Business

A conference manager may be referred to as an events planner or an events manager. They, the conference manager, the events planner, and the events manager, work in conference centres and will have the responsibility of managing staff that help to organise and to run conferences as well as other types of events.

A conference manager’s job responsibilities can vary. It depends on the event and also on the venue where the event is being held. Generally, however, a conference manager will oversee all of the events that are involved in the particular conference or event from the early planning to the final clean up.

Obviously, every conference venue is different from the next one. This means that the tasks of a conference manager are ever-changing.

The conference manager is responsible for the staff and the services at the conference centre, inclusive of:

• The accommodation
• Finances
• Catering
• Marketing and PR
• Sales
• Front of house/ reception

The conference manager must ensure that the services provided fulfill the clients’ requirements and that each event runs smoothly and efficiently.

It’s important to find a balance between effective business management and customer satisfaction. Often that will mean solving problems on the go and dealing with last-minute changes.

A conference manager must also continually develop the business. They achieve this by planning ahead, managing marketing campaigns, and maximising generated income by budgeting efficiently.

The Conference Manager’s Responsibilities

The activities of a conference manager vary in accordance with the conference centre size and the services offered by the centre. As an example, a conference manager that works in a larger-sized centre will have the responsibility of coordinating the operational team. This team includes accommodation and catering managers.

In a smaller centre, a conference manager might choose to subcontract various services out to various external companies.

A conference centre manager will need to:

• Handle customer enquiries, comments, and complaints.
• Effectively communicate with the management team on a daily basis to plan work schedules and check the requirements of clients.
• Manage financial planning and budgeting.
• Ensure the smooth running of events.
• Deal with staff recruitment, training, monitoring and organising of staff.
• Handle conference centre sales and marketing including branding, pricing, dealing with promotions and promotional materials.
• Carry out market research to identify potential future business.
• Negotiate with suppliers and external service providers when necessary.
• Ensure that licensing laws, health and safety, and any other legal regulations are all complied with.
• Invest in equipment that is required for the conference centre.

As mentioned, no two conference centres are the same. This means that the tasks a conference manager has to complete will vary from one day to the next.

For example, at some venues parking could be an issue whereas at other venues there may be onsite parking facilities whereby guests are welcome to leave their vehicles. If venue-specific parking is unavailable it is the responsibility of the conference manager to find suitable nearby parking.

The conference facilities will likewise need to be prepared in advance so that after guests have parked their vehicles they can easily find their way to the conference centre.

If food is a requirement at the conference it is the responsibility of the conference manager to oversee the kitchen and waiting services. When a caterer is hired the conference manager will work closely with the catering company to ensure correct food preparation and that the food is timely served.

The facilities must be made ready for the next event so cleaning-up duties will be delegated by the conference manager. Some conference centres employ their own cleaning staff, though others contract cleaning services out to external companies. Either way, it is up to the conference manager to ensure that the cleaning is done properly and timely.

A further remit of a conference manager is bookkeeping. The conference manager could have the responsibility for handling staff payroll, for obtaining contracts with third-party vendors, filing all related documentation, and a variety of alternative clerical duties that pertain to the conference centre’s successful on-going operation.

Inefficiencies involved in utilising manual processes and pushing paper in the office can soon add up.

Because of the continual demand for information – invoices, forms, contracts, approvals – to be secure and accessible, manually filing documents and the creation of paper trails may cause a severe limitation to the capacity of an organisation to compete.

Print Audit – How Can it Be of Benefit to Your Business?

Innovation starts by motivating your team to seek small ways to make improvements to business workflows. That may include becoming more productive, helping the environment, or being more efficient.

One area to make simple but impactful changes is within your print environment. Printing is a cost that can be reduced for most organisations, so it’s wise to ensure that your devices operate efficiently, that your staff are responsible for their printing habits, and your print supplier is providing you with a good deal.

What is a Print Audit?

