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The Importance of Awarding Employees

by Melvin · Feb 16, 2019

This is a guest post by Amanda Green.

How do you motivate your employees to be more productive? In every organization, there are employees who will do everything to ensure that work is done. They will arrive early and stay long after everyone has left. These are the workers who want to see the company grow even when they do not benefit directly. If you want to get the best out of such people, you have to find a way to award them. You need to show them that you recognize their hard work by appreciating everything that they do, such as giving Crystal Awards. There are many ways through which you can appreciate such employees. Let us look at some of them.

Introducing regular awards

You can introduce an employee of the month award to recognize those workers who perform the best every month. Make sure that you monitor every employee to find out how they perform. For example, you may want to know the volume of work that they accomplish every day. You may also want to know the employees that arrive early and those that work extra hours. Sometimes, you may want to know how much they help their colleagues to do their work. When you do this, you will notice that every worker wants to be more productive, and that is how you increase your company’s earnings.

Recognition in front of other employees

Sometimes, recognizing your employees in front of their colleagues works magic. You may want to mention their achievements during a company meeting. You may also want to talk about the exemplary things that they did during a lunch break or after work. This motivates them to work even more. You will notice that when you recognize them in front of their peers, they gain more confidence and therefore, they will want to work even more. It also makes the other employees want to follow suit because they too want to be recognized just like their colleagues.

Lunch with the boss

You can also award your employees by inviting them to lunch. Find out the workers that have been most productive for the month and invite them to lunch or dinner. Nothing motivates an employee more than a chat with the boss. Use this opportunity to let them know that you are impressed with their performance and so you would like to spend some time with them. It can be lunch prepared in the office or at your favorite restaurant. A drink will also make them happy and, as you will find out, they will want to work even more so that they can get another chance to dine with the boss.

Certificate of recognition

A written award can also motivate your employees to work more. When you issue them with a certificate, they will keep it and they will always look at it and remember how you rewarded then. Such certificates can also serve as testimonials so that whenever they are asked about their achievements, they can produce them. Certificates can be more fulfilling than other awards such as lunch or days off. For instance, long after the award, the employees may forget about the lunch, but they will always have the certificates to show for their hard work.

Shopping vouchers

If you have enough funds, you can award your employees by giving them shopping vouchers. Let them choose anything that they want to purchase as long as it fits in the price range that you have decided upon. You can also add other incentives, such as allowing them an afternoon off duty to go shopping. It may only be a small amount of money, but the motivation that it instills in your workers will be huge. At the end of the day, you will notice that they work harder and, therefore, the amount of money that you spent on the voucher will be recovered in no time. There are many other ways through which you can reward your employees. You may want to find out the things that fascinate them most before choosing an award. People like different things and you should know your employees well before choosing anything for them. You can easily identify the right way to award them by carrying out a small survey. You will be baffled to find out that what you thought was the best for them is nowhere close to what they prefer. Ultimately, the awards should serve as a motivator so that they work even more.

Beginner’s Guide To Different Business Structures

by Melvin · Jan 6, 2019

This is a guest post by Amanda Green.

Are you having that one idea and you think that everyone will love it? If you want to find out if your idea will actually work, there’s only one thing you can do: prove it. Building a business is your way to go. However, it must be a little overwhelming for some people to build their own businesses, especially those who don’t have prior experience. There’s a lot of business structures available and will answer some of your needs depending on your budget and how big you want your business to start. The three main types of business structures are a sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

Sole Proprietorship is the easiest way to get your business running. It requires a smaller capital (it might be bigger depending on the kind of product you’re planning to make) and less legal requirements. Some states, like Pennsylvania, do not even require sole proprietorship to register their businesses. The sole proprietor will be the one shouldering all the hard work, thinking of all the ideas, implementing, and controlling every aspect of the business. This type of business structure is good for people with low-risk ideas who want to do this type of job for a long time while minimizing the tax and other potential problems.

However, sole proprietors will also be responsible for the debts that the business will incur if the business fails. It will also be harder for sole proprietors to gain funding.

PARTNERSHIP AND LLC

The partnership is the space between a sole proprietorship and the corporation. This is formed when two or more people decide to pool resources together in order to form a business. There are two types of partnerships: limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships. A partnership is a better option for people who are practicing professionals like a law firm or an accounting firm. It is better for testing an idea before jumping into a corporation. Partners will decide how they will divide the obligations, profits, and debts among themselves.

A limited liability company will let you get the best options from both the corporation and partnership business structures. This type of business structure will protect the personal properties of partners but will let your profits go to your personal income without corporate taxes.

CORPORATION (C, S, B, Non-Profit, and Closed Corporations)

Corporations are the biggest business structures available. They endure a higher risk, but they also swim in higher profits because of a higher market share and product coverage. Corporations can also get funding easier through IPOs and mergers. There are five kinds of corporations that address five different needs.

