ddbgmms.info

Robust technological advancements have brought about a sea of change in the IT market. Almost every company is on a run to keep in pace with these updated trends. Their main motive is to stay in the competition, get high rankings on SERPs, and manage business operations with productivity and ease. Today, an ERP for small businesses has become a must to execute their daily tasks through a single, integrated suite of applications like the ERP system.The Odoo Enterprise Resource Planning system is one of the key tools in managing the core business functions of both small and medium-sized businesses. It does so through streamlining and automation. The modular structure of functioning takes care of every aspect – from order processing, production management, inventory and warehouse management, sales and purchase tracking, shipment tracking, managing finances, and more. It professionally supervises business resources and improves production, revenue, organises orders, sales, ROI, manufacturing capacity, employee management, etc. It also ensures that communication is maintained between all employees and across all departments.However one of the best things about using an ERP for small business is that all these functions and tasks are done via a single dashboard control with built-in analytics and data sharing options. This further encourages collaboration and harmony across all departments of the company.What are the numbers?With several affordable ERP solutions available now, small businesses are also using it for their rapid and progressive business growth. The data below speaks about it all -

Approximately 53% of small businesses today prefer an ERP solution along with CRM as their priority investments.

As per research, 65% of the SMEs are already taking ERP consultation services.

96% of the emerging small businesses excelling in their respective industry verticals are found to rely on some ERP solution.

Small businesses using an ERP software solution are able to make decisions in 36% less time now.

SMEs, which are currently working with reliable ERP service providers are found to save 21% time in performing business operations.
An ERP software solution is implemented and integrated into each and every department of a business no matter what their size and category are. Implementing and integrating an ERP software solution entails strategic and careful planning to minimise the risk of work failure and to make sure that each and every business goal is adequately met.But the process of successful ERP implementation needs the efforts and expertise of reliable ERP consultants. A successful ERP implementation is possible after a standardised integration blueprint along with the involvement of the ERP experts. Any business, no matter the small or medium level can get real-time ROI with the properly executed and strategic implementation of a feature-rich and popular ERP software solution like Odoo.Odoo: The Ideal Choice for Small Business Odoo is now the most preferred ERP solution for every small and medium level business. It comes with robust and intuitive features that SMEs can leverage for managing different business verticals like manufacturing, retailing, trading, and so on. Moreover, businesses do not have to pay any license fee, which makes it a cost-effective option for the SMEs as well.Odoo ERP is open-source and flexible and also customisable as per the business requirements and workflow. Its well-structured methodology delivers upgraded software solutions to match and meet business objectives so that the ultimate productivity level can be achieved. Moreover,small and medium level companies also need a powerful customer relationship management system and this is where Odoo comes to the rescue. With its in-built module, it upholds the capability of resolving the queries of the customers instantly tending to offer the maximum user satisfaction and user retention.You must integrate and implement the ERP into your business system to ensure efficiency and increased productivity. An ERP like Odoo allows you to reach the highest peak of success, paving more ways for futuristic growth and expansion. The smaller businesses take one step forward with the support of this application suite, hence the advantages of the Odoo ERP is indisputable.Odoo: The One-in-All solution So, what makes Odoo the best choice of ERP for an SME? The answer is its modularity, affordability, ease of use, flexibility, and accessibility. Your business, even if it is a small-level one, can deploy this ERP effortlessly.As open-source software, Odoo comes with a rarefied interface that gives you complete control over the business processes, therefore governing your business system and workflow. If you compare Odoo with the other ERP options available today, you can find that this is undoubtedly rich in features and functionalities.Here are the key reasons why Odoo is the best ERP for small business today.

A Comprehensive and Cohesive Application

All businesses run on the basis of a distinct set of operations like accounting, customer relationship management, sales and purchase orders tracking, human resource management, warehouse management, and more. While a majority of the organisations manage these by using multiple software applications, it becomes expensive and haphazard for the company instead.For the SME’s, being unable to afford this huge investment, they start relying on multiple vendors and software solutions to take care of these operations. But with the Odoo ERP software, these small businesses are now benefitted manifolds. With various features, functionalities, apps, and modules, it stands out as the best choice with everything under a single platform.Odoo comes with thousands of modules and a complete suite of applications to cover all business operations. This ERP encompasses different modules like inventory module, CRM module, accounting module, human resource module, manufacturing module, and more for almost all business processes. Odoo’s application store comprises thousands of apps catering to different operations of small and medium level businesses.

Extremely cost-effective

Investment or the cost factor is always a matter of concern for every small and medium-level company. Often, because of the restricted budget, the SME ignores the need for an ERP implementation. ERP software solutions like SAP, ERPNext, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics charge a huge amount of cost. But unlike these, Odoo streamlines the business process and fulfils almost every major business requirements at affordable prices.With Odoo ERP, you won’t have to pay any license fee. The installation charge is also very nominal. The community version is also very cost-effective. Overall, this ERP is the most affordable solution for every business today and is the perfect choice for the SMEs. It ensures maximum ROI, easy business management, and a smooth workflow.

Easy availability

Odoo is easily available and is free to download. This is again the reason to choose this ERP instead of the other models available in the market today. It is suitable for every business need, especially for the SMEs. Also, with Odoo, you can easily check the suitability and requirements of features and functionalities so that it can appropriately take care of all your vital business tasks.

Simple integration and implementation

Odoo is an API-friendly ERP software and is pretty simple to integrate and implement. Odoo reduces the probability of untimely behavioural changes that every small business goes through. In addition to this, Odoo ERP has a modular structure, which makes it a great choice for the SMEs. The small and medium-level businesses can begin with implementing the basic modules as per the requirements. Gradually they can progress with customising and including more modules for better performance results.

