As the year 2015 progresses, the message is loud and clear. Digital marketing is here to stay and is consistently becoming an important consideration of marketing budget for most companies. Companies now are spending equal amounts for TV and on digital. So what now? Well if your website is not fulfilling the latest developments or you are not doing Content Marketing or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or else developing some strategy for Search Engine Marketing, you might well start doing so. However, buying into the hype of different digital jargons seen online or on social media without a true understanding of the results of digital marketing efforts may turn your marketing effort into a damp squib without the expected results. Here are the 3 biggest mistakes in digital marketing often made by most companies.Mistake 1: Poor PlanningOne biggest mistake that is made in digital marketing is the absence of an organized cohesive strategy, resulting in a waste of valuable time and money, not to mention the loss of opportunity. Before investing, you should plan the following for effective digital marketing:· Understand your market: A sound understanding of a brand’s competitors, customer demographics, geographical boundaries, existing distribution channel, and knowledge of market trends (both about the product and demographic).· Perform a SWOT analysis: Find your opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses.· Clear definition of your marketing objectives: What results you are looking for with your marketing efforts and what KPI’s and goals will you use for measuring success?· Have a budget: What is your budget for this marketing effort and what are the individual marketing channels?Mistake 2: Unrealistic ExpectationsIt should be noted at the very outset that digital should not be taken to mean instant results, especially with companies who are new to this digital marketing practice. In fact, it takes some time for digital campaigns to develop, optimize and improve to get the results you expect for. It is imperative that clients are given realistic expectations. Here are the average timelines per service offered:Pay Per Click Campaign: 90 days.Search Engine Optimization: 90 – 180 days.Social Media: 30 days.Mistake 3: Not Being InformedThe presence of new analytics software makes it easy to track and analyze every view, every click and every dollar. However, what is important is to be informed about how the marketing budget is being spent by the company. So if a marketing agency is working for a brand, important data points should be known to key stakeholders. Hence, if it is a PPC campaign, you should have the knowledge of how to log into AdWords and also be able to check the account history as well as follow any account modifications. This should be true with the different digital aspects. You should have a fair knowledge of the KPI’s, the terms and best practices.If you don’t have the time to go through learning materials, hire a consultant who could run audits and help in removing unqualified work. This will keep the primary marketing agency and staff on their toes and save you money.
3 Digital Marketing Mistakes You Should Be Careful About in 2015
Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding
Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.
Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.
Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.
Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )
How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:
Debt / Loans
Asset Based Financing
Alternative Hybrid type solutions
Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas
If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).
Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.
The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.
Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.
We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.
Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.
If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.
Getting to Know the Features and Advantages of a Pharmacy Software
A pharmacy is a medical shop that provides medication to customers. Pharmacy software is a solution the shop utilises to ensure safe selling of the drugs to consumers and in an effective manner.A drug store keeps in its inventory a large number and variety of medicines. Remembering the crucial details of each is not possible for human workers. Management software can store information like toxicity, side effects, potency, expiry date, etc. and make it easily accessible to the employee.Some Features of a Medical Shop SoftwareThough a management software comes with countless characteristics, explained below are just few of the most important.
Loading of Data
The second the pharmacy begins operation there is a need to access and control a lot of data, i.e., information related to every medicine sold. This requires the mammoth task of manually filling in each detail of each inventory item. Even if the chore is given to a junior employee, it is vital to check their progress. Simply said, a lot of resources are put into just one job and a job that doesn’t guarantee to be 100% accurate because human-errors always happen.A good medical software will come with the feature to extract data from a CSV or Excel file and load it onto the system. With this attribute, the time taken to complete the task is reduced, and there are no chances of errors occurring.
Management of Inventory
Inventory management makes the pharmacy more efficient and decreases operational costs by keeping track of the medicines sold. Out of all features of a billing system, this is the crucial one.Using the software, the inventory of the pharmacy can be tracked automatically meaning an employee doesn’t need to perform the laborious task of handling and monitoring inventory. Their time can be utilised for more beneficial activities. This feature also controls access to the drugs in the store which improves security and enables accurate medicine dispensing.
Point of Sale Integration
The most practical application of a pharmacy solution is POS. The feature keeps a check on the cash flow on all floors of the pharmacy and other chains (if present).
Barcode Scanner
The barcode scanner allows verification of each drug that passes the POS and helps keep track of all sales. It also aids in
retrieval of refill information
verification of dispensed product
Advanced Reporting
Some pharmacy management systems come with a library of report templates. These built-in reports can be employed by workers to work faster. The process is easier for the employee and the information that needs to be tracked and reported is far more accurate.
E-Prescriptions
The application allows the pharmacy to receive new prescriptions from doctors or refill prescriptions directly. Electronic prescriptions make the process of getting the medicine to the patient faster.
e-Signature
The element saves time during the purchase of medicine because it allows the sale to be signed electronically. In one transaction, the employee can electronically track acknowledgment of each prescription sold.
Clinical Integration
Some pharmacies employ many clinical tools such as dosing guides, lab information, and drug interactions. The clinical integration allows the pharmacy software to be incorporated with the tools for better services.
Pill Imaging
The feature guarantees that no incorrect pill is dispensed. At the quality check, the pills are displayed and then compared with those being purchased. The comparison ensures that the right medicine is given. Pill imaging makes for a valuable tool to enhance the accuracy and quality of prescription filling.The Paybacks of a Management Solution for a PharmacyWhen the right pharmacy software is employed, a medical shop delivers the best possible care to patients while increasing profit margins. It frees up precious time and resources which can then be focused on producing more business. A few essential benefits that come hand in hand with a pharmacy management solution are:
The cost of ownership is very low.
The applications of the system are wide-ranging and can be controlled by having different logins for the owner of the pharmacy and other employees.
Each user of the software can have diverse privileges by manually setting the rights of the user.
The software can be customised as per the needs of the shop making it as comprehensive or as narrow as required.
The productivity of the pharmacy increases which, in turn, amplifies profitability.
The sale procedure is considerably sped up through the Barcode scanner because it records details automatically.
More than just a front-end solution, a medical shop solution also takes care of the supply chain.
From alerting when the stock is low to informing the pending expiry date of medicines, the system comes with many useful features.
The analysis, information, and reports the software provides assist in better decision making for the business.
All data is stored in a centralised location and retrieving the data is easy with an interactive user interface.
A software is more than reliable. It is secure that safeguards the sensitive information of the medical shop completely.