A C Corporation is the type of corporation that offers the strongest protection for personal assets. However, there are a lot of requirements and funding needed to build this business structure. C Corporations are known on being taxed twice, first is on income tax for profits, second is for personal tax returns to shareholders that will receive dividends. One of the greatest thing about this form is that it has a separate life from its shareholders. If a shareholder withdrew support, the company can still keep going even after a shareholder leaves.

An S Corporation, on the other hand, is a type of corporation that counters the double taxation occurring on C Corporation. This is done by allowing profits and losses to pass through personal income of shareholders. S Corporations can only have 100 shareholders at one time and all must be US citizens. You need to meet certain criteria to get the S Corporation status.

A B Corporation, on the other hand, works differently from C Corporation but is taxed in the same way. B Corporations are known to have both missions and drive for profit. One of their legal obligations is to give back to their customers via a contribution to public good.

A Closed Corporation is like the B Corporation but has traditions that are usually seen on smaller companies. Unlike B Corps, Closed Corporations are not permitted to partake in public trading.

Nonprofit Corporation is a corporation that does not carry profit as the main driver of existence. They solely exist in order to serve the public via their operations. Because of this, they are usually granted tax-exempt status.

The Perfect Smartphone

by Melvin · May 27, 2018

Well, there isn’t one! Even if there is, that wouldn’t prevent people from buying the newest and most hyped smartphone in the coming years. And of course, the word ‘perfect’ varies depending on how someone uses his smartphone or how he values certain aspects of it. That being said I thought it’d be pretty fun to write a blog post like this where I’d be able to define what I consider as a perfect or ideal smartphone and maybe you can too in the comments below!

Monetize your Business

by Melvin · May 12, 2018

This is a guest post by Daniel Bailey.

No one ever wakes up and wishes they had less cash flow. In fact, there are so many people who would love to make more money without a ton of effort. Thankfully, this can be your reality. If you have access to the internet, you have access to money. There are a few major keys that you’ll want to implement in order to monetize your business.

Passion. Pick a topic that you already talk about on the internet. Find something that you’re extremely passionate about and thoroughly enjoy researching. In the beginning stages of building a presence that’s monetizable, you’re going to need to do some heavy lifting and ground work to get things started. If it’s not a topic you particularly enjoy, it’s going to be harder to lean in to the process. The Internet is such a huge space and there’s so much room for all niches. It doesn’t matter which niche you choose. Just be sure to pick one that you love. It’ll help you feel curiously alive.

Discipline. To achieve anything great in life, you’ve got to put forth a certain amount of commitment and discipline. Surprisingly, there are many people who just aren’t disciplined. Discipline is what separates the good people from the great people. Sometimes, you’ll have to spend long hours working. Eliminate distractions, focus on the task at hand and get it done.

Home Base. While it’s good to use social media to drum up more excitement and conversation around your brand, you’ll want to maintain a home base that you actually own. Purchase your own piece of online real estate through a website and domain. To start a passive income stream, create digital products and sell them on the website. Set up the shopping section of the website and make sure that you have great web design and development in place. Elements like online shopping cart design and website speed are important to consider and perfect for a streamlined customer experience.

Automation. If there’s one thing you’ll want to automate, it’d be your marketing efforts. You can consider hiring a social media manager to take manage the Facebook Ad initiatives and interacting with clients. You can also decide to work on content creation one day each week and put it in a scheduling system that’ll automate the posts throughout the week. Whatever systems you choose to implement, make sure to do so. It’ll save you the headache and frenzy of managing a long to-do list. Lean into the process and be prepared to learn. As you learn more, implement those lessons. The more you commit to the process, the more results you’ll achieve. Before you know it, your efforts will have a compounded effect. Start the process now and one day, you’ll wake up and realize you are experiencing cash flow in your sleep.

New Blog Design (v6) and Direction

by Melvin · Jan 28, 2018

You may have noticed the new design layout as soon as I published the previous blog post but I wanted to dedicate a blog post about it which details why I went with a design like this plus the blog’s new direction.

I may have been excessively using the phrase ‘new direction’ in my posts as that’s something I seem to be throwing around ever since I got a day job and had less time to write. But the reason why I wanted to touch upon that is because the new layout is very clean and also doesn’t have any sidebar anymore.

Sidebars are synonymous with blogs especially if the blog aims to monetize through ads however this blog hasn’t been really making any money anymore nor is it pressured to do so. In the past I’ve made money through advertisements in general and even when I became less active, I still kinda left a section for ads in the sidebar which was usually plastered with affiliate banners of products/services that I use if the ad spot is not taken.

Now without a sidebar, coupled with a pretty clean layout, it becomes even more of a personal blog where I can focus on writing things as they come to mind without any pressure whatsoever of appeasing potential advertisers. It also allows me to focus on the blog as a personal brand where the look can reflect back on me as a person and what I do career-wise.

It’s almost like an online portfolio, but not strictly since I’m not really showcasing anything other than my crappy writing. So it’s quite different than say a portfolio of a graphic designer or a web developer where they can easily showcase their work quite prominently. Mine is really just a blog, a personal one that highlights my personality and perhaps the nature of what I do albeit in a very subtle way.