Highly modular

Odoo comes with thousands of modules, which can be operated and integrated according to the business requirements. It is easy to use these modules and implement the same for managing the business right from warehouse management to sales, orders, shipping, manufacturing, eCommerce, trading, finances, human resources, customer relationships, and more. And the best thing is that all these modules are fully customisable.

Open-source

Odoo is an open-source ERP software solution, which makes it easily accessible to all. Because of the open-source nature of the ERP, you can access the codes and modules any time as per your interest. This is again another significant advantage of using Odoo as the ERP for small business.

Streamlined UI

Navigation is quick and simple in the Odoo ERP because of the streamlined and robust laid out interface. As compared to the other ERP options, where the UI tends to be complex and cluttered, Odoo stands out as the best with a simple UI and allows easy execution of functions.

Maintains transparency

The transparency maintained by Odoo cuts down the need to export or re-enter data, resulting in fewer glitches, errors and leading to flawless business performance. It increases productivity, which is an important aspect of every small and medium level business. It also reduces the investment in human resources, thus automating every business operation at the same time.

Quick decision-making

Real-time data offered by an ERP like Odoo proves to be advantageous for business marketing and management, accounting, etc. It enables the business to make quick decisions on vital matters thereby reducing the overdue of deadlines.

Increase the overall productivity

One of the major reasons to choose Odoo ERP for a small or medium-level business is a huge increase in overall productivity. For every SME, this is a significant factor. An increase in productivity is the main objective of all growing ventures. And this is what Odoo guarantees to offer. With Odoo, transforming several features of the business and overcoming some major challenges faced during business growth, becomes easy.

Streamlined data

When an SME chooses to get ERP software like Odoo implemented into their business system, mainly because of the benefit of obtaining a streamlined data flow. For instance, the financial data of a business needed by the inventory department of the business can be a little tough to get hold of. But, with Odoo ERP software, it becomes easy since all the official data and info are available to every department and employees.

Improved communication and collaboration

Integrating an ERP for a small and medium level business can result in a vast change when it is all about communication and collaboration between different departments of work. Lack of collaboration and poor communication often results in unavailability and inaccessibility of data. Of course, no growing business would want this to happen. This is the reason why choosing an ERP software solution like Odoo becomes highly important.ConclusionSo, all these reasons make it essential for small and medium-level businesses to look for an expert and reliable Odoo consultant so that they can get the ERP implemented. A streamlined and smooth workflow with increased productivity and revenue is what every SME wants and Odoo ensures the same fitting for all companies. Whether you are running small manufacturing, trading, textile, eCommerce, retail, or other business, Odoo always fits your requirement and automates the processes, therefore resulting in faster and higher ROI.

