Category: Strategies

Offline Marketing In An Online World

Back in the day, businesses relied heavily on newspaper and tv ads to advertise their businesses. Back in the day, though, most businesses required someone to have a physical location and readily-available inventory for customers to purchase in-store.

In today’s work climate, folks are finding more and more innovative ways to conduct their business from home. Sure, big-box stores and shopping plazas still exist, but what if your business is managed completely online? How do you use good old-fashioned offline marketing strategies to promote your fully online business?

Tools

●     Vendor Fairs

Vendor fairs are a tried and true method for advertising your business. If your online business promotes physical products, have some of the best-selling items available for purchase. Vendor fairs include craft markets, farmer’s markets, but they also include indoor events and are often sponsored by a non-profit business. Schools are a great example of vendor fair hosts!

●     Coupon Mailers

Everybody loves to save money. Sending a coupon mailer not only gets your business name in front of more faces but, if there’s a coupon attached, potential customers are more likely to visit your company website to see what you’re all about

●     TV, Radio, or Newspaper ads

Don’t forget about good old-fashioned advertisements in the newspaper or your local tv and radio stations. The internet is heavily saturated with advertisements but folks still watch tv and listen to the radio.

●     Send Free Samples

Who doesn’t love free things? Sending out free skincare, food, and beverage samples is a fantastic way to market your company’s product. There’s no better way to attract customers than to offer them a sample of your goodies.

●     Host A Pop-up Event

Is there a big event coming to your town? Take this opportunity to host a pop-up shop to market your business or product. Do you sell clothing items? Set up shop at a street fair or farmer’s market on a weekly basis. Do you grow flowers? A corner stand can operate all summer long!

●     Networking

According to The Huffington Post, “your network is your net worth”. Networking is a tried and true business marketing strategy. Getting together with other business professionals can help get your brand out there and increase profits by joining a solid group of like-minded individuals who are interested in helping everyone succeed.

●     Offer Free Workshops

If feasible, offer a free workshop in your community. Are you an artist? Do a paint and sip night. Do you sell wood crafts? Teach a class at the local library. Are you a professional organizer? Offer to showcase some of your skills to a group of moms.

●     Business Cards

Don’t forget about business cards. They’re easy to carry around and pass out wherever and whenever the opportunity arises. Make sure your business card is easy on the eyes. It should include your company name, contact information, and a little blurb about what your company offers. A bonus to using business cards is that you can also print a coupon on them!

●     Promotional Products

Setting up a booth at a vendor or job fair? Have a stack of stickers, magnets, or pens available with your company’s name and website or phone number on them. Again, EVERYONE loves free stuff.

●     Job Fairs

Speaking of booths, take advantage of community job fairs. You can find these opportunities at libraries or colleges, and they offer prime real estate to market your business as an entrepreneur. Job fairs also offer a platform to network.

●     Cross-Promote

Cross-promoting is the art of joining forces to benefit two or more businesses. Know someone who has a business that offers a product that is aligned with yours? For example, if you are a personal trainer and have a friend who sells workout performance drinks or snacks, why not join forces and promote each other’s products?

●     Word Of Mouth

If all else fails, nothing spreads faster than gossip. Talk your business up to anyone who will listen and eventually, someone will hear from their great Aunt Sally, whose best friend’s son-in-law said they heard about this great product for such and such. That someone is your next potential customer and such and such product is YOUR product and now, you’ve got yourself a fan base.

When promoting an online business, it’s often difficult to see the opportunities that exist outside the realm of the internet. Use these tried and true offline marketing strategies to your advantage and start growing your customer base today!

In order to understand what web application penetration testing is and why it is relevant, we first need to understand the basics of information security. Information security (infosec) is the process of ensuring that your data is secure from unwanted access, use, or disclosure. There are numerous forms of information security, but penetration testing is among the most essential.

Hacking is unauthorized access to a computer system or network in order to discover security flaws. It’s also known as “penetration testing” and “pen testing.” A web application penetration test goes one step further and specifically tests websites and web applications for vulnerabilities. In this post, we will discuss the different methodologies used in web application penetration testing and who should be using them.

Why Is Web Application Penetration Testing Relevant?

