A brief overview of the 4th industrial revolution.

A brief overview of the 4th industrial revolution.

The 4th industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is a new era of digital, technological advancement characterized by the integration of physical, digital, and biological systems. It is defined by the interconnectivity of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, big data, and more.

One of the key aspects of Industry 4.0 is the increasing use of data-driven technologies to enhance productivity, efficiency, and decision-making in various industries. This is made possible by the widespread availability of data and the growing power of computing technologies. As a result, machines and systems are becoming more autonomous, making it possible for businesses to automate many tasks that were previously performed by humans.

Another important aspect of Industry 4.0 is the increasing role of artificial intelligence. AI is changing the way we work and live by automating repetitive tasks, making it possible for machines to learn from experience, and enabling the creation of intelligent systems that can respond to real-world situations in real-time. This is leading to the development of new products and services, as well as the creation of new business models that can harness the power of AI.

Industry 4.0 is also changing the way we think about work. With the rise of automation and AI, there is a growing concern that many jobs will be lost. However, it is also creating new job opportunities in areas such as data analysis, software development, and cybersecurity. It is important for workers to adapt to these changes by acquiring new skills and retraining, in order to remain competitive in the job market.

In conclusion, the 4th industrial revolution is a major transformation in the way we live, work, and interact with technology. It is changing the way we do business, creating new opportunities, and transforming entire industries. While it is important to be aware of the potential challenges and disruptions that come with such rapid technological advancement, it is also important to embrace the opportunities and benefits that Industry 4.0 presents.

Your guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist

Your guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist

In 2021, you have to deal with tech no matter what your business is about. If you have a server or even just a website, you must think about both European Union’s GDPR and California’s CCPA. Governments care about online privacy a lot these days — so if you’re processing a lot of data, you want to make sure all of it is safe. Of course, you take care of that by having the right people in your team. But if you aren’t an expert in the field, it can be tricky to figure out what you need. To help you out, we’ve made a guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist.

The problem

As more and more sectors embrace technology, it’s only natural that we need more skilled IT security workers. However, these specialists aren’t easy to come by. At the moment, about 2.72 million open positions are waiting to be filled.

The demand is high, and there aren’t enough employees to go around. So, what can we do to turn the situation around?

As it turns out, companies need to up their game. They need to change the way they pick the people they’ll hire. We know it’s not an easy thing to hear, but if you couldn’t find a cybersecurity expert to fulfill your needs for some time, the problem may have been in you.

Here are some of the best practices you should follow if you want to get it right.

A frustrated woman reading a guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist on her laptop.

The biggest problem with the industry is that there aren’t enough workers to go around.

Find your weak spots

You want to start by thinking about is your company’s strengths and weaknesses. You must recognize your vulnerabilities to know what expert you need to plug the gap. Maybe certain areas of your security strategy are good, so you don’t have to work on them. Instead, focus on the ones you know aren’t at their best.

On the other hand, you might be thinking about the future. If you’re keeping some sensitive information, you want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure its safety is never compromised.

As experts love to say, one vulnerability is one too many. Hence, you want to create a comprehensive strategy and a team to make it a reality. Think about your hires and cover all the security areas. Remember that hiring too many people who specialize in one thing could bring you a lot of trouble as it will leave other areas open to risk.

Don’t get hung up on traditional qualifications

Most companies seek some qualifications when looking for network security experts, and we’re not saying this doesn’t make sense, but maybe you should change the way you think about it.

High tuition fees made many people ditch getting a traditional degree and dive right into the world of working and gaining experience. There’s nothing wrong with that in the eyes of experts from wpfullcare.com. If someone took the non-traditional route to learn how to do the job, that doesn’t make them less competent.

On the contrary, we see that many people with the ”right” qualifications don’t know enough about working in the real world. And it’s not necessarily their fault. In this niche, experience is often more valuable than school.

Thus, in this guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist, we advise you to keep the qualifications you require to the necessary minimum. You don’t want to stop people with the actual skills from applying because they don’t have formal credentials.

People working in the office.

A significant takeaway from this guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist is not to be afraid of hiring self-thought experts.

Go for a diverse team

Your goal should be to make your team as diverse as possible. Only that way, they’ll be able to reach their full potential. If you hire everyone with the same background and career path, you can’t expect to see innovative ideas popping out.

Luckily, there are a few easy ways you can take to solve this problem. For example, hire a woman. Although the chances are that you have a female employee working on creating fresh content for your SEO, the world of cybersecurity is predominately male. As a result, it’s a smaller talent pool to recruit from, but if you can do it, it’ll be an excellent addition to your team.