Are you using the right keywords to optimize your website?
In many cases websites are optimized for the wrong SEO keywords. You need to do the research to find out what SEO keyword phrases people actually use to search for businesses in your particular field. In many cases you will discover that SEO keyword phrases that you thought were important are in fact rarely searched for; the opposite is also true.How well does your website show up well in Google, Yahoo, Ask and Bing?
You should test the effect of searching for your SEO keywords on a regular basis in all the major search engines. Your website position in the search engines will fluctuate and needs regular monitoring.Website Title – The single most important onsite SEO factor.
The web page title is very important. It should be relevant, the correct length and different on every page within the website. It is surprising how often we see inappropriate web page titles, no titles at all or a title that says something stupid like “HOME’ or in the case of really lazy website designers ‘TITLE GOES HERE’. Use a different title for each page within your website. Remember that search engines list pages, not websites, so each page is a fresh SEO opportunity.Website Description.
Tell Google what your page is about. As with the web page title, in many cases the Description is missing or incorrectly used.Website SEO Keywords.
While many search engines no longer use Keyword Meta tags, some still do, and they should accurately reflect page content, but you must be careful not to use too many of them.Broken links will harm your SEO efforts.
This is the number one error that we find when auditing websites. You click on a link within the website and you see an error message telling you that the page cannot be found. This delivers a very unprofessional image to people visiting your website. It is likely that Google will also mark you down in the search engine rankings, as Google expects technically perfect websites. There is no excuse for broken links within a website. Broken image links are also a common error found within websites. Instead of a picture being displayed you will see a broken image logo. Again this is easily checked for by professional website designers and there is no reason for a website to have broken image links.Picture only websites are disastrous for SEO.
Sometimes you will visit a website that appears to be displaying the usual mixture of text and pictures, but on closer inspection, even the text is actually contained within a picture. If there is no real text displayed within a website, Google has no clue what the website is about and the website will feature very poorly in the search engine results. There are ways to partly fix this, using what are called ‘Alt’ tags, used in combination with the website title and description, but as a rule your website should contain lots of relevant text. This is what Google likes!No relevant SEO keywords in a page.
If your website content fails to mention your product or service, it is not surprising that your website ranks poorly within Google. There are lots of tricks relating to where you place your keywords on a page and that is what we excel at. Simply stuffing a page with keywords will not achieve the desired result, and may even hurt your listing within Google, as it may interpret too many keywords as an attempt to spam the search engine listings. Google takes a very dim view of attempts to spam it.Number of back links
A very important SEO factor. Do you know how many other websites link to your website? Google does. The more links to your website, the better. Also the quality and source of the links is important to Google. If you suddenly gain hundreds of links overnight, this can trip the spam alert at the search engines and you can end up in a worse position within the search engines than before you started any SEO activities on your website.Google Page Rank.
Do you know what your Google Page Rank number is? In fact do you know what the Google Page Rank means? Google rates all sites using hundreds of different criteria and comes up with a number for your website. 0 is bad while 10 is the highest value. The higher the Page Rank the more likely that your website will show up higher within the Google search engine results. Many websites we audit have a page rank of 0 or 1, which is not good! Install the Google toolbar to view your website’s PageRank.Alt tags.
Great for your website’s SEO. Alt tags (short for Alternative tags) are a way of telling Google what a picture is about. As far as Google is concerned a picture is just a picture. Google does not know what a picture is about, unless you specifically tell Google using an Alt tag. It is amazing how few website designers go to the bother of using alt tags, which is a pity, as proper use of alt tags can have a big influence on your listing within the Google search engine results.Ease of Navigation and menu issues.
Many websites are hard to navigate. This means that it may be difficult to move from page to page, or back to the home page. This is such an important aspect for your website visitors and it is a shame that we see so many poorly constructed menu systems. Google may also find it hard to navigate your website and categorize each webpage which can harm your SEO efforts.Spell checking and grammatical issues.
It is vital that you check the spelling within your website. The correct use of grammar is also important. If your website is full of these types of errors, it gives a poor impression. Your company looks unprofessional. Correct spelling is also important for Google.Flash and java issues.
If your website uses flash or java to enable website navigation, make sure that you use the technology carefully as you may find that some search engines are unable to follow the links and as a result will not list most of your website pages within their search engine listings.Google Analytics.
This is a free tool from Google that allows you to analyze visitors to your website and track how they interact with your website. Has your website been enabled to show Google analytics data? If not you are missing out on a vital source of information about your website.Heading tags.
Proper use of heading tags within your HTML code can play a vital role in onsite keyword SEO. Many websites we audit are completely devoid of any heading tags. Try and use 2 or 3 levels of headers.Open Directory Project.
Did you know that a submission to the Open Directory Project is one of the most valuable links you can get in terms of your website’s SEO? They reject most sites and only accept sites that are technically near perfect and contain high quality information, presented through a professionally designed interface that is easy to navigate.How many pages of your website are indexed in Google?
Do you know how to see exactly how many pages that make up your website are listed within Google? You would expect Google to know about your home page, but the more pages within your website that Google knows about, the better. For example a large website promoted by us, has 10,300 pages listed within Google.W3C validation.
W3C is an organization that sets website standards. Do you know if your website passes W3C validation?File names.
The name of a file can be a valuable clue to Google, as to what the file contains. For instance if you have a picture of a motor car and the picture file is called 0001.JPG this does not tell Google anything. On the other hand if the file was called CARS-FOR-SALE-IN-PERTH.JPG, then this can help considerably with your website SEO. The same principle applies to the naming of all files and folders within your website.PDF file size Issues.
If you use PDF files, there are many ways of reducing the size of the final PDF file. The larger the file size the slower the PDF file will load on the screen or download to a hard disk.Do all the major search engines know about your website?
Remember that apart from Google there are a few other search engines that your website should be listed in, such as Yahoo, Bing and Ask.Flash file sizes.
The larger the size of your flash file, the longer it will take to load. Many sites use flash banners that have enormous file sizes. This can be very frustrating for your visitors.Google Places page.
This is a fantastic way of getting your website listed in the local service or products section within the Google results. The majority of websites do not use this feature at all and many of those that do use it do not take full advantage of the SEO opportunities afforded by the Google Places feature.Flash or graphical intro pages.
How often have you visited a website to be greeted by a meter that tells you a flash introduction screen is loading, which often seem to take forever to load and once they do load actually display little relevant information. If you are lucky you can click on a ‘skip intro’ button. Do not use intro pages as they just annoy website visitors and can harm your website SEO.Text used within links (anchor text).
The correct use of keyword text within a hyperlink can play a significant part in your on-page keyword SEO strategy. In many cases this SEO opportunity is wasted when the hyperlink contains words such as ‘click here’.Home page file size.
Do you know the combined file size of your home page? By combined, I mean not just the HTML page itself, but all the associated graphic, CSS and flash files. The longer a page takes to load, the more likely a visitor will click on the Back button and visit a different website.Java issues.
If a visitor to your website has disabled Java in their local browser, how will this affect your website? Will the menu systems still work? If you must use Java, at least have an alternate menus system that visitors can use. Search engines may have difficulty following some types of Java based menu systems.Do not use hidden text to try and trick the search engines.
Everyone knows that having keywords on your web page is important as far as SEO is concerned. A very old trick is to have lists of your keywords repeated over and over at the bottom of the page, formatted to display in white text on a white background. Google hates this type of spamming and is on the lookout for it. Far from improving your website’s position with the Google Search Engines results, you could find that your website gets severely penalized by Google. Do not try spamming Google, they will find out!

