8 Ways to Stay Safe When Selling Online (Protect Yourself Online)

Selling stuff online can be a great way to make some extra cash. Facebook Marketplace, and other sites attract a lot of buyers and scammers. 

Whether it’s a used couch you no longer need, a brand-new pair of shoes that just don’t fit, or an antique you no longer have room for, nearly everything has a place online where it can be sold. And while it might be appealing to sell unwanted items from the comfort of your home, it may also make you more vulnerable to scams. Learn how to stay safe from scammers while selling items online is crucial. 

Whether you’re selling online through eBay, Etsy, or Poshmark, or meeting a buyer face-to-face via Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, it’s important to know how to protect yourself. Here are a few of the more common scams targeting sellers, plus tips for how to protect yourself.

Understanding the Most Common Scams

Imagine this: You’re selling an item via Craigslist, and an interested buyer contacts you saying they’re out of town, but will mail you a check and arrange to pick up the item at a later date. When the payment arrives, you realize it’s made out for an amount higher than necessary. The buyer asks you to deposit the check and wire the extra funds back to them. Unfortunately, about a week or two later, your bank notifies you that the check was invalid.

In these situations, the scammer uses the lag time between the check clearing in your account and the bank catching the fraudulent check to disappear. The scammer walks away with the money you wired them, while you, the seller, have little recourse for recovering those funds.

Another common scheme may occur if you are shipping an item internationally to a location where mail tracking is unavailable. In this scam, the buyer claims the item was never delivered and initiates a dispute. On most online marketplaces, the burden is on the seller to prove that the item was shipped as promised. In instances where tracking isn’t available, the platform will often side with the buyer, and you’ll be out the money and the item.

How to Protect Yourself When Selling Online

Although scammers are becoming more sophisticated in their schemes, there are many ways you can protect yourself and your wallet when selling online. 

1. Protect your personal information

When dealing with strangers online, it’s important that you keep your personal information private as much as you can. Never share your account information or exact location with a potential buyer. If a potential buyer is asking for unnecessary personal information, they’re likely up to no good deal.

2. Limit communication channels

Many websites or apps allow buyers and sellers to communicate on-platform, and it’s best to limit your communication to that channel. In fact, many sites recommend that sellers communicate exclusively through their platform. If you need to exchange phone numbers for picking up an item in person, consider using a Google Voice number so that you can cut ties after the transaction is complete.

3. When selling locally, stick to in-person transactions

According to Craigslist, you can avoid 99% of scams by selling to buyers in your area, face-to-face. Sticking to cash transactions and in-person hand offs can eliminate some payment scam risk, but you should still take certain precautions. If possible, choose a public meeting place even in front of a police station and ask a family member or friend to accompany you. If your item is too large to take to a public place, try to move it into your garage or in front of your home, and always schedule meetups for daylight hours.

4. Only accept payment through approved methods

Most sites recommend, or even require, certain payment methods to protect both buyers and sellers. If you’re using Craigslist, Amazon, or eBay, ask that the buyer pays through the website’s recommended channel. Do not accept personal checks, wire transfers or money orders. If a buyer insists on these payment methods, they may be planning a scam.

5. Take extra caution with shipping

If you have to ship an item to a buyer, you’ll need to take extra precautions. First, never ship to an address that’s not associated with the buyer’s profile. If you send to a non-approved address, the buyer may claim they never received the package and it may be harder to trace. When shipping, always use tracked postage methods, and keep the tracking number for your records. That way, if they claim the package wasn’t delivered, you can check the tracking status or contact the postal service or carrier directly.

6. Take advantage of seller protections and guidelines

If the site offers seller protections, make sure you’re using them. Don’t stray from the site’s usual processes or payment methods, many sites require you to adhere to these guidelines in order to receive protection.

If you’ve encountered a scam while selling online, you can always report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov. For more tips on protecting yourself against financial scams on and offline, visit regions.com/fraudprevention.

7. Fake payments and bogus refund requests

A scammer posing as a buyer says they want to buy the thing you have for sale. When it comes time to pay, they insist on paying through a mobile payment app. They send you a fake payment notification and hope you send the item before you realize it’s a scam.

Or they say there was an issue with the payment they sent. For example, they might say they accidentally paid you twice and ask you to refund one of the payments.

8. Fake check overpayment

The scammer offers to give you a check for more than the selling price. They tell you to deposit the check and send the difference back to them.

The check is fake, but if you deposit it, it’ll appear in your account balance. That’s because banks must make your money available quickly, usually within two days.

When a bank says the check cleared, that doesn’t mean it was a good check. It can take weeks for the bank to figure out the check was fake. By that time, the scammer has the item you sold and the money you sent back. And the bank takes the money from the fake check out of your account.

9. Fake verification codes

A scammer posing as a buyer says they’ve heard about fake online listings and wants to verify that you’re a real person. They send you a text message with a Google Voice verification code and ask you for that code. If you give it to them, they’ll use it to create a Google Voice number linked to your phone number. Then the scammer could use the Google Voice number to rip off other people. If someone tracks the Google Voice number, it’ll be linked to your real phone number. That’s how the scammers conceal their identity.

Advice for selling things online

Many sites recommend selling your stuff to a local buyer you can meet in person and only accepting cash payments. If you’re not selling locally, see what seller protections the site offers.

To avoid a scam:

• Don’t accept a mobile payment from someone you don’t know.
• Never deposit a check for more than the selling price.
• Don’t share your Google Voice verification code — or any verification code — with someone you don’t know.

Report a Scam

If someone tries to cheat you, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Five Importance of E-Commerce to Business (A complete Guide)

E-commerce has a great history since it was invented back in May 1989, when SequoiaData Crop introduced Compumarket, the first internet-based system for eCommerce.

There’s no doubting in it the opportunity of selling online has helped if not all several businesses earn more and grow successfully. Like any other business strategy, there are many plus points and the benefits of ecommerce can help one to excel.

In the emerging global economy, eCommerce has increasingly become a vital component of business strategy and a solid catalyst for economic development.

Today, everyone spends more time online than in any other place. From Startups to well-grown companies, everyone can benefit from an ecommerce website where their products or services can be sold online.

From startups to small and medium-sized businesses right through to huge brands, there are a large number of companies that can benefit from their own online store, where they can sell their own products/services.

This article was made to help you know more about the benefits of ecommerce, you’ll also find some of the benefits of having an online store.

What is ecommerce?

Ecommerce can be defined as the buying and selling of goods electronically online. Its popular because of the many benefits of ecommerce-internet marketing, electronic funds transfer, mobile commerce.

Faster buying process

Customers can spend less time shopping for what they want. They can easily browse through many items at a time and buy what they like. When online, customers can find items that are available in physical stores far away from them or not found in their locality.

This is where ecommerce comes to the rescue for many shoppers. They go online, search for an item, get a fast response and can buy it just as quickly.

