pays off in the right way for you. We shall cover some points that will help you answer the burning question. * Pros and Cons: Pick up a piece of paper and list it all out. This is an effective and simple technique. Take some time off and write on both aspects – freelancer and your present situation (whatever it may be). This will give a good perspective on where you stand now and what you can do about it. Be practical and honest with yourself. * Goals: Whether you are considering being a freelancer or choosing any other profession, ask yourself – ‘does this agree with my goals?’, ‘Does it fit in with the big picture?’ When you have a vision about how your life must be, then you can easily make this decision. If you want to read more on how to properly set goals, read https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/if-you-want-to-be-massively-successful-do-not-set-ambitious-goals-according-to-studies-affa9cd39f5d * Prepare: Being a freelancer means you must do everything. Yes, you can delegate, but everything revolves around you. Therefore, make a list of the things you require (from stationery to workspace). Don’t stress too much on it. The reason to do this is that you will get a sense of layout. You must also do some fundamental market research and understand what the present scenario or situation is. * Learning: If your present job no longer motivates you, then you are not learning. When you don’t learn, you don’t grow and as a result, you get affected by stagnancy. A freelancing career continues to keep you on the move, nudging you out of the comfort zone and making you learn new things. With learning, you are more confident and your value increases. This paves the way for more exciting opportunities. * Skillset: Before jumping into freelancing, evaluate whether you have the required vast skillset to capitalize on this earning opportunity. If you are an expert at something, it will be easy for you to manage and deliver. Thereby, you can handle more clients. Don’t be discouraged if you are already a freelancer and novice. Find time to learn, experiment, and do better. You can get better at an already existing idea or work. You can find additional information at: https://jamesclear.com/first-principles. These points will give you a fairly good idea about the freelancing scenario and guide you accordingly. Please do note that there are more factors that weigh in on the final decision. You can experiment for a short period of time and see whether this dimension of profession suits you. Thanks for reading. Good Luck.

Freelancing promises independence, financial freedom, and flexibility. Freelancers have a strong potential to earn good amount of money. Freelancing gives you complete control over your work and this stimulates your creativity and bolsters the effort that you put into your work. You perform better when you know that you alone are responsible and accountable for your work-outcome and achievement.

Most people are unsure whether they would succeed as freelancers but here is another question – when to really consider this profession?

A stable job has its benefits. When you are working in a company, a lot of things are taken care of by the organization’s administration. These may include your leaves, pay, policies, procedures etc. There are a structure and system in place. You are expected to focus on your work and performance accordingly.

Therefore, when you switch to a freelancing role, make sure it pays off in the right way for you. We shall cover some points that will help you answer the burning question.

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Social media is growing at a rapid rate. As more and more people find new ways to contribute to social media, it will continue to unfold. Social media is an open platform and highly integrable with any other program or algorithms which allows for even more expansion and flexibility to make it even better. With these above ideas in mind, let us explore how social media will change as we progress. 1. Customized platform: With the integration of A.I. into social media, your profile and your social media will get customized according to your habits, behaviors, and personal preferences. You will be able to book cabs, order food and check your feed all in one platform. To be more succinct, social media will be an all-in-one app or platform for your daily needs and tasks. 2. Richness in quality of posts: The quality of social media posts will be rich in content and variety. As of now, you can see high-quality photos on Instagram. This will transcend all platforms. On top of that, the new IGTV feature in Instagram is gaining a ton of traction which will eventually convert to a mini YouTube sort of thing (already happening). These examples suggest a pattern or hint towards what we can expect in the future. 3. Videos: The Internet is more accessible now than ever. Facebook recently announced that it would focus more on delivering videos to your news feed and suggested that videos were the future in social media. If you are a frequent user of Facebook, you may have already noticed this trend. Facebook is going to add more videos to your newsfeed. 4. Customizable: Social media platforms will adhere to your preferences, tastes, and needs. This means that you will be able to select the themes and layout, customize the tabs, and design the layout you want from a selection of combinations. 5. Mobile-friendly: If you head over to the Instagram website on your PC and login, you will notice that it doesn’t allow for messages and has limited features. Instagram is totally mobile-based and this is what the social media giants and new social media platforms will come up with in the future. They will focus entirely on mobile. 6. Experimental: Social media will undergo a ton of experiments. These experiments will make the user experience much better. These may include the use of Virtual reality, 3D images or videos, Artificial Intelligence etc. 7. Integration: Since social media already has a lot of data (contacts, numbers, people information etc.), it is effortless to add a payment app or integrate with payment gateway or other similar features making social media friendlier and easier to use. However, privacy is a concern which brings us to the next point. 8. Privacy: Social media companies are taking privacy more seriously now more than over. Since, they have accumulated a lot of contact details, personal details etc. they bear a public responsibility to protect and secure the data. Data in the wrong hands can be misused and the consequences can be severe. 9. Sharing of data: This point is subtle but powerful. With the help of your social media usage, companies gather small data over time, and these will help other companies like e-commerce or any ad companies to understand your likes, preferences and spending habits. This will allow the companies to advertise the product you want and make sure that you see it. This will result in effective advertising. This is highly beneficial to companies. You may argue that this is already in process, however, it is also worthy to note that this feature will enhance and get more accurate. 10. Community building: To an extent, small communities will stop building websites and instead use social media as their main source of communication both internally and externally. With bots, communities will be able to get in touch and answer customers’ queries easily and effortlessly. This will encourage more communities in the long-run. 11. More Real: Though we are coming across thousands of photo-shopped Instagram images, we are also learning that expressing authenticity is equally important. This awareness has already been initiated and slowly getting popular. On a broader perspective, these are the 11 ways social media will evolve and make our lives and business better. If you have any more points, do let us know. Thanks for reading.

