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5 ways to grow your connections on LinkedIn

Relation capital is the most important asset you can have

By Bhumika Ramesh

LinkedIn is the top site for expanding and building your network. It’s the evident leader in social media when it comes to developing connections. The more people you are connected to, the faster you grow on LinkedIn – which increases the net you cast. It is a great field to interact with professionals. However, it might be intimidating for the beginner.

In building an efficient network on LinkedIn, connections are the most important element to be taken into consideration. Strategically building your first connections leads to a much wider reach to the second and third connections of everyone else.

Here are a few ways to increase those connections and make sure you reach the next tier in your business network!
- Post regularly
Being active ensures your posts are seen by the LinkedIn community. There are more opportunities for people to interact with you through liking, sharing or commenting on your posts. Posting images or videos ensure greater attention and participation and expose you to more relevant and potential connections.
- Personalize your connection requests.
When sending connection requests to those in your industry or simply in the process of expanding your network, personalization goes a long way. Personalised messages show invested time and the recipient has more chances of accepting the request.
- Engage with your feed
A simple like or comment on your connections’ posts is a nice way to show you’re interest in their content. By joining a few conversations on posts, you can build an audience too. This gives you visibility and greater outreach, and all this while becoming a familiar face in your community!
- Utilize keywords in your profile.
LinkedIn segregates user’s searches based on keywords in their profiles. Having optimized keywords direct searches to you and increases the amount of audience reaching your profile. Completing your profile and adding details such as education, skills and projects undertaken will also contribute.
- Join or create LinkedIn groups.
Creating or joining a LinkedIn group allows you to connect with various professionals in the same industry as you. You could meet Business partners and clients here. These groups allow you to build a relevant network. You can share information and opinions from articles and current news to enhance your views and in turn build your engagement.

Start today! Building quality connections on LinkedIn is a good way to begin. Using these tips might just get you those viable connections!

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3 ways to build your network in 2021

By Bhumika Ramesh

Your success might just depend on those people you know!

Most of us know that networking is an essential task to keep up with connections: The right people can lead you to the right places. It is one of the most important assets in your business. Before progressing any further, let’s take into account the years 2020 and 2021, where a lot of social meetings couldn’t take place due to the restrictions. How do you go about building your network then, especially if you aren’t a people person?

To help you build a stronger network, here are a few tips:
- Stay up to date in your field!
As you start building networks, it’s important to stay on top of the news in your relevant industry or field. Read those newspapers, subscribe to newsletters and keep up with some of the big speakers and influencers in your field. Use Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn regularly. Interaction can help you develop new networks and possibly acquire new clients.

By staying up to date, you can effortlessly bring these topics into conversations with new people online or start them out as ice-breakers!
- Construct win-win situations.
When both parties gain something from the interaction, it’s a much more beneficial situation. In doing so, both parties feel useful and the other person may reach out to you for more opportunities in the future. Building these long-term relationships goes a long way, especially in a business-oriented field.
- Re-connect.
Nobody likes that one friend who decides to contact us after years for a small favour. We typically don’t want to go out of our way for them. To avoid this situation, follow up with people you meet. Talk with them regularly, and stay in contact with them.

Social media can help you do so too. Sustaining relationships makes the other person turn out to be more favourable to you in the future.

A strong and huge network can very well lift you to heights. Interacting with different people from different walks of life gives you an understanding of diversity. Different points of view help you expand your knowledge and so do your communication skills improve. To conclude, the process of networking is a pivotal factor in the life of any businessperson.

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How to create a good bio?