Advantages of e-business include helping one to choose from a wide range of products and get the order delivered too. Searching for an item, seeing the description, adding to cart – all steps happen in no time at all. In the end, the buyer is happy because he has the item and didn’t have to travel far and spend money and other resources.

eCommerce Can Broaden Your Brand & Expand Your Business

Having an eCommerce store can be used to broaden your range of products/services for sale, expand your business, bring you more customers, and diversify your sales. Ecommerce helps you take your brick and mortar store online in a creative, more attractive, and easier way. When you offer quality products round the clock along with a dedicated customer support team, social media interactions, knowledge-base, blogs, etc, you are creating a strong online presence for your brand.

With eCommerce, there is no need to have more than one branch, just one singular online store allowing you to fully reach customers without having to worry about moving locations, you can just manage your online business from home.

It’s important to mention that, eCommerce will be helpful for Both B2C and B2B businesses to boost their brand awareness in the market.

Cost reduction

One of the biggest advantages of ecommerce to business that keep sellers interested in online selling is cost reduction. Many sellers have to pay lots to maintain their physical store. They may need to pay extra up front costs like rent, repairs, store design, inventory etc. In many cases, even after investing in services, stock, maintenance and workforce, sellers don’t receive desired profits and ROI.

To have an online store it is not necessary that you have all your products presented in a physical space. In fact, there are different companies that operate online where they only show all their inventory through their electronic commerce platform.

With an ecommerce store, a seller can reduce how much is spent in store upkeep. An ecommerce store is affordable and requires less investment when compared with a physical store. This is also a good opportunity for individual and small scale sellers who want to earn an income but don’t have the required start-up capital.

Lower business risks

Starting an online store can mean significantly lower start-up costs compared to a brick-and-mortar retailer. The retailer or the online business owner doesn’t have to take into consideration the high expenses of shop rental, hiring a salesperson to woo the customer, utility bills, security measures, etc.

This, in turn, will enable you to sell your products at competitive prices and increased profits, and also  lower your business risks.. Also, having an online store with price intelligence software enables you to enjoy increased profitability with less risk.

eCommerce Offers Better Marketing Opportunities

An ecommerce site is the best marketing tool any online seller can get. It helps in creating an authentic online presence for all other marketing options. With the increased use of the internet, there are many marketing tools available online such as Search Engine Optimization or SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, Pay Per Click or PPC ads, and Search Engine Marketing or SEM. 

For example, with good SEO, your online store will appear in the top results of SERPs. Also, social media networks will provide you with a platform to engage and build trust with your customers through reviews and ratings, as well as keep them informed with regular posts about your products and offers.

Several payment modes

Today, operating over the Internet is almost safer and more reliable than doing it in a physical store. From your home, without anyone spying on your secret number or your credit card. Of course, the eCommerce website must have an SSL certificate.

Ecommerce marketplaces permit multiple payment modes that include UPI, cash on delivery, card on delivery, net banking, EMIs on credit or debit card and pay-later credit facility. What this means for sellers is that they no longer have to lose a potential sale opportunity due to lack of available payment modes.

Faster response to buyer/market demands

One of the great importance of eCommerce that eCommerce retailers can enjoy is store timings are now 24/7/365 as the eCommerce stores are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, compared to the regular stores.

Ecommerce marketplaces offer you a streamlined logistics or delivery system. What this means is that the buyers order gets delivered efficiently. Product returns management is one more plus point that can be handled quickly – you either refund the payments or give a replacement. Speedily actions can even be applied when responding to market demands.  

Merchants can create deals, promotions quickly too. This attracts customers and increase chances of creating more sales. Ecommerce sellers may plan and apply coupons when they like – even customise such offers for their own store. In this way, retailers can increase their sales by boosting their number of orders.

The Top 5 Success Factors of eCommerce

The importance of eCommerce for your business can’t be denied, and therefore, check the top 6 factors in eCommerce success:

• High-quality products are important in order to keep your customers loyal to your business, make sure you procure your goods from trusted suppliers.

• The product pricing is important, you don’t want it to be too low for customers to doubt the quality of it or too high that they can’t afford to buy it.

• Make your store accessible on many devices such as mobile devices. You can do things to make your online store viewed better on mobile devices like optimizing your images and using responsive design.

• A first impression lasts forever, so make sure you have a good-looking website and make the best eye-catching designs if possible.

• Lastly, security is a top priority. It is one of the main concerns with eCommerce for consumers and business owners, as their personal and financial information is being handled online.

Therefore, make use of SSL in order to secure your customers’ online shopping experience. This will not only be necessary for the customer’s business account but to use of even more sensitive data such as credit card information with complete peace of mind.

SSL certificates can be either single-domain, low-cost or cheap wildcard SSL, multi-domain SSL, or code signing certificates. It totally depends upon the targeted domains and subdomains that require a particular type of SSL certificate.

Selling Online? Try This Now

• Try using some awesome product description content like image rich flyers, good resolution images, videos.

• Address all questions/ queries that a customer might have about your item details. Provide them more confidence about their purchase.

• Keep reviewing buyer feedback, reviews, on the order information or delivery process. This gives you a fair idea of how well your sales are and if your buyers are happy.

• Try to accept as many payment modes as possible as this offers your customers greater flexibility.

• Build your own sales strategy and customise it. This all depends on the item you’re selling, number of customers you have, price points etc.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it is pretty simple, easy, economical, and risk-free way to sell online with an ecommerce website or store. So long as you pick your products/services wisely, have an appropriate business plan, picked up the right partner to help you build your own store, There is a great potential of increased revenue and high ROI over the long term. 

6 Successful Marketing Strategies & 5 Examples from Top Brands

In trendy competitive enterprise surroundings, having only a amazing services or products isn't always enough. it's far simply as vital on the way to have the great marketing strategy. It need to reach and have interaction your audience.

Advertising and marketing is the artwork and for you to effectively reap your enterprise goals and live in advance of the opposition you need to learn some marketing strategies that you can adopt to convey your business to your ideal customers.

in this article I am going to share 5 examples of great marketing strategies. by means of studying these examples, we will gain insight into the key factors that make a marketing method successful, which include know your audience, creating a completely unique cost proposition, the usage of virtual systems, and making use of statistics-pushed analytics. And to provide you a better expertise we determined to select famous brands which used these advertising and marketing strategies which helped them to face out in their markets with high returns.

These manufacturers were able to create a sturdy brand identity. They have been capable of construct a loyal purchaser base by using always handing over fee. They have got finished all of this via their advertising and marketing campaigns. Organizations of all sizes can enhance their advertising techniques by way of adopting their know-how. you will be extra a success in modern day competitive market.

What's a marketing strategy? An advertising approach is a plan of action for corporations or corporations. They use it to sell their products or services to their goal market. It consists of a fixed of various techniques, strategies, and methods. they are all aimed toward attaining the company's advertising and marketing dreams and objectives. There are numerous crucial steps for creating manufacturers with brilliant advertising.

Step one is to decide the target audience. 

Corporations with the satisfactory marketing method need to necessarily target their area of interest of humans. It consists of defining:

• The demographic traits of the humans.
• The psychographic attributes of humans
• The behavioral aspects of human beings

Those people are maximum probably to buy the enterprise's services or products. This data should be precise and targeted. Then the business enterprise will better tailor its marketing efforts to attain its ideal patron.