Social media is growing at a rapid rate. As more and more people find new ways to contribute to social media, it will continue to unfold. Social media is an open platform and highly integrable with any other program or algorithms which allows for even more expansion and flexibility to make it even better. With these above ideas in mind, let us explore how social media will change as we progress.

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Social Media is one of the most powerful tools in the marketing sector today. It has created a platform and foundation that will allow all types of companies to share their creative work and get recognized globally. Therefore, we have compiled 10 reasons to help you understand how social media can effectively grow your business and get you new customers. 1. Brand Awareness – When you post on Facebook about the brand, almost anyone in the world can view it and engage with your post. This opens the gateway to so many opportunities and prospective customers. 2. Increase in Sales – This is the most sought-after consequence for business owners after they make their brand presence known on social media. New prospective customers in and around the local area get to know about your brand and will choose to try out your brand. If it is e-commerce, then you will have a lot of requests for shipping from abroad or local areas. It will depend on your brand category or your industry. However, it will surely contribute to more sales. 3. Better Understanding of the marketplace – Once your brand gets recognized on social media, you will start to understand the marketplace better. You will get more awareness about your competitors, the current trends as well as the general overview of the demand and supply of the products/services. This will assist you in refining your product/service and empower you to sell better and create an overall pleasant experience. 4. New ideas – By interacting with customers online and getting valuable insights from data, you will be able to get new ideas for your current product/service or maybe even about a whole new different product. Ideas come from a variety of new experiences and that’s exactly what the social media promises. 5. Accountability – Social media gives you accurate data and if you are running ads, then you will be able to track more closely. By using this data, you can fine-tune your marketing strategies as well as proactively make changes to your customer support and service. 6. Customer Satisfaction – Companies have been able to respond to customer’s query better on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Social media allows for instant replies and decreases the response time between the customer and company. This will save time for both the company and the customer plus actions can easily be taken and this results in a good system for customer support which indeed adds to customer satisfaction. 7. Cost effective – You can create a twitter or a Facebook account for free and a Facebook business page is also zero cost. This will help you to create valuable and high-quality content which you can share with your followers. Just a tip: People always appreciate good content, so deliver the same and you will get good reach in no time. 8. Monitor and Control – It is easy and effortless to control and maintain your social media account. In this way, you can always monitor, edit, repost and engage without much apprehension because you are always in control of your account. In addition to this, social media is accessible and portable. You can take care of your brand’s social media account from any corner of the world. 9. Opportunities – Your brand’s enhanced social presence is surely going to attract new opportunities for you. It may appear in any form- as business opportunities or a lot of new customer opportunities. Example: You are a caterer. A customer in the local area looks up on Facebook for ‘caterers’. Your brand name pops up with several 5-star reviews and tons of Facebook page likes. The prospective customer will take a look at the page and contact you for further details. This can happen in many ways for various types of industries. 10. Launch products/services – After creating a solid follower base, you can get to launch products/services directly on social media networks (live or not). This will create a ripple of engagement with your present customers, attract new customers and help your brand gain a lot of attention. Also, this will direct a lot of traffic towards your website and in the end, result in more sales. These are some of the crucial reasons as to why social media will make your business more prosperous and better. Thanks for reading.