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that a person who holds a graduate or master’s degree can expect to earn about $55,000 per year. People holding a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn around $46,000 per year. The average benefit for holding a graduate degree can raise a person’s income about $225,000 over a period of 25 years. This rate of return clearly shows that it is a solid investment to pursue a online graduate degree. Online education graduate degrees enable busy adults to attain a higher education while still maintaining employment to earn a living.Requirements to Pursue an Online Education Graduate Degree – To earn a graduate degree online, students need to be well-organized self starters who can manage their time and review course material independently. Online students also need full access to a computer with a 56 kbps modem or better, with Internet service and virus protection. Students attending school online should be able to use email and basic Internet functions to communicate with professors and take online exams. Online education graduate degree programs are delivered in a web-based format that is available 24 hours a day for the convenience of working students seeking success.Validity of Online Education. In the 1994 study of R. Clark, and in the Pew Learning and Technology Study ‘Innovations in Online Learning’ by Carol Twigg in 2001, they concluded that if the online course was designed with the same rigor as one taught in a face-to-face environment, the outcome is likely to be equivalent. Further, the standards for undergraduate education are defined by the Seven Principles developed by Chickering & Gamson (1991). These seven principles were updated to show how to implement these ideals in online education (Chickering & Ehrmann; Graham, et al. 2001). In 2002, the Ohio Learning Task Force issued a report that recommended principles derived from Chickering & Gamson were to be used to design, approve, assess and review all courses, whether in person, or online, or a blend of both. The Seven Principles a) encourage contact between students and faculty; b) encourage active learning; c) encourage cooperation between students; d) give feedback promptly; e) communicates high expectations; f) emphasizes time on task; and g) respects diverse ways of learning and talents. Therefore, online education graduate degrees follow the same criteria as those earned at a physical college campus, so they are equally viable.Cost of Online Education. Getting an online education graduate degree can be more affordable than attending a physical college campus because there are no costs for transportation or housing. In 2004, an online resource site took a sample size of 120 online master’s degree programs and found that the cost for education could range from $2,760 to $110,000 for an accredited degree. However, graduate degree students can explore several options for tuition assistance, including:Tuition Reimbursement. The National Center for Education Statistics found that almost 20 percent of all graduate students receive aid from their employers. Potential online education graduate degree students should consult with the human resources director of their company about tuition reimbursement programs and company scholarships they may qualify for.Labor Unions. Over 60 labor unions, through 38,000 national chapters, offer $4 million dollars in educational financial aid. If a student belongs to a union, the web site at http://www.aflcio.org can offer leads to Union-Sponsored Scholarships and Financial Aid.Financial Aid. There is even state and government financial aid available for certain distance learning programs. The free government aid directory at http://www.ed.gov/programs can help students locate resource centers in their state and offer information about financial assistance to pay for college.Loans. There are government-backed Stafford student loans that typically carry the lowest interest rate. For example, the interest rate for a Stafford education loan in 2003 was only 3.42 percent. Students seeking Stafford loans should consult the free annual publication, the Student Guide to Financial Aid. Private student loans are also offered through finance companies such as KeyBank or Citibank, but they usually charge higher interest rates and require students to pass a credit check.Tax benefits. There are also significant tax benefits available to online education graduate degree program students. Interest on student loans may be tax deductible during the first 60 months of the period to pay them back. Eligibility for this tax benefit can be determined by checking the IRS Publication 970: Tax Credits for Higher Education. Further, under the Lifetime Learning Credit, students may be eligible to deduct up to 20 percent of the first $10,000 of graduate tuition from federal taxes. Also, some or all tuition expenses may be deducted if an employer requires additional education to maintain the student’s current professional status. Students can review IRS Publication 970 for guidelines, or consult with an accountant to see what portion of tuition for college can be deducted from their taxes.When a potential student considers the ease of earning an online education graduate degree, along with the improved financial status as a result of attaining this degree, it is clearly a wise decision to pursue virtual learning.

Bluetooth technology is a type of the wireless technology that eliminates the need for the number of inconvenient cables and devices that are used to connect the computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, handheld devices and new digital appliances. Bluetooth enables the users to connect to a wide variety of telecommunication and computing devices easily, without cables.It makes rapid ad hoc connections, automatic unconscious connections between two or more digital devices. Bluetooth provides the opportunity of using the mobile data in different applications. Bluetooth makes wireless communication between the two devices in a localized area of a room of office or home very easily. Bluetooth technology uses radio-based links and all the connections between the devices and invisible and instantaneous.By Bluetooth technology your laptop can send print request to a printer in your next room. Bluetooth is actually a standard for wireless communication between the devices in a relatively small area and it is therefore works fine in the personal area network (pan) using radio frequency.Any two devices that follow the Bluetooth standard can communicate with each other. A number of the Bluetooth devices like digital camera, mobile phone and handheld pc can form a network. You can send emails to your mobile phones from your laptop without any physical connect between your laptop and your mobile phones.Features of Bluetooth technologyo Bluetooth technology uses radio waves for communication in 2.4 GHzo It supports multi point communication not just point to point.o Bluetooth works in a small area of 10-15 meters.o Bluetooth offers speed of 1-2 mbps.o Bluetooth chipsets are less expensive though more expensive than IrDA.How Bluetooth technology worksBluetooth is a high speed wireless link technology that uses the radio waves. It is designed to connect the mobile phones, laptops, hand held devices and portable equipments with almost no work by the end users. Unlike infrared Bluetooth does not require line of sight between the connecting units. Bluetooth technology is a modified form of the current wireless LAN technology and it’s more acceptable for its relative small size and low cost.The current circuits are contained on a circuit board of 0.9 cm square and a much smaller single chip version is in development and soon it will be in use. The cost of the Bluetooth device is expected to fall rapidly. Bluetooth chip has to be equipped in many devices. In Bluetooth technology, small and inexpensive transceivers have been placed in the digital devices. The radio waves operate at 2.45 GHZ band on the Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth supports the data speed up to 721 Kbps and 3 voice channels. The Bluetooth chip can either be built into the devices or it can be uses as an adapter. In computer it can be used with the USB port. Each Bluetooth device has a 48 bit address from the IEEE 802 standards and the Bluetooth connections can be either point to point or multi point. Bluetooth range is 10 meter but it can be extended up to 100 meters by increasing the power.Bluetooth devices are protected from the external interference because they change their frequency up to 1600 times in a second. Bluetooth radio technology provides the bridge between the existing data network. Bluetooth guarantees security at the bit level and the authentication is controlled by the end user by using 128 bit key. An important face of the Bluetooth technology is that it instantly forms a network when two or more devices come closer in the range of each other.Bluetooth technology benefitsBluetooth technology is a convenient choice of communication in a wire free, short range environment. Bluetooth is a globally available standard for connecting the devices like mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, mp3 players, cars, stereo headsets etc. Bluetooth enable devices do not need to install any drivers. The key benefits of the Bluetooth wireless technology are its built-in-security, low cost, easy of use, robustness, and ad hoc networking capabilities.The Bluetooth wireless technology is available globally. Many manufactures from the different companies are busy to implement the technology in their products. Bluetooth technology operates in the 2.4 GHZ, one of the unlicensed, industrial and scientific radio bands. Bluetooth technology is a free of charge service but your mobile phones set should support the GSM and CDMA technology.Today mobile phones have built in capabilities and Bluetooth functionalities in them. Bluetooth technology is available in the different range of the devices like mobile phones, automobiles, medical devices, industries and enterprises etc. Due to the key features of the Bluetooth technology like low power consumption, low cost and wireless features make it more popular. Bluetooth technology does not require any fixed infrastructure and it is very simple to install and setup.No wires are required to connect the Bluetooth devices. You can connect to other Bluetooth enabled devices anytime if they come in your range. Bluetooth wireless technology is widely supported and is secure wireless standard today. Bluetooth devices has built-in security features such as 128 bit encryption and pin code authentication when Bluetooth devices identify themselves they use the pin code when they first time connect.