Through a print audit, a business can understand the effectiveness of their print infrastructure. A print audit involves reviewing the current technology and conducting a survey of all on-site devices. This helps to identify:

• Device locations
• Output volumes
• Staff behaviours
• Machines that are over utilised
• Your entire print environments’ cost
• Broken or failing devices

How a Print Audit Can Benefit Your Business

Reveal print costs that are hidden

Among the main reasons why print audits are carried out is the review of the printing set-up and the identification of expenses and where processes can be improved as a way of saving money. Basically, a Print Audit shows how you can save money in your business by seeing what is being printed.

 

Print audits highlight devices that are over and underutilised as well as machines that are failing.

Immediate hardware savings can be made by the consolidation of the print fleet, the removal of unnecessary devices, the replacement of failing devices, and/ or swapping over legacy device location so that maximum efficiency is achieved.

Reduction of printing volumes and becoming greener

For most organisations, arguably the most difficult aspect is a sheer lack of control and visibility they maintain over their print infrastructure.

It is possible to point the finger at various individuals but through a print audit, you get a good concept of the amount of printing done for each device in every department.

From this point, it’s easy to introduce policies to reduce paper usage.

For this aspect of the print audit, it’s mainly about increased environmental awareness. With heightened visibility, it’s simpler to implement measures to become greener.

Tighten up the security of your print infrastructure

These days, every organisation must have a robust level of digital security in place. However, more often than not, print technology is overlooked.

With a print audit, a complete security analysis is carried out to highlight any gaps that exist within your overall operational processes.

Implement Document Management Solutions

Document management solutions (DMS) are available to make the best of an organisation’s key resources: money and time.

Through the implementation of DMS, an organisation is able to:

Automate tasks and improve process efficiency

Employees can work more efficiently with document management software because they have instantaneous access to information. This software likewise enables organisations to implement workflow automation that keeps business processes moving.

A document management system can also help an organisation to:

• Streamline the distribution of documents through automated workflow routing as well as notification, thereby improving accountability.
• Use more intelligent search methods.
• More efficiently manage organisational activities.
• Create document copies and distribute them as easily as it is to send an email.
• Greatly reduce the number of lost documents.
• Reduce clerical mistakes through the automation of optical character recognition and indexing.

Improve overall communication within the organisation

With document management systems it’s much easier to share documents with clients and colleagues electronically. This can be achieved either at the office or elsewhere.

A good quality DMS enables:

• You to gain access to the DMS remotely.
• The seamless integration of the DMS with your website.
• The balancing of accessibility and security.

Cut time waste by reducing the amount of time spent on filing documents

When a DMS is implemented, organisations can use their time more effectively to:

• Track documents that need to be signed by various personnel.
• Retrieve documents and various other essential information.
• Respond more rapidly to customer queries.
• Immediately respond to client and auditor information requests.
• Provide better customer service.

Minimise costs involved with additional hiring and paper storage

There are upfront costs involved in the implementation of a document management system. Nevertheless, over the long term, it does lead to savings. It’s possible to make savings over the long term by:

• Reducing the amount of downtime in an organisation which can be caused b fire, theft, or flooding.
• Completely eliminating the costs involved in off-site storage.
• The replacement of space used for paper storage by more productive activities that are revenue-generating.

What’s the Bottom Line?

It’s possible to completely overhaul the majority of manual processes with document management software. The digitising of documents and the control of electronic documents means that organisations can eliminate paper storage, improve communication, and streamline operations.

With this kind of boost in efficiency, organisations will enjoy the benefits by reducing clerical tasks in favour of revenue-producing tasks.

 

If you wish to have a new website created or you want your current site to benefit from a makeover you’re likely thinking “How do I go about choosing the right WordPress agency?”

This is a good question to ask because the agency you choose is going to be responsible for the design and development of your site, and your site is what provides the initial impression of your company to a customer.

So how do you go about selecting which WordPress agency is right for your needs? Below, we share 4 tips to help you in choosing the right WordPress agency.

4 Tips for Choosing the Right WordPress Agency

1. List the goals and needs of your website

Prior to searching for a WordPress agency, you must understand what it is your website needs to do as well as the features your site should have so that it will achieve your goals.