By Athena Joseph
1. INTRODUCE YOURSELF
It is very obvious that people who view our bio would spare only a few seconds to look into it. And these few seconds marks the first impression. So, it is very necessary that we introduce ourselves in a short and crisp way but also makes ourselves clear to the reader. Clearly communicate who you are and what you do in a line or two.
1. SHOWCASE THE “CAREER EXTRAS’
Adding a few extra points about your career helps you to stand out from the rest. This may include civic activities, awards and recognitions, volunteering, or cultural skills like language or travel. It may also include other interests or activities that may show leadership, character, or qualities you feel are beneficial to your career.Feel free to add an extra bulletin for these.
1. USE STRONG ACTION WORDS
Action verbs start each sentence off with a bang! Writing long sentences full of dull descriptions does nothing to capture interest. Strong action words, however, are a far more persuasive language tool that allows you to be concise and impactful. They paint a vivid picture of your experience and achievements in a different perspective.
1. START OR END WITH YOUR STRONGEST POINT
Most of the readers tend to start reading the bio and eventually skip the content right in the middle and jump to what’s on the last. Hence, it is important to lead or end your bio with the strongest points about yourself or the work you’ve done.
1. STAY DISTINGUISHED
It is equally necessary that you stay out distinguished from your fellow mates and peers. This could be done by including points like describing a challenge or problem that you overcame, naming the tangibles that you have produced i.e products, publications, brand etc. The most necessary point is to be specific about yourself and everything else that you’ve written in your bio.

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How to start your email list?

By Tanyika Rai

Email marketing is one of the best marketing strategies out there. No matter what kind of business you have, it’s always great to have an email list. It can help you convert subscribers into customers and helps you build relationships with them. You can also promote your business and advertise your products

Honestly speaking, if you don’t have an email list already you’re probably not doing it right. But don’t worry! I’m here to help with these quick and simple steps to start your very own email list.

Step 1 : Select an email marketing provider

First rule of business, if you’re going to set up an email list, you need to have an email marketing provider. You simply cannot just use your Gmail account.

Yow will probably be breaking email marketing laws if you just use your Gmail and it’s not the smartest thing to do when you’re building your email list.

There are tons of options out there, so do some research and find an email marketing provider that suits you and set up your account with the chosen e-mail marketing platform.

Step 2 : Create an opt-in form on your website

If you want people to be able to sign up to your email list through your website then you’re in need of an opt-in pop up form. A pop up form will provide your website visitors with a convenient way to subscribe to your email list and it will serve as a great tool for audience growth. It’s also a great way to share contact information.

Make sure to keep the description in your opt-in form short but sweet and engaging. You could choose an attractive headline or even a relevant tagline.

Step 3 : Marketing Campaigns

Now this can be an optional step. If you would like to advertise your email list, maybe on your social media platforms, you can totally do it and it is a great way to grow your email list.

You can promote your email list on whatever platforms you use by describing in a couple of words what content your email list will have. Link the opt-in form to sign up in your linktree or bio (whatever is accessible to your followers) or using any other CTA – Call to action.

Step 4: Welcome Email

Now that you have people signing up to your email list, you need to welcome them and the best way to do so is a welcome mail!

Most email marketing softwares have the option to send out a welcome mail that you can customize to your liking and will go out as soon as someone signs up for your email list.

First impressions matter, so make sure that your welcome mail is a little personal and overall friendly. It should make your subscribers want to remain subscribed and pique their interest. Put in a little effort, thank them for subscribing, inform them of what they can expect in these mails and add a special little treat or freebie.

Step 5 : Content Plan

Finally, plan out the content that you will share through your email list. First brainstorm and think of what you want to have in the emails. It could be a weekly newsletter, advertising a product, announcing any events that you’re hosting or when the next episode of your podcast is out.

Plan out everything that you will put out in that particular month or week and this will prevent any disasters. Try and send out a mail maybe every week so that your subscribers are happy with the content they are getting but do not spam their inbox.

Starting an email list will take some time and effort, especially trying to grow it. But in the end it will be worth it and you will be satisfied and content with the end result.

Adding freebies every once in a while is also a great way to keep your subscribers engaged and provide value.

Having an email list is one of the smartest marketing strategies that you should know about. Now you know how to start your own email list if you don’t have one already, go get started with it.

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Elevator pitch a.k.a Your Online intro

-By Sowmya Narasimhan

One of the powerful tactics of business is your own story, if you know how to say it. In a business, it is very important to possess great communication skills and to put through your views in the most persuading manner. And today we are referring to, the elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your organization does. In our current digital world we use this to introduce ourselves online.

Here is all you should know about creating an interesting and memorable online intro.

Identifying your goal

Pick out the right objective of your pitch. Figure out what’s more promising about your business that can reach your target audience. Make sure you include all the important points in your intro.

