Google+ page for local businessIf you are looking for a new way to engage your local customers, using Google+ is one of the best ways to interact with them. Google provides a places listing for all the businesses that are legally registered. Some already appear in the search engine directory while others might be too new to appear. It is a smart idea to claim your listing and update it with correct company information if you want to improve your online visibility. Organic search traffic is one of the essential ingredients to building a solid website. Establishing your companies Google+ profile and linking it with your local page is an easy way to increase your visibility. Did we mention it is free to set up your companies Google + profile? This is just another reason why it is so important to get started with your Google + page for local business efforts.The BasicsLet’s walk through the basic setup process first. You will need to claim your listing, and verify your website and email address. Google will send you a code that you need to validate with them when you claim your listing. This code will arrive in the mail in a few weeks. While you wait for the validation code, you do have other options you can follow to get the page up and running. You need to include as much information as possible when you are filling out the profile information. After you have everything set up, start searching for people to add to your circles. Every time you have a new update to your page, your circles will receive a notification. This is a great way to keep your brand’s image relevant in the search engines. When you get a large circle following, you will start to see people share your company information with others. Connect with the local influencers to really build your audience. Local influencers can help you gain a high amount of visibility, and really do boost your credibility. Include all contact information to boost your Google + business page, as this information is indexed and will appear in the search engine results.Understanding Google + LocalThe Google + Local directory has replaced the “places” listing of the past. If you previously claimed your profile and filled out the information, it has automatically transferred to the new Google + Local page. You will need to do a few updates to make it look nice. According to Google, over 40 percent of their searches are done with a local intent. What this means for your business is that you’d better get your profile information filled out quickly as you could be missing out on a lot of potential customers. Once you fill out all the profile information, view your profile as a customer. Did you include your website, phone number, mailing address, and other relevant information? Encourage your customers to leave reviews, as this is one of the things that will really help your Google + Local page. Customers can rate your company based on a 5 star system, and they can leave a detailed review of their experience with your company. Potential customers often read reviews before they trust a new business. Having too many poor reviews can hurt your reputation. Having too many 5 star “excellent” reviews can also hurt your reputation as people can be skeptical that you are making up these reviews yourself. It is important to have legitimate reviews from your customer’s to obtain a fair rating.Enhancing Your PageWith a large number of customers using their mobile devices to find companies, it is a good idea to take your Google + Local page one step further by adding mobile offers. Google will allow you to add one free offer, and you can pay for additional ones if you want multiple offers. You are limited on the amount of text you can add to your offer, so use the right wording to keep it to the point. Pictures are another thing you need to add to your Google + Local page. Pictures allow you to tell a story to your customers, and often give you more visibility with the customers compared to words alone. Continue updating your company information with new offers, pictures, and posts. Google will reward local businesses that are active with their profiles. Google knows when a search has local intent, so take the time to get your information filled out to improve your visibility with a local audience.
Do You Really Know What Business Marketing Is?
There are countless books and courses on marketing and how to do it properly. You’ve probably read or attended some yourself. But, do you feel like you have a good grasp of marketing?Do you fully understand all the processes involved and how to best apply them to your company? When all the cards are on the table, most small-to-medium businesses don’t. Or at the very least, they understand these concepts.What Is Business Marketing?
