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What Is The Difference Between A Traditional Entrepreneur And A Serial Entrepreneur?

The very first and most important difference between the two types of entrepreneurs is their passion.

A traditional entrepreneur does not have the same passion as a serial entrepreneur about starting up multiple business projects at the same time.

Here are a few characteristics of a serial entrepreneur that makes them different from a traditional entrepreneur:

They Are Enthusiastic

Serial entrepreneurs are very enthusiastic about their business ideas and, therefore, make the efforts to make their idea successful.

For instance, when they get a new venture idea, they start working on the business strategies to make it happen. They utilize their resources, including their capital, to start the new venture.

They are very enthusiastic about their new business idea, which drives them to work hard in the same direction.

Once their new venture starts to show progress, they tend to move on to another idea, while having a team handling the current venture.

They Are Not Only Driven By Money

A serial entrepreneur is not only driven by money goals. 

This does not mean that they do not want to earn profits, but they don’t just focus on monetary gain.

Because they have so many ideas and have strategized their business plans, the only thing that they have on their mind is how to make their business idea a successful hit.

That is what drives them. They want to make their startup a success story. And once they have achieved this, they move on to their next business idea.

They Are Super Connectors

Serial entrepreneurs are great at networking and connecting with people, as well as connecting other people together.

As a good networker, they believe we have two ears and one mouth and should use them each proportionately. They listen to people’s needs and concerns and find opportunities to help them.

To really build an empire you have to be able to build authentic relationships with powerful people and be able to bring value to each one of those people. 

They Fail, But Try Again

Playing with new business ideas is a big deal. A traditional entrepreneur might not be very sure about investing their money and time in a new business idea as they might fear the downfall.

A serial entrepreneur, however, is courageous and takes the challenge of starting a new venture and giving it a try in the business market.

They strongly believe in their idea and their own ability to make their multiple ventures work. And, therefore, this helps them analyze the market conditions and take business decisions accordingly.

They Are Good Team Players

Being a serial entrepreneur does not mean that you have to be the only person leading the business idea.

It is good to be a team player and take help from people or partners that can, in turn, help you achieve your goal of turning your new business idea into something successful.

For instance, if you have an idea which is related to an industry about which you don’t have enough knowledge or don’t have the expertise to practically exhibit it, then the best way would be to team up with someone who knows that industry in and out.

Here, you will not only benefit from their expertise in that area, but you will also learn so much from them, which will help you in your business future.

They Utilize Every Resource Efficiently

A lot of people running small scale businesses want to be the only ones running their own business.

They don’t want to involve other people as they would have to pay them. But serial entrepreneurs take the chance and utilize all the resources available to them.

There are so many freelancers in the market who are willing to carry out major jobs for your business. You can hire them at a very minimal fee rate, and they can actually help you make your work a lot easier. And this is exactly what a serial entrepreneur uses to the fullest.

For instance, they might hire a freelance social media manager who will manage their Facebook or Instagram handles, making your social media presence active and up to the mark.

They Are Innovators

A new business idea doesn’t always turn out to be a unique idea.

However, you can make innovations and turn something ordinary into unique. And that is exactly what serial entrepreneurs do if they have an idea and see that this idea already exists in the market.

Serial entrepreneurs try to bring about some innovation that would make their idea more unique or to help build something that doesn’t yet exist. That is the reason why they are called innovators.

They Are Strategists

To run multiple businesses at the same time requires strategies to manage all of them. You cannot start a new business and expect it to run on its own.

You need a strategy, a business plan that would help your new venture grow.

Serial entrepreneurs, after experience, of course, understand the importance of strategizing their business ideas in a way by hiring the relevant staff that would help them cope up with their different business ventures.

If They Can do it, You Can Too

Some entrepreneurs feel that they won’t be able to achieve the success that they aim for. But if you look at all the success stories around you, you would be motivated to be like them, or even better than them.

Such an example is of Oprah Winfrey, who is one of the living legends of Serial Entrepreneurship. She appeared as a TV anchor and eventually set up ‘Harpo Productions, Inc.

