CFI.co Blogger, Author at CFI.co Blog

In this article, we’ll share some smart ideas for your restaurant you can use to win more clients and separate yourself from the competition.

Integrate online reservation platforms

Online booking platforms are a must-have for restaurant marketing as they help them get discovered by a broader audience and receive more bookings. The most popular platforms to try are:

OpenTable
Eat App
Resy
Wisely
Table Agent
Eveve
Tablein
Add a reservation link to Google Business

Today, Google dominates online food searches.

When someone looks for a business on Google, they see a profile on the right side of the screen. That is a Google My Business listing. Google created this free tool to help businesses, owners, and visitors.

On top of displaying open hours, location, driving directions, reviews, and photos, restaurants can also add a link and take reservations directly from a GMB page.

Business for Restaurants — *Source: https://wpcodeus.com/google-my-business-for-restaurants-guide/*

It’s also possible to add your URLs for specific actions such as:

Viewing the menu
Booking an appointment
Searching for items
Placing an order.

Implement smart email marketing

Dozens of articles dedicated to restaurant marketing suggest implementing an email newsletter as a great free opportunity to get more clients. But almost all companies, including well-known players, use email marketing. So just sending out a generic email with some news and updates once a month will usually have little to no impact.

However, email still remains an excellent marketing channel if you know how to use it. One of the most crucial things to keep in mind is that you’re competing with other brands for attention in people’s inboxes.

So how do you stand out from the crowd?

Send email before b-day to offer to book a table for a celebration

It’s always a smart idea to send personalized emails. By using your customer data, you have a chance to create email marketing that is relevant to clients rather than just acting blindly.

Let’s take birthdays. This is one of the most important days for most people. So it’s very likely they’ll want to have dinner with their friends and family. If you’re smart about your marketing, they’ll choose your place.

So start with recording the birthday dates of your guests along with email addresses when they are making an online booking or receiving a bonus card.

When you have a database of such email addresses, you can send your customers personalized emails two or three weeks out from their birthdays telling them you have an excellent venue for their event.

Use a professional email signature with CTA ( book a table or with new dishes)

The email signature is like a digital business card you can include in every email you send. With this signature, you will let recipients know who you are, what you do, and most importantly, what you want them to do (it’s called call to action). Just imagine the number of extra guests you could get to your restaurant if you simply include a link to your menu or the option to book a table in your email signature.

Take a look at the best email signature examples to get a taste of what we’re talking about.

The signature can be easily created with the help of an email signature generator.

Hire a professional food photographer

It’s not enough to write the name of the dishes on the menu or on the restaurant’s website to attract new visitors. You need to take quality, appealing photos so that when people see what you have to offer, they would want to come and try.

Professional food photography is significantly different from what you do yourself: you won’t be able to get high-quality pictures on your phone or camera unless you have a lot of practice styling and photographing. In addition, you need special light, professional equipment, and, of course, artistic taste.

So hiring a pro food photographer is one option that shouldn’t be overlooked, even though it isn’t cheap.

Still not convinced? According to this survey, people specifically look for food photos on restaurant websites and social media. For example, 60% of Generation Z and 55% of Millennials check out food photos on a restaurant’s websites before they decide to order. Furthermore, 50% of Generation Z and 44% of Millennials say they scrapped the idea to visit the restaurant because the food photography wasn’t enticing.

Be in touch with local food bloggers and influencers

Look for influential bloggers that have a large following in your city. The common practice among restaurants is to invite such bloggers to your restaurant and offer them a free dining experience. As a rule, influencers feel their audience very well and can easily find a way to highlight the benefits and advantages of the product or service. According to statistics, 49% of consumers depend on the recommendations of influencers.

Food Blogger — *Source: https://www.instagram.com/gemtakesfoodpics/*

Best restaurant digital marketing examples

What do Wingstop, Sandwich Hag, and Steak’ n Shake have in common? Hint: it’s not just tasty food on the menu. All have adopted smart digital marketing strategies to grow their businesses. Let’s get inspired.

Wingstop

Wingstop, a chicken wing fast-food network, launched a smart campaign where they provide 1,000 branded merchandise items to those who will post on Wingstop’s Instagram. The brand also offered $10 via mobile payment to each user who posts an ad for the restaurant on their public Instagram profiles. The trick might work no worse than inviting bloggers.

On top of that, they announced that twenty-five million consumers are now placing orders digitally. This is 65% of all orders.

Sandwich Hag

The restaurant promotes the individuals behind their company to humanize the consumer experience. How can you use it?

The study reveals that 55% of people find stories more persuasive than facts and data. Try posting about what happens behind the scenes in your restaurant, and see how your audience responds to this tactic.

Customer Experience - Food

Steak’ n Shake

Everyone knows the importance of email sign-ups. So do Steak’ n Shake. That’s why the company uses its Instagram profile to direct visitors to their email sign-up. On top of that, they add an enticing incentive – a free shake to everyone who signs up.