Here are some examples of what your website might do:

• Sync with your current customer relationship management (CRM), such as HubSpot, Salesforce, or any other CRM software.
• Generate business leads.
• Link seamlessly with your email marketing platform.
• Integrate seamlessly with the tool you use for marketing automation.
• Permit users to fill out any forms you wish to include on your site.
• Collect payments, including recurring payments.

Features that may be required by your website so you can achieve the above:

• Ecommerce functionality.
• Easy navigation, content that is search-engine optimised, and pages that are conversion optimised.
• Secure online forms.

Besides this, you may wish to think about the timeline for the work and your budget.

2. Review local and nationwide WordPress agencies

Your list is at the ready so it’s now time to begin the search for a WordPress agency.

Even if the final choice comes down to an agency that’s geographically close to where you are it’s still worth getting a feel for what’s available farther afield. This way you can better compare portfolios, experience, agency culture, and what kind of services are offered.

3. Review agency culture, experience, and portfolios

Arguably, there are three particularly important things you should look for in a really good WordPress agency: agency culture, experience, and portfolio.

Alone, these three can provide you with enough insight into how the work will be managed, if the finished product will be up to your expectations, and if the agency will be a good fit for you.

Agency Culture

The culture of the agency will let you know about the agency’s personality and style of work. The ideal agency will be one that matches the personality of your company so that collaboration is easy and you can successfully work together throughout the project.

You can assess an agency’s culture by:

• Having a look at their social pages.
• Checking out their team pages. Is their team’s expertise and talent showcased?
• Finding out about their community involvement or if they have any community involvement.

If you meet up with any potential WordPress design agencies you’ll soon get a sense of their culture, too. Are you made to feel welcome? Are they interested in listening to your ideas? Do they seem to be excited with regard to your project?

Because you’ll be spending a lot of time working with your chosen agency, do not underestimate the importance of the agency’s culture.

Experience

There are two things here:

Is the WordPress agency a startup or are they experienced? How long have they been in business?

How about experience in developing websites in your industry? Are there any websites that they have designed that you particularly like? What about sites they’ve made that have the same type of features that your own site will need?

Your WordPress agency of choice should offer support once your site is up and running. They should provide ongoing marketing services so that you can continually grow your business with your website’s input. And, of course, their team should be knowledgeable and consist of experts so that your site is sure to meet your requirements and goals.

Portfolio

The portfolio of a WordPress agency is one of the best ways to asses the agency team’s capabilities and skills. But it’s not only about being pretty. A website that looks pretty but isn’t user-friendly is never going to perform well against a website that is perhaps not quite as pretty but is very easy to navigate around.

The portfolio will provide insight into the level of agency creativity, their industry experience, the ability at complex coding tasks, and much more.

And if the agency does not have any or much experience in your industry, ultimately, it’s more about really liking the work they do rather than industry-specific experience.

4. Check out online reviews and testimonials

Be sure to read through online reviews and testimonials of any WordPress agency you feel would be a good fit. These afford insight into how happy prior clients have been with the work etc.

Have a look for reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. If you can only find reviews on the agency’s website, try to do a bit more digging since these reviews will likely be hand-picked.

You might think that organising a team-building activity is easy. You just need a venue where you can hold the activity and an exact date. The truth is that it can get a bit more complicated. Despite the complexity, you can still make it happen. These are some things you need to avoid if you want the activity to succeed.

Setting the wrong date

The team-building event isn’t only to help your employees work together. It’s also an opportunity for them to drop serious work and have fun. You can’t choose a date when everyone is busy or is hurrying to meet a deadline. No one will be in the mood to join the activities. Everyone feels like getting back to work.

Choosing the wrong leader

You need someone to facilitate the activity. As a manager, you can’t be the one heading this event. You should be one of the participants. You’re already giving several tasks each day. You don’t want this unique activity to be another chance for you to boss people around. Find someone else who isn’t a part of your team to facilitate the activity and think of ways to make everyone feel involved.