Elaboration

You can start by explaining how your organization works. Ask yourself what you want your audience to remember most about you. Make sure your pitch isn’t too complicated and long because as the name suggests a good elevator pitch should not last longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds.

Creating engaging content

You can also add a question, at the end, to engage your target audience. The question should be related to your pitch so that you don’t deviate from your intro. It’s advisable to frame open-ended questions and make sure you’re ready with a satisfying answer to the question.

Syntax of sentences

Once you’re ready with your pitch, put it all together and structure it well. You can also check the timing and remove few sentences if you feel they’re unnecessary. Avoid adding the question in-between your pitch because you might end up losing time while discussing it.

Communication

The way of conveying your ideas equally matters. You have to be humble and confident. Make sure you use professional words and do not include sentences that could hurt someone’s sentiments. Remember to highlight what makes you and your company unique.

Have a quick run-through

“Practice makes a man or woman perfect”

Once you’re all set with your pitch rehearse it until you are confident and it feel elegant to your own ears instead of awkward.

Make sure it doesn’t seem like a rude or aggressive sales pitch. Beware of your body language too. You can practice it in front of a mirror or ask your colleagues to give you their suggestions and feedback.

These are some simple steps that you can follow and create your own elevator pitch and make your first impression the best impression.

When will you use your Online intro?

When you create a video, host a live, join a meeting on Zoom, make a Facetime or Skype call for work and create videos for social media.

We recommend this book for more on Elevator Pitches –The New Elevator Pitch: The Definitive Guide to Persuasive Communication in the Digital Age -By Chris Westfall

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Why is having good head shots is important?

By Athena Joseph

A head shot is a tightly cropped portrait of someone, where the focus is on the head and shoulders. Head shots are slightly different from portrait photography.

Head shots are used by businesses to showcase executives and employees on their website.They effectively tell your story, reflect your brand and build trust with your audience. It displays your first point of contact, it’s your first impression, it’s your business, it’s your brand.

A simple head shot plays all these roles and now we know why having good head shots is important for your business. Let’s see a few striking importance of having good head shots:-
1. First impression is the best impression
First impressions are critical. They can make or break a business. And ensuring you make a great digital first impression (i.e through social media, emails, websites) is crucial. This is the reason why having a good head shot is important when someone visits your networking sites.
1. Portrays yourself to your name
Self images are the roots to positive psychology and has its own place and its own importance. You become recognizable and familiar through your head shots. When people from around the world view you as a person, as a figure, then you’re valued more and hence makes others feel comfortable when they are physically around you.
1. Customers feel to know more about you
When your social media viewers view your profile, they tend to search for a glimpse of yourself. And this is where the role of having good head shots comes into play. When they know how you look it adds to an extra point on the impressions they make.
1. Makes your website look more professional
The more consistent images your website has, the more professional it looks to your audience. Adding to this, one excellent head shot of yourself set on all your social media sites makes it clear to your audience that you are a professional.
1. Builds trust, confidence and connection
By being visible to your audience and clients, they find it easier to build trust and the easier it is to communicate and connect with you. Good head shots allow your audience to have a better understanding of you and allows them to look at your product or services. This makes marketing much easier.

So, finally tell us if you have good head shots on your social profiles? Leave us a comment below.

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5 Top trends on Instagram now!

By Tanyika Rai

Social media platforms are constantly evolving. There’s always something new to try out especially if you’re using it as a marketing tool.

Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users making it one of the most used social media platforms and probably the best marketing tool for you. A lot of companies and businesses use this app to promote and advertise their brands, So you can understand how large the playing field can be.

Overusing hashtags in the caption of each one of your posts is old news. If you want to be on your A-game, it’s time to try out these top trends on Instagram.

Live Streams:

The option of going live on Instagram has been around for a while but was not frequently used. But due to circumstances, there has been a huge increase in the popularity of this feature. Instagram even increased the maximum length of a live stream from 1 hour to 4 hours.

So use this feature, to collaborate with other Influencers and go live together, to answer follower-asked questions, or simply to engage with your community.

Reels:

The new reels feature was inspired by the TikTok app and was introduced in 2020. They are 15 to 30 second long videos where you can even compile a bunch of smaller clips into one. Reels are one of the most used Instagram features because of the amount of time people can spend on them.