On their Instagram, you can see many professional food pictures and photos of guests and staff, which also keeps people interested in the restaurant.

Summary

Here’s the restaurant marketing ideas list in full for your reference:

Integrate online reservation platforms such as OpenTable, Resy, Eat App, and others
Add a reservation link to Google Business
Send personalized emails based on customer history with your restaurant and before b-day
Use a professional email signature with CTAs (add links to a menu or online booking)
Hire a professional food photographer
Cooperate with bloggers and influencers
Reward your customers for reposts and sign-ups
Show what happens behind the scenes to humanize the consumer experience.

Investment Management

A Guide to Investing During High Inflation

ByCFI.co Blogger

When you invest, no matter the larger economic conditions, you always want to ensure you’re diversifying your portfolio.

investing

This is a concept that major corporations and wealthy people understand well. For example, corporations like UBS invest in blue-chip art. Many of these banks and global companies have full-time curators for their collections in order to diversify their investments.

While you may not be a multimillionaire or a global bank, the principles of diversification are critical to a good investment strategy. Your approach may also need some tweaking during periods of high inflation, like what we’re in now.

The following are things to know generally about inflation and how it might affect your investment strategy and approach to diversification.

An Overview of Diversification

A diversified portfolio is one with a broad mix of different types of investments. The longstanding wisdom was a 60/40 portfolio where you allocated 60% of your capital to invest in stocks, then 40% of your portfolio went to fixed-income investments, such as bonds.

There are opponents of this approach who feel there should be more stock exposure, particularly for younger people.

Overall, with a diversified portfolio, you might hold a wide variety of healthcare, energy, and tech stocks, as well as some from other industries. You don’t need exposure to every sector, but you should have a pretty varied portfolio made up of a healthy mix of quality companies.

You also want to have a combination of divided, large-cap, small-cap, growth, and value stocks.

Then, in addition to diversification in your stock portfolio, you want investments included in the mix that aren’t correlated. That means these investments don’t go up and down with the stock market.

Crypto, art, gold, bonds, bank CDs, and real estate are all examples of non-correlated investments.

What to Know About Inflation

Inflation is an increase in the overall price of goods and services. Inflation is measured as an annual percentage increase. The annual percentage increase is reported in the Consumer Price Index or CPI, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics prepares monthly. When inflation goes up, purchasing power goes down.

The rise of inflation affected fixed-asset values, and companies will raise their prices to compensate for their own rising costs.

As a consumer, you’re paying more across the board for goods and services. If you have certain assets, like a house, inflation can be a good thing. Your income may also rise, although maybe not enough to keep up with inflation.

Inflation increases the cost of living, and if it gets too high, it harms the economy.

The effects on the economy largely depend on the type of inflation. Walking inflation ranges from 3-10% a year while creeping inflation isn’t as dramatic. Running inflation indicates very aggressive pricing increases that might be leading to hyperinflation.

Rising prices might indicate the economy is growing very quickly. People then tend to stockpile and overbuy because they want to avoid future higher prices, and suppliers can’t keep up with demand, nor can wages. Everyday goods and services could be out of reach for many people in situations with severe inflation.

Inflation doesn’t always have to affect everything in the same ways. For example, during the financial crisis of 2008, home prices went down almost 20%, but gas prices doubled.

Mild inflation can be good for the economy because consumer spending is propelling economic growth.

The Federal Reserve sets an inflation target, with a healthy core inflation rate considered around 2%, taking out the impact of energy and food prices.

Other specific effects of inflation can include:

Inflation can have negative effects on retirement planning. The amount you target to save has to go up in order to pay for the same quality of life. Basically, your savings is going to buy you less over time. You have to start saving as soon as possible for retirement to utilize compounding interest, and you should use other strategies as well to hedge against inflation’s effects.
Treasury bonds are fixed-income assets that pay the same every year. If inflation goes up faster than the return on this asset, they’re less valuable. People will then try to sell them in response, bringing down their value further. The U.S. government has to issue higher Treasury yields to sell them, so mortgage interest rates often go up as a result. Higher rates lower the value of your investment, and the interest on national debt rises.
If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, inflation can be beneficial. The value of the monthly payments you make on your mortgage goes down over time.
If you have debt with a variable interest rate, you’re probably going to see that your minimum payments go up as inflation increases. This is most often the case with high interest credit cards but can apply to mortgages with a variable rate.
If you’re trying to buy a house, inflation has negative effects because their prices will typically rise along with inflation.

How Do You Invest to Protect Against Inflation?

When you’re an investor, you have to think about the best ways to hedge against inflation. You can plan for it by investing in asset classes that outperform the market during times of high inflation.

The following are particular investments to consider to protect against inflation:

Art

When you invest in art, it is a good hedge against inflation, and it also diversifies your portfolio and reduces volatility.