Communication being the mother of all skills must be mastered by one and all for professional as well as personal success. Communication is an art which has to be mastered by the professionals irrespective of their position. The components of communication are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW). If you master these components, you will become good manager and able to get the things done to the satisfaction of your superiors.Listening being the first component of Communication skill, one has to practice this skill with all the attentiveness required to reciprocate, react and to give constructive feedback.
Without listening one cannot be effective in discharging their duties in the workplace.
In a nutshell, listening is considered as the key skill in communicating with others. For example, if you do not listen attentively, you cannot discharge your duties effectively to the satisfaction of your boss. You may lose the edge over your competitors in the workplace. Your appraisal may not be up to the mark. If you are a Secretary or a Stenographer, you must be more attentive compared to others. One small mistake committed due to lack of attention may put the project in problem which you are handling. Proactive listening will help you to climb the ladder of success. Active listening is that wherein you are active only in listening, but proactive listening will motivate and prompts you to take action on the points which you have listened through your boss, peers or subordinates. This will help you to become a key member of the team. You have take the expression as it is while listening to the speaker but should not react immediately.Speaking can be mastered only with practice. The ability to speak clearly will determine the effectiveness of the individual in the workplace. Your clarity of thought is reflected in your way of speaking and choosing the right words. Choosing the right words for the right occasion to express in the right place and with right people will help you to master the art of speaking. One has to practice this art of speaking by understanding the situation and the vocabulary of different industry segments with which you are associated. SIP in the field of education means Summer Internship program but the same SIP sounds different in the field of banking i.e. Systematic Investment Plan. Before globalization the jargon of recruitment is different from post globalization. Previously it was recommendation and now it was with reference you can find a placement of your choice. Now-a-days, many are spelling the word schedule as schedule due to the influence of American work culture in the Indian Work Place. Observation also will help you to become a good speaker. Positive expression while talking to your boss, peers, and subordinates will create positive vibes in the workplace. You should not go to your boss with the word ‘complaint’ in your expression; instead you must rearrange the sentence with the expression as ‘I would like to bring to your kind notice’. This way, one can master speaking skills in the workplace and help in creating positive vibrations in the workplace.Emotional intelligence/balance while speaking will give you edge over others. One must be Assertive communicator while talking to others. Aggressive communication or reaction will spoil the atmosphere and may not help in getting the things done. The communication must be apt to the situation and should not express in over tones.Your perception will influence your way of communicating with others. One should not impose the perception or opinion on others through their way of expression. You must give choice and freedom to others to choose and express their view point. If you are precise and pin pointed with your communication, you can avoid politics in the work place. You can avoid grapevine in the workplace. You can avoid heart burns in the work place.Reading maketh a complete man. This quote reflects the importance of reading in the life of a professional. Reading also includes studies, wherein you have to try to improve your qualifications and skills which would help move fast on the career path. Lack of reading skills or not concentrating much on reading the latest developments in your field will make you a novice in the workplace. Those who update knowledge of their field continuously will climb the ladder of success in the workplace without many hassles. Those who doesn’t concentrate on improving their reading skills will not be in the race of promotion or any kind of other career developing appraisals happen from time to time in the continuous learning organizations.Writing i.e. letter drafting and report writing forms part of the life of a professional wherein one has to possess these skills to become an effective manager. A professional has to master the art of writing which is useful in the workplace to communicate effectively and to assert his stand in every situation. Lack of writing skills will be an obstruction in the progress of one’s career path and can mar the future prospects.Barriers in communication can be overcome with concentration and observation. Focusing on the mode of communication and its effectiveness will help to reduce the effectiveness of barriers in communication. In an ‘open cabin culture’ in the work place, one cannot expect ‘noiseless’ atmosphere. Cell phones in the workplace also will become barriers for effective communication. To avoid barriers in communication in the workplace, one has to develop ‘accommodating culture’.Basics of Effective Communicationo It matters not so much what you say as it does how you say it.
o Your communication style is a SET of various behaviors and methods of relaying information that impact all facets of life.
o The goal should always be to understand – not to be right.
o Get the facts before you pass judgment. Some styles lend themselves better to this than others.
o Learning all communication styles is important in order to avoid communicating in less effective ways and in order to recognize those styles in others so as to be able to deal with them.
o People are not difficult. They only seem difficult to the extent that we do not have the skills to deal with what they bring to the table. It is our lack of knowledge that makes the situation difficult.Which is the Best Style?o All styles have their proper place and use.
o Assertive communication is the healthiest.
- Boundaries of all parties are respected.
- Easier to problem-solve; fewer emotional outbursts.
- It requires skills and a philosophy change, as well as lots of practice and hard work.
- When both parties do it, no one is hurt in any way and all parties win on some level.Understanding Communication Styles – Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive Communication -Passive Communicationo Allowing our own rights to be violated by failing to express our honest feelings.
o The goal of being a passive communicator is to avoid conflict no matter what.
o Little risk involved – very safe.
o Little eye contact, often defers to others’ opinions, usually quiet tone, may suddenly explode after being passive too long.Examples of Passive Communicationo “I don’t know.”
