September 2019

Everybody has a website nowadays. There is a good chance that your own mom has her own website for some reason. It seems to be the “in thing” to do at the moment for individuals as it is a place to share your thoughts and dreams with others. Or perhaps you have a website for business reasons and want to drum up some extra income. Whatever the case, you probably would like to see more traffic to your site than you are currently getting right now. In this day and age, if you don’t have enough eyes on your website, then it basically is a waste of time that you should cut ties with. However, don’t give up quite yet! Here are some ideas you may use to bring in more traffic to your site.

Have Frequent Updates

There is nothing worse than getting really excited because you just found an interesting website that you like to read over now and then, but then you discover the last update that was made to it was like three years ago. If you want others to visit your site, you need to keep it current. Write a weekly blog and switch out the pictures now and then. It won’t take much time to do and it will let others know that the site is a priority in your life.

Let the Public Contact You

If you are lucky enough to have others digging your website, then give them a way to reach out to you. You don’t have to put down your home address or anything silly like that. However, you could have your email on the website and perhaps a contact form as well that they could fill out.

Allow Comments and Reviews

Social media is everywhere! Sites like YouTube and even Amazon are considered social media as it allows others to share their views and thoughts with the world. There is no reason you can’t do this on your website.

Lastly, Maybe the Web Host Is the Problem

Does your website often crash for no apparent reason? Is your home page constantly taking too long to load? You only have a few seconds to gain interest on your site and if it is not loading up quickly, you are losing the public. Perhaps it is time to make a change. You could receive great support with a web hosting in Canada that will ensure your website is operating at full speed.

It’s certainly much easier than it used to be to apply for a mortgage as a self-employed individual. Nowadays major lenders, as well as a wide variety of specialist lenders, offer really good options for individuals who are self-employed and looking for a mortgage.

One of the first things you should do is to choose your mortgage adviser, and as you’re self-employed what you’re looking for here is a reputable, online, mortgage adviser with a speciality in all kinds of mortgages, especially self-employed mortgages. We’ve chosen Right Mortgage UK as our experts for this article, because they make everything as simple and easy as possible for their customers right from the outset, and their very detailed website has some great FAQ guides about well, everything you could possibly connect to mortgages!

Whether you’re a self-employed individual working for yourself or someone else, a sole trader, or a limited company owner / director; you’ll find yourself falling into the category of a self-employed person when it comes to a mortgage application.

As such, you’ll all be facing the same checklist of things you’ll need to provide in lieu of payslips and a contract of employment. These include:-

• Bank statements – usually three months
• Accountants statement / annual return – usually you’ll be able to make an application now with just one year’s accounts and it’s certainly worth seeking advice from the experts at Right Mortgage UK at that one year end to see if you’d qualify for a mortgage
• HMRC tax returns
• Proof of ID – driver’s license or passport
• Proof of address – usually a council tax or utility bill, dated within the last three months

Life used to be a lot harder for the self-employed mortgage seeker. It used to be the case that you had to provide at least three years’ worth of accounts,and sometimes even up to five years’ worth. Now though, there’s a large number of mortgage providers – including some of the major names – catering for self-employed individuals who have just one year’s accounts, which has really opened up the market and the mortgage opportunities for applicants.

There are no industry restrictions on self-employed mortgages either. Wherever or however you work, there’s a mortgage for you – you just have to make sure you’re talking to the right people to help you find it. So no matter what industry you’re self-employed in, there’s definitely a mortgage for you. Lenders are happy to consider applications from:

• Taxi drivers
• Builders
• Plumbers
• Painter
• Decorators
• Electricians Any other tradesmen
• Musicians
• Artists
• Actors
• Landlords
• Those in the financial sector
• Retailers
• Those with online businesses
• Professionals
• Investors

You simply have to be able to proof a regular, steady income – all the lenders really care about is knowing that you can afford to pay back that monthly mortgage amount, they’re not really interested in the type of job you’re doing to earn your money.

Remember in mortgage application terms, you’re classed as self-employed if you own 25 percent – or more – of a business. Again, it doesn’t matter what sector the business operates in, so long as it’s viable and you can prove a regular income. That’s why lenders like you to have your first year accounts done – however, it can be worth speaking to professionals as you come up to the end of that first year, you don’t necessarily have to wait til after the accounts are done to start the process.

Now that there are no such things as self-cert mortgages, you must be prepared for your application to be thoroughly checked by the lender. It’s worth making sure that your credit file is up to date – no missing or incorrect information, for example – and you need to not have any recent missed or late payments either, as those would count against you in an application. After self-cert mortgages were banned because of the levels of mis-use for those mortgage types, lenders became a lot more cautious for self-employed individuals. However, providing you’re transparent about your income and can back it up in terms of HMRC and Accountants statements, and of course your bank statements, you shouldn’t have any more difficulty with a mortgage application than an average employed individual would.

Sponsorship and advertising are commonly discussed under the same concept, and most people even assume they mean the same thing. While they are closely related, these two have some key differences. It is important to note how each function and how it can benefit your business. Contrary to popular thought, you do not have to pick either sponsorship or advertising. It is highly recommendable to add both to your marketing mix. Once you understand the differences between advertising and sponsorship, it becomes easier to combine and harmonize them within your marketing strategy.

Why you need them both

Although sponsorship and advertising have many similar elements, there are fundamental differences that create a massive gap between the scopes of each. Advertising aims to educate and motivate prospective customers to purchase while sponsorship targets to increase brand/product awareness and affinity. Here is a brief overview of the two marketing techniques:

Advertising

Advertising refers to a paid message that you have control over. You can place an advertisement message in the newspaper and magazines, radio, TV, and websites or even billboards. As the business owner, you have total control over the message and how you want to place it. This means you have to account for the costs of ad (message) creation and placing fees for each media outlet you choose. You need advertising to achieve the following:

• Expands your reach in the market
• Can introduce a new product
• Increases sales
• Challenges your competition
• Educates your customers about your product and how it solves their problem
• Improves goodwill

Sponsorship

Sponsorship, on the other hand, involves paying to sponsor a team, league, event, or organization. Sponsoring gives you the right to associate your business with the entity you are sponsoring. You do not directly control the message they place on different platforms. Instead, you work with the body to determine where and how your name will appear, the exposure you want and publicity you will get after the event is over. As such, your costs will include the fee paid for sponsorship, product giveaways, ad signage, and the time and resources your teams spend while running the sponsorship. The benefits of sponsorship include:

• Building brand awareness
• Shaping your brand image and customer attitude
• Puts you in front of your target market
• You can engage the audience
• Creates strong leads

Qualitative vs. quantitative medium

Advertising is mostly a quantitative marketing medium. It involves crafting messages to sell your brand to the customers. This requires that you understand the main benefit your product offers and how it solves the problem your customer has. Advertising is a numbers game where you measure how much business or leads your ads are generating from the different media. The end goal is to motivate the leads and make a sale.

Sponsorship, on the other hand, offers a qualitative medium that allows you to associate your business with an event or organization. It seeks to influence how the market perceives your brand image. Sponsorship targets customer attitude, relations, and positive reaction. For instance, coca-cola may sponsor different events like American Idol or Basketball tournaments that influence the buying attitude. This way, customers will involuntarily choose their brand.

Conclusion

Both sponsorship and advertising are essential in the marketing mix. They overlap but still play critical roles in promoting your business and increasing sales. The ultimate goal is to generate the right reaction that motivates customers to purchase your products. It also involves positioning your brand as the best offer for your customers. This means you must invest in providing high-quality products and services.