Many investors assume they’re not wealthy enough to get involved in the art marketplace. In reality, it can be accessible for anyone.

There are even new platforms that allow investors to own a piece of blue-chip art, much like an ETF.

Art is an asset class not correlated to other major asset classes, so this means if you have traditional assets like stocks or bonds that aren’t doing well, your art investments are more likely to hold their value.

Since art can be a physical asset, it tends to do well in inflationary periods.

Of course, any investment carries risks, but unlike equities which are sensitive to movements in the market, the art market as a whole has been growing steadily.

There are downsides you have to think about, like the lack of liquidity. Selling a piece of art can be time-consuming, which is why options that allow you to buy fractional shares are appealing, in addition to the lower point of entry.

Gold

Gold can serve as a hedge against inflation, and some describe it as an alternative currency, especially in places where the value of the native currency is declining.

Gold is a physical asset that largely tends to hold its value.

If you want to invest in gold to protect against inflation, you have three primary options. You can buy the physical asset, meaning you buy actual gold. You can buy shares of an ETF or mutual fund that follows the price of gold, or you can trade in the commodities market. Trading futures and options in the commodities market is usually left best to highly experienced investors.

While gold is an option, it’s not a perfect inflation hedge. For example, when inflation goes up, central banks will usually raise interest rates. If you have gold, it doesn’t pay a yield, so it’s not going to have as much value as an asset that does, especially when rates are higher.

Commodities

Commodities are a category including things like grain, electricity, oil, beef, orange juice, and natural gas. Commodities also include foreign currencies and financial instruments.

Commodities are an indicator of future inflation, so as their price goes up, so does the price of the products it’s used to produce.

You can invest in commodities through an ETF.

They’re very volatile and highly dependent on supply and demand, so it’s best suited to more sophisticated investors.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

A REIT is a company that owns and also operates real estate-producing income. When inflation rises, property prices and rental rates tend to go up. When you invest in a REIT, it’s a pool of real estate. As an investor, you’re paid dividends.

REITs can be good to include in your portfolio, particularly during inflationary periods, but they can come with some downsides. For example, when interest rates go up, Treasury securities become more appealing, taking funds out of REITs. REITs also have to pay property taxes, which can be as much as 25% of operating expenses.

Real Estate

Finally, investing in real estate can, in some cases, be a hedge against inflation. You can earn income by renting out a property because, as we’ve touched on, when inflation goes up, typically so do property values. That means if you’re a landlord, you may be able to charge more for rent.

You can keep up with rising inflation.

Of course, this isn’t a guarantee, and real estate isn’t liquid. Plus, if you buy a property, it’s going to require maintenance, and the costs can add up fast.

The best thing you can do when it comes to investing during inflation is to think about your goals and the direction you’d like to take and make sure you have a good mix making up your portfolio.

Conferences

The Annual Investment Meeting Opens Up New Horizons for Global Economic Growth on March 29th, 2022

ByCFI.co Blogger

The Annual Investment Meeting will make history once again from 29 to 31 March 2022 at the Dubai Exhibition Center, EXPO 2020, Dubai, in a new edition that aspires to empower the recovery of global economic growth.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai, the global investment event is held under the theme of “Investments in Sustainable Innovation for a Thriving Future”.

“AIM’s forthcoming edition, AIM 2022, will focus mainly on endorsing and boosting investments towards sustainability and innovation through the conference’s 6 pillars: FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FDI, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES SMEs, FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT FPI, STARTUPS, FUTURE CITIES, and the 50 PROJECTS INITIATIVE, said Mr. Dawood Al Shezawi, President of the Annual Investment Meeting.

The FDI Pillar will enable participants to discover new investment opportunities in the global market, thereby, increasing FDI, while promoting economic growth.
The SMEs Pillar will recognize enterprises’ contributions to the global economy and empower them – emphasizing the need to create conducive environments that empower UAE’s entrepreneurs, allowing them to possess the necessary competency to achieve growth and progress.
The Foreign Portfolio Investors FPI Pillar will enable investors to diversify their portfolios, establish contacts with local organizations, and gain access to investment flows.
The Startups Pillar will help investors find new investment opportunities while helping entrepreneurs acquire venture capital and seed funding for their startups.
The Future Cities Pillar will rally up the governments and investors’ support to maximize the potential of innovation, technologies, and smart city solutions, while also recognizing smart city solutions providers from across the globe for their outstanding projects that are aligned to achieve increased operational efficiency & productivity, sustainability, and economic growth.
The 50 Projects Initiatives Pillar focuses on supporting the UAE’s ‘Projects of the 50’ initiative that covers numerous key sectors including Economy, Entrepreneurship, Advanced Skills, Digital Economy, Space, and Advanced Technologies. The 50 projects represent a series of long-term development and economic initiatives designed to accelerate the UAE’s development and establish the nation as a hub for talent and investment.