Web application penetration testing is relevant because it can help find vulnerabilities before an attacker does. A vulnerability is a weakness in software or hardware that allows someone with access to exploit it and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or data. By finding these vulnerabilities before they are exploited, you can fix them so they never get used against your organization.

Who Needs Web Application Penetration Testing?

Everyone! No matter who you are and what industry you work in, web applications and websites play important roles both inside and outside of the office. Even if you personally don’t use many web apps at work, your employees probably do every day without even realizing it (emailing coworkers on Gmail or logging into Salesforce). If any one of those sites has a vulnerability, then it could be exploited by someone who wants to steal confidential information from your company.

What Are the Different Web Application Penetration Testing Methodologies?

There are three main web application penetration testing methodologies: OWASP Top Ten, NIST SP 800-53, and Open SAMM. Each of these methodologies is used in different ways to test vulnerabilities on websites or web applications (such as Gmail). The one that you use will depend on what type of organization you work for and how much risk they’re willing to take with their data security needs but all three can be useful when evaluating your company’s needs.

OWASP Top Ten

This approach, created by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), is meant to identify the most prevalent web application vulnerabilities. It’s a good place to start for firms that have little or no experience with penetration testing. Advantages of OWASP top ten include-

• Covers the most common vulnerabilities
• Easy to use
• Focuses on security awareness
• Free to download and use
• The most common web application security standard

While the disadvantages are-

• It only covers the top ten vulnerabilities, so it may not be comprehensive enough for your organization’s needs.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

NIST SP 800-53

The Risk Management Framework (RMF) is a federal program that establishes specific minimum data-loss requirements for the implementation of risk management processes in all key information systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed the Risk Management Framework as part of its Risk Management Framework (RMF). It is more comprehensive than OWASP Top Ten and covers a wider range of vulnerabilities, but can be more complicated to use. The advantage of NIST is-

• Includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

While the disadvantages of NIST SP 800-53 are-

• It may not be comprehensive enough for your organization’s needs; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

Open SAMM

This methodology was created by the Software Assurance Marketplace (SAMM) and is designed for organizations that want to improve their software development processes. Open SAMM includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security. The Advantages Of Open SAMM are-

• It’s an open-source initiative, which makes it free to use.
• The Framework outlines best practices for secure software development, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

The Disadvantages Of Open SAMM include-

• The Framework is only a guide; you’ll still need to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

Which Methodology Should You Use?

The methodology that you use will depend on your organization’s needs and risk tolerance. If you are just starting out with penetration testing, then OWASP Top Ten is a good place to start. The most prevalent web application security flaws are addressed by this training kit. It’s simple to understand, and it includes everything you need to assess the vulnerability of your website.

If you want a more thorough method, NIST SP 800-53 is an option. It includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security. Finally, if you are looking for a methodology that focuses specifically on web application security, then Open SAMM may be the best option. It includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

Features Of Web Application Penetration Testing

• Vulnerability scanning – A vulnerability scanner is a tool that scans your network and/or websites for vulnerabilities. It can scan for things like open ports, unpatched software, and weak passwords. A vulnerability scanning tool is a program that checks for potential security flaws. It can be used to discover potential vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Network mapping- The objective of network mapping is to create a map of your current network. This includes information on devices, servers, and applications. By understanding how your network works, you can identify potential areas where attackers could gain access to sensitive data.
• Threat modeling- Threat modeling is a method for security teams to find vulnerabilities in their technology. It involves analyzing data from multiple sources and determining what types of attacks could be successful against them based on those findings. The goal is to find the most likely attack vectors before they happen so that you can prepare defenses accordingly.
• Source code review- A source code review is an evaluation of software’s quality assurance (QA) practices, which includes examining all parts of an application for defects or errors. Bugs are identified during development, fixed before deployment, and then verified after release into production environments.

Conclusion

Penetration testing is an important part of data security, and there are a number of different methodologies that you can use to conduct your tests. Your selection of strategy will be determined by your organization’s needs and risk tolerance. If you are just starting out with penetration testing, then OWASP Top Ten, NIST SP 800-53, or Open SAMM are excellent options to follow through while making a good choice for your organization with regards to its holistic data.