o “Whatever you think.”
o “You have more experience than I. You decide.”
o “I’ll go with whatever the group decides.”
o “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me.”
o “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. . . NO!”Aggressive Communicationo Protecting one’s own rights at the expense of others’ rights – no exceptions.
o The goal of the aggressor is to win at all costs; to be right.
o Does not consider actions a risk because this person thinks they will always get their way. It is risky in terms of relationships, however.
o Eye contact is angry and intimidating; lots of energy; loud and belittling; never defers to others, or at least does not admit to; manipulative and controlling. Often uses violence or verbal abuse.Examples of Aggressive Communicationo “I don’t know why you can’t see that this is the right way to do it.”
o “It’s going to be my way or not at all.”
o “You’re just stupid if you think that will work.”
o “That kind of logic will sink the company.”
o “Who cares what you feel. We’re talking about making things work here.”Passive-Aggressive Communicationo Forfeiting your own rights initially, followed by manipulation and vengeance later.
o The goal of this style is to avoid conflict and then make the other party wish they had seen it your way.
o Avoids risk initially, risks relationships later, then acts surprised when people are mad.
o Behaves passively to people’s face, then aggressively when they are not around. Often uses sarcasm.Examples of Passive-Aggressive Communicationo “Sure, doctor. I’d be happy to write that verbal order,” but back on the unit the order is “forgotten.”
o “I love your hair. Most people probably can’t even tell it’s a wig.”
o “I hear what you’re saying, and I wouldn’t want to make waves, so I’ll do what you say even though someone will probably get sued.”Assertive Communicationo Protecting your own rights without violating the rights of others.
o The goal of the assertive person is to communicate with respect and to understand each other; to find a solution to the problem.
o Takes a risk with others in the short run, but in the long run relationships are much stronger.
o Eye contact maintained; listens and validates others; confident and strong, yet also flexible; objective and unemotional; presents wishes clearly and respectfully.Examples of Assertive Communicationo “So what you’re saying is. . . .”
o “I can see that this is important to you, and it is also important to me. Perhaps we can talk more respectfully and try to solve the problem.”
o “I think. . . I feel. . . I believe that. . . .”
o “I would appreciate it if you. . .”Assertiveness SkillsI – Persistence1. Stay focused on the issue – do not get distracted, defensive, or start justifying yourself.
2. Repeat the “bottom line” to keep the conversation on track and your issues on the table (e.g., “I understand that, however we are talking about. . .”).
3. Alternative styles would withdraw or would escalate this to a battle of wills that would override compromise.II – Objectivity1. Focus on the problem, not on the emotions that often accompany and cloud problems. Postpone discussion if emotions cannot be contained.
2. Use the validation skill (next) to handle others’ emotions so you can focus on objective issues.III – Validationo Allow people to have their experience, but try to move beyond it to a discussion about the problem.
o You do not necessarily have to disagree or agree – people’s perspectives are important, but they are not the heart of the issue, so don’t make a battle over them. Validate them and get to the issue.
o “If that’s how you see it, that’s fine.”
o “I can see that this upsets you, and from your perspective, I can see why. Now, what can we do to make this better for both of us?”IV – Owningo Being assertive means you also must own what is yours to own. If the other person has a point about your behavior, own it (this is the “. . .without violating the rights of others” part). Bulldozing over that is aggressive.
o Accept someone’s criticism as feedback rather than an attack. (e.g., “You could be right about that. . .”, “That is entirely possible, knowing me. . .”) Where is the value in fighting another’s negative opinion about us? Perspective is hard to change when directly challenged. This shows that IF their perspective were true, you’d own it.V – Challenging False Informationo When attacked with false and negative statements, do not fall prey to defensiveness. That only escalates emotions.
o Look for the grain of truth and validate it. This knocks barrier walls down and opens the door for discussion about the real problem.
o At times people are rigid and a more forceful stance is needed. E.g., “I’m sorry, I simply do not see it that way, but you are more than entitled to your opinion.”
o Disagree, using factual information. E.g., “Actually, I was at work, so that could not have been me.”VI – Pumping the Negativeso When criticized, ask for more negative feedback – do so assertively, as though you are trying to learn more about how to be better in that area (and in fact, that should be your goal). E.g., “Tell me more about what is bothering you about my report.”
o Stay task oriented!!! If you slip into emotions and get offended, you lose. Pump practical negatives (not baseless criticisms) and how your actions can be improved to help solve the problems.VII – Humoro Humor breaks down negative emotions.
o Humor can put tense situations at ease.
o When grain of truth is found, joke about it while owning it.
o Be careful to use humor appropriately and professionally.When Aggression is Appropriateo In an emergency
o When there is not time to spend on a compromise.
o When your opinion is based on several facts, you therefore KNOW you are right, and there is not time to utilize assertiveness skills.When Passivity is Appropriateo When the results of pushing the issue would cause problems that outweigh the benefits.
o When issues are minor.
o When there is a power differential that is not in your favor and the other party is getting agitated by your assertiveness.
o When the other individual’s position is impossible to change. (E.g., the law).What is “Okay” in Assertive Behavior?o It is okay to say “I don’t know.”
o It is okay to say “No,” or “I cannot do that.”
o It is okay to make mistakes as long as responsibility is taken for them.
o It is okay to disagree and to verbalize that.
o It is okay to challenge others’ opinions or actions.
o It is okay to not accept another’s opinion as factual or accurate (e.g., getting criticized).
o It is okay to ask for a change in behavior.Cultivate the habit of communicating assertively, to enhance your effectiveness in the workplace. Measurable performance is always assessed by way of your positive communication skills. If you are not an effective communicator, you may not be in a position to sell yourself effectively in the workplace. Thus, effective communication plays vital role for your success in professional life as well as in your personal life.* * *