The second one step is to broaden a approach for turning in the information. This includes:

Figuring out the important thing advantages and particular promoting factors of the products or services.Crafting a message that effectively communicates to the target audience.
The messaging approach must be constant across all advertising channels. most effective then will you create the high-quality logo marketing.

The third step is selecting the marketing channels you will use. they'll include:

• Traditional channels

• Print and tv marketing 

• Digital channels

• Electronic mail

• Social media, and 

• Search Engine Marketing.

Your preferred channels must be the simplest for attaining your audience. With them, you'll demonstrate the pleasant advertising strategy.

Eventually, the fourth step is to attain the exceptional advertising strategy. The advertising strategy have to consist of a plan to degree and compare its success. To try this, you want to establish specific metrics and song them over time. That way, you could decide if the method is attaining its goals. signs can also include:
Web page visitors.Sales.Social media engagement.Client feedback.In conclusion, a advertising strategy is essential to any successful enterprise. It offers a roadmap for achieving and tasty your target market. And, of path, it helps you with many different marketing goals and goals of the employer.

6 primary styles of advertising strategies 

Are we speak about brands' advertising techniques? then you definitely need to recognize that there are numerous special alternatives. some of the most not unusual types of marketing strategies include:

Content advertising and marketing

Content marketing and advertising is a strategy used to create and distribute content material to clients. companies use content material advertising to attract and preserve customers. And they also incentivize clients to take worthwhile moves.

Companies with the first-rate advertising techniques apprehend their audience surely. They regularly create interesting and nice content. They optimize content for search engines like google for greater fulfillment.

Commonly, manufacturers with awesome marketing create completely unique content. however, in doing so, they follow strict rules. Their content need to be:
significant.practical.useful to the audience.Best advertising strategies examples may be posts associated with a agency's place. Or it may be academic motion pictures on how to use the agency's services or products higher.

Powerful content material advertising takes benefit of customers' natural preference to percentage useful facts. it is all about organically selling a business proposition.

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is an effective way to draw capability clients. you can do that by way of creating and promoting content. It draws people in your enterprise website and different digital web sites.

This brand advertising and marketing focuses on getting noticed. but you don't try this through advertising on numerous resources. You offer content material that human beings discover treasured and relevant. you will increase relationships with the ones already interested in your enterprise. you could try this through the subsequent:

• Beneficial and tasty weblog posts

• Visuals that growth emblem focus

• Thought-provoking webinars

• Considerate electronic mail campaigns.

Whilst carried out successfully, inbound advertising can be useful. It allows you to turn out to be a depended on aid to your audience. you can turn capacity clients into paying customers. and you may provide them with a clear path from focus to buy.

Social Media advertising

Social media advertising and marketing is becoming an increasing number of popular. All because opportunities in this sector keep to amplify. It strategically attracts capacity customers on systems along with:

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Twitter

• YouTube

• LinkedIn

Manufacturers with awesome advertising and marketing on social media want to research purchaser hobbies. clients nowadays are regularly inspired by using suggestions from friends. consequently, businesses have to set up consider. They construct relationships through social media. also, the content material ought to be particular. This manner, customers can form their critiques via visual photos and text. All this may stick out from the competition.

The use of social media advertising calls for a strategic technique. It frequently leads to a combined impact on visibility and reaches. excellent content material additionally promotes interplay with different users. however the purpose should constantly be to create content material that resonates with your audience.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO has come to be an essential tool for agencies with the best marketing method. SEO approach entails the usage of content:

key-word-rich content material.Technical optimization of the website online.developing hyperlinks from authentic sites to improve ratings.Consistent seo ensures that internet customers will discover your business. they could locate you whilst searching for applicable subjects and services. Optimization campaigns have to be designed with the following:

• Attention of enterprise and present competition

• Relevance to natural and paid search

With skilled SEO specialists, you'll create the exceptional advertising and marketing strategies examples. An search engine optimization marketing campaign can offer a steady movement of latest purchaser acquisition.

Email advertising and marketing

Logo advertising and marketing additionally includes electronic mail marketing. It remains one of the most popular techniques for business increase. agencies use e-mail campaigns to:

• Accomplishing their audience

• Growing logo cognizance

• Stimulating sales

• Keeping relationships with present clients

This form of advertising and marketing strategy makes use of cautiously crafted messages. They maintain consistency in branding, layout, and frequency. research show that even simple emails will have a gap fee of up to twenty%. on the same time, relevant content and gives can significantly increase reaction quotes.

Nicely accomplished e-mail campaigns can offer precious insights into a employer's fine advertising and marketing approach. businesses can use them to tailor their services better. That way, they could maximize patron engagement.

Paid Media marketing

Paid media marketing is one of the predominant kinds of advertising and marketing techniques. This sort of marketing makes use of a paid insertion system. With it, the marketer can pay to region commercials in media inclusive of:

• TV advertisements

• Billboards

• Radio classified ads

It's far an powerful manner for brands to do excellent advertising. It allows spread the phrase approximately the emblem. And it also allows growth customer engagement and sales.

Paid media advertising and marketing permits marketers to goal specific audiences. you can try this with specially designed messages. Paid media advertising and marketing is measurable and trackable. therefore, it also presents insight into client behavior. That way, you can modify your techniques as a consequence.

Take inspiration From The manufacturers With The satisfactory advertising strategies

Of course, right here are some wellknown ideas from a organization with the first-rate advertising and marketing approach:

Consistency. a hit brands always speak their message throughout all platforms. From advertising to social media posts, they may be regular in the entirety.

Emotional connection. manufacturers create an emotional reference to their clients. they've a higher danger of success. they have got an expertise of the feelings and values of their target market. successful manufacturers can then create messages that resonate with their target market.

Authenticity. brands are transparent about their values, dreams, and undertaking. it is how successful manufacturers can earn the accept as true with and loyalty in their customers. manufacturers that follow their values have a higher risk of connecting with customers.

Innovation. successful manufacturers are continuously innovating. They look for new approaches to draw clients.

client-centricity. manufacturers want to consciousness at the wishes and preferences of their clients. brand advertising creates messages and merchandise. all of them resonate with the target market due to the fact they understand the pain points.

Spotify: provide a different user experience

Spotify is a tune streaming platform. It has disrupted the song industry with the aid of providing a unique person enjoy. Spotify's fine marketing strategy makes a speciality of providing a customized consumer experience. It adjusts to man or woman users. it's far all shaped with the aid of the listening habits of the consumer. Spotify uses facts to understand:

• Alternatives

• Behaviors

• Users' behavior

They then provide customized content and recommendations. Spotify analyzes customers' listening habits. it may then endorse new songs and artists to users. it's miles how they invent a completely unique person enjoy. It allows users to live related and are available lower back again and again.

Spotify is a brand with terrific advertising. It additionally uses social media to promote its emblem. It creates curated playlists and stocks them on social media. This consumer-generated content allows promote the emblem. And, of path, it will increase engagement.

Spotify's advertising method has been extraordinarily a hit. The employer has grown swiftly seeing that its launch in 2008. As of 2021, Spotify has over 356 million month-to-month lively users. It makes it the sector's largest tune streaming platform.