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. There are various types of business entities that can be formed in different countries, which are dictated by national or state laws and regulations, such as corporations, cooperatives, partnerships, sole traders, etc. The most common type of business entity is the corporation also known as a company limited by shares which have some features similar to those of both an individual and legal person.

This article describes how to properly start a successful business, what necessary steps need to be followed in order to ensure success for any new company.

Prepare a Business Plan 

Starting a business is no easy task. Before you even think about finding employees, renting an office space, or putting up flyers on telephone poles; it’s important to write down your ideas and get them into paper. If you don’t know the first thing about writing business plans, fear not! There are tons of resources across the web for this exact purpose (including Wikihow). There are professional business planning advisors you can reach out to online if you want to create a solid business plan. You have to remember that while there are many agencies and individuals offering this service, you need to take the extra effort of doing research and determining which one suits your business needs best.  

It’s also incredibly helpful to consult with an experienced individual in your field before beginning your business–just make sure that they’re trustworthy! Some of them will try to sell you consulting services (that usually end up costing more than what they’re worth), while others will be able to give you the advice you need for free. Either way, it’s a good idea to have a plan going into business, and doing this step first is going to save you both time and money later on down the road.

Choose an Appropriately Attractive Name for Your Business

While it might seem like a trivial detail now, choosing an appropriate name is actually quite important. Customers often base their decision about whether or not to buy something on how interested they are in its brand; if you want someone to at least give your product a chance, make sure you pick something catchy and memorable (a clever pun can also go a long way). It’s a good idea to consult a professional name generator for ideas, but also have a backup list ready in case you can’t find anything suitable.

Perform an Appropriate Market Analysis 

Consider your customer demographics, competition, pricing structure, etc. Conduct thorough research to determine how viable your business would be in today’s economy/marketplace. While being creative is important when designing a product or service that will set your business apart from its competitors, it doesn’t matter if there isn’t a market for it! Also, market analysis helps you read trends and understand indicators that your business is ready for growth or diversification. All too often entrepreneurs forget about market analysis while planning their businesses–and while some go on to be successful, many fail.  

Explore Funding Options 

When you start a business, there are lots of ways to fund your efforts. The first thing that you’ll want to think about is how much money you have on hand and what additional resources can be acquired easily or at little cost. You may find more success in securing funding if you can offer something in exchange (such as sweat equity). There are many sources for the money: friends and family members; credit cards; loans from financial institutions; angel investors; venture capitalists; crowd-funding; grants; and self-funding. Learn more about the specific types of funding available.

Define Your Business Model 

Once you’ve figured out what products or services your business will offer and the price points that the public is willing to pay for them; it’s time to think about how you’re going to provide these things! The business model doesn’t have to be incredibly complicated–it just has to work for you and your customers. Some businesses offer a subscription service (i.e. Netflix, Spotify), while other companies sell their products and then collect payment upon delivery (Amazon). You could also develop a business that does both of these things! 

Find the Right Employees 

Whether you’re opening up a restaurant or starting your own web design company; it’s important to remember that if you want to be successful at a business, you need employees who are equally as passionate about what they do as you are about your company! Hiring people who share your vision and values is essential to developing and maintaining great customer relations–and without those two things, your business can never truly thrive.

Formulate a Marketing Plan

The best way to start a successful business is by having a clear marketing plan. Although your business might be brilliant, it’s not going to draw in customers if they don’t know about it. Your marketing plan doesn’t have to include every single detail from now until your business closes down, but you should at least know what the overall strategy will be and how you’ll achieve that goal.

Once you’re sure of your marketing plan, write whatever relevant information needs to be included into a document that can easily be edited later on if needed – this could include: types of promotions or advertisements that will likely attract attention; places where promotional materials should appear; and an overview of management strategies such as who deals with setting prices and discounts and who’s in charge of what product.

Gather Your Resources

You can’t sell anything if you don’t have any stock, so plan ahead and get the most out of your resources. Make sure to purchase items in bulk when they go on sale or through corporate discounts, which will help keep costs down while also increasing available supplies for future projects. If you’re not quite ready to make large purchase orders, ask around; maybe one of your friends or family would be willing (or knows someone who would be willing) to provide some goods at a discount rate.