Speak to your HR team and see how you can take your recruitment strategy to the next level. The more you can diversify your talent pipeline, the more quality of your workforce will improve.

But it won’t stop there. The word will spread out, and your company will become far more attractive to prospective employees. In the future, it’ll be much easier for you to find new talent, and that can’t be a bad thing.

Help your current employees grow

As you can see, it can be hard to find the right people to hire in this sphere. However, if you already have some employees, you can provide them with additional training to develop and advance their skills. It’ll mean a lot for their career, but it’ll mean to you even more as they’ll do more meaningful work for you.

On top of that, your workers are more likely to stay with you for longer if they see that you’re investing in their professional development. They’ll know how to respect that, and you won’t have to hire external associates.

Explore a bit about cybersecurity certifications, and learn how you can get your staff to earn them. Maybe some of your IT generalists want to get into this world, and there’s nothing wrong with producing your experts.

A man teaching coding.

Help your employees grow, and they’ll love working for you.

Be flexible

The way people work and like to work is changing. In other words, you need to know what you’re potential employees are after and offer them just that. When it comes to younger generations that dominate the IT security niche, they value job satisfaction over traditional linear career progression.

For you, this means that you’ll have to sell not only the position but also the company. You’ll have to offer:

  • A competitive salary
  • Good benefits
  • Nice work environment

However, that’s what everyone’s offering, isn’t it? Hence you need to go a step further. You want to show your potential employees that you care about their work-life balance by giving them flexibility. Don’t try to run away from remote working, graduates, or working parents, for that matter.

Your workers will do their job well if they like their place in your company, and that’s what we’re trying to get across with our guide to hiring a cybersecurity specialist. The talent is out there — you just need to find it.

Sales Pipeline vs. Sales Funnel – What’s the difference?

Sales Pipeline vs. Sales Funnel – What’s the difference?

The world of customer relations and marketing is full of specialized terminology, making it easy to feel confused. For this reason, we have decided to dedicate an article to exploring the differences between the sales pipeline vs. sales funnel. Honestly, many people consider them to be the same and use the terms interchangeably. However, we hope you’ll be able to gain more understanding and use that knowledge to communicate with your colleagues accurately. If you learn the differences and carefully plan your marketing campaign, you will surely see an increase in sales.

      I.            What is a sales pipeline?

When determining what’s the difference between a sales pipeline vs. sales funnel, it’s best to start with accurate definitions. A sales pipeline constitutes all the different stages potential clients, called prospects, need to go through before becoming paying customers. It all begins with lead generation, and then sales representatives follow through until a sale is made.

Sales pipelines usually closely examine every individual stage in the process of attaining customers. This is done from the perspective of the company. The stages represented in a pipeline are there to reflect what the seller does during the entire sales process.

Quality score of a lead in a sales pipeline

You can obtain a lot of relevant sales data by examining the sales pipeline and scoring leads.

The stages of a sales pipeline

Here is where things can get a little bit complicated. Different companies sometimes use various definitions, terms, and stages to represent their pipeline. Likewise, companies will commonly develop an internal jargon. As a result, you will need to make sure you are on the same page with the other team members and that your sales pipeline is handled the right way. This is especially important for managerial positions that can call for a ‘pipeline meeting’ and leave their team confused.

Here are the typical stages of a sales pipeline:

  • Prospect or lead generation. Some companies don’t include this as the first step. They consider the pipeline stages to begin after they have already obtained leads. However, generating leads is where it all starts.
  • Qualification. Does the lead have the potential to become a paying customer? You can score leads and allow sales teams to better focus their efforts.
  • Meeting. In this stage, the sales representative discusses options with the prospect. Communication can also take the form of a call and take place over multiple interactions with a prospect. A common example of this is email communication.
  • Proposal. Send a detailed quote to the prospect, which includes costs, terms, and conditions.
  • Closing. The final negotiations that lead to the contracts being signed. Now the prospect becomes a customer.

 

    II.            What is a sales funnel?

Now it’s time to look at the other side of the equation in the sales pipeline vs. sales funnel. It’s commonly agreed that a sales funnel represents the journey prospective customers take to make it through all the stages of the pipeline. The sales funnel is centered on the customer and their progress towards making a purchase. The stages here are based on what the customer is going through.

Shopping basket for an online transaction as a result of the sales funnel.

Approach the sales funnel with your customer in mind to make the user experience rewarding.