They can be entertaining, casual, or informative and are a fun way to share any type of content. You can use them to try and promote your product or service or you can use them as info graphs that share tips and tricks.

Instagram Guides:

Guides are kind of like the blog posts of Instagram. Originally introduced for a selected group of people but now are free to use by everyone.

Content creators can use it to share things like tips & tricks on self-care and wellness or they use it to recommend a list of their personal favorite resources, products, and tools.

Influencers have recently taken to sharing COVID related information too.

Carousel Graphics &Instagram Stories:

These Instagram features have been around for quite a while now but it is still a top trend on the social media platform. Carousel posts can include up to 10 posts in 1 and Instagram stories allow you to post multiple stories.

Carousel posts can be used to present even more content and using them can be a pretty good way to create some type of slideshow and showcase your product. Putting up Insta stories can be used as a great marketing and branding tool to promote your biz. Influencers in the past 2 years have increased the use of both these features though they have been around for some time already.

A major plus is that there are quite a lot of templates and editing apps that can be used to spruce up your Instagram feed.

Digital Stickers & Sticker Selfies:

Now this, to me, is a very fun way to be trendy on Instagram because stickers are pretty cool on their own.

The sticker selfie feature on Instagram allows users to create their own animated stickers from selfies and turn them into stories. Cool, I know.

Digital stickers are basically virtual stickers with some extra information along with the image. These stickers can display anything from inspirational quotes to brand or product details to promote your brand. So use them wisely.

Design apps and websites like Canva, have customizable sticker templates to suit you.

New Instagram features will constantly be created and with influence will become trends which means you should be keeping an eye out and give them a try. Keeping up with current trends but also personalizing them to suit your brand image is important and will make your content fresh and new. Plus it also excites your audience.

So try out some of these Insta trends if you haven’t already and spice up your Instagram game.

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Why having a podcast is good for your business

By Sowmya Narasimhan

Learning through listening is far better than learning by reading. It’s just not my opinion it’s a fact. Research states that regular listening increases reading accuracy by 52% and also expand vocabulary improving fluency. So the best way to put across your thoughts would be by starting your podcast.

A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download to a personal device for easy listening. It’s an effective method of communication that can help you build your ongoing relationships with your audience and community.

Having your podcast can have several benefits that can serve your business.

I’ve listed a few below:

Personalized platform

You would be directly talking to your customers and there will be an active engagement from the listeners. Moreover, it’s a much more devoted way of providing information than sending it in word form.

Easy to use

The biggest advantage of digital platforms is that they are portable. This allows your clients to listen to your podcast from anywhere in the world on any device. Since the podcast is a digital platform it has a reduced cost of publishing. They are also easy to edit and update. You can also use this to grow your credibility and authority with your friends and colleagues.

Promotion of your podcasts

Once someone subscribes to your podcast they will be notified about any new podcast you share. This way they can always listen to your podcast without missing any of it. It’s easy to share your links and advertise your podcasts.

Time-efficient

“A stitch in time saves nine”

Podcasts do not require a lot of effort to listen to. You can listen to podcasts and simultaneously indulge in other tasks. It’s also very easy to create a podcast. This saves time and also helps you to be productive.

Your podcast subscribers are the core of your community and over time, they will be your best prospects for deepening the relationship through cross-selling and loyalty tactics. Well, it’s always better to deliver your content through a podcast rather than writing it on an e-mail or document. So what are you waiting for?

Get started with your own podcast soon and also don’t forget to check out mine below!

Link: Podcast – Success With Savitha

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3 Tips To Build Your Personal Brand on Social Media

By Tanyika Rai

Everybody has a personal brand. I have one and so do you.

Wikipedia defines the term ‘personal brand’ as, “ A personal brand is a widely recognized and largely uniform perception or impression of an individual based on their experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community, industry, or the marketplace at large. ”

To put it simply, your personal brand is how the world sees you at a glance. It’s how you promote and present yourself and display your skills, personality, and experience. Basically, it’s your story.