Apple: attention at the user experience

Apple is thought for its attention on user revel in. it's far what lies on the coronary heart of its advertising approach. Apple's high-quality marketing strategies awareness on examples making the experience less complicated. Its products are designed to make users' lives less complicated and extra enjoyable. Apple achieves this thru a mixture of:

• Stylish layout

• Intuitive interfaces

• progressive features

The enterprise invests heavily in research and improvement. So they invent merchandise which are clean to apply. and they provide a seamless consumer enjoy.

Apple's pleasant advertising and marketing method additionally focuses on creating a network around its merchandise. The corporation's marketing campaigns feature real humans. those are the individuals who use the products of their day by day lives. It creates an emotional connection among the brand and its clients.

Apple's marketing approach has tested to be extraordinarily successful. The corporation has grow to be one of the maximum precious manufacturers inside the international. As of 2023, the Apple emblem had a greater than $2.389 trillion valuation. This makes it the most precious brand in the international.

Nike: Emotional Branding

any other employer with the nice marketing strategy is Nike. Nike's marketing approach is predicated on emotional branding. It aims to create a robust emotional connection between the emblem and the customers. Nike's advertising and marketing campaigns characteristic athletes and sports activities figures. They emphasize the concept that the logo is not simply products. it's far a way of existence!

Nike's marketing message focuses on "simply do it." It encourages people to head above and past and reap their dreams. This message has resonated with clients all around the international. Now Nike is one of the most a success sports activities brands in history.

Nike uses social media to sell its logo. as an instance, it could be movies of athletes overcoming demanding situations. The cause of it's miles to inspire and motivate purchasers. It creates the best marketing method.

Nike's marketing approach has been extremely a success. The agency has emerge as one of the international's most recognizable and treasured manufacturers. As of 2023, the Nike brand stands at $187.fifty two billion. This makes it one of the maximum precious sports manufacturers inside the world.

Taco Bell: understand Your target market

another first-rate marketing strategy example is Taco Bell. it's miles a quick-food eating place chain. it has been able to reap extraordinary achievement by means of knowledge its target audience. And also by means of creating a advertising and marketing strategy that specializes in its target audience. Taco Bell's audience is millennials. you could know them because they love fast meals and social media.

Taco Bell's marketing approach makes a speciality of engaging with audiences through social media. The agency makes use of social media to sell its products. they devise a logo personality that resonates with the audience.

Taco Bell also creates brand advertising through particular and innovative products. The agency has experimented with new menu gadgets. The Doritos Locos taco, as an example, has been a excellent achievement with its target market.

Taco Bell's advertising method proved to be extremely a success. The employer has grow to be one of the most famous fast-meals chains inside the world. As of 2023, Taco Bell has more than 7,000 restaurants in more than 30 countries.

Coca-Cola: logo Consistency

Coca-Cola is a global beverage brand. It has completed wonderful success through brand consistency over many many years. Coca-Cola's advertising strategy focuses on growing a robust brand identification. consumers around the sector immediately apprehend it.

Manufacturers with extraordinary marketing are genuinely about Coca-Cola. Their marketing message makes a speciality of happiness and sharing. it's far pondered within the brand's advertising and marketing campaigns and messages. The corporation uses emotional appeals. it's far how they invent a sturdy connection among the logo and purchasers. They emphasize the idea that Coca-Cola isn't always only a drink. it's miles a symbol of happiness and friendship.

Coca-Cola's marketing method additionally has a focus on logo consistency. It manner that the business enterprise continues a steady emblem image. This consistency enables construct trust and familiarity with consumers. It will increase the probability that they will choose Coca-Cola over competition.

Advertising Coca-Cola manufacturers have been extraordinarily a hit. The organisation has turn out to be one of the international's maximum recognizable and valuable brands. As of 2023, the Coca-Cola logo is valued at $257.17 Billion. This makes it one of the most precious beverage brands inside the global.

Those are only some examples of the corporation with the satisfactory marketing strategy. a success advertising strategies require time and willpower.

10 Best Sales Strategies to Increase Sales Fast | Most Effective for Success

A sales strategy is defined as a documented plan for positioning and selling your product or service to qualified buyers in a way that differentiates your solution from your competitors. A sales strategy is also a set of decisions, actions, and goals that inform how your sales team positions the organization and its products to close new customers. 

Sales strategies are meant to provide clear objectives and guidance to your sales organization. They typically include key information like growth goals, KPIs, buyer personas, sales processes, team structure, competitive analysis, product positioning, and specific selling methodologies.

Most of these guidelines are helpful for communicating goals and keeping your sales reps on the same page. Where most sales strategies fall short, however, is that they’re too focused on the internal workings of your organization. The actual skills needed to have winning conversations with buyers—along with the messages reps need to be successful—are merely an afterthought.

When you boil it down, the goal of every sales strategy is to make sure your salespeople hit their quota, right? And it’s the messaging element—what salespeople say, do, and write in order to create perceived value—that wins or loses the deal.

To truly be effective, your organization’s sales strategy needs to focus on customer conversations. These skillfully delivered conversations are what creates a distinctive purchase experience, demonstrates value for your buyers, and separates your company from the competition.

How do you create the best and most effective sales strategy? You can’t just hope someone will stumble upon your product and purchase it, though. But the only way a business succeeds is by earning customers and growing sales from that service, product, or information.

The problem is, most sales strategies are too internally focused. They succeed in documenting internal procedures but lose sight of the messages and skills your reps need to communicate value to your prospects and customers.

Consider the following insights when creating a sales strategy:

• Research from SiriusDecisions shows that the number-one inhibitor to sales achieving quota is an “inability to communicate a value message.”

• In corresponding research in which SiriusDecisions asked executive customers about the quality of interactions with salespeople, only 10 percent said sales calls provide enough value to warrant the time they spent on them.

• A Forrester Research study revealed that only 15 percent of sales calls add enough value, according to executives surveyed.

• The Forrester study also showed that just seven percent of surveyed executives say they would probably schedule a follow-up.

In this guide, we'll dig into some sales strategies and initiatives that can help you generate more leads and close more deals. If you can improve every step of your sales process by even a little, you can increase sales by a lot.

1. Clearly Define Your Customer

First, you need to know who you’re targeting. Who is the person who would most likely buy your product and buy it immediately?

Create an avatar of that customer. Ask yourself specific questions about them:How old are they?

• Are they male or female?
• Do they have children?
• How much money do they make?
• What are they interested in?
• What are their priorities?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you create more accurate messaging around your product and target the right audience in your marketing efforts.

Identify The Problem You’re Trying To Solve

When you’re sure you have a clear understanding of your ideal customer, their pain points, and their desires, then you can understand how you can help. This is commonly referred to as consultative selling, where you consult with the customer and find out what they need.

What problem does your product or service solve? How does it address the pain point of your customer?

If you have identified your customer correctly, and know how your product helps solve their problem, they’ll buy it from you. If, however, the customer you have defined doesn’t have this problem, they won’t buy your product.