Taking the customer’s point of view into account is an important part of design thinking. Whenever possible, you should approach the design of products, services, and processes with the goal of improving the user experience. Additionally, sales funnels also examine the number of prospects that make it through towards a paying customer. Therefore, relevant metrics are the number of prospects and the conversion rates. Consequently, this allows for reasonably accurate sales forecasts based on lead volume and previous sales data.

Stages of a sales funnel

Things are a bit more uniform this time around, and most companies have a similar distribution of stages.

The stages of a sales funnel are:

  • Awareness. The prospect is currently looking for ways to understand the problem they are having. This is when they first hear about your brand and what you offer. Customers can be informed of your existence by a Google search, or your marketing efforts.
  • Interest. Now that the prospect has learned about your product or service, they begin to do more detailed research. They can look into your products and services and realize they are the solution to their needs.
  • Intent. In this stage, the prospect is seriously considering buying from you. Now they need to make sure that what you are offering is going to meet their demands.
  • Purchase. The stage where the sale is made and contracts are signed. Unfortunately, there is no time to rest since the sales funnel isn’t over yet.
  • Loyalty. You should always aim to provide long-term value in order to ensure repeat sales and get referrals. Customer loyalty is also the best way to build credibility in your industry.

Similarities between the pipeline and funnel

We have previously looked at their individual characteristics and compared sales pipeline vs. sales funnel to determine the difference. However, there are some similarities and things that tie them together. In both the pipeline and the funnel, fewer prospects will make it through the various stages compared to the beginning. Therefore, if visually represented, both can seem wide to begin with and narrow at the end. Since they both have a funnel-like shape, it can be easy to confuse them.

Man using a phone in front of a computer to make an online sale.

Interact directly with your prospects to turn them into customers.

Additionally, they both deal with the progress of leads towards paying customers. If your business is struggling to turn leads into customers, then you should consult the experts from Convert More. They have developed a smart call algorithm that automatically connects customers to your sales team. Direct interaction between website visitors and your employees is the best way to boost sales and improve the customer experience.

Drawing the final conclusions

When looking at the differences between the sales pipeline vs. sales funnel, it’s easy to come to a few conclusions. Although they both deal with the sales process, the main difference is in perspective and approach. The sales pipeline looks from the company’s perspective and is almost a guide to which steps to take. On the other hand, the sales funnel deals with the journey of the customer. You can use both to obtain large amounts of data and help with sales. Thus, it’s not a matter of which approach to take; rather, they represent flip sides of the same coin.

Ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021

Ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021

Ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021

A website is as crucial for a business nowadays as brick-and-mortar stores were in the past. If you don’t have one, it’s like your company doesn’t exist. These days, a site can be your shop window, a counter for selling wares, or a contact center. As a matter of fact, it can be all three of these things at the same time. However, it can be only as useful as you make it. If your competition shows up higher on the SERPs, you’ll have difficulty reaching your target audience. To help you get in front of them, we’ll share a few ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021.

As you already know, SEO can help your business in many ways. But the main benefit of getting a good score is that your site will be visible and ranked well. If you pay attention to all the right things, customers shouldn’t have a hard time finding you. On the contrary, they’ll see your site anywhere they look online.

But what are these things you should focus on? Let’s take a look.

A man working on SEO for his site.

Find out the best ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021.

Use responsive design and connect to mobile users

Responsive design is one of the crucial things when it comes to making your website a success. If you want your site to be SEO-friendly, you can’t go without it. But, what is responsive design exactly?

It allows your website to adapt to any device the user is utilizing. So, they can search through your pages on a phone, tablet, or laptop. No matter what they pick, they’ll see the best version of the site for the device they’re using.

If you don’t go with it, people who visit your site on their phones will see a desktop version. Text will be tiny, they won’t see the images, and clicking on links will be trouble. So, they’ll leave, and that will send a bad signal to Google.

As experts from WP Full Care love to put it, the importance of an SEO-friendly website is in that it keeps traffic on your page for longer. If people spend a lot of time on a page they click on, for Google, it means they have a good time, so it’s much more likely for it to recommend the page to other users. And that’s the effect you want to produce.

Create the right kind of content

If you want to have a successful website, you must have a content marketing strategy in place. Content is the king for many reasons. It drives traffic to your site, engages your leads, and you can use it to build credibility in your industry. Now, there are a couple of things you need to think about when it comes to content, and these are:

  • Picking the kind of content you want to make
  • Choosing your topics

Regarding the former, you don’t have to only go for one type of content. People love to consume different kinds of formats, so feel free to get creative. However, you should know that long blog posts will bring you the most engagement, and videos are a close second. So, keep that in mind when making your strategy.