The AIM 2022 comprises a broad array of features and activities that give real value to all participants and stakeholders of the conference, including AIM Pre-conference Workshop & Seminar, AIM 2022 Conference, AIM 2022 Exhibition, AIM 2022 Innovation Showcase, Startup Hackathon, Startup Live Pitching Sessions, Site Visits, B2B, G2B, & G2G Meetings, Exclusive Breakfast, High-level Networking Lunch, Gala Dinner, AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards, AIM 2022 Startup Pitch Competition, and AIM 2022 Future City Awards, among other features.

With the Annual Investment Meeting’s 6 Pillars providing value to all the event’s participants, therefore, attending AIM is imperative for all stakeholders of the global investment landscape.

Business

The Best Careers in Today’s Economy

ByCFI.co Blogger

The careers that were high-paying and stable in years past are not always the ones that are stable and high-paying now. Then, in 2022, if you are finding it difficult to differentiate between the best and worst career options to withstand the fluctuations of today’s economy, here is a list of some of the best careers that you should pursue if you want to make a choice about your career that keeps the economy in mind.

Careers

1. Teachers

Until the invention of robots that can impart knowledge to others, teachers will always be needed worldwide, whether you decide to train within your country or opt to teach a foreign language abroad. Teachers do not always get a high salary. However, there is a clear career progression that they can follow to become top of their faculty and even to become the leader of the school that they teach in. Then, if you want to help the next generation to learn and to be inspired, you should consider investing in an MA Education from an online university or college. This Master’s degree can help you to improve your teaching skills and to prepare you for leadership positions, opening up roles to you that can offer you a competitive salary and the ability to change the academic lives of the children in your care. One great factor of an online degree, too, is that you can study for this at home at the same time as getting the experience that you need in teaching.

2. Healthcare Professionals

As well as teachers, other roles that are always required and that are hardy against economic change are those in healthcare. However, people will usually pay more for their healthcare than they would for their education. There are many options that you can choose from in terms of a healthcare career, from becoming a family nurse to becoming a surgeon or anesthetist. These professions can allow you to help those in need and to find meaning in your job while being able to receive some of the highest salaries in the country, especially if you take on a specialist role that requires years of training, such as that of a pediatrician. Those in healthcare are also paid a lot because there is a shortage of healthcare professionals in the USA and across the world. This means that your skills will be in demand and that there will be a wealth of different opportunities open to you in the field.

3. Tech Jobs

With the advent of technology, along came a host of new jobs to help develop and manage this tech, and these jobs look as if they are here to stay, with new technologies being created all the time. It can be difficult to find and get these jobs, though. Not only this, but it often takes a lot of training and skill to excel at these tech jobs, many of which people have not had time to learn yet. This means that if you do have the right skills, you can scoop up a giant paycheck. However, it is important to realize that by the time you have learned the right skills or gone to college or university, tech might have moved on, and the skills that you have only just got qualified in might be old news and unnecessary now. Then, it is important that, if you want a tech job, you can predict the future of tech and the direction that it is heading in, and continue to learn constantly even if you believe that you have all of the skills that you need to progress.

4. Financial Worker

One sector that is always high paid and can bring you a great assortment of job prospects is the finance. The finance sector is filled with excellent career choices, such as that of a financial analyst or an accountant, and it is often in demand as many business people, and other individuals struggle to manage the financial side of their businesses and lives. Not only this, but if you excel in the finance sector, you might even consider opening up your own business or becoming self-employed. For instance, you could become a financial advisor or an accountant, working completely for yourself and taking on the clients that you want to. However, if you do this, you must take into consideration that you will have a lot of business expenses, and you may get a smaller salary at first as you have to build up your reputation, client base, and marketing schemes from scratch.

5. Law

When you are thinking about the best career choice to opt for in today’s economy, you might also consider whether a career in law is the right option for you. Lawyers are in great demand and often open up their own practices, which can help them to make a large salary. However, it takes many years to become a lawyer, and you must be incredibly dedicated to your field to excel in this sector. Being a lawyer comes with a certain level of prestige, though, and you are likely to be able to find endless work through networking events, social media, and advertising your services on your own website. You will often have to choose an area to specialize in, though, and this can be anything from criminal law to corporate or family law, depending on your interests and the option that you think that you would find success in.

Deciding which career to opt for in today’s economy can be difficult. This is especially difficult as it is ever-changing, which can make it even harder to find a career option that can give you the salary and the stability that you need to be content with your decision both now and in the future. However, from jobs in tech to healthcare professionals, there are always careers in which you can excel in and find progression in once you have gained the right skills and qualifications for them.