Asking everyone to give up their break

If possible, you need to do the activity during work hours or on weekdays. You can compel everyone to join since it’s a workday anyway. If you force them to come on a weekend or on a holiday, it might feel like a wasted opportunity to rest. They might also want to spend time with family or relax. If you want everyone to take part in every activity, you need to find the perfect timing.

Organising activities that are physically demanding

If your team has young employees who have all the energy to do the activities, it’s okay. However, if you have some ageing employees, you can’t have a physically demanding activity. They might not participate, and it could also place their health at risk. Look for alternate activities that will still make the employees realise the same lessons without going through a physically demanding task.

Doing the same thing each year 

It might get easy for you to repeat the same strategies that you did the last time if you think they worked well. The problem is that the participants already know what to expect. They won’t have a chance to learn something new. It helps you to be creative and look for ways to entice everyone to keep learning. You also don’t need to have the same type of team-building exercise all the time. You can even consider having a funfair company where everyone can just relax and have fun. You can ask https://www.wearetricycle.co.uk to help organise this event. The good thing is that it allows everyone to get to know each other in a relaxed setting. In a way, it’s still a team-building activity.

Find out what works for your team and come up with an exciting activity for everyone to learn from.

 

The term design may sound like a trivial factor in establishing and running a business, but it has a significant impact on the success of a company. It’s not only about how an establishment appears to customers and stakeholders. Bad design decisions can have adverse consequences for a business.

The word design covers many aspects, including building, office, product packaging, logo, and website design. This post focuses on the design used in creating the online presence of a business, particularly the website and corporate identity. The discussions below present essential details every business must know. As one expert from a top design agency in Oxford says, creating a sound design is more than just making a business look great. It should support business success, which means setting a distinctively appealing look that attracts potential customers and encourages sales.

Creating a good impression

Imagine if McDonald’s chose a black and grey colour scheme for its logo and buildings. Would potential customers be enticed to dine or buy at the company’s stores? What if Coca-Cola used straight white powdery lines to spell out the brand name (as a play on coca*** lines and addictiveness) in one of its online marketing campaigns? Imagine the backlash it would get.

Design can make or break a business. In order to create a good impression, it’s essential to choose something that appeals to the target market without stirring controversy. It’s great to be adventurous with the concept and to infuse meaning, but it’s advisable to ascertain that the resulting design is not divisive. A neutral decent-looking design is better than something that can be considered witty but potentially contentious.

Enabling distinctiveness

Excellent design makes it easy to identify and remember a brand. It does not have to be ornate. Too much sophistication or complexity can be a disadvantage. What’s important is to create a look that is not forgettable or comparable to what other businesses have. Designers should strive to develop something that instinctively makes customers associate it with the brand or business name. A design can look impressive, but if it ends up being linked to a different product or branding, it does not serve its purpose.

Stimulating purchases

Moreover, a carefully thought out design may encourage purchases and increase sales. Take the case of online stores. If they are created with dull colours and a generic layout, it won’t be surprising if they do not attract buyers. Customers online have learned to be discriminating because of the multitude of choices they have. Why would they stick with an unattractive store with an unintuitive interface if they could quickly find something better? Numerous businesses online compete for customers, so they need to come up with a look that catches attention and convinces customers to buy.

Design has substantial effects on businesses, especially when it comes to building an online presence. It only makes sense to give it meticulous attention and a thoroughly-researched and well-thought-out concept. To sum up, good design is something that leaves a good impression, makes a business easily identifiable, and encourages customer patronage.

Several club management software options are available today, offering club owners more choices. Some applications only offer a basic set of features, whereas other platforms offer enhanced features and functions that some clubs may require.

Choosing the appropriate management software for your fitness club can be confounding, especially if you are not familiar with how the program works. Productivity software often has several features, some of which you do not need and will never use. It is vital to choose one that fits your business operations just right but is scalable so that you can upgrade when your business grows more prominent.

Start by establishing what you and your clients require. If you are new to the business, here are some of the first things you should consider.

1. Tracking your income and expenses

Better income management equates to a successful business. The software you choose should have this function. An integrated billing feature will help reduce your operating costs and let your staff focus more on your clients. Since you will be accepting credit card/debit card payments, subscribing to a Credit Card Auto Updater Service (CCAUS) will be of great help. The service automatically updates information on replaced or expired credits cards. Your staff does not have to call members to ask for their new credit card information so that they can process billing statements faster.