And when it comes to the topics for your content, things get a bit tricky. You want to find something that your audience wants to know, but that’s hard to find online. You can also work on the topics already well covered, but you have to find a way to be interesting and talk about them like no one else. One of the best ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021 is to be unique. And trust us, that sounds a lot easier than it really is.

A woman holding a camera and thinking about the ways to make your website SEO friendly in 2021.

Text content will still get you the most engagement, but the video isn’t that far behind.

Improve your page load time

Your website’s load time is an essential factor in your SEO friendliness. The quicker your pages load, the faster the users will get to the information they’re after. So, you’re eliminating the risk of them bouncing to a competitor’s site.

To improve your load time, first look at the images on your site. They’re great additions, but if they’re too large, they can make a mess and slow down your pages almost to a halt. Compress them, and your site should run more smoothly.

On the other hand, there are many more things that can make your site run more slowly, deeming website maintenance necessary. To keep it running at all times, you need to maintain your website correctly and on schedule. The last thing you want is to find out that your site has been down for a whole day because of a bug that you could fix in five minutes.

Connect to social media

You can connect your site to social media and get a lot of publicity and engagement from it. Make it possible for your visitors to share your content directly from their profiles, and that will bring you more engagement and chances to sell.

Moreover, if you show your social media profiles on your site, people who stumble upon it will know right away that you’re a legit business. Google’s algorithm also likes to see your site and social profiles connected, so you’ll get a pat on the back there, as well.

And finally, you can use social media to promote your business. Some networks like text-heavy promotions, while others are all about pictures. Of course, there’s no reason why you should utilize them both. The more channels you’re on, the broader audience you can reach, and that’s always good for business. Learn how to make your brand stand out on social media and get to your customers through their preferred channel.

A man sharing a blog post on Instagram from his tablet.

More than half of the world’s population is on social media, so your site needs to be connected to them.

Conclusion

Now, you know some of the best ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021. However, these aren’t all of them. There are so many things you can do to attract the attention of both search engines and visitors. But what you need to understand is that the people are who you want to please. If you make them search for your site and stay on it, Google will boost your rank. Make your site attractive to your visitors, and you will have done almost all the job. It’s as easy.

Meta: Get to learn more about the ways to make your website SEO-friendly in 2021. Find out what you should do and what you should stay away from.

https://unsplash.com/photos/zNRITe8NPqY

https://unsplash.com/photos/VHXiGXxwOQ4

https://unsplash.com/photos/UqlWfdDiEIM

https://unsplash.com/photos/yyMJNPgQ-X8

 

What is a Blockchain Domain and Should You Buy One?

What is a Blockchain Domain and Should You Buy One?

What is a Blockchain Domain and Should You Buy One?

Get yourself simple, human-readable blockchain domain names with which you can receive all cryptocurrencies, and build censorship-resistant websites that only you can put up and takedown

What is a blockchain domain?

A blockchain domain is a blockchain-based domain name. That is, a blockchain domain can be assigned to a website with which you want to transmit any transaction, document, private key, or payment that you want to do using a blockchain domain, and can even have its data encrypted or under protection, which is more than any other domain type. The blockchain domain’s data is always encrypted so that only you (or your transaction partner) can decrypt the data and it can be transferred and exchanged between you or your transactions partner, only if you are using the same blockchain domain name. Here is an example of a web domain registration which you could use to create a blockchain domain for a website that you want to use to handle transactions using a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

 

Why would you want to buy one?

Thanks to Lightning Network (previously called Zak protocol), it is now relatively trivial to carry out very fast, low-cost, anonymous transactions, including microtransactions such as buying a cup of coffee using a regular currency. With bitcoin, this is cumbersome, expensive, and also violates the security of the network due to transaction confirmation delays. With Lightning, you can pay anyone instantly, on any device, using any currency, for just pennies in fees. Note that there are other ways to do this (the above works with the most popular one in existence today, which is bitcoin), but lightning is the most famous. Blockchain domain name hosting is a relatively new concept in the sense that it allows you to host websites with a unique, human-readable domain.

 

How do you buy a blockchain domain?Buy Now Button InsideMan Blockchain Domain

You buy it for a cryptocurrency of your choice on the main market, and there are tons of cryptocurrency exchanges for different cryptocurrencies. For example, the marketplaces are Coinbazaar, Kraken, Binance, CryptoMarket, ACX, and many others. Once you have found a suitable domain, contact the company or domain owner and buy it for a token. So the first thing is to buy a cryptocurrency, the second is to buy a domain name. That’s it. How do you create a domain name with a blockchain? As said before, the blockchain domain names are human-readable and therefore easy to implement. The easiest way to implement a blockchain domain name is to ask some people to help you to build it on Github. In most cases, they will agree to this and will modify the domain and write the code.