All great success and all great fortunes come from serving people with what they want and are willing to pay for better than someone else. By adopting a “help” rather than “sell” mindset, you can understand how to serve people better and provide incredible customer service.

Try The 100-Calls Method

If fear of rejection is what’s keeping you from starting sales conversations, I have an exercise that will help you gain more confidence and generate more leads called the 100-call method. Reach out to 100 customers as fast as possible, either by phone call or personalized email.

The goal is to practice talking to people, not necessarily to see results — though that may happen!

When you do this, you’ll not only become fearless of picking up the phone but you’ll also learn how people respond to your pitch and become a better salesperson because of it. Just be sure not to sacrifice the quality of the call just to check it off your list.

You never know who could turn into a paying customer.

 
Utilize Ads

Sometimes it makes sense to spend money in order to make money, but it doesn’t have to take a lot. With the right ad, even a small budget can be effective and increase leads. You just have to know who your audience is, where you want to reach them, and for how long. Consider Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads, depending on where your customer is at.

When utilizing ads as part of your strategy to increase sales, it’s a good idea to run tests. Ad tests will help you learn the process of creating ads, help you better understand your audience, and ensure your budget is put to good use.

2. Speak to the customer deciding journey, not your sales process

A sales process is a set of repeatable steps that a salesperson uses to lead a prospect to purchase. Typically, the sales process involves several steps like prospecting, qualifying, discovering needs, negotiating, and closing. This would be an ideal checklist to follow if all your buyers were robots being taken through an assembly line. But that’s just not the reality.

Selling today isn’t a predictable progression that you’ve decided is how your prospects and customers should buy. What you’re really up against today is a Customer Deciding Journey—a series of key questions your buyers are asking as they look to address specific business goals.

Instead of being “program-centric” with a one-size-fits-all sales strategy, you need to be problem-centric, addressing the specific needs of your buyers as they arise with situationally relevant messages, content, and the skills to deliver them.

3. Implement a free trial.

Offering a free trial or freemium version of your product is a highly effective way to convert prospects. HubSpot’s sales strategy report found that free trials were 76% effective followed by a freemium option with 69% effective in turning prospects into paying customers.

Free trials give potential customers the opportunity to test your product out before committing. You can place restrictions on your free version like limited features or usage caps. In addition to providing prospects a risk-free chance to try your product, free trials also help build brand loyalty and expand your customer base. Prospects that have a positive experience using the free version will be more likely to convert to the paid version.

4. Increase Sales By Presenting The Product Effectively

Presenting your product effectively will help you increase sales by increasing conversion rates, the rate at which you convert leads into paying customers.

Your conversion rate is the measure of the effectiveness of your sales efforts. In order to help drive conversion rates, you need to work on developing your pitch in a clear, effective way. Here’s how to do that.

 
Develop Your Competitive Advantage

The odds are good that you’re not the only one selling your specific product or service. So it’s critical to be able to explain the benefits or results your customers will receive from purchasing your product or service that they will not get when purchasing the product or service of your competitor.

In order to develop your competitive advantage, you need to know what else is out there.

What are your competitors’ claims? What are the benefits they’re selling? How is what you’re offering different?

You should be able to express why people should choose your product or service over others on the market if you want to be growing sales.

 
Pick The Right Price

The price you set for your product or service is important. Not only does it affect your profits, but it also affects the perceived value of what you’re offering.

Before you determine it, you need to fully understand the costs associated with producing the product and get a feel for what your ideal customer would be willing to pay for it. You also need to know what your competitors are charging for similar products or services.

One of the best sales strategies is to beat your competitor’s price, however, you also have to make money. If you can make your product seem superior to your competitors, you may be able to charge a higher price. Keep this in mind and use it to help you set the perfect price.

 
Make Sure Your Messaging Is Clear

When it comes to learning how to market a product or service, clarity is critical. Pick one to two key benefits that your product offers and state them clearly in all the content that is part of your sales and marketing strategy. This will ensure the story you’re telling about your product is aligned across all of your marketing channels and your customers know exactly what it is you’re selling.

 
Market Content On Multiple Channels

As part of your ongoing strategy to increase sales, you should be continually seeking creative ways to improve your advertising and promotional efforts to reach new customers.

There are so many mediums out there including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Youtube, email, blogs, podcasts — even traditional print materials such as magazines and newspapers — that can get your message and product out to the right audience.

5. Provide a personalized, clear end result.

When customers come to your business, they aren’t necessarily looking for a product or service, they’re looking for their desired end result. These customers want to purchase a means to improve their own operation, or simply improve their strategies with the help of your offering.

After you explain your product or service offering, you have to personalize the benefits to each client in a way that’s valuable to them. If you’re selling customer service software to a small business that has no experience with one, it’s your job to educate them on its use in the setting of a small business, not to manage hundreds of employees in larger ones. By doing so they will have an easier time seeing how they can use it and spend less time debating what they’ll use it for.

By painting a clear picture of the end result, your customer will be able to see the value of the purchase and feel more inclined to accept the offer.

6. Be willing to adapt your offering.

In sales conversations, you should expect to come across clients with unique demands. It’s only natural when working with companies of different structures and needs.

Instead of saying “you won’t” or “you can’t” — make sure your sales strategy is adaptable to accommodate the customer’s desire.

7. Tailor your sales strategy for customer expansion

Most sales and marketing teams spend the majority of their budgets and effort on customer acquisition and demand generation. Meanwhile, the majority of your annual revenue likely comes from your existing customers, through renewals and upsells.

Nearly half of the companies surveyed by Corporate Visions invest less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets in customer retention and expansion. Clearly, your customers are highly underrated yet powerful growth engines within your company. And you shouldn’t overlook the potential of this untapped revenue stream.

The challenge is, retention and expansion require a distinct messaging and customer conversation approach. Existing customers are in a different position than your prospects—one that carries a unique buying psychology.

While customer acquisition is all about challenging the status quo to highlight the benefits of switching to your solution, customer retention and expansion require you to reinforce your position as their status quo. In fact, research shows that using a provocative, challenging message when you’re trying to renew or expand business with your customers will increase the likelihood that they’ll shop around by at least 10-16 percent.

8. Increase Sales By Investing In Yourself

Improving your ability to sell and convert interested prospects into paying customers is one of the most important things you can do to boost sales. There are many parts of the selling process and improving in even one of them can have a dramatic impact on your results.

Attend Sales Trainings

Some people are naturally good at selling; they can easily connect with a customer, find common ground, understand their desires, and persuade them to purchase their product. These skills don’t come easily to everyone, though.

In fact, the majority of salespeople have to learn, practice, and hone these skills over time to become successful. Even if you’ve worked hard to become the salesperson you are today, you’re never done learning.

Sales training can open your mind to new opportunities others have seen success with, allow you a chance to network with other creative salespeople, and even generate new leads or partnerships.

Learn How To Negotiate

At some point in your sales journey, you’re going to run into someone who wants a lower price or additional benefit, or a situation where you’ll have to compromise.

Learning how to negotiate can not only help you improve your relationship with your customers but can also help you drive more sales. The best negotiators look out for their customer’s best interests and find a solution that works for both parties.