Business

Recovering Malaysian Business

ByCFI.co Blogger

Having reached almost every country across the globe, the social and economic side-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic took root in national economies and businesses of all sizes, as seismic change, tumbling stock markets and rising unemployment necessitated a greater need for rapid response solutions across the globe.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-person-showing-signboard-on-window-5410138/

Data from the period between October 2020 and January 2021 (against pre-pandemic levels) showed that a quarter of companies saw sales drop by 50%, although despite the initial impact, many firms managed to retain workers (around 65%) through reducing wages, hours or by granting leave, resulting in only 11% of companies laying off workers (Worldbank).

Opening Up

Partway through 2020, the Asia Foundation asked owners of MSMEs as to how they were able to navigate the pandemic while staying afloat. At the time, over half of all MSMEs in Thailand, Lao

PDR, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste had either shut down completely or were closed to customers, with Malaysian MSMEs being hit hardest (with just 5% of businesses running as “normal”).

With Malaysian COVID-19 cases still fluctuating, the country is now open for business, albeit tentatively. With disruption to travel still prevalent across the globe and a notable absence of overseas guests, Malaysia’s normally-flourishing hospitality industry has slowed considerably.

Staying Afloat

Other business types have fared better: at the outset of the pandemic, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across South East Asia were relatively quick to respond. Representing between 97% and 99% of all firms and between 60% and 80% of total employment, smaller businesses were able to demonstrate a greater degree of resilience, flexibility and responsiveness, due in part to their size.

However, despite relative success in reducing public health risk throughout 2020, lockdowns had a major impact on households and small businesses alike. Many MSMES reported revenue losses of over 50% by comparison to levels prior to Covid. As with other brick and mortar outlets, low customer traffic led to closures (some permanently). Those which remained open received significantly reduced footfall, with additional limitations due to reduced pay and changes in working conditions.

Moving Forward

In response to the economic crisis, Southeast Asian governments responded by producing a series of programmes to support those most affected by the widespread disruption, including schemes offering financial support (primarily to small businesses). However, as the Asia Foundation reports, in hindsight these could have been optimized to be more effective.

KPMG outlines four stages on the path to recovery for businesses worldwide: the ability to react quickly, resilience, recovery plans and the capacity to adapt to a changing “new reality.” In addition to government support offering tax-relief holidays and subsidies, lessons learned during previous waves can potentially be used to develop more effective future programmes.

Steps Towards Recovery

From a business perspective, there are three key ways to approach the current crisis. Firstly, a collaborative approach offers benefits to both parties,helping to increase both the reach and impact of two businesses working alongside each other.

Secondly, organizational agility is now viewed as essential to all businesses. Through formulating contingency plans and by preparing to deal with unknowns, businesses are better equipped to steel themselves against further closures. Finally, digitalization can be an effective way to create additional flexibility, though it is not by any means a complete solution in and of itself.

If you are considering a career shift towards a role in the business sector, studying an MBA Online in your chosen business specialty field can help guide you towards the job you want.

Technology

How Managers Can Use Data Science to Make Informed Decisions

ByCFI.co Blogger

Businesses deal with huge volumes of data daily, and maintaining the quality of this data is critical for making the best business decisions and propelling the company forward.

Quality data must be translated into a digital medium with the help of a data entry system to manage and preserve it effectively. It aids in the reshaping and refinement of datasets that can be utilized for analytics to extract useful information. Data science applications and delivering value to clients both benefit from accurate data.

What Is Data-Science Decision Making?

How Managers Can Use Data Science to Make Informed Decisions — *Image via Flickr by Zaid Alasad*

Data-science-driven decision-making (DDDM) is a method of gathering information based on quantifiable objectives, analyzing patterns and facts from these findings, and implementing methods and approaches that benefit the company in various ways.

Primarily, data-driven decision-making (DDDM) includes achieving key business goals depending on verified, analyzed facts rather than your intuition. Having said that, the data must be accurate and relevant to your objectives to derive true value. Collecting, retrieving, structuring, and evaluating insights for improved data-driven decision-making in business used to be a massive task prior to the advent of DDDM. Though now, because of the advancement of business intelligence tools, users without significant technical skills may be able to analyze and extract insights from their data that aid in data decision-making.

How Data Science Can Help Leaders and Managers

Confident Decisions

Once you start gathering and evaluating data, you discover that it is easier to make confident decisions about practically any business situation, whether you are planning to launch or discontinue a product, modify your marketing strategy, or expand into a new market.

Become Proactive

It is natural for a data-driven decision-making process to be reflexive when first implemented. The data offers a narrative to which you and your company must respond. It is possible to exploit data more proactively with enough practice and the correct types and volumes of data.

Cost-cutting

There are various reasons why a company can decide to invest in a significant data effort and make its processes more data-driven. It is already being utilized to decrease expenses and boost productivity in the workplace.

Thankfully, leaders and managers can learn through various short courses online that teach data science essentials to better understand its overall impact on the business.

How Can Managers Become More Data-Driven?

There are several measures managers may take to be more data-driven in their approach to business.