Everything a business does, everything you do to sell products and services – is marketing. Every decision you make, if it’s about how to put your products or services in the hands of consumers, is business marketing.The foundations of marketing are relatively easy to explain and understand. But mastering these essential concepts can mean the difference between success and failure.You don’t have to micromanage all marketing that your business does. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to hire a professional. However, that doesn’t replace the need to have a solid knowledge of marketing strategy. Business owners should always have a proactive role in their company’s marketing tactics.Essential Components of a Good Marketing Strategy
Not all marketing concepts will apply to every business. Some will be more relevant than others, but as an entrepreneur you should be familiar with all of them.Inbound Marketing
Think of inbound marketing as your workhorse.It’s a set of marketing tactics designed to maintain a steady influx of customers into your sales process. This isn’t about pushing your brand to generate leads or direct conversion.Inbound marketing uses various channels in creative ways to reach as many people as possible. Tools such as SEO optimization and social media channels are ideal for this type of marketing. The goal is to drive high volumes of quality traffic that can convert through brand engagement in the long run.Direct Marketing
If inbound marketing is your workhorse, think of direct marketing as your racehorse.Direct marketing includes sales tactics designed to produce an instant response. Things like calls to action in online or broadcast media fall into this category.Regardless of what else you do, direct marketing is an important part of any marketing strategy. It allows you to instantly measure success or failure based on response rates.Knowing how people are responding to one offering versus another is crucial.Outbound Marketing
This is where the rubber really meets the road.In outbound marketing, you’re reaching out to prospects and basically saying “buy from me.” This is typically what people think of when they hear the word marketing.Outbound marketing includes sales calls, print ads, broadcast ads, door-to-door sales and much more. Any activity in which you’re reaching out to potential customers with an offering figures into this definition.Though a staple in countless marketing strategies, it’s not very effective. It’s hard to figure out if it’s really working and people are getting savvier and blocking the majority of this type of marketing.Content Marketing
This is the new-old way to market.Most smart businesses realize that people are OK with marketing, as long as they get something in return. For example, if you create great content, consumers will be happy to hear from you.Therefore, every channel you have should start by giving value in return for your customers’ attention.Social Media Marketing
It is inescapable, omnipresent, and pervasive.Marketing is about getting attention. If you can’t get people’s attention, you have no one to market to.The biggest attention vacuums nowadays are social media platforms. It goes without saying that any marketing strategy that doesn’t include social media, is off to a bad start.Start with Solid Foundations
Each of these components has its own place in the puzzle. Some may be more important to your business than others. But only by understanding them all can you find your way out of the marketing madness.Don’t be a passive business owner. Take charge of your marketing strategies and stop wasting resources on marketing that doesn’t deliver.
Boys’ Clothing – Trends
Trends in boys’ clothing have followed the same trends in fashion generally. There are wonderful collections based on sports gear that is primarily worn as fashion items rather then for specific activities though the influence within that sector has been through the sports celebrities and the recent coverage of the Olympic games. Just as men’s clothing copies the style and fashion of frequently photographed sports stars, so does boys’ clothing. Cycling gear and running gear that incorporate integral pockets for gadgets like MP3 player or iPod headsets are attracting buyers who neither run nor cycle.Football kits have been a major influence on boys’ clothing. Not only is the current shirt a must-have for a football fan of a particular club but merchandise that includes T-shirts, trainers with the club crest, track pants from leading sports brand manufacturers and sweat top, fleeces and hoodies are all available in team colours and players’ numbers. Beckham, Ronaldo and several others are often seen emblazoned on the back of a boy’s shirt. Other sports personalities outside football like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer too have influenced the types of clothing hitting the rails for those who want a smart but casual look where they can claim their attire is just like ‘that famous golfer/tennis player’ who does the razor ads.Outdoor wear has become popular as skateboarding and surfing clothes have joined the ranks of hikers and mountaineers in specialist shops providing reinforced, durable clothing with features that include sweat wicking layers, socks with anatomical pads for greater comfort and protection against blistering from rubbing or crinkling, jackets in lightweight microfibre and footwear that can cope with rocks, concrete and hostile environments. Bright colours have evolved not only as fashion statements but also as a high visibility safety component. Industry names like Billabong, Animal and Bench have a certain cachet; their use of striking contemporary artwork makes their items stand out and many who like to relate to the laid-back easy-going attitude of the daredevils who practice the sports associated with their products seek them out. There are still the naturals and neutrals for those wishing to blend into the environment they are exploring, whether it’s the mountains or the forest and woodlands or the sea and these have also influenced the military/camouflage look that is currently so popular with many boys who like to recreate the ‘skins’ of their heroes from console games.The music scene, most recently hip-hop, has always been a great influence. Today low-rise jeans with baggy fit are still sought by boys wishing to emulate the fashion of their music heroes. Oversized T-shirts, baseball shirts and basketball vests are popular and accessorised with ‘bling’ jewellery, baseball caps or beanies. Headwear itself has taken off, apart from those items already mentioned there are various styles of baseball caps with different depths of peaks, bush-hats and cowboy hats, bandanas and dough-rags to wear on your head that replace the bobble caps of old.Music, movies, games and sport provide the major influences that are on trend today with designers playing with new fabrics and going retro, nostalgic or futuristic as their whim takes them.
Opt For Preventive Care To Reduce The Cost of Healthcare
People often do not prioritize their health and visit the hospital or their doctors while detecting some disease-causing symptoms in their bodies. However, preventive care is the best possible way everyone can undertake and cease the risk factors before the symptoms become dangerous and life-threatening. The following article will focus completely on preventive health care and how it helps reduce further costs involved with healthcare.
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What is Preventive Care?