 
Develop A Prospecting Strategy

The best salespeople have a plan to develop the highest quality and quantity of prospects that can and will buy within a reasonable period of time.

Prospecting is an essential part of successful sales strategies and something you need to prioritize if you want to increase sales.

If your sales strategy is lacking this critical component, or your prospecting tactics are falling short, I’ve created an essential prospecting checklist that will help you focus your attention on the prospects that will have the maximum return.

 
9. Enable ongoing situational training

Most training and learning efforts are based on a collection of competencies, supported by a curriculum and catalog that gets scheduled on calendar-based interest and availability. But what does that have to do with helping the company’s business strategy, responding to shifting market demands, and intervening to fix emergent needs when they arise?

To be as effective and efficient as you need to be today, your sales training has to rise to a new level of flexibility, customization, and situational relevance. Using a flexible, on-demand training model enables you to deploy it at a moment’s notice to solve problems as they occur, and tackle initiatives as they arise. Training your sales team for situational agility equips them with the messaging and skills they need relative to the customer conversations they’re having.

10. Increase Sales By Connecting With Your Customers

Establishing trust with your customers is key to ultimately persuading them to purchase what you’re selling. Even in an increasingly virtual world, there are many ways to connect with your customers, establish trust, and gain influence.

Here are three ways to improve sales by connecting with your customers.

Utilize Social Media

Social media is a free space where you can connect with your customers daily. If your customer is using social media, you need to be using social media. This will keep you top of mind when they consider what they want or need to buy.

As you use social media posts, such as photos, videos, and captions, be sure to provide valuable information; avoid talking “at” your customers and instead try to teach them or explain something to them that is in line with what your product or service is all about.

You can also use social media as a space to show proof that your product or service actually works, such as before and after stats, photos, or testimonials as well as videos of the product or service at work.

Don’t forget to respond to comments and answer questions. This is an amazing way to help sell to new leads.

Remember to be friendly and conversational as you approach your customers and potential customers in this space. If you use it correctly, you can establish trust and increase your leads.

Promote “Insider Information”

Everyone loves a good deal, and when they feel like they have the inside scoop on an upcoming sale, or receive early access, your customers will develop greater trust in and loyalty to your business. They may even buy more because of it.

This doesn’t only go for sales and special offers. Keep current and repeat customers in the loop with upcoming launches and business news too, and soon, they’ll develop a vested interest in the business.

Maintain Relationships

“Once a customer, always a customer” — this should be your motto if you want to learn how to increase sales in business.

Once a customer has purchased your product, it should not be the end of your interaction with them.

Focus on maintaining a strong relationship with your customer by making them feel valued so that they stick around, and get others to become customers as well. A forever customer will do more for your business than 10 one-time customers.

 
Implement A Referral Program

Everyone wants to feel appreciated, and a great way to make your customers feel valued is to reward them for referring their friends and family members.

Use future discounts, rewards points, freebies, special access, etc. to incentivize current customers to hold the flag for you.

Not only will this help maintain your relationship with your customers but it will also help you gain new leads who are more likely to purchase because they received a direct referral, all without any additional effort on your part.

Maintain a high-quality pipeline by eliminating unqualified leads.

Shopify uses the 4/5 Threshold to filter out unqualified leads, thereby allowing its sales reps to focus on selling to leads who have a higher probability of becoming customers.

When evaluating whether a lead is qualified, a rep must have a concrete answer to four of the following five variables:

Pain: Is the prospective customer experiencing a prominent business issue or challenge that requires them to make a change?

Power: Is the prospective customer directly involved with the decision-making process? If not, who is?

Money: Does our offering fall within their budget constraints?

Process: What's their buying process?

Timeline: What stage are they in the buyer’s journey? Will they purchase within a reasonable time frame?

With these  sales strategies, you will be well on your way to growing sales and increasing profits. Let me know what you think and what your best sales strategy is in the comments below. 

10 Simple but Effective Marketing Strategies to Increase Sales Fast

Why is increasing sales important

Besides earning greater profits, an increase in sales builds customer loyalty, spreads brand awareness, and brings repeat business. thus bring about customers chasing your business. Plus, you get to get new buyers who will feel more confident about purchasing from a business with a good number of sales and a satisfied customer base.

‘Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.’
Jeff Bezos, the Founder of Amazon said that to emphasize the importance of branding.

Build a solid sales strategy

A sales strategy acts as a roadmap for securing reliable, long-term revenue through retaining existing customers and attracting leads. Your sales strategy must focus on their needs and highlight distinct goals, budgets, and time frames for your campaigns.

When creating a sales strategy to increase sales, keep the five Ps in mind:

• Product. Analyze your product and identify what it does for your target buyer persona, how it differs from the competition, and how you can improve it. 

• Price. The price you offer plays a significant role when it comes to enticing an audience. Evaluate the market and adjust your pricing to stay competitive. 

• Place. Finding the right place to sell your product is crucial. Do some research about where your target audience is most likely to shop. This is also how you determine the best distribution channels to reach them.

• Promotion. Having a great product is only valuable if people know it exists. Choosing the correct promotion medium results in effective word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals and advertising about your business.

• People. This element is all about your customers and sales reps. Researching your audience's needs is crucial, but investing in the right people is equally important for success.

No matter what you do, create value for your customers. There are some ways to offer them something valuable through digital marketing. You’ve probably heard about modern marketing trends such as Content Marketing and Inbound Marketing. These stand for value!

Define Your Customers & Identify The Right Search Criteria

Get to know your customers better by asking for their:

• age
• interests
• education level
• location
• income level etc.

If you ask these specific questions, you can cater to them properly and prevent the probability of your services going to waste. Target your audience, believe us, it’s essential.

Example image of audience targeting.

If you’ve already had a customer base, you may simply ask what their interests are and learn about their intentions. This will allow you to build a powerful structure for your digital marketing campaigns and get better results in terms of sales conversions.

You can also use Facebook Ads to find the data you need and target audiences with similar interests. Try the Facebook Ads Manager to explore much more about your target audience.

Find the right recipient

Before getting down to a sales pitch, put together a list of your prospects. Then, find the right contacts.
A lot of newbies repeat the same mistake. They write to the only company email they can find on the internet. As a result, their sales pitches end up in spam and trash folders. The recipient needs to know who you are trying to reach out to, whether it’s a product manager, an HR representative, or the company's CEO.

A personalized and well-written professional email is far more likely to get a response than sending your proposal to mass email addresses like info@email.com. So how does anybody find the right contact?

First, define the job title of the person responsible for implementing or purchasing what you're offering. Second, search for their work email address. Email-finding extensions will help you discover the correct email through the company's website.

Once you've found the right person to contact, don't limit yourself to emails only. LinkedIn Sales Navigator has proved to be an excellent tool for business negotiations. You can also use buyer intent data providers (ahem – like G2!) to identify exactly why prospects are interacting with your brand and use that data to market to them.

Lastly, try contacting lower-level employees. It’s a known fact that salespeople are far more responsive than upper management.