Identify Patterns

In the most fundamental sense, data analysis is an attempt to find a structure throughout or a connection between numerous data pieces. These patterns and correlations can provide observations and conclusions.

Every Decision Should Be Data Based

When faced with any decision, whether commercial or personal, try to avoid depending on gut feeling or previous experience. Make an effort to adopt an analytical attitude instead.

Visualize Data Significance

Data visualization is an integral part of the data analysis methodology. A table of numbers is meaningless. However, you will be able to easily read trends and come out with conclusions about the data if you create compelling visualizations through graphs.

Therefore, it is clear that you can drive your company to new and thrilling heights by adequately utilizing data and measuring your progress to make informed decisions.

Budgeting

How to Manage Your Money While Studying

ByCFI.co Blogger

When you’re a student, money can feel like it doesn’t go a long way and is incredibly hard to come by. Managing your money well while studying isn’t always easy, and many students struggle to keep on top of their finances. Whether you’re thinking about studying or you’re partway through your degree, there are several things that can help you to manage your money effectively.

Decide Whether a Student Loan is Right for You

Deciding whether a student loan is right for you can help you to prioritise what you spend your money on. Many students in the UK are eligible for a student loan, which can help to pay for tuition fees as well as accommodation and other student necessities. Some students may also be eligible for certain bursaries, which do not need to be repaid. Taking out student loans if you are eligible can take away some of the stress of studying and help you to cover some of the major costs associated with going to university. Furthermore, you can also ask your university whether it offers bursaries for low-income students, you can apply for government loans or you can look for the best private loans based on your income level.

Look Out For Student Discounts

Many activities, from transport to dining out and shopping, often come with student discounts. This can help you to save a substantial amount of money over the course of your studies, particularly if you regularly travel home or eat out with friends and other students.

You will often need to show a student ID card in order to be eligible for a student discount. Make sure you are able to collect a card from your university to enable you to prove your student status and make the most of offers and deals. If you’re studying online, contact the university to ask how you can obtain your student ID card.

Study From Home

Studying from home can save you a lot of money in a variety of ways. For example, you could save money on commuting to and from university every day, or reduce the amount of money you might spend on food and drinks outside of the home. You can consider studying online for a degree, which can reduce tuition fees while giving you the flexibility to study from home. Studying an online MBA programme at Aston University, for example, can enable you to attain the degree you want while enjoying the perks of studying from home. It is an increasingly popular choice with first-time students, as well as postgraduate students and mature students returning to education after several years.

Avoid Getting Into Debt

Debt will mean that you have to make monthly payments to pay it off, creating additional costs that can start to interfere with your studies and put you under financial stress. If you already have debt before you begin studying, try to pay off some of the debt beforehand. If this isn’t possible, consider contacting a debt helpline to find out how you might be able to put your debt on hold while studying. You may be able to reduce payments or commit to paying off the debt after you graduate.

Avoid getting into debt while studying, and if you need money for an emergency, ask trusted friends and family or look for credit cards that are offered specifically for students. Student credit cards will often have a lower credit limit, which means you can’t get into huge amounts of debt. Many banks also offer a lower interest rate for student credit cards, helping you to keep monthly costs lower.

Find a Housemate

Living on your own while studying can be financially impossible and cause stress and anxiety when trying to manage your finances. If you’re moving away to study or your income is being reduced while you’re studying, find a housemate who can split the rent and household bills with you. Many students choose this option as it enables them to save a huge amount of money each month. Finding another student can also reduce other household bills such as council tax.

Track Your Spending

Keeping track of your spending can help you to understand more about your spending habits and see where you can make savings. It can help you to monitor your spending if you’re making large purchases, or help you to see where smaller purchases really start to add up over a few weeks. You can keep track of your spending either by using an online platform or app, or by keeping a note of it using a pen and paper.

Sign Up For Student Deals

Some websites and companies offer deals especially for students. You can sign up to receive notifications and alerts when new deals become available, which can help you to stay up-to-date with all the latest savings on the market. You may be able to save money on subscription services and streaming services, shopping for books and clothes, and buying new electrical devices. Look online and ask friends for their top tips on how to save money and make the most of student deals.

Don’t Buy More Than You Need

When it comes to clothing, kitchenware, food and more, many people have a tendency to buy more than they need. This can create a surplus in your home, and it can also mean that you’re spending money on things you don’t necessarily need. Rather than buying a large quantity of food each week, assess how much you really need to buy. Don’t buy enough food to cook every day of the week if you plan to dine out for two or three days. By being honest and accurate about what you do need, you can help to manage your funds better while studying and save money in the process.

Being a student can take a lot of money away from you and make it feel impossible to ever save any money. But certain habits can help you to manage your money and keep on top of your finances in a better way.

Lifestyle

Skills you need to become a successful voice actor

ByCFI.co Blogger

Voice acting is a great career choice for people who have a good voice and the ability to control it. Being a voice actor means you get to audition for and work on various projects like voicing over an infographic, being a character in an animated film, narrating for a movie, or commercial.