Social Media is one of the most powerful tools in the marketing sector today. It has created a platform and foundation that will allow all types of companies to share their creative work and get recognized globally. Therefore, we have compiled 10 reasons to help you understand how social media can effectively grow your business and get you new customers.

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Businesses are getting more disruptive by the second. New start-up ideas and missions are opening up a whole new avenue of possibilities and opportunities. Amidst this, traditional businesses which hardly innovate are going out of business. In the next twenty to thirty years, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will assist businesses more than usual. To help the businesses, investors too are learning more about machine learning and AI in order to fund the startups. Therefore, it is advised and recommended to prepare for a revolution. Both Machine learning and AI are going to cause an impact on your business. Here is how: - 1. Decision making – Crucial decisions require as much data as possible and with the help of AI, we can get that. Yes, we do get data today however with the help of AI we can simulate and understand the consequences of the decision too. 2. Resources – AI and machine learning will help the businesses utilize the resources completely. With the accurate utilization of resources, your business will be able to function efficiently and effectively. 3. Customer Service – helping a customer will get so much easier and better. Since your business will be able to build a profile about a customer, you can personalize the services and serve better. 4. Automation – recurring and mundane tasks can be automated so that you can focus on the core strategy and mission more effectively. Tasks that require minimum creativity and thinking can be automated and this will save costs for your business. 5. Programs – with the assistance of machine learning, customized programs can be built for a particular business or a specific purpose. This will allow for highly efficient functioning and also unbiased proper judgments. With the help of these programs, there is steady progress in the general operations of the business. These are some of the ways both machine learning and artificial intelligence can contribute to the business in the future.

Businesses are getting more disruptive by the second. New start-up ideas and missions are opening up a whole new avenue of possibilities and opportunities. Amidst this, traditional businesses which hardly innovate are going out of business. In the next twenty to thirty years, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will assist businesses more than usual. To help the businesses, investors too are learning more about machine learning and AI in order to fund the startups. Therefore, it is advised and recommended to prepare for a revolution.

Both Machine learning and AI are going to cause an impact on your business. Here is how: -

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Project management is an essential factor for companies in dealing with projects, as a company is constantly confronted with projects, and none of the various projects can be simply neglected. An overview of the various projects can be lost very quickly in the face of the often very large number of projects. Accordingly, each company needs a completely intact project management program, so that not a single project is of a quality inferiority, is completed to the satisfaction of the respective customer and all deadlines and specifications regarding the projects are adhered to. A functioning project management program is thus the key to customer satisfaction and efficient work. With our project management software, we give you the opportunity to manage your projects the best way possible and in turn to satisfy your clientele. WHY DOES THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL BY TIMESTATEMENT STAND OUT? What makes our software for project management stand out is that our program is a cloud-based system, meaning that you have the opportunity to access the data you are interested in online from anywhere in the world. This does not require the previous installation of the software for project management on your respective terminal. This makes project management relatively simple and cost-effective, especially since the use of our tool requires no more than one internet-enabled data terminal and a usable internet connection. As a result, you can manage your projects from any device be it a Mac, a Windows computer, or any other data device. By being cloud-based, our project management program can directly access and update the data. Because of this, our software offers a certain flexibility and transparency for project management, which is particularly interesting for freelancers and project teams. Further advantages of our program are, on the one hand, the user-friendly and clearly arranged layout and on the other hand, the aspect of data protection and data security. Our cloud system offers you a special degree of data protection and data security, since our servers are located in Switzerland and our software is subject to the strict Swiss data protection laws. THE BENEFITS OF A CLOUD-BASED PROGRAM The classic project management with pen & paper and project management using Excel are the two best known alternatives to the cloud system. The classic project management on paper is becoming increasingly forgotten, since this is no longer an up-to-date option, which is extremely tedious and error-prone. The project management with Excel, on the other hand, is still frequently found in various companies, but it has some deficits that considerably reduce the quality of project management. Neither of these options allows you to view and update your own data in a simple and real-time manner. For Excel, the respective data must be stored, for example, on internal computers or over local networks and then processed. However our cloud-based project management software gives you the ability to manage your project online and update your data in real-time. In addition, the management of projects with Excel is a more burdensome and time-consuming option and is very error-prone and untransparent. Neither project management on paper nor project management with Excel is more efficient than the project administration, which is done online via the cloud system. This is why our cloud-based project management program is a useful and efficient option that is ideal for freelancers and project teams alike. Our system is distinguished by the fact that it is extremely precise and flexible, which is why you can always count on us for correctness and reliability. Test our project management tool for free and discover all the other useful features that we offer.