She is famously known for her talk show, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, and has been a source of inspiration for many serial entrepreneurs. She is not only the co-founder of a famous cable station by the name ‘Oxygen’, but has also set in motion her ‘OWN’ Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011.

Wrap Up

Setting up a successful business does not come easy for anyone. It requires a lot of hard work and team effort to make it reach its full capacity.

If you have a new business idea and want to experiment with it, you need to be confident about your abilities to make it happen. You cannot start something when you are unsure about it.

So be confident about your business idea and believe in yourself. You can do it!

If you would like to have more conversations like this, check out The Entrepreneur Cooperative.  It’s our group of inspiring entrepreneurs helping other amazing entrepreneurs connect with each other and get through the difficult times life throws at us!

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Creative Google Advertising Ideas

Creative Google Advertising Ideas are challenging. However, it’s well worth it to have a solid strategy.

With around 3.5 billion searches per day, Google gives you an incredible opportunity to get in front of the right audience. Of course, you first need to know what you’re doing. 

If you’ve been looking for ways to get the most out of your Google ad campaigns, this article is just for you. 

Before we get to strategy, let’s first understand what Google ads are. Google Ads (previously known as Google AdWords) is an advertising platform for PPC ads. With the right strategy, you can drive qualified traffic, connect with your target customers, and drive sales.

One of the platform’s best aspects is that it allows you to stick within your ad budget by setting your ads to stay within a certain daily, weekly, or monthly cap. You can also pause or completely stop the ads at any time. 

Sometimes in marketing, keeping a close eye on the budget can be a challenge. This flexibility allows you complete control over your budget.

If you’re not yet convinced about how effective the platform is, perhaps these numbers can give you more clarit.

It’s clear that Google ads can do wonders for your business and your bottom line.

The only questions now are: With so many marketers using the platform, how do you stand out in this virtual crowd? How do you create the right Google ads that get you in front of the right audience at the right time?

Let’s find out!

Tips for Generating Google Advertising Ideas

There are a lot of components involved in generating and executing successful Google advertising campaigns. Here are a couple of tips to set you on the right path:

Keyword Research

Keyword research is an essential element of your campaign. If you don’t get this part right, it will be challenging to achieve the results you’re looking for.

Below, we’ll talk more about keyword research for Google ads, but for now, it’s important to start generating some keyword ideas. To get started, you can use a tool like Ubersuggest

It’s a free keyword research tool that allows you to generate keyword ideas and look at some of your competitors and the keywords they’re using. 

Trend Forecasting

Predictions are an essential part of marketing. Before you start any campaign, it’s necessary to have some idea of what your success (or not) might look like.

Of course, the best way to predict this is with data.

Google Ads offers a keyword planner, which you can use to get forecasts for your chosen keywords. This planner can provide you with essential information, such as the number of clicks your ad might get every day, the average cost for those clicks, the number of impressions, the click-through-rate (CTR), and more.

With this information, you can start building a solid Google advertising campaign. 

Keyword research and trend forecasting are just a couple of essential steps to get started. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty, the strategies, and everything that can help make your campaign a success.

Top 10 Google Advertising Ideas

It’s time to get down to the good stuff: What are the Google advertising ideas that can help you reach your goals?

1. Write a Good Headline

John Caples once wrote: “If the headline is poor, the copy will not be read. And copy that is not read does not sell goods.”

There’s no denying the impact that a strong headline has on your audience. Of course, this is what convinces people to click on the ad!

Here are some basic pointers for writing strong headlines:

  • Understand your audience. Who are you speaking to? 
  • Include your main keyword.
  • Address a problem your audience is facing.
  • Highlight the biggest benefit in the headline.
  • Don’t overcomplicate things. Keep things simple.
  • Don’t be afraid to add some humour.

Creating a headline can be one of the challenging parts of the campaign. Sometimes, you just don’t know where or how to start. Consider following a strategy, like Melanie Duncan’s 4U formula, to create useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific headlines to help you get started.