Skills you need to become a successful voice actor

Besides providing voiceover, an artist might also function as an actor taking on audiobooks, podcasts, radio spots, or public announcements.

However, becoming a voice actor is not an easy task since it requires a lot of patience, hard work, and training. From afar, people might think voice over is an easy job because it appears that all you need to do is talk, but that is not the case.

To become a professional voice actor, one needs to possess specific skills and train their voice to deliver versatile performances.

So, how do you become a voice actor?

Firstly, you need to possess vocal talent and develop it further. Investing in private coaching, signing up for workshops or going to conferences will help you nurture your talent.

After honing your skills, the kinds of projects you are hired for depend on your skills and personal branding. Moreover, the voice acting industry is commonly based on the freelance business model where voice talent work from home and do all their auditioning from a home-based recording studio.

Once you have established your name in the industry and have some clients, you can enjoy the benefits of flexible working hours, great monetary benefits, and the opportunity to be your own boss.

Here are some of the skills you must develop to become a successful voice actor.

Enunciation

Enunciation is different from pronunciation as it is more about pronouncing the words. Voice actors must have good enunciation to make their vocal delivery clean and distinct. If you are not good at enunciating, your vocal delivery may lack the proper impact. Mastering this skill could be challenging, but it is essential to learn.

If you wish to improve your enunciation, certain exercises and tricks can help.

One must enunciate well as it can increase the chances of landing a commercial voice acting gig. Companies trying to sell something over the radio often require those who enunciate well.

Must have a wide emotional range

The voice actor must possess a remarkable emotional range; you need to have mastery over your voice so that you can properly connect with the audience. Emotions are easily heard in the voice, and when an actor expresses the right emotion, it can make the whole delivery much more impactful. Besides, one needs to have an emotional range to work in different roles and projects.

For instance, a commercial might require you to sell a product, while another might require you to narrate an entire audiobook. Both projects need different emotions and delivery styles, so being able to switch between emotional states will be helpful to booking a variety of work.

Natural timing and delivery

Listeners can easily tell if a voice actor’s delivery is off.

Voice acting is acting. Since you’re not on camera, use your voice to the best of your ability to paint the picture for your audience.

Speaking in a natural tone and pacing your voice may be hard to achieve in the beginning. However, as your career progresses and with practice, you will deliver with greater conviction and control.

Moreover, rehearsing a specific script may help improve the delivery for a better impact.

Voice coaches often recommend actors use their body language as it helps make the delivery seem more natural.

Consistency is the key

Your tenth project would be better than your first, and the twentieth project would be better than the tenth. The more you practice, the more voiceovers you do, the better you will become.

Voice coaches also recommend some exercises to improve your voice, and you must do these exercises regularly to maintain your voice. It might require more than one take to deliver a perfect performance, but you must be persistent about providing the best as an artist.

Training and development of skills are essential to enjoy the benefits of this profession. So, to answer the question, “How do you become a voice actor” one must develop their skills, learn from an experienced voice acting coach, and market themselves to become relevant in the industry. Once you develop the basics, you can learn and polish your skills as you progress in your career.

Technology

SEG, Colorado School of Mines sign landmark agreement to create Samarkand International Technical University in Uzbekistan

ByCFI.co Blogger

NEW YORK (Dec. 10, 2021) – Sanoat Energetika Guruhi LLC (SEG) and Colorado School of Mines (Mines) have signed an agreement to create an international, English-speaking, American-model university in the Samarkand region of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

SEG and Mines, one of the world’s leading engineering institutions, will collaborate on the establishment of the private university as part of a national programme of improvements to the Uzbek education system.

Samarkand International Technical University (SITU) will educate students to the highest international standards, and train personnel in areas such as mining, metallurgy, gas chemistry, petrochemicals and mechanical engineering, as well as entrepreneurship and leadership.

The mining and energy sectors make up a significant share of Uzbekistan’s GDP. As the country’s ambitions in the mining and energy sectors continue to grow, there is an acute need to develop local skills and expertise to answer the demands of the new economy. It is anticipated that SITU will train specialists for oil and gas facilities in Uzbekistan, including energy projects in the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, the Gas Chemical Complex MTO in the Bukhara region, Fergana Oil Refinery, and the Tebinbulak and Temirkan metallurgical projects and others.

“For the new Uzbekistan, which is on the path of political and economic modernization and is successfully carrying out deep socio-political and socio-economic reforms, it is important to increase scientific and academic cooperation and integrate into the international educational system,” said Bakhtiyor Fazilov, SEG’s majority shareholder. “Human capital is the driving force of any positive change, and it is via the implementation of such projects we will provide local businesses and the state with scientific talent and highly qualified personnel to achieve their goals.”