Preventive health care or prophylaxis involves the measures that people consider for preventing any diseases. The form of healthcare includes utilizing medical services or precautions that fight against the potential health crisis. It is the most important step that people can adopt in better management of their health.
Several factors such as genetic predisposition, lifestyle, environmental factors, and disease agents affect people’s health. Hence, everyone must undergo periodic health check-ups and screening tests from the doctors.
People opt for preventive health care for maintaining better health, and eliminating the disease becomes serious. Preventive care in conjunction with medicines will save a patient from health breakdown and save money from future expenses, especially if the patient is suffering from a chronic disease.
What are the Preventative Care Services?
Here are some of the examples of preventive health care services, along with their frequencies. ·
Annual Check-up (1 per calendar year): During the annual check-up, the doctor or Primary Care Provider (PCP) checks all areas of a person’s health, including physical and psychological. Examining the patients in detail helps in detecting any health care concerns in the early stages.
· Flu Shot (1 per year): Most health plans include flu shots and protect the patients from all strains of flu viruses.
· Mammogram (1 calendar year, after the patient attains the age of 40 years): Patients over the age of 40 must undergo routine x-rays of breast tissues and check for signs of cancer and other abnormalities. Some health plans might cover the costs of 3D imaging. ·
Colonoscopy (usually once in every decade after the age of 50) for detecting colon cancer.
· Vaccinations, including boosters for such as measles, rubella, polio, etc. administered during childhood.
Preventive health care helps keep people productive and active, enabling them to earn well during their senior years. Studies show that approximately 35% of people have to consider early retirement, even before they are financially ready. Opting for affordable, preventive care helps in reducing the numbers.
Why Should Patients Opt for Preventive Care?
Access to preventive health care helped reduce healthcare costs among Americans, as the physicians can prevent or treat the disease before the patient needs emergency room (ER) care. Almost one-third of costs in America include hospital care, which is undoubtedly very expensive. In 2010, 21.4% of adults paid at least a visit to the emergency room, which reduced to 18.6% in 2017. Adults not having affordable access to preventive care are more likely to pay a couple of visits to the emergency room.
Statistics show that 7% of the adults in the age group of 18-64 paid visits to the ER in 2014, as they had no other option, regardless of their health insurance status. About 77% of Americans went to the emergency rooms due to complications in their health, including those whose doctors advised them for emergency room care. Approximately 15.4% of uninsured adults in 2014 are more likely to use the emergency room, as they lacked other providers.
Undoubtedly, the cost of ER care for uninsured patients was extremely high. Hospitals provide care, even if the patient fails to provide fees for their services. As hospitals must recover the cost, they shift to Medicaid and health insurance premiums, which increases the healthcare cost for everyone.
Impact of Preventive Care Cost on Health Care Costs
Chronic diseases are the major leading cause of death among people, either preventable or manageable with regular visits to health care. These include:
· Heart diseases
· Cancer
· Stroke and
· Chronic lower respiratory diseases
Poor nutrition and obesity are the leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Genetics and smoking lead to lung cancer, which is the most common type of cancer. Obesity also risks several other forms of cancer.
Treating these chronic diseases is expensive, even before they reach emergency room status. Approximately 90% of the 3.5 trillion USD includes health care expenditures for people suffering psychological problems and chronic diseases. Patients who never went for preventative care or did not have any prescription coverage failed to afford the treatments, screenings, regular check-ups, and medications that would manage the underlying conditions of the disease. Instead, they head up to the emergency rooms with cases of strokes, heart attacks, and other complications.
However, with regular access to affordable, preventive care, the patients were more likely to discover and manage their chronic conditions. Doing so lowers the chances of visiting the emergency rooms and investing more into expensive treatments for those diseases, which passed regular management. With the decrease in the expenditure for treatments, the overall healthcare cost also decreases for everyone, as the hospitals no longer try to cover the treatment cost of the uninsured patients.
When and What Preventive Health Care is the Most Suitable?
A patient’s primary health care provider will help him or her coordinate the most suitable shots and tests. While analyzing the beneficial shots, the health care provider will consider certain aspects such as family history, age, sex, current health status, and several other factors.
Conclusion
Preventive health care often covers 100% of health plans and offers the patients several benefits both in cost and health. However, if the patient experiences doubts or are in dilemmas about the things covered and tests conducted, he or she must communicate with the physician at the earliest.
Everyone knows, “health is wealth.” If a patient is healthy, he or she will perform the best. However, it is also important to adopt a healthy lifestyle, reducing the risk factors and saving the patients from spending money on medicines.