2. Think About User Intent Before Diving into Google Advertising Ideas

When we research keywords, we tend to focus on the numbers. How much search volume does this keyword get per month? What’s the cost per click (CPC)? What about the paid difficulty?

While all these numbers are essential to consider, the most important element of a keyword strategy should be the user intent.

Why? Because user intent (sometimes referred to as “search intent”) gives you the “why” behind the keyword.

Why did your audience search for that particular keyword? Were they trying to purchase something, or were they just trying to get more information about it?

Understanding your audience’s intentions can help you discover which keywords are the best to target for higher ROI.

There are four different kinds of user intents:

  • Informational: This is when a user wants more information about a topic. For instance, “How many calories in a donut?”
  • Navigational: This is when a user wants to go to a particular web page. For instance, if you want to go to the Neil Patel blog, you type that into your Google search bar.
  • Commercial: This is when a user wants to research a particular product or service. This user will likely make a purchase in the near future, but right now, they are at the research phase. For instance, “New iPhone specs” or “iPhone vs. Samsung.”
  • Transactional: This is when a user wants to take action, like buy a product. For instance, “iPhone charger” or “cheapest flights from LA to Chicago.”

3. Advertise Limited Offer Sales

Any offer with a ticking clock naturally encourages your audience to act faster and purchase the product or service. That’s why limited offer sales work so well. 

In a nutshell, a limited offer sale is any deal, discount, or reward you offer to consumers who make a purchase during a certain period. 

An excellent example of this is Black Friday Sales. Every year, Black Friday sales seem to hit a new record, with consumers spending more and more. 

That’s because consumers know they’ll have to wait a long time before they can get the product at the discounted price again, so they’re encouraged to make the purchase quickly.

For your Google ad campaign, if you offer seasonal sales for any of your products, you can create ads around these sales and have them go live when your sale launches. 

4. Track and Use Google Advertising Data for Iterating

One of the most important elements of any successful advertising campaign is your KPIs. 

Depending on your ad goals, there are a lot of important metrics you can track, including: 

  • number of clicks 
  • CTR
  • CPC
  • conversion rate

Tracking your KPIs helps you know if you’re on track to meeting your goals or not.

For instance, if you see that you’re getting great clicks on your ads, but your CTR is on the lower side, it can mean your headline and keywords are getting you in front of your audience’s eyes. However, something about the ad isn’t connected.

It could be the copy. It could be the cost of the product or service. Maybe the headline doesn’t connect with the offer in the actual ad. 

Whatever the case, now’s the time to look into it and adjust what you need to.

5. Choose the Right Campaign Type for Your Google Ad

You can use one of five different types of Google ad campaigns for your Google advertising ideas. 

1. Search Ad Campaigns

2. Video Ad Campaigns

3. Display Ad Campaigns

4. App Ad Campaigns

5. Shopping Ad Campaigns

6. Perfect Your Landing Page

You’ve done all the hard work of creating a great headline, finding the right keywords, and bidding for them. 

While these steps may get you clicks, it’s what happens after your market has clicked that’s so important. As you know, they still need to buy into the product or service you’re selling.

Your landing page is essential because this is what your user sees as soon as they click on your ad. Ask yourself whether the landing page addresses your market’s pain points clearly. Besides just addressing, does it also solve your audience’s challenges?

There are many elements to creating a perfect landing page, including using testimonials, the right images, and shorter forms, to name a few.

For some inspiration, here are some examples of great landing pages:

From the above examples, you’ll notice that the landing pages are all simple and clear, and the copy and graphics immediately grab your attention. These are crucial elements of a successful landing page.

7. Make Your Google Ads Specific

Earlier, we mentioned the importance of understanding user intent when doing your keyword research because this helps you target the right keywords.

Now we want to highlight the importance of specificity. Your keywords shouldn’t be too broad as this might cause Google to place your ad in front of the wrong market. 

Naturally, this would lead to fewer conversions.