2. Establishing contact with members

As a service provider, you should be in constant contact with your clients. They expect you to provide quality service, which you can do with automated marketing, billing and scheduling. You can program the system to send members appointment reminders by email or text and provide members with updates on club developments, such as introducing new members or new services. You can send targeted messages to entice members to try other services your club offers.

3. Integration with your website

You can perform most transactions today through a website. Select management software like Coacha, which you can easily integrate with your website, enhancing your marketing opportunities. The software provides a platform for members to register, book appointments, pay membership dues or sign up for a free trial offer.

4. Remote access

Check if the software allows you to access the system’s interface outside of the office. This is a valuable feature, which can allow owners and staff members to check on the business any time, wherever they are.

5. Self-service

Ensure that the club management software offers flexibility to you and your club members. Most people today are used to using online banking and shopping. Your members will greatly appreciate if you provide them with a digital portal, so they can manage their account, schedule appointments and book services on their own, without having to come to the club. They will find it very convenient and give your staff more time to attend to members who are at the club.

Most club management software today has so many features. Choose the one that can help you manage your business operations, attract new clients and retain existing ones.

At first, you have to do your best to convince investors to spend money on you. You prepare what to say, check if the room is conducive to the presentation, and prepare the slides. You even invest in a video wall mount to ensure that the equipment will work well while you present. You understand that their investment could take you to success. If you do well during the presentation, they will most likely decide in your favour.

At this point, it’s your call if you move forward with the transaction or if you pass. Once you accept the partnership, you’re giving that investor authority to make decisions for the business. Therefore, you need to be careful before accepting any offer. It’s your turn to study the investor and see if you can work well together. These are the qualities you want in an investor.

Respectful 

Some investors feel like they already own you and your business the moment they decide to invest. You don’t want to work with these people. They won’t respect your decisions and will force you to do things their way. They will even blame you if you decide to take the path you want and it fails. It will be a disaster for the company if someone tries to take over what you worked so hard to start.

Honest 

Even if you don’t want to work with a dictator, you also don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t care at all. You still want someone who will be honest with you and tell you if you’re doing the right thing for your business. Otherwise, you might believe that you’re still on the right path, and you suddenly fail. Investors are also experts in business, so they know what to do to help you.

Focused

Some investors have multiple investments. Expanding their portfolio allows them to have several shots at success. Even if one business fails, they will still have chances for success elsewhere. The only problem is that they might lose focus on you if they have a lot on their plate. You need someone who will give you the attention you deserve and will be with you on the entire journey.

Optimistic

You want to work with someone who has a positive view of the direction of the business. There are times when things don’t go as planned, and you start to lose hope. You need someone who will keep pushing you to success. Even when you can’t implement your plans, the investor will tell you that it’s possible, and there’s still a path to success.

Some investors are tough because their investment is at stake, but don’t do anything to help. You don’t want someone to be absent the entire time and blame you once you fail.

After seeing the potential investors, it’s time for you make up your mind. You can accept the offer and call it a day or keep searching until you find an investor you think is a perfect fit for your business.

Working on a construction project is no simple feat. There are key stages you need to prepare for in order to minimise safety risks and ensure timely completion of your requests. Take a closer look at these basic stages to understand what you need to do. Regardless of the scale of your project, you will most likely observe the five key stages below.

Creating a construction plan

This stage involves conceptualizing your plans. Think about what you hope to achieve with your project. How many floors do you want for the building? Do you already have a location for your project? More importantly, what standards or regulations do you need to follow. As the project owner, you must identify all the key things you need to work on. Be as detailed as possible when you create your plan.

Finding the right people to help you

You will most definitely need to hire a few people to help you complete your project such as structural engineers, interior designers and electrical engineers. These folks will help you execute your plans. They will also come in handy for performing tasks that require experience and finesse such as checking the overall structure of the building and connecting the required utilities.