We live in a largely digital and modern world. You can literally do anything and everything online. Having a personal brand is not just a nice thing to have but an absolute necessity. We use our personal brand as a means to separate ourselves from the mass multitude, to stand out, and to establish ourselves in the world. And in this world that we live in to build a good personal brand, Social media is your best option.

So here are 3 great tips to build a good personal brand on social media.

Establish your target audience:

Your target audience is the specific group of people that you want to share your content, service, or product with and who would be the most interested in what you have to share.

Establishing your target audience is the first and most important step of building your personal brand on social media. For your personal brand to grow, you need to attract the attention of those that best suit your product or service. Unwanted attention will do nothing to build your personal brand.

After identifying your target audience, it becomes easier to decide what social media platforms would best suit you and your brand. Working your brand on a platform that doesn’t consist of your required audience can be a waste of time and resources.

Engage With Your Audience Regularly

Having a personal brand is a lot like having a job. It requires a lot of the same hard work and effort. A key tip to build and grow your personal brand is posting content consistently and always engaging with your audience.

Engaging with your viewers could be anything like replying to their comments, responding to their messages, hosting lives, or interactive events regularly. The people who will help you establish your brand are very important and it’s good to interact with them constantly.

Posting content consistently and on a fixed schedule, especially when building your brand attracts an audience and gives you more opportunities to interact and engage with them.

Connect And Collaborate

Other Influencers around you can be like your co-workers. Collaborating and connecting with them as well as establishing friendly relations with them is a great idea.

One of the first things you should be doing when building a personal brand is studying and understanding the various other Influencers around you. Observe the content they put out and who their target audience is. If they belong to your particular niche then you should be engaging with them. Start developing relationships with them and then collaborate with them.

Consistency:

This is a key step to growing your personal brand and getting more exposure on social media. Creating a personal brand on social media will not be easy, especially when you’re starting out fresh. It requires a lot of effort, work, and motivation.

Posting content consistently and not forgetting your target audience is the first step to building your personal brand and should always be in your mind.

Another thing that you should also always remember is to be yourself. You do not want to be putting someone who isn’t you online.

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These CEO’s net-worth grew during the pandemic

By Sowmya Narasimhan

The year 2020 was unforgettable for all of us because of the ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease that has affected our lives adversely and left us all in distress. Many lost their jobs and the economy also suffered a massive setback.

But amidst all of this, some CEOs of companies belonging to different industrial sectors, managed to bag huge profits for their company and topped the list of richest people in the world.

Here is a list of the top five richest CEOs in the world:
- Warren Buffet
Industry: Finance & Investments

Wealth growth during the pandemic: +$13.6 billion (+20.1%)

Warren Edward Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, philanthropist, and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He ranks as the fifth wealthiest person in the world.
- Mark Zuckerberg
Industry: Technology

Wealth growth during the pandemic: +$46.5 billion (+85.1%)

During the pandemic, the social media platform was used by people to stay in touch amid social distancing protocols. This helped Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and, CEO of Facebook to achieve this enormous economic growth.
- Bill Gates
Industry: Technology

Wealth growth during the pandemic: +$20.0 billion (+20.4%)

William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. He is invested in several other assets which makes him the third richest person in the world.
- Elon Musk
Industry: Automotive

Wealth growth during the pandemic: +$68.2 billion (+277.4%)

Elon Musk, a visionary and entrepreneur, first became wealthy through selling software company Zip2, then co-founding PayPal. As the CEO OF space exploration and Rocket Company SpaceX and his stake in electric car manufacturer Tesla he has gained much of his wealth and is currently the second richest man in the world.
- Jeff Bezos
Industry: Technology

Wealth growth during the pandemic: +$90.1 billion (+79.8%)

As people have avoided going outside amid the pandemic, many have also been choosing to do their shopping online. Jeff Bezos being the founder and CEO of the world’s largest e-commerce site, Amazon benefited tremendously throughout the pandemic. Bezos is by far the wealthiest person in the world.

CEOs are the pillar of strength of the company. Even in these tough times, these CEOs managed to stay strong and their perseverance paid off. Several other companies around the world prospered in the pandemic against all odds. Their journey to success has been amazing and inspirational. So, no matter how much negativity surrounds you, stay positive and never give up on your goals.

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Marketing & PR

Relation capital is the most important asset you can have