For instance, “nursery furniture” may seem like a good keyword at first, but you can do better by getting more specific. 

8. Target Your Google Ads

When trying to get the right Google advertising ideas, remember there are three keyword match types: exact, phrase, and broad matches.

9. Optimize Your Google Ads for Mobile

While creating your ads and coming up with creative Google advertising ideas, it’s important to keep in mind that many users are using their mobile devices for searches. 

Research shows that 61 percent of US Google visits happen via mobile devices. Most people are using their phones for searches, and it makes sense to keep these users in mind.

Optimizing your ads for mobile includes:

  • choosing responsive landing page designs
  • compressing images
  • making sure the loading speed is fast

These small details can make a huge impact on how your ads display in front of your audience and your overall conversion rate. 

10. Make Your Google Ads Available in Other Languages

It depends on the nature of your business, but if you have an international audience or you’re in a multi-lingual area, consider making your ads available in different languages to cater to your audience that may not speak or understand English very well.

This may seem like a little detail, but don’t forget that language is powerful and helps us communicate and connect. If you have a non-English speaking audience you’re trying to reach, help bridge the gap by making the Google ads available in their languages.

Conclusion

It takes a lot to generate great Google advertising ideas. While the process may be a lengthy one, it’s certainly worth it to see increased clicks and conversions.

Zoho

Zoho Books Review: Is It The Best Accounting Software For You?

Finding the perfect accounting software for your business is of the utmost importance.

After all, your chosen accounting platform will house all of your financial information and help you effectively this core piece of your business operations. So, you need a system that you can rely on, which meets your business requirements, and of course, is affordable.

With all of these things in mind, you may be considering a solution like Zoho Books.

Is Zoho Books the best accounting software for you? In this review, we’ll dive into the platform and help you decide whether it’s for you!

What is Zoho Books?

As part of the Zoho suite – which includes more than 40 integrated business operations apps – Zoho Books is the cloud-based accounting software to help businesses manage their finances, automate workflows, and work cross-functionally between different parts.

What is Zoho Books?

As part of the Zoho suite – which includes more than 40 integrated business operations apps – Zoho Books is the cloud-based accounting software to help businesses manage their finances, automate workflows, and work cross-functionally between different parts

What is Zoho Books?
What is Zoho Books?

While most Zoho’s products are enterprise-level, Zoho Books is catered towards small and mid-sized companies. It can be outgrown when your executive and finance teams grow beyond the 10 users provided.

Since Zoho introduced Zoho Books in 2011, it’s become one of the top players in the accounting market. The platform allows you to access your account whenever you have the Internet, as well as use your mobile accounting app for iOS and Android.

Related topics:

key features

Zoho Books key features
Zoho Books key features

It offers a lot of features, ranging from inventory management to a time tracker tool. This wide range of functions makes it an excellent fit for any type of business.

To be specific, Zoho Books provides the following features:

Accounts receivable

You can keep the money coming in with Zoho Books. The platform provides a powerful invoicing feature with high customization, automation, templates, encryption, and deposit capabilities. You can also generate estimates that seamlessly transfer to custom invoices or projects for added functionality.

Related topicWhat is an Invoice?

Once sent, your invoice will remind clients of unpaid balances, as well as allow for easy and fast online payment with credit card or ACH through the Zoho product payment gateway. Plus, recurring invoice features and saved payment details can make ongoing client relationships even easier.

Perhaps Zoho Books has the most outstanding international accounting features, such as fluid currency and localized editions. These features are catered to your specific business location while enabling you to do business across the world. Sales tax can be quickly assigned to customers and updates with your local rates, which is useful for recurring invoices.

You can add Zoho Subscription to effectively manage your recurring invoice and ongoing customer needs. You’ll get 20 subscriptions for free, then scale your payment plan for more users, more customers, and increase workflows.

Accounts payable

With this feature, it is easy to stay on top of your payables and know where your money is going. Zoho Books allows you to manage your business expenses with purchase orders that convert to bills with just a click, recurring bill setup, and vendor credit for returns in best accounting Software.