Looking for equipment rentals or acquiring required tools

Another key step in launching a successful construction project is looking for equipment rental companies or suppliers. You may need a few tools such as a hydraulic power pack and heavy equipment to perform various construction-related tasks. You must decide whether to buy or rent tools and equipment to complete a certain aspect of your project. If it’s a one-time gig, it’s highly recommended to lease the equipment. However, if you will most likely work on another project, then you should consider purchasing the essential equipment.

Working on the plans

After procuring the equipment, contacting suppliers, hiring a contractor and completing the construction plan, it will be easier to start working on the project. Be sure to brief everyone involved in the project about the time frame, budget and even your expectations. This way, everything will be in order. Continuous monitoring of the project will allow you to complete your project with fewer complications. This will also help you determine possible points for improvement.

Finalising the project

Once your team completes the project, there are a few things you need to attend to. Some of these tasks include having the building checked for structural issues and handing it over to the owner. See to it that you provide all the necessary documentation.

Examine the materials used and installed in the building a few times to know which ones need your immediate attention. At this point, your team also needs to review contracts and warranty certifications.

A construction project entails a lot of work. You may also need to face and resolve all kinds of issues that may arise during the project. Regular communication among your team members and solid planning will help you ensure smooth and timely completion of your project.

Have you battled with getting visitors to your website to do what you want? Perhaps you are wanting them to sign up for your newsletter or, alternatively, get a demo of your product however they never get to that page? It may be the right time to have another look at your call-to-action.

What is a call-to-action?

The term ‘call-to-action’ (CTA) is a statement which is designed to elicit an immediate response from the individual who is reading or, alternatively, hearing it. The CTA is used in business – as part of a digital marketing strategy – in order to get your target audience to respond to it by taking a certain action.

Before you put pen to paper and write down your call to action, decide what the goal is that you’re trying to reach:

• Do you want to boost subscriptions?
• Increase sales?
• Move readers along to another content piece?

Once you have an idea of the action that you want performed, think about how best you can achieve this goal.

The best call-to-action phrases are short and use powerful verbs. In addition, they speak directly to the user. Rather than weaker call-to-action words – such as click here – an efficient call-to-action phrase will use more particular words that speak directly to the outcome that you want. Great calls-to-action include:

• Discover your best life
• Join our community
• Book your next adventure.

Where should a call-to-action be?

The question “where should I place my CTA on my website?” is one that digital marketing experts attempt to tackle often. And it’s probably as it’s so frustrating. Currently, no one has decided on one clear solution such as, for example, “top-right corner of every web page” in order to solve the conundrum of where CTAs should belong for optimal engagement.

Before A/B testing and heat-mapping tools, web designers and digital marketers though that the best solutions was to put all the important information above the fold and then the secondary information below the fold.

According to expert, where the CTA is placed should be influenced by the density of a page:

• For a shorter page that has less information, it may make sense to put the CTA above the fold.
• For a longer page that conveys that is more complex, the CTA may do better below the fold.

In a study, researchers compared the difference in conversion rates between:

• A shorter home page design that had a distracting navigation bar, no value proposition in the content, and a call-to-action form in the top-right of the page, and
• A longer home page design with content that delivered a stronger, clearer and more detailed value proposition.

The researchers also removed the distracting navigation and placed the call-to-action at the bottom of the page.

What was found that the simpler and longer layout of the page had a 220% higher conversion rate than that of the original control page. The basic assumption here is that because the web designers provided all the useful information which visitors required in a clean and simple manner; they didn’t mind waiting until the end of the page to engage with the CTA.

Your CTA is the opportunity to motivate your digital audience to take real steps in terms of becoming a customer or client. The CTA can be the deciding factor between a lead and a conversion. Many argue that the CTA is the most valuable part of your site or ad campaign. Skipping the CTA is a dangerous mistake that won’t bode well for your company.

If you utilise your CTA in order to create a sense of urgency – or to gently steer your users towards the checkout line – the important thing is that you use a strong CTA. Next time you’re creating site content or ad copy, let your call to action shine. The results will follow.