Most of the time when I talk to people about the investment industry I get the distinct sense that they would rather talk about almost anything else. While there are certainly many potential causes for such an understated response, I also don’t get the sense that an overwhelming degree of satisfaction is usually one of them. Rather, there seems to be a persistent state of frustration lurking under the surface that occasionally reveals itself in comments like, “I’d like to be able to get more confident with my investing”, and, “Do you ever get to talk to the person managing the money?”To the extent that lurking frustration exists, it is not for lack of investment expertise. Not only are there thousands upon thousands of investment professionals, but there are also terrific credential programs like the CFA and the CFP, a substantial and diverse active management industry that has a business model predicated on developing proprietary insights, and research that suggests it works. For example, the study “Best Ideas” [Cohen, Polk, and Silli, 2010] shows that the typical active money manager actually does outperform with his/her best ideas (the problem is that most portfolios also contain a lot of other ideas which aren’t nearly as good).So why do investors continue to be frustrated when all of this expertise is available? The answer, in a word, is friction.Sources of frictionJust like the progress of any vehicle is slowed down by the friction created by its contact with the road, so too is the efficient transfer of investment expertise constrained by a variety of structural sources of “friction” in the industry.One important source of investment friction is the tendency of many firms to focus more on the business of investment management than on the profession of investing. Because the universe of significant investment opportunities is limited in a competitive environment, managers must settle for progressively less attractive alternatives as a fund grows larger — and this dilutes performance. The conflict of interest between an investment manager’s desire to grow assets (and therefore business profits) and an investor’s desire for a smaller fund focused exclusively on best ideas is one way in which investment expertise often fails to benefit clients.A second source of friction is essentially a corollary of the first: Many firms fail to focus on the types of activities that are closely associated with generating superior investment returns. For example, many firms persist in charging high fees for investment services despite widespread evidence that high fees detract from returns. Many run portfolios that look very similar to their benchmarks rather than concentrating on best ideas (i.e., high active share). Many react (and overreact) to short-term results for which there is very little information content (i.e., low signal to noise ratio). Each of these types of activities is a well-known structural impediment to good investment performance and each is the result of a choice, a tradeoff, made by an organization’s leaders. While it is unfortunate such impediments exist, they are absolutely avoidable.A third source of friction is over-specialization. When an environment remains stable for a long period of time the most successful entities are those that focus on a very narrow area of expertise. Examples include narrowly defined functional silos such as industry-specific analyst coverage and very narrowly defined investment mandates. In such an environment, flexible business approaches and policies to insure against large losses represent unnecessary opportunity costs. In a more tumultuous environment, however, the costs of focusing too narrowly can be debilitating and sometimes even deadly. It’s fine to pack only swim suits and t-shirts for the beach as long as the weather stays nice. If it gets cold and rainy, you’ll wish you had better choices.What you can doWhile various sources of friction often prevent investors from deriving as much benefit as they might from the industry, the good news is that they also provide a clear target for improvement. If you want things to run more smoothly and efficiently, just reduce or eliminate the sources of friction. For investment firms this is simply a matter of making policy choices — of choosing to focus, on the margin, more on the exercise of investing than on the business of investment management. For investors, this is just a matter of identifying the firms that are not only willing to accept, but to actually encourage, making the tradeoffs that benefit investment results.Another way for investors to derive more benefit from the investment services industry is to find better user interfaces. Steve Jobs revolutionized the computer industry by developing a graphical user interface (GUI) that made it much easier for normal people to interact with computers. The same needs to be done with investment firms. While a great deal of investment expertise does exist, only a small subset of that resides with organizations that have cultures truly oriented to helping people. Without such a culture, the path of least resistance is for that expertise to first benefit investment firms and their employees.The investment services industry is interesting as a case study because it defies so many well established norms in other industries. Exceptionally few businesses in a competitive environment can afford to persist with processes and behaviors that impede performance and client satisfaction. If you went to a nice restaurant and ordered an expensive meal and the waiter came out and just threw it down in front of you without explanation and walked away, you would probably be miffed and might consider never coming back. Oddly, the same behavior happens with investment firms all the time — except in these cases investors tend to resign themselves to accepting such treatment. You can do better, but you will almost certainly need to look for new approaches that avoid old, and predictable, sources of friction.