Perfect your sales pitch

The elevator pitch tactics work for online communication as well. The only difference is that in the case of emails, three minutes in the elevator turns into three seconds of reading the email's subject line.

You may possess the mental dexterity to compose a killer sales pitch, but writing skills aren't enough to get a response from your recipient. These seven simple rules will help you boost both the email open rates and response rates:

Include the recipient's name in the subject of your email.

Keep the subject of your email short, clear, and catchy.

Use simple language and bullet points to show the value of your product for specific customers.

Don't oversell. Make your emails concise.

Follow email etiquette. Avoid overusing exclamation points and uppercase text.

End your email with a question that requires more than a simple yes or no.

Set up video calls as another way to build trust.

And last but not least: follow-ups are great until they turn into spam.

 
Understand the buyer journey stages

It all starts with understanding your customers. If you want to get more customers to finalize their purchase, it's essential to know a buyer journey, which includes:

• Triggering the buying process by identifying customers’ needs and wants. Two types of triggers play a role here: internal triggers from basic needs (hunger) and external triggers (smell of baked goods) that can influence purchase decisions.

• Evaluating solutions by researching available options to fulfill their needs. A lot of customers stick to the brands they already know, but others might be more open to trying something different and new.

• Comparing the alternatives by focusing on the cost and benefits of the products. Present your best features to ensure prospects pick you over the competition.

• Making the purchase decision after personal evaluation. This is the stage where you want to make the buying process super easy to encourage the final purchase. Offer multiple payment modes and an easy checkout process to prevent losing sales.

• Evaluating post-purchase by comparing the product to their expectations. Buyers might also seek support through queries, feedback, or refunds.

Segment Your Email Campaigns

You should segment your email campaigns to customize your emails for your users.

According to a survey done by MailChimp:

• Segmented emails will be opened 14.31% more frequently
• They will have a 100.95% higher click-through rate
• They offer a nearly 4% decrease in abuse reports.

You may create some lists based on location, business, experience etc. By doing that, you’ll prevent inaccurate targeting and after a while, you’ll see actual results.

Businesses use audience builders to collect data and categorize people based on several factors. Then, the companies target their well-designed marketing campaigns to the most interested groups. Previous actions, customer preferences, and demographics are some elements to consider when forming a group.

Tools like audience builders help businesses get to know their customers and provide insight into their actions. With this gathered data, you can create impressive lists of audiences and increase sales by building a personalized experience for your clients. 

For instance, you could build a list that shows which users decided not to make a purchase and abandoned their carts after visiting the site. That data can be used to re-target these customers with a campaign carefully designed to re-engage them and encourage them to return to your checkout page to complete their purchase.

56% of sales professionals obtain high-quality leads from existing customer referrals.
Source: HubSpot

Create an upselling strategy

A well-planned upselling strategy significantly lowers the cost of online marketing and increases the likelihood of customers purchasing from you. Upselling helps you make the most of each sale. You look at what fulfills the customer's needs and build on loyalty. The seller and the buyer both get value from these kinds of purchases. 

Of course, making the experience seamless is critical. For instance, offer a checkout experience without the need to enter payment details again. You can also create a personalized upsell based on the product or customer purchase history.

Even if your upsell is irresistible, making the purchase experience easy for a customer is equally crucial. Many shopping carts witness massive drop-off rates of abandonment due to complicated payment gateways and checkout processes. 

A great example of an upselling strategy is Amazon. The website always suggests more items to add to your cart based on your previous purchases, browsing history, or current cart items. And if the customer decides to buy an item, all it takes is a single click, making it instant and easy.

Measure Your Content

After creating the best content for your target audience, you should track your data to understand the most popular content on your website. It’s an effective way to see what people are looking for on your website.

Furthermore, you can see the amount of time people spent on a particular page of your website. These results will be helpful for your future posts and will increase sales.

In this case, we highly recommend that you use Google Analytics to track your data and get insights on how to grow your business.

Create a customer loyalty program

When you’ve put enough effort into attracting customers to your business, how do you keep them engaged and interested? A customer loyalty program!

It costs a lot less to sell to existing customers than to acquire new ones, which is why brands choose to invest in loyalty and rewards programs. Loyalty programs are a great way to keep your ideal customer engaged and reward their commitment to your brand with discounts, free products, and insider perks. 

Your customer segment is far more likely to spend on your product when they receive incentives for their purchases. It also generates word-of-mouth referrals, social media shares, and repetitive purchases. 

Use Keyword Research For Content Ideas

You probably know that SEO rules have changed. Google announced that content which consists of keywords in a misguided attempt harm rankings.

Example image of keyword research for SEO.

To use it to your advantage, you should pay attention to keyword research with respect to content, in a smarter manner. To do so properly, you should pay attention to your customers' interests and what they’re looking for.

If you identify what popular terms resonate with your target audience, you can create content that interests them. Also, by using high volume keywords you will improve traffic to your website.

Use PPC To Test Your Keywords

Pay Per Click diagram.

If you know how to use PPC, it’s a great resource for organic campaigns. You can use your paid marketing efforts to test selected keywords.

You may create landing pages and ad copies for your intended keywords and see how many customers click on your ad.

It’s a great method to measure those keywords' impact on your targeted audience. After looking at traffic rates, you can create organic campaigns consisting of those high volume keywords to boost your website's traffic!

To increase sales, remarketing is essential. You can run a remarketing campaign for an abandoned cart. You may remarket with a video on Youtube or Facebook. To track them, you should connect an account to an AdWords account. You may develop some email marketing strategies to reach them again such as using better abandoned cart email subject lines. It’s all up to you.

Business owners and retailers share the dream of witnessing a sharp increase in sales when they tweak their strategies. It won’t happen overnight, you need to start somewhere. 

6 Honest Mistakes That Can Get You Fired From Your Job

Honest mistakes usually have their own share of hard-hitting consequences. There are so many things that can get good, hard-working people fired. Honest mistakes often carry hard-hitting consequences. 

A recent study from the ePolicy Institute surveyed more than 300 companies and found that a third of them have fired employees for the misuse of company technology. You might be the most hardworking employee but a small honest mistake can get you dismissed from your job.

Companies are so worried about employee abuse of technology that 45% of those surveyed admitted that they track employee technology use (some all the way down to the keystroke), yet only two US states require employers to notify employees when they’re monitoring them.

When it comes to reasons for getting fired, digital faux pas steal the spotlight. Every week, it seems, we read about someone getting fired for something they posted on social media.

“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” -B.F. SkinnerBut digital media is far from the only way that people slip up and lose their jobs. People get fired all the time for seemingly innocent mistakes. While we snicker behind our coffee cups at the more egregious examples, there are still plenty of other ways to get fired that may surprise you.

Over-promising and under-delivering. You made an implied promise when you accepted your job. You implicitly promised that you were capable of fulfilling all of the job’s responsibilities. Accepting a job when you know you’re not qualified catches up with you. Even when you are qualified, telling your boss you’re making great progress when you aren’t or committing to a deadline you know you can’t meet makes you look bad. Don’t be surprised if you get fired for failing to do everything you said you could do.

