Make YouTube work for Business

YouTube celebrities with their long list of subscribers are not the only influencers on the platform, there are several hobbyists on the platform who generate millions of views on their video posts. A small business can use local influencers on YouTube to propagate their marketing ideas to a niche audience readily available.

While businesses are eager to experiment with influencer marketing, the choice of platform is crucial to get the maximum return on investment (ROI). YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the new sensation Musical.ly, have witnessed a proliferation of users who have, a targeted audience readily available for your business. There are millions of social users who prefer YouTube because it gives them a bigger format to experiment and create content. Find out why YouTube may work for your business or may not.

The cost of creating content on YT is higher than other platforms simply because it is a large format content platform. The cost of employing an influencer on YT goes higher for businesses. It may be costlier but YT also gives you direct access to the platform to the bottom of the funnel which can be easily translated into better conversion rates through a relevant and intelligent marketing campaign.

If you are operating in the B2B space, then it may be more beneficial to look at YT for your influencer marketing campaign. For instance, a software company may find it more of a natural fit to create content on YT than on Instagram as it is more conducive to detailed content. Inversely, a fashion business which has more to display than talk may prefer other platforms or shorter videos.

The barrier to create content on a social platform like Instagram is very low as compared to YT. The general behavior of viewers on YT is to search and watch. On Instagram if you do not instantly follow people whose content you like, you may end up losing their feed. However, YT understands the viewer’s very well and keeps suggesting similar content created by others or of the same person, even if you do not subscribe. A business can always use different platforms for different kind of campaigns.

Ways to build Professional Network

Professional Networking is key to progressing in your career as it helps you stay connected with relevant peers, keep abreast of the latest developments in your sector and remain informed about the emerging opportunities.

The trick is to make professional networking part of daily regimen. Add professional acquaintances daily, or even weekly. Networks are built over time, so make it a habit to stay connected with a diverse set of people.

Responding to people on LinkedIn and commenting on others blogs or tweets will give you more visibility and help build your professional circle. Participating in and contributing to these forums will enhance your knowledge and introduce you to people you may not know.

While there are several platforms that you can use for your professional network, nothing beats a human touch. Pick the right platforms and stay consistent, but it is more important to stay personally connected and committed to building your network.

Professional Networking is all about making yourself visible. It is a good idea to target communities’ specific to your line of work. For instance, even within LinkedIn there are particular communities for different lines of work.

Events and Conferences are very good for building strong professional networks. You should use every professional and social opportunity to meet and connect with new people. Do make it a point to write back to people you have met and exchanged cards with and be diligent about returning emails and phone calls.

Book Review: The Rise and fall of Nations

The crisis of 2008 ended the illusion of a golden era in which many people imagined that prosperity and political calm would continue to spread indefinitely. The Rise and Fall of Nations rethinks economics as a practical art. By narrowing down the thousands of factors that might shape a country’s future, it spells out ten clear rules for identifying the next big winners and losers in the global economy.

Author’s ten indicators get a chapter each – Demography, scope for reform, inequality, quality of government regulations, geographical location as a source for trade, investment, especially in manufacturing, inflation, high rates of exchange (expensive country) or too low (inexpensive country), the rate of change in the debt – GDP ratio and the media hype that a country receives. Each chapter illustrates the relevance of the specific indicator by citing data from across the world. In some cases, there are precise quantitative guides.

Each rule looks at a nation’s political, economic and social conditions in real time to filter out the hype and noise. Author shows how, for example, slow population growth is eroding economic growth, and ranks nations by how well they respond. He describes the way cycles of political complacency and revolt fuel economic booms and busts. Amid growing tensions over wealth inequality, Sharma demonstrates How Billionaire lists yield clues to which economies are most or least threatened by social revolt.

In a period when the world is struggling with trillions of dollars of new debt, author explains which nations are most likely to avert this threat or buckle under it. He shows how to read political headlines, black markets, the price of onions, and billionaire rankings as signals of booms, bursts and protests. Set in a post-crisis age that has turned the world upside down, replacing fast growth with slow growth and political calm with revolt, this book is an entertaining field guide to understanding change in this era or any era.

The concluding chapter classifies the economies around the world into the Good, the Average and the ugly using the ten indicators grid. Author is bullish about South Asia – Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as India – but has some reservations about the quality of government intervention. China is ugly, that is, on its way down. Brazil, Canada, Australia, Russia all end up in the Ugly camp as they are at the mercy of the commodity price cycle. They overspend during the price rise and struggle when commodity prices slump. It is a pioneering field guide to understanding our impermanent world.

Financial Lessons from Football

From portfolio allocation to fund selection to navigation volatility, there is a lot one can learn about financial planning from Football.

Don’t focus too much on Forward – The responsibility of forward players is to be aggressive and score goals for their teams. But forwards alone can’t win matches. An aggressive investment strategy focusing on mid-cap stocks or mutual funds can be rewarding in a bull run, but beware of their equally quick meltdown when the market falls. High returns come with high risk. Rely on asset allocation based strategy.

Don’t ignore Mid-fielders – Mid-fielders can both attack and defend, depending on the match situation. Investing in all-rounders like balanced funds brings stability to one’s portfolio. Balanced funds create scoring opportunities by investing in equities, even as they cushion the impact of market downturns by investing in debt.

Beef up your defence – Defenders are responsible for not allowing the ball go past them. They prevent losses. Limiting your losses by boosting your defence against sharp market corrections is as important as creating scoring opportunities.

Be watchful of market feints – Feints are deceptive movements of a player meant to confound opponents. Reading market movements during volatile phases can be tricky and is fraught with risk.

Adopt a Goal oriented approach – Ultimately, it is the goals that decide the winner. Linking your investments to financial goals is fundamental to financial planning. List out goals and their time periods and invest accordingly. Experts suggest investing primarily in equities for long term goals and in debt for short term goals.

Take stock at Half time – The break after 45 minutes of the game allows teams to refresh and re-strategize. Reviewing your portfolio regularly is integral to sound investing. Review and rebalance your portfolio every six months. If the equity component has risen in value, make incremental investments in debt and to maintain your preferred asset allocation ration.

Act as a referee for your investments – A neutral official on the field, the referee enforces rules and hands out punishment to players, if required. Arrive at decisions dispassionately, instead of letting emotions take over, particularly in a volatile market.

Do not commit fouls while investing – Breaking the rules of the game is termed as foul and invites punishment. Resist the temptation to stray away from your financial plan. Deviating from rules based investing can compromise your goals. Do not liquidate your investments made for specific goals to finance short term needs.

Make the most of penalty shootouts – Penalty kick is an easy scoring opportunity for the team to which it is awarded. If you are beneficiary of a joining or a performance bonus, channel it towards achieving your financial goals. The money is deservedly yours, don’t fritter it away. Use lump sum windfall gains to create an emergency fund, pay off loans or enhance term and health insurance covers.

Avoid getting the Cards – A yellow card by the referee denotes warning and a red card leads to the player being sent off the field for violating the rules of the game. Do not hide your capital gains from tax authorities. You might end up paying more otherwise.