Project management is an essential factor for companies in dealing with projects, as a company is constantly confronted with projects, and none of the various projects can be simply neglected.

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Without good time management, the working day can become extremely stressful because you often feel under pressure and are simply not able finish your work on time, which naturally leads to a reduction in time for leisure activities and relaxation - and consequently even more stress in everyday life. Time management means that your schedule is carried out with discipline and an ingenious system so that you have more time for something more important in your job and in your own private life. Thus, time management leads to a certain balance and more success and satisfaction in life, in other words an improved quality of life. To provide you with the perfect basis, we offer you a time management tool. With our tool, time management becomes a very straightforward and simple project for you. TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET There are many ways to manage your time well, but some of the options are no longer up-to-date as they are not connected to the digitalization and are not really connected to today's workplace. Thanks to our system, you are able to take on the time of the day and thus manage your time management online. To find out which task takes up the most time, you can take advantage of our time tracking tool, as online measurements of the working hours are extremely helpful and provide a good overview. In addition, Web-based time tracking provides the opportunity to learn more about the workflow of your employees so that the task distribution does not stagnate the workflow and so that the employee can manage their time well without worrying about other tasks when they are busy with another important task. WHY USE TIMESTATEMENT FOR TIME MANAGEMENT? Our time management tool is a cloud-based system, which means you can use this tool without having to install it on your own hardware components. This allows you to track your time more cost-effectively and more comfortably, then analyze the time distribution and, ultimately, greatly improve your time management. Our cloud-based time management tool is especially advantageous because only an internet-enabled terminal and, of course, an internet connection are necessary. All the data you are interested in such as the time spent on a task or the overtime, can be retrieved quickly online from any location. In particular, project members and freelancers who want to improve their time management can benefit greatly from this method for time management, since our tool is especially concerned with the aspect of flexibility and transparency. This allows the team and the project to be monitored and managed in real-time, as well as possible shortcomings in the ***scheduling of members ***. Time management done on paper or with Excel has more disadvantages compared to our cloud-based time management system. Time management on paper has long been out of date and time management with Excel has many negative aspects. Anyone who does their time management using Excel has the disadvantage that the respective data has to be deposited and processed on internal computers or over local networks. Moreover, the respective data can not be updated in real-time as is the case with the online time management. In addition, Excel is a relatively complex program, which also entails a greater amount of time and increased errors. These are all aspects that you would like to avoid during time management. After all, it serves to reduce the stress level of the workplace and not to increase it. This is the best way to manage time management online, since the two more well-known alternatives - the outdated time management on paper as well as time management with Excel - are rather tedious and less efficient options. With our cloud-based time management tool, we offer a meaningful and efficient option that is particularly suitable for freelancers and project teams. The characteristics of precision and flexibility are core components of our tool, which means that you can count on us for correctness and reliability. Try our free system to improve your time management and discover all the other useful features that we can offer you.

Without good time management, the working day can become extremely stressful because you often feel under pressure and are simply not able finish your work on time, which naturally leads to a reduction in time for leisure activities and relaxation - and consequently even more stress in everyday life.

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Switzerland's first fintech fair: 45+ fintech exhibitors, premium speakers, panel discussions and networking opportunities.The flagship event for fintech, startups and digitization in Switzerland. Die Fintech Messe der Schweiz.