The very basic formula of any marketing is:Defining Prospects + Contact Details + Campaign = MarketingThe act of automating these steps with the help of technology and software turns it into Marketing Automation.Thus, when with the help of a business software some or many steps of marketing are handled automatically by a software or application, that’s called marketing automation.Beginning of Marketing AutomationSo, at the beginning, when computer and internet were new and weren’t matured as much as they are today, the marketing companies used to compile a long list of prospective clients and then send them the same mail one by one. Then someone invented a function by which people were able to enlist all email IDs in one email and send a bulk email.We can call that the first Marketing Automation attempt as the system had automated one part of the marketing campaign. Now there was no need to send each individual one by one. It was now done with a single click. Though, you had to create a database of all the email IDs first, but the repetitive process of composing the same email for every individual was discarded.From the that time on, people have just built upon the same idea, transformed more manual steps into the automatic ones and more and more repetitive efforts performed by executives has turned into automated ones.Today, it is possible to send one mail to a thousand (or a million) people without writing a single word, without entering email IDs manually or hitting send at the moment you want send it.How? A few types of mails have readymade formats available for free. You can take that format as the body of your mail. Then there are services which provide you list of email IDs in the domains you require. And then on an email client, you schedule your emails to automatically be sent without your presence. See? Nothing is written and yet you have sent thousands of emails with a few clicks.Though, such email with readymade templates will have a very low conversion rate. Yet, it reflects the reach and advancements in the marketing automation segment. You are only required to tell the software what you want to do and then, everything is done automatically.Marketing Automation: Intelligence GatheringMarketing Automation software has gone advanced and thus they have also made the every steps of marketing advanced. The aforementioned simple formula of marketing has become complex, much more focused, centralized and aligned for the maximum ROI. Nowadays, only gathering lists of email IDs isn’t enough. For maximum efficiency you have more software and techniques to discard the people and steps which have less possibility to turn into conversion. You can target only those people who have higher likability of turning into a customer.How you/software know that?Today, in the times of matured internet with the social media sites, increased internet footprints, there is software available which follows and tracks a person’s internet footprint on social media, search engines, different websites and all the things they click and look out for on the internet. After that, the software segmentizes the data and turns it into actionable information. Basing on that information, the tool suggests you the people which are most likely to convert into customer as they are probably following the similar things which falls into the product category of your product or their interests and search results suggests that they are interested into the product you are selling i.e. a person running a big firm is more likely to buy your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system than a man who sells candies at a local shop. Thus, you can discard the people who aren’t going to buy your product and focus only on the people with higher likability. This way, your spending on mail clients shows higher ROI with maximum efficiency. The rate of replies, mail openings, leads and ultimately to the conversion also stays high.Thus, the software and tools are helping to maximize your performance by intelligence gathering from online sites and people’s online footprints. Collected intelligence is helping you to do marketing efficiently, smartly and with higher return.Marketing Automation: Workflow Automation inside the CompanyThere is this third part of the marketing automation which furthers the game to the next level which makes sure that you are always there to close the deal for any customer who is interested in your product. It’s called Workflow Automation.Workflow Automation actually tracks the performance of the recent marketing campaign and sees if the prospect has reached to a level where he is considering buying your product. He is probably visiting your website regularly, spends longer time on it or is visiting the product pricing page. At that time, the marketing automation software understands the prospect’s higher possibility of turning into a conversion. At that critical time, the software sends to one of your marketing executive an alert for such a prospect who, from there on, can take predefined steps to ensure the prospect turns into a conversion. The Marketing Automation Software are looking at the people’s profiles, habits, nature and collective psychographic data to understand if he will be interested in your product or not.That’s marketing automation at its maximum performance.You can understand that all the marketing automation tricks, techniques and ways described here are just the extensions of the decades old basic marketing formula. Those three steps are now highly matured with their own sub-parts, polished to a level where the conversion ration stays high, with segmented information about the prospects to target only the best ones and achieve results with far higher leads and conversions than its basic counterpart.Marketing Automation isn’t only for Email Marketing.That’s true. Whenever a person thinks of online marketing, email marketing pops up the first. But, as its well-known, there are a lot of other ways to market your product online. Social media posts, online conferences/calls/webinars, website promotion, advertisements, etc. There are a lot of options and each one is a marketing effort.Now, in each of these techniques, if there is a Marketing Automation Software available which is making a few steps automatic i.e. posting on multiple social media sites at once or posting articles/press releases automatically on multiple article directories or article/PR submission sites, then that software is helping in your marketing campaign and is making it automatic. That is also a marketing automation software.Marketing Automation isn’t bound only to email marketing.How to know if you require a marketing automation software?The criteria is simple. If you rely on email marketing, social media marketing and other traceable online marketing techniques, then here are the situations to use a marketing automation software:

If you are repetitively sending thousands and thousands of emails to your prospect on daily/weekly/monthly basis

You require a detailed review of your marketing campaign

Using a software reduces cost/time/efforts spent on the task greatly
BenefitsBenefits of marketing automation are:

It accelerates the whole campaign tremendously

Marketing Intelligence helps you to target only prospects with higher conversion possibility

Your employees get great support to track down and assist the most interested prospect. Thus, it goes to the last mile to ensure one more deal is closed.

The detailed analytics and statistics help you to get better and better with your every campaign