Sales orders, purchase orders, along with custom invoices help you manage procurement and payments for your business in a click. Besides, the automated workflow for expense tracking lets you monitor and categorize your financial transactions, while your balance sheets stay up-to-date.

Inventory management

It is hard to beat Zoho Books in tracking and managing inventory. The platform allows you to organize your own inventory with high levels of detail.

You’re able to set your reorder thresholds, and automate, so that purchase orders are sent to your suppliers when you dip below your required level of inventory. You can also adjust your inventory immediately when stock gets lost or damaged. Inventory is always up-to-date, and you can set up reports on your inventory status with a click.

Banking

Save time and frustration by allowing Zoho Books to automatically import and categorize your transactions by connecting your bank account and PayPal. Automations and bulk actions can make bank reconciliation fast and effective. The banking dashboard lets you see your finances at a glance and use visual reports to predict cash flow.

Note: Zoho Books works with Yodlee – an online banking solutions service provider – to import live bank feeds. This may violate the Terms and Conditions you have accepted with your bank. Therefore, remember to check with your banking institution to ensure that Zoho Books can access your banking before making the switch of our best accounting software.

Time tracking

Time tracking is essential for businesses, as they need to track various contractors and the hours spent on clients for accurate billing and planning. With Zoho Books, you can either log the amount of time spent on a project daily or weekly, or use its timer widget to clock the time you spend.

Beyond time tracking, you can also use Zoho Books to manage your projects. The platform makes it possible to control multiple projects by creating new projects, adding different tasks for each project, and assigning specific tasks to your employees.

Contact management

One of the most excellent aspects of Zoho Books is the contact portal. Customers, contractors, and vendors can be carefully managed and accessed in this portal, allowing you to quickly collaborate.

The client portal lets clients view estimates, invoices, project details, and other communications at a glance. Noticeably, they can comment or pay directly in the portal. You will get notifications when clients view or pay invoices, and you can even elicit testimonials or reviews of best accounting software.

Reports

Zoho Books can create more than 50 business reports with your business data to streamline frequent accounting tasks. Your dashboard will instantly present relevant financial data in a helpful visual way of best accounting software, and then you can generate any other reports you need.

Basic reports like balance sheet, cash flow, profit & loss can be automated to run and automatically land in your email at whatever frequency you prefer. Besides, tax liability reports will make tax season easier, and custom tags let you create specialized reports for sales or audits with whatever data you need.

Mobile apps

Mobile apps of Zoho Books are positively reviewed on the App Store and Google Play. If you’re doing a lot of business on the go, Zoho Books can offer much more in the way of mobile functionality. The Zoho Books app allows for:

  • Generating and sending invoices
  • Recording expenses
  • Multiple currencies
  • Accountant access
  • Quick business insights

Because Zoho Books is a cloud-based platform, you can subscribe straight from your device and access most of the software functionality – even without a computer.

Zoho Books ease of use

Zoho Books ease of use
Zoho Books ease of use

It’s quite easy to get started with Zoho Books. During the initial setup, you will be required to enter details of your business, including industry and business type. Then, you can add tax details. Next, enable the modules you’d like to use in your business, with multiple choices available. Lastly, you can connect to a collection of online payment apps. You can go back at any time and change the information you add during the setup.

Once you complete your initial setup, Zoho Books will show the getting started screen, offering a short video overview and your client portal name. It also gives you options to set up your opening balances and configure your bank feed and charts of accounts.

There is a vertical navigation bar on the left side, which provides drop-down menu access to all of Zoho Books’ features. All data-entry screens are easily navigated, along with a brief explanation about the feature you are using, making even novices satisfied.

Zoho Books security features
Zoho Books security features

Zoho Books takes strong security measures, including two-factor authentication, data encryption, regular virus detection, and prevention scanning. The company also complies with the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework.

Additional physical measures are also taken to ensure data security, such as 24/7/365 surveillance, bullet-resistant walls, video monitoring, and more. Zoho Books also backs up data frequently onto multiple servers in undisclosed locations.