Promising too much but delivering too little

While you accepted that job you interviewed for, you promised to achieve the specific job requirements and expectations to the fullest.

Therefore, if you promise your boss you'll deliver a certain task within a certain period of time then you fail to do so, it will not only make you look incapable but also will make your employer have second thoughts about hiring you.

This is why taking up jobs that do not fit with your skill set should be avoided at all costs, because it will catch up with you in the long run. While job-hunting, try finding jobs that you qualify for.

Negativity. You were hired to make your boss’s and your team’s jobs easier, not harder. People who constantly spread negativity through their department, complain about others, and whine that the work’s too hard or isn’t part of their job description complicate things for everyone else. Those who make their boss’s life harder are usually the first ones to go. Having to tiptoe around you so as not to dislodge that massive chip on your shoulder isn’t something he or she is likely to be willing to do for very long.

Solicitation. Whether you’re sending out e-mails inviting coworkers to your party or hanging up an order form for your child’s school fundraiser, you could be violating company policy. Don’t assume that you’re in the clear just because other people are doing it—this type of policy violation is what managers hang their hats on when they’re unhappy with an employee’s performance.

A lack of emotional intelligence. Everyone knows that you can get fired for being unable or unwilling to play nicely with others, but what trips up a lot of people is having a poorly developed poker face. If everyone can tell when you’re bored or irritated or that you think something a colleague is saying is stupid, this will catch up with you. Emotional outbursts, belittling others, shutting co-workers down when they speak, and just generally being a jerk are other ways a lack of emotional intelligence will leave you looking for work.

Too Many Jokes

Jokes are great ice breakers. They’re funny. They score you points at parties. But they don’t belong at work. Most of the good ones have an off-color or racy element—which has no place on the job. So many others can have bigoted overtones and could deeply offend people you respect (and get you fired).

And don’t make comments you think are funny that might be misconstrued as sexual harassment either; even if the person you said it to understands the context and isn’t offended, someone else might overhear and turn you in.
Abusing Expense Accounts

Padding your expense account is basically stealing from your company. The more blatant the theft, the more likely you’ll get caught.

If you really need to make more, earn it. Ask for a raise. Don’t throw in a bunch of bogus expenses hoping for a payout and that no one will notice. Someone always will. And you’ll get fired.

Misusing company supplies or resources. Many people don't think twice about taking a pack of printer paper home when they’ve run out or using the company’s FedEx account to mail a last-minute holiday gift. However, in the eyes of your employer, this is stealing. Abusing company resources is a serious offense, even if the monetary value of the item doesn’t add up to much. Catching you in the act can also be a good excuse if your boss is looking to fire you. It’s a lot easier to document and justify firing someone for stealing than it is to fire them because they are just okay at their job.

Speaking on behalf of the company. This isn’t just about sending out an unauthorized press release or venting on the company Twitter account, because most people already realize that these types of things will get them fired. I’m talking about answering a question when a reporter sticks a microphone in your face or identifying yourself as an employee of the company when sharing your personal opinions online. This creates the perception that you’re speaking as a representative of the company, even when you aren’t trying to, and that’s definitely something that can get you fired.

Spreading negativity

Your employer hired you to make his or her job easier, not the other way round.

So, creating unwanted drama by spreading negative energy at work can get you out of the door really quick. If you want to keep your job, quit gossip, talking ill about your fellow workmates, complaining about the job or any form of negative stunt.

Bringing It All Together. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that they can only be fired for getting caught making one huge misstep, such as sexually harassing a colleague or bad-mouthing the boss. The reality is that it’s usually not that dramatic.

What’s the oddest or smallest thing that you’ve seen someone fired for? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

10 key job skills graduate recruiters look out for

There are steps you can take that, in a short time, will improve your employability and provide you with skills that will remain valuable throughout your professional career/life. Many people study hard and even work for free or cheaply in order to get a degree and gain experience that they believe will put them in a great position to ensure their dream job, which will fund their lifestyle.

Experts say many of such people find out the hard way that even where there is less competitive for jobs ideally; it takes more than a degree or certificate and even work’s experience to land them into a great job. Below we will discuss some of the basic skills you need to have or possess to ensure you get employed even a year before your graduation.

Volunteer: Experts say that volunteering yourself with a non-profit organization in your own town can help develop employability skills. Because non-profit organizations count on their volunteers to show up and help when they say they will, you will develop the work world ethic of showing up when you are supposed to. According to them, volunteering can also help you develop teamwork skills as well as the ability to work independently of your own. You may be ask to head a small team to help non-profit. You could also create your own way to volunteer in your community, such as holding a benefit dinner for a friend in need of help with medical bill or tuition fees. In this regard, you will learn a project planning and coordination as well as leadership skills as you manage a group of other volunteer.

Internship: Internships expose you to a career or industry in which you may be interested. You also develop interpersonal relationship with other co-workers or interpersonal skills as you work closely with both a supervision and other co-workers on a regular basis. If you will be sick or to take some days off from interning, you are responsible for calling in to your supervisor, just as if you were working a regular job. You will also likely to learn new technology or software skills in addition to other job-related skills you can take with you to any position.

Extracurricular activities: Perform extracurricular activities related to the skills you want to develop. For instance, if you need to develop your public speaking skills, join the debate club at school. If you need to develop your writing skills, take a creative writing course, write for the school newspaper or serve as secretary of an organization where you will be responsible for taking meeting notes.

Adaptability to new technology: We live in a tech-savvy world were your ability to use modern gadgets or equipment has a huge impact on your productivity and even visibility. Companies are now recruiting people through the social media, and by not being able to utilise social networking or even on these platform, you are diminishing your chances of being seen.

Flexibility: To stay competitive and to survive, many organizations regularly restructure or make changes. So for you not to left behind you have to stay creative and come up with idea that will stand the taste of time. When this happens, employees who are resistant to change or those incapable of adapting new ideas are in great danger of being fired. This is because they will be less productive and thereby become obstacles to the achievement of the company’s goal.

Factor such as the ability to carry out research to know and understand the organization you intend to work. You intend to work with or work for well as the ability to present your achievement through the years is important if you want to make yourself employable.

Presentation: Presentation centre on the ability to demonstrate employability assets and present them to the market in an accessible way. This, it explains covers such things as how the CV is presented, academic and vocational qualifications, references and testimonies, interview technique and work experience or track record.

Contextual of personal circumstance and the labour market: This refers to the individual’s personal and external circumstances and the inter-relationship between the two.

‘’Personal circumstances caring responsibilities, disabilities, and household status can all affect the ability to seek different opportunities and will vary during an individual’s life cycle; while external factors such as macro-economic demand and the pattern and level of job openings in their labour market, be it local or national; labour market regulation and benefit rules; and employer recruitment and selection of behaviour.’’ The ability to realise or actualise employability assets is said to depend on this.

Understand this, will go a long way in making you employable and thereby land you that your dream job, which will put you in a good position to push for financial freedom and independence.

Thank you for reading our post, feel free to share your opinion with us by using the comment button below.

Looking forward to see you in our next episode of Ways To Raise Prices Without Losing Customers