“Colorado School of Mines is honored to contribute our nearly 150 years of expertise in earth, energy and environment toward the creation of Samarkand International Technical University,” said John Bradford, vice president of global initiatives at Colorado School of Mines. “To meet the demands of the global energy transition, we need more scientists and engineers who understand the technical, social, policy and environmental challenges of resource extraction, not just in the United States but around the world. Mines is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the responsible stewardship of the Earth’s resources, and building a school from scratch, as we are with SITU, is an exciting opportunity to rethink engineering education for the 21^st century.”

SITU will offer a broad range of STEM-focused programmes at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level. The university will operate various centers for professional development, including a center for the culture and history of Uzbekistan. Education will be provided according to Mines’ programs and curricula.

Under the agreement, which was signed last week in New York, Mines will help initially to develop the university’s Academic Master Plan and curriculum, provide recommendations on campus infrastructure, and assist in the hiring of SITU’s executive leadership and faculty. Mines will also support the creation of an innovation center and laboratory modeled on its McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The idea of creating an English language educational center of international format and standards in Uzbekistan in the fields of mining, metallurgy and oil and gas was advanced by Fazilov to contribute to the state’s program of improving Uzbekistan’s education system and ensuring sufficient supply of world-class engineering personnel. SITU has already received the support of Uzbekistan’s leadership and the Mayor’s Office of the Samarkand region, which has allocated land in the suburbs of the city for the university’s campus.

About SEG

Sanoat Energetika Guruhi LLC (SEG), formerly Jizzakh Petroleum, was established to accelerate the development of the energy sector in Uzbekistan. SEG has the rights to exploit 105 oil fields in Uzbekistan. The company has experience of successful cooperation with such international companies as Gazprom, Amec Foster Wheeler (Wood), Axens and others.

About Colorado School of Mines

Colorado School of Mines is a public university focused on science and engineering, dedicated to educating and inspiring students, advancing knowledge, and innovating to address the great challenges society faces today—particularly those related to earth, energy and the environment. Founded in 1874 with specialties in mining and metallurgy, Mines’ scope and mission have expanded to meet the needs of industry and society, producing distinctive graduates and revolutionary innovations, and becoming a world leader in advancing sustainable use of the Earth’s resources.

Banking

Methods to Improve Digital Banking Experience

ByCFI.co Blogger

Digital banking is a combination of mobile and online banking. Customers expect banks to create a banking experience culture that cultivates trust, nurtures their needs, customizes and surpasses expectations. A digitized banking experience ensures easy access across multiple devices, enhancing accessibility. Using live assistance tools like video chat and co-browsing, banks can provide real-time support, building loyalty.

Methods to Improve Digital Banking Experience

Customers want relevance and customized service. Using CRM software, banks gather insights into the customer journey, helping them deliver customer support. Digital banking safety is a significant concern for many customers. This is why banks should make customers feel secure when sharing personal information online. Here are ways to improve the digital banking experience.

Offer digital onboarding

Customer onboarding starts with applying a new account or service and goes on until the customer is fully engaged. While some banking institutions have part of their process digitized and require physical engagement to complete onboarding, consumers expect ease of completion and use security, digital documentation, and authentication capabilities that will streamline the whole process. When you integrate an ID card scanner into your apps and websites then combine it with optical character recognition technology, ID data is gathered and auto-filled in no time.

Promote mobile selling

As consumers continue to embrace digital banking channels, many in-person sales opportunities are also going digital. Consider personalizing product and service messages then make it possible for clients to purchase through a digital channel mainly because mobile access exceeds branch visits. Need-based services powered by advanced analytics are the way to go.

Include a real person option

Automated customer service options have become standard across several industries. While most of these services can only assist with the most basic requests, providing customers with real-time customer services when they can’t find what they want or have complex issues they need to be solved can boost their digital banking experience. You also include a live chat option for real-time assistance.

Leverage big data and analytics

To gain a sustainable competitive advantage with digital banking experience, understand your customers. Look at your customer’s banking experience and leverage the available data to improve the retail banking experience. Through analytics, banks can access insights to evaluate opportunities, segment customers, and enhance the customer experience for digital banking experience.

Keep mobile apps up-to-date

As customers continue to embrace mobile banking, banks should ensure that the experience is safe and seamless. Constantly updating banking apps allows you to get rid of old and dysfunctional features for more improved, secure, and fast-performing mobile services. Up-to-date mobile apps have fast loading times, improving user experience.

Talk to customers

Banking experiences are all about the customer. This is why they shouldn’t second guess the kind of experience customers want. To improve the digital banking experience, consider asking your customers’ perception of your services and what you can do better. You can survey email or leave a form on the mobile app for your customers to fill in whenever they log on. This can give you a lot of insights that you can use to customize the digital customer experience.

Endnote

Digital banking technology has streamlined most of the processes, making it easier for the consumers. Customers hold the key to success for banks. This is why every digital banking experience should be customer-centric.