You can visit Zoho’s website for a full list of security measures.

We are a small team of developers who are focused on providing great user experience with the best features.

Zoho Books integrations

Zoho Books integrations
Zoho Books integrations

If you’re already using some of Zoho’s other platforms, such as Zoho CRM or Zoho Inventory, it is pretty easy to integrate with your existing account. However, if you hope to integrate with other third-party platforms, it may not be the best for you.

Zoho Books has various platforms it can integrate with, but most of them are in the same category, such as tax filing or online payments.

Another thing to note is that Zoho Books recently launched a payroll platform called Zoho Payroll

. Nevertheless, as of January 2020, it is only available in India and two US states, Texas and California. Unlike other platforms, such as Sage and Wave, Zoho Books doesn’t offer integration with third-party payroll services.

Read moreHow to Integrate Zoho Books with Magento 2?

Zoho Books pricing plans

Zoho Books offers three pricing plans, which are affordable for even the tightest budget. You can sign up for a free trial period of 14 days of any plan. No banking or credit card information is required, and you’re allowed to cancel at any time.

Plus, subscription payments are made monthly, but you can receive a discount of two free months if you commit to a year-long plan. It’s possible to cancel the subscription at any time, even year-long plans (year-long users can receive a prorated refund).

Zoho Books pricing plans are as follows:

PlanPrice (per organization/ month)Key features
Basic$9– Up to 50 contacts
– 2 users
– 5 automated workflows
– Bank reconciliation
– Custom invoices
– Expense tracking
– Projects and timesheets
– Recurring transactions
– Sales approval
– Budgeting
– Zoho Sign Integration
Standard$19– Up to 500 contacts
– 3 users
– 10 automated workflows/ module
Everything in the Basic plan, plus:
– Bills
– Vendor credits
– Reporting tags
– Purchase approval
– Twilio integration
Professional$29– >500 contacts
– 10 users
– 10 automated workflows/ module
Everything in the Standard plan, plus:
– Purchase orders
– Sales orders
– Stock tracking
– Custom domain
– Vendor portal

Before purchasing Zoho Books, there are several extra costs to be aware of:

  • Extra Users. Additional users cost $2/ month/ user. Or, you can pay $20/ year/ user.
  • Snail Mail Credits. This helps you send invoices and estimates by mail directly through Zoho Books. The cost is $2/ credit. One credit is needed for US mail, and two credits are required for international mail.
  • Auto Scans. This allows you to scan receipts and documents to upload and store them in Zoho Books. You can buy 25 autoscans for $15/ month.

Zoho Books customer support

Zoho Books customer support
Zoho Books customer support

Zoho Books offers a number of customer service options, with informative and quick-to-help customer service representatives. To make everything even easier, nearly every support option can be accessed directly from within the platform.

Zoho Books’ customer support is available 24/5, from Monday to Friday. Here are all of the customer support options that Zoho Books offers:

  • Phone. You can contact Zoho Books via phone. Wait times are usually short, and representatives are generally helpful.
  • Email. You can also send Zoho Books a mail for help.
  • Webinars. You can sign up for weekly webinars to learn more about Zoho Books. It’s also possible to watch a prerecorded Zoho Books demo.
  • Knowledgebase. There is a comprehensive knowledge base, which features FAQs, help articles, blogs, videos, business guides, a welcome guide, migration guides, and a community forum. All of the necessary information is accessible right from within Zoho Books, and there is also a well-developed search bar.
  • Accountant finder. Zoho Books can help you find an account near you.

Pros and cons of using Zoho Books

Pros:

  • Quite easy to use
  • A wide range of features
  • Top-notch security measures
  • Affordable for small and mid-sized business
  • Robust mobile app features
  • Various and helpful customer support

Cons:

  • Limited integrations
  • Limited integrated payroll features (available only in India and 2 US states as of January 2020)
  • No fixed asset management
  • Transaction cap of 5,000