The layout forces me to make use of images and photos that blend with the design. I’ve dabbled with photography years ago and maybe this allows me to rekindle and refresh my interest on the hobby. Some of you know that I’m allergic to making use of imagery in my blogs so this gives me an opportunity to change that.

All in all, the design changes mirror my blogging journey and the direction I’m heading to. Majority of my time spent with it was with the aim of making money having started during my college days, scrimping money to pay for a domain name and hosting, and staying up all night writing up content and networking with as many bloggers as humanly possible.

I made some money here and there and enjoyed the whole ride but I ultimately took a more normal path after school. Found a job that allowed me to grow but at the same time still continued blogging with a different goal.

Hope you like the new design and if not, feel free to leave comments with your feedback. 🙂

Looking Back at Year 2017 + Hello 2018

by Melvin · Jan 7, 2018

It’s crazy how fast time flies (pardon me for overusing this) and before I know, this blog is approaching it’s 10th year! Woah! It’s no surprise that my posting frequency has been terrible as it has been for the past 4-5 years. But last year was when I had my fewest blog post at 2 (one was even sponsored), yikes!

I kinda usually get into groove a little at the beginning of each year so why not take advantage of that and write a little year-in-review and plans for the year blog post.

How’s 2017 for me?

Hate to sound boring but 2017 was just like any other year for me, really. It’s pretty normal, doesn’t mean it’s easy by the way. I work as a breadwinner for the family, I have a lovely girlfriend that I spend time with and I try to spend some of my free time doing what I love doing. But let me elaborate on each aspects below.

Fitness

At the beginning of last year, I wrote about how I wanted to become fit and gain strength. I don’t think I ever come close to being classified as ripped but I’d like to think I have generally improved in both areas.

(It didn’t seem like there’s drastic change in my physique when looking at pictures from last year and the year before)

I have increased my muscle mass to more than 2 kg which has allowed me to lift heavier weights. My body fat count did increase a bit I would say but it’s the trade-off since I’m trying to bulk up and gain more mass. I really wish it showed up more aesthetically in the pictures but I’m happy with my progress.

Outside of lifting weights, I was pretty OK with playing basketball at least once a week for probably the first half of the year. A mix of being a little busy and just losing interest contributed to me stopping playing during the second half of the year. The company I’m working with has also done a great job of creating challenges that we can take part of so that’s an added bonus.

Work

This is probably the most ‘normal’ among all that’s in this list. There isn’t much new really in terms of what I have been doing work-wise. The company I’ve been working with is growing pretty steadily so that naturally brought more work (and stress) to the table.

I also just continued with my mini SEO gig with a single client who’s been with me since 2011. I’m kind of losing interest with this however the client sort of likes my work and I also happen to owe him a lot as he’s quite instrumental during my early days. In the end, I think of this as a way of keeping up with SEO industry, ensuring that I’m not left behind.

Travel

I wrote somewhere that I’m not too fond of traveling until I got to experience some which has changed my stance quite a bit. 2017 was pretty quiet though and it was by design. I wanted to save some more money and obviously traveling can be expensive so I ended up just going on short out of town trips but no international or even just regional ones. That may change this year though. 🙂

Other things

Some of you probably know that I used to cook a lot but that has unfortunately taken a backseat in the past couple of years. I still cook when I have to or when there’s a special occasion but I just didn’t have the same passion anymore. That may or may not come back but it was definitely a good experience for me during the time.

I didn’t also dabble with any offline stuff during the year. Depending on how my Uber paperworks go, that may change, hopefully for good. I feel like I’m not business-minded enough to try lots of things and I don’t really see that changing this year. Not a risk-taker here.

2018 Plans

For this year, I’m simply just looking to continue and improve on things that have worked quite well for me last year. Lifting weights more consistently and trying to be more fit by involving myself in more activities would be at the top of my list. I’m crossing fingers but I also wanted to cut down on alcohol this year. Now I’m far from an alcoholic (hopefully), but I get into streaks sometimes which I feel can be avoided. Just want to be healthy overall as I get older. 🙂

I’m aiming to travel a bit more this year compared to last year and also do some more things both online and offline. I actually wanted to write more in this blog and as a matter of fact, I quite enjoyed writing this but let’s see how that develops as the year progresses. Aside from this, there’s two other blogs that I have to maintain but outside of that I have some ideas that I’m looking to implement this year and I’ll see where that takes me off.

I hope I have more in-depth plans for the year that I can share with you but that’s really it at the moment. Don’t worry though as my aim is to share them with you as they happen.

Hope you also had a great 2017 and an even better plan for 2018. Good luck to us! 🙂

UK Payday Loan Affiliate Network – T.UK Review

by Melvin · May 12, 2017

This review is sponsored by T.UK

I’ve reviewed a handful of payday loans affiliate programs in the past and one thing that’s always obvious with them is how much full of hype they tend to be. Perhaps it has more to do with how lucrative that industry is but we would still need to know if the network we’re going with is the real deal or just all about hype.

We were approached by T.UK for this review and you can read more about them in this review and see for yourself.