As you all know, TimeStatement is officially featured in the Swiss Fintech Map. We are going to the Swiss Fintech Day tomorrow i.e. Tuesday 16th Oct (https://www.swissfintechday.ch). You can get in touch with us over our website and also get a chance to meet us there

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Time Tracking Software: Easy Time Tracking, Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Reporting, Multi-language & Multi-currency support; Manage Teams, Clients, Projects…

We are proud to inform you that TimeStatement has been added to the “Swiss Fintech Startup Map – OCT 2018” by Swisscom. Swisscom is the largest telecommunication company in Switzerland. Thank you for all your support and participation.

https://t.co/kFDR2pXPhu 

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Social Media is evolving rapidly and expeditiously. New social trends are kicking out old ones, it always feels like the world is moving very fast in social media. Businesses find it hard to plan plus keep up with the pace and people constantly fear they are missing out on the next big thing in social media. Therefore, it is really useful for us to be aware of certain social media that will impact business in 2020. Though these may change or alter, the foundation remains the same. Social Media will stand inevitably for any business, especially in the future. •Social Media on Mobile: - The number of mobile users is already steadily increasing and will totally reach a new height in 2020. This will surely allow more people on the internet and what this means for your business is that – increase in internet users will also result in social media users. More people will know or be aware of your business. •VR: - A new innovative way of shopping could be introduced. Shopping virtually from VR devices as well as also browsing social media through VR will be common and exciting for the customers. •More Visual Shopping: - Currently Instagram is the world’s favorite and popular platform for photos, videos or anything visual like GIFs, animations etc… Brands will be able to showcase their products through videos and photos more powerfully in the future. Since people respond well to visual cues, brands will make effort to deliver the same. •Data: - Brands and companies will have more data to make decisions regarding social media. Social Media Platforms will provide more customer data to companies so that companies use this data to streamline their processes, better the customer service and continuously monitor the input and output. •Customisations: - Though this may be a little out of scope in this topic, we will look at it. Business may customize products according to customer’s preferences especially small businesses. This transaction will surely take place through social media and much of formality will be stripped away. Customers will get more social with brands and companies. •Importance of Social Media: Currently, social media is considered as a part of marketing in most companies. However, we may witness in a couple of years, social media will establish itself as a separate stream altogether. With due consideration to digital marketing, social media will still emerge as a powerful and independent division in the company. These are some of the social media trends that might commence or trend in 2020. Thanks for reading. Good Luck.

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Time Tracking Software: Easy Time Tracking, Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Reporting, Multi-language & Multi-currency support; Manage Teams, Clients, Projects…

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Social Media has pushed the boundaries of marketing and set a new standard. Small businesses are extensively using the social media to generate new sales, increase brand awareness and improve their marketing campaign. Every present and new business wants to leverage the power of social media. Social media is constantly evolving and adapting to newer methods of technology and it might be counterproductive as to suggest that social media gets better in the long term than in the short term. Let us explain and help you understand how. Social media engagement is very crucial. It is all about connecting with customers, interacting with them, building relationships and maintaining the same. A proper social media engagement will build and construct the following: * Customer trust: Increased engagement leads to better customer service. Customer service leads to trust. People will trust your brand because of your active customer engagement on social media and also they will feel free to approach you when required. * Reputation: Small businesses are aware of the cost of reputation. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” ~ Warren Buffett. A good social profile will naturally build a good reputation considering all factors remain constant. * Sales: Your creative pursuits in social media will really make customers purchase more products from your company. People like to participate and interact with brands. This is the reason there are so many brands on social media. When people feel emotionally connected to the brand, they are more likely to stay loyal and purchase the products frequently. * Action: A long-term approach to social media will not only increase your engagement but also stabilise yourself and remain dominant in that channel. test [/content/images/2018/09/test.PNG] (Source: https://bit.ly/2qgTsC4 ) As you can observe, National Geographic has the most followers in Instagram. This is an example of pure social media engagement. People follow, comment, like and share them as much as possible. It is not because your brand is great, the only reason they do it is because it appeals to them very much. It connects with them emotionally. (Video Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU) That above video is a great example of real emotional messages that get to people. This will inspire people to act and push forward. * Products: It will be easy for small businesses to launch products as well as even easier to really create and start a trend if there is good social engagement. Lot of brands have been in the social limelight for the wrong reasons and very few of them for the right reasons. Therefore, it is important as to how you present your brand on social media. Thus, these are some ways a good social media engagement will help you in the long-run.

Social Media has pushed the boundaries of marketing and set a new standard. Small businesses are extensively using the social media to generate new sales, increase brand awareness and improve their marketing campaign. Every present and new business wants to leverage the power of social media. Social media is constantly evolving and adapting to newer methods of technology and it might be counterproductive as to suggest that social media gets better in the long term than in the short term.