Finding suppliers is another important step in getting started with profitable business ventures; this could mean signing contracts with global manufacturing firms, networking with similar businesses in your area, or asking for recommendations from anyone else who’s had experience with similar projects in the past. If you’re unsure of where to start, consider looking for suppliers that specialize in products or materials that are compatible with your business plan; this will help keep costs down and ensure that all involved businesses are committed to the project.

To ensure that both large and small businesses are able to find success in today’s marketplace; there has been an increased interest in starting new companies throughout the world over the last decade or so! While every industry is different from one another, with various paths of entry into what they do–they all share one thing in common: the need for planning.

Over the last few years, technological advancement has made it easier for people to access online services. Businesses are now using websites and web applications to connect with their target audiences worldwide. It has become an effective marketing strategy that helps boost the popularity of a business and increase its customer base.

But it’s important to understand that the experience a customer will have with your site may affect the success of your brand. The concept of user experience (UX) has evolved in recent years, focusing on the customer and their needs. Businesses can now utilize various tools and tips to analyze user interactions on a website. Through this, they can develop relevant content that meets their user’s requirements, thereby improving their site UX.

The information provided below gives a more in-depth look at site UX, what it is, and the tools and tips you can use to improve it, among other things. Continue reading.

What Is Site UX?

Site UX refers to the experience a user will have with your website as they navigate web pages. Do they understand your site’s content? Is it easy to navigate the web pages? Or will they have a frustrating experience with your website? Such questions will help you in gaining insight into your site’s UX status.

Most people may confuse site UX with site usability. Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, there’s a distinct difference between the two. Site UX is about what a user thinks of your website while they were on it. It can be based on whether or not they believe you have appropriate or engaging content. Usability, on the other hand, refers to how easy it is for users to navigate your website when they’re searching for specific content. This has a lot to do with how technically effective your site’s structure is.

Optimizing your SEO will help boost your rankings in the search results page (SERP). When customers land on your page and have a positive experience, you’ll have a better chance of growing your website traffic and conversions.

In addition, a sitemap creator will also play a huge role in improving your ranking. Conduct extensive research to identify the ideal service for site mapping.

Tips and Tools To Boost Site UX

There are several ways you can use to boost the user experience, they include:

1. Optimizing Your Loading Speed

Your slow-loading site may frustrate your users, forcing them to visit your competitor’s website instead. To avoid this, upgrade your loading speed so that visitors can quickly determine whether or not they’d want to do business with you.

Slow page speed can increase bounce rates. But thanks to technological advancements, you can now easily resolve this issue. There are tools that suggest how you can optimize your loading speed. One of the ways to do this is by compressing images before uploading them on your website.

2. Following Standard Website Design Practices

Each visitor expects to see some necessary elements during their first visit to your site. There are helpful components that you should incorporate when designing your site to make it easier for visitors to navigate your web pages.

Instead of reinventing the wheel when improving your site UX, it’s advisable to use well-established practices in the design development. The following are the standard thought processes you should follow to improve user experience:

• Include a Functional Search Bar: When designing your site, ensure that there’s a search bar on the header. This will make it easier for visitors to search for specific content without moving from one page to another. As a result, your customers will be less frustrated.
• Add a Contact Page: Some people may find it hard to navigate through sites in this digital era. Thus, creating a contact page on your website will make it easier for visitors to communicate with you when they experience issues.

3. Use Heat Map Tools

Utilizing heat mapping tools will play a huge role in improving the site UX. A data mapping tool is a data visualization system that converts user behavior into a graphical representation. It’ll allow you to understand how users engage in particular areas of your site.

For instance, your site’s hottest areas or most popular regions receive higher engagement than others. With this, you can gain crucial information, such as which buttons on your site the users are clicking, which pages they’re visiting the most, and much more.

There are heat mapping tools you can use to measure user behavior on a website, and they include:

Click Maps

This tool shows what users often click on your website. This information will make you understand how compelling prompts and calls to action (CTAs) grab the attention of your potential leads. You can also identify problems with your site through this. For example, if you notice that very few users are clicking a certain button, you can conduct extensive research to identify the reason behind it so you can optimize your conversion rate.