 

How much does it cost?

Prices are always based on demand. All other factors being equal, prices are based on the top 1000 domain names. You can get yourself a domain name from 1 domain name provider for as little as $12. There are of course always opportunities to get the cheapest domain name. How do I buy domain names from one domain name provider? Depending on your preference, you can choose to purchase your domain names on a domain name auction site, on a decentralized marketplace like NameCoin or on a centralized domain name provider like Name.com.

 

Conclusion

Your personal blockchain could have less bitcoin and do more. Our team built a completely secure, decentralized, and encrypted block chain-powered blockchain network for small, medium, and large organizations. We released it to the community, the next step for any new system is to start monetizing it with either subscriptions or consulting. If you have any questions regarding blockchain domain name buying, please leave a comment, we will be happy to help you.

 

Buy Now Button InsideMan Blockchain Domain

Business insurance, but not what you think

Business insurance, but not what you think

BUSINESS INSURANCE

When you say ‘business insurance’ most small business owners think of short-term insurance to cover loss of or damage to their equipment and vehicles, or liability insurance to cover claims against the business.  If they have that, they assume they are sorted. Whether you are the sole owner of the business or have business partners, or are a key person on whose skills the  business relies, there are a number of important scenarios to consider.

What happens if you die or a business partner dies? Or you have an accident and are no longer able to work?  What impact will this have on your business?

 

There are three main things to consider ensuring that an unforeseen tragedy doesn’t also sink your income.

 

The first one is business continuity.  On your death or permanent disability, your partner has, in terms of the law,  the first option to buy your shares in the business from your estate, provided, of course, he can afford it.  If he can’t, he may offer a price far less than the true value. Either your executor will sell your shares for less than they are worth or the shares will pass to your heirs in terms of your Will. You could find yourself having to consult with your partner’s spouse or heirs, as the new shareholder, even though they are not working in the business.

A buy and sell agreement is a win-win arrangement
i) Your estate sells your shares for their true value, so your heirs inherit the fruits of your labours,  and
ii)  your shares will be automatically transferred to your co-shareholder,  who retains control of the business. The purchase price is funded by cost-effective life insurance.

A second consideration would be to assess if the business is largely built around special skills. If there are certain skilled individuals who either have unique abilities or relationships it may be prudent to make sure that you cater for the impact of loss associated with losing them.The business can take out a Keyperson policy and receive a cash amount if the person lost through death or disability was a key individual to the running or success of the business.

Thirdly, debt!  All businesses make use of credit facilities.  In many instances,  the owners have lent their own money to the business, and want it repaid to their estates on death or prior disability.  A simple business-owned policy paid for by the business can settle the debts and leave the other owners in a much stronger position to carry on.

The above three focus areas are important to allow your business to flourish after your death or disability while releasing the value of your labours in the form of a cash payout.

What is often forgotten, though,  is your PERSONAL ESTATE and the need for cash in your estate to pay various expenses.  Naturally, a well-drafted Will is vital to ensure that your heirs are protected.

 

Most estates in SA find themselves short of cash to pay expenses such as executor’s fees, Master’s fees,  CGT, arrear income tax, mortgage bonds,  other loans,  and, in some cases,  estate duty.  The maximum rate of CGT is an effective 18% and estate duty  20% (or 25% for amounts exceeding R30 million).

 

Putting these insurances in place is as important for a business as it is for an individual to have a Will. The correct structure and implementation of these specific types of insurance will, settle liabilities, ensure continuity of the business, and provide the assurance that your beneficiaries get what is due to them if and when the times comes for a claim.  And the premiums are far more affordable than you might think.

 

Here is an example:

A business worth R1 million which you built from scratch:  You are the only shareholder.  You die.  You leave behind 3 children but no spouse.  Ignoring the exemptions, the maximum CGT your estate will have to pay in respect of your business is R180 000 (ie  18%) and the attributable estate duty is R200 000 (ie 20%).  Naturally, each person’s estate and testamentary wishes are unique,  and planning needs to be done taking your specific circumstances into account.  Depending on your age and health, the premiums to cover you for peace of mind are a few hundred rand, if that.

Contact Hester on hester@rutherfordcapital.co.za