Scroll Maps

This tool records user behaviors that have to do with the problems they encounter with the site’s format. For instance, users who stop scrolling halfway could indicate that they’ve suddenly lost interest or are experiencing issues while navigating your web page. Use the recommended solutions to address such concerns.

4. Optimize The Site For Mobile Devices

In recent years, the percentage of smartphone usage for online transactions, web browsing and app utilization have increased. For this reason, it’s important to optimize your site for devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Failure to optimize your sites may affect user experience and drive visitors to your competitor’s website.

Also, with the growing trend for virtual working, ensure your sites can adapt seamlessly to work both on mobile and desktop devices without compromising the performance or quality.

5. Use Conversion Funnels Tools

Conversion funnels are tools used to understand the flow of visiting customers. Just as physical funnels guide liquids into an opening, a conversion funnel will guide the customers to the last desired action (purchase or a conversion event).

In its basic form, the tool may follow the classic AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action). While it can boost user experience, some visitors may lose interest along the way, reducing your conversion rate. For this reason, it’s important to utilize innovative ways to optimize your conversion funnel tools. For instance, you can educate customers on your product’s benefits and develop an increasingly smooth transition from the top of the funnel to the bottom.

Bottom Line

As discussed above, boosting your site UX may improve your ranking, leading to increased traffic. Conduct extensive research to identify the ideal tip or tool you can use to boost user experience. Also, learning more about your users may play a huge role in improving site UX.

In today’s day and age, customer testimonials are extremely valuable for a business’s growth. Customers searching for products or services online look for social proof through testimonials.

With the ubiquitousness of video content nowadays, video testimonials create a lasting impact on a potential customer.

A recent study shows that 47% of individuals believe testimonial videos are effective as it helps them visualize the product or service. Let’s have a look at how effective customer video testimonials are.

1) Builds credibility and trust

One of the primary reasons you can count on customer testimonial videos is their ability to build credibility and trust in what you are selling. It is human nature for your customers to believe in the experience of previous customers and what they have to say about the brand.

With the help of video testimonials, your potential customers get to see and hear about the experience your company provided to other customers.

Compared to written testimonials which are nothing but dry text stating the review given by other customers, a video testimonial helps potential customers observe the verbal and nonverbal cues of other people who have used your product or service.

Customer video testimonials help build your company’s brand in a way that is both credible and trustworthy. 

2) Enhances brand image

One of the biggest problems today with different companies selling similar products and services is how potential customers decide which brand to opt for. The brand image of your business is the building block for your company’s success.

Competition is increasing every day, making it difficult for companies to create a unique impression. Therefore, video testimonials come into play in a significant way to help your company’s brand stand out.

Video testimonials enhance your company’s brand experience by depicting an authentic image of your product and services. This shows prospective customers that there are benefits in opting for your products or services. It even reassures them that they are making the right choice.

3) Attracts a large audience

As human beings, individuals rely on emotional connections, and nowadays, even corporations try to form an emotional connection with their customers. Keeping this in mind, video testimonials can help attract a large audience.

A good video testimonial brings with it a story that leaves a strong message delivered by a company’s customers. Testimonials improve customer experience with your company’s brand. Videos also engage the audience for a longer duration than plain vanilla text and are a powerful way to convey your company’s story.

4) Effectively portrays the experience

Video testimonials improve the brand’s exposure by grabbing customers’ attention from far and wide. They leave a long-lasting impression on customers and reach a broad and diverse audience.

Today, online platforms play a significant role in the survival of your business. Suppose you’re looking at targeting a new group of customers who are not familiar with your product and services. In that case, a video testimonial will be more effective compared to a plain text customer review.

5) Humanizes your brand

Online businesses face a problem today: the lack of opportunity to form human-to-human connections with their customers. Think about a typical in-store experience.

Your potential customers interact face-to-face with salespeople in a physical store, which positively affects their buying decisions. In comparison, online businesses only offer some pictures or screens that depict the products or services you’re selling.

There is little to no personal interaction between humans. How can you get around this? Simple – use video testimonials that help humanize your brand, effectively putting a face to the product or services that you offer in a way that advocates the effectiveness of your brand.

In Summary

Videos are a popular medium for engaging viewers and telling stories about products or services. Customer video testimonials tend to positively impact the decision to purchase a product or service from your business.