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How to Avoid Unpleasant Moments on Your Moving Day

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Life has become a journey. No! literally. With so many opportunities around, people are always moving; from one city to another and also between the countries. And we are not talking about holidays or business trips. It is short-term or long-term residency moving that we are featuring here.

With every move, you need to setup a home with basic amenities and facilities, unless you are staying in a hotel. Staying with a family needs a lot more arrangements than you would have to do if you are staying alone. This adds up a heavy task of packing when you have to relocate yourself with family. And since it has become a frequent lifestyle nowadays, it is better to pre-plan every move and avoid doing common & repetitive mistakes to save yourself from unpleasant moments.

Here are some unpleasant situations that might occur on your moving-out day and how to handle them:

  • New occupiers at the doorstep but no moving van

Sometimes there is a clash of your moving-out day with new occupier’s moving-in day. It will be very inconvenient for both of you to stand in dismal about what should be done since you are still waiting for your moving van to arrive. To avoid this condition, know the occupier’s schedule in advance and take a relevant time margin for moving out and loading your stuff.

  • A wrong estimate for a size of a moving van

There can be a mistake, from either end, in estimating the appropriate size of the moving van. This may end up stuffing up your precious belongings in a small van with everything squished together.

Some movers give an estimate based on the number of bedrooms in your home. Based on this, the different van sizes are recommended. Share as much details as possible with your movers about number of boxes, their sizes, other big stuff, etc. so that they know the exact status of your stuff.

  • A van which can’t fit down the street or a driveway

This situation may result in more back and forth trips for your moving van helpers, which in turn may shoot up the cost of moving services. To prepare yourself for this, try to assemble small boxes to someplace more accessible for thevan, with the help of your friends or family. You can hire a trolley or ask the service provider to carry one along with them at your site.

  • Didn’t monitor the careless loading 

It is disheartening to open your boxes at new home and see your favourite vase shattered in pieces. It may have happened due to the inattentive carrying of load to the van. Though the man with van services employ responsible professionals, it is still better to be attentive at your end. Make sure boxes with fragile items are marked with the label.

  • Forget to buy an insurance

Though insurance is not something you can just miss since a man with van company provides them online on their website.A proper checklist won’tlet you forget about buying an insurance. But what if you did miss? Look for the same day insurance policy provided by your mover’s company.

  • No door-to-door service

This is something you must ask in advance to prevent any last-minute surprises. Some man and van providers implicitly provide pick and drop service right inside your home while others ask for extra bucks to provide this luxury. Do not trust your intuition, rather ask them. This is why it is important to ensure that you get complete moving quotes from several companies before you sign a contract. These quotes ensure that there are no surprises and that everyone is on the same page about all the services that will be delivered.

  • Decided to pack on your own but it made moving all difficult

Moving out packing might be new for you; even the experienced ones can sometimes go wrong with packaging. The chances are that a box may open up due to loosing up of adhesive tape, causing a delay in the moving process. In case you are not confident about packing, take help of the professionals from your man and van company who can lend help in affordable prices.

  • Did not consult item list at the relocated location

The moving out process is tiring. By the time you reach your new place, you feel exhausted. Your mind and body just want to believe that finally it is done. At this time most of us forget to recheck if every single box has reached. Usually, the small items get misplaced while loading or transit.

The best way is to number each box while packing and at the end, just check for each number in the series and the total count.

  • Damage to your current home

This is the most frustrating situation. A mishandled box pulling out a big portion of paintwork from your professionally cleaned old place is a complete nightmare. Apart from being careful with every box being carried out of the house, you should check with your movers whether they provide insurance for such damage to the property.

The mistakes are unavoidable but at least you can try to minimize them as much as possible. If you have got an ample amount of time before moving out, spend each day with planning. There is no time like “it is too early to plan”.

Blockchain as the Future of Land Registry in Latin America

Leonardo Gonzalez Dellan argues that the future of Land Registry in Latin America is blockchain technology. “Efficient land registry is a key to increasing security of tenure and improving the productivity of the food production sector of Latin America,” he says. Evidence from Honduras and Brazil supports this conclusion, but any reform will not be easy.

Blockchain enables a distributed ledger system in which records are held by all computers in the network at the same time and every computer has to verify a transaction. It thus works as a notary system which would make Land Registers impossible to tamper with or alter. In Honduras there has been a concerted effort to introduce the Epigram system based on blockchain since 2016 and in Brazil, the Ubiquity platform recently completed a registry integration pilot in the Pelotas and Morro Redondo municipalities of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In both cases the pilots were successful, but the systems have not been adopted, instead they have been delayed or halted because opposition from the officials who would be displaced, and the costs associated with implementation.

In India, the United Nations Development Programme are piloting a similar project. The researchers on that project are hopeful: “The word blockchain often conjures up thoughts of cryptocurrencies, of people dabbling in a seemingly dark art, making tens of millions of dollars. Blockchain was first linked to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, but it is a technology that can enrich the lives of billions of people, in countless ways.

We believe it will have a huge impact in the developing world, helping uplift the poor and marginalised, aid in fighting corruption…and so much more.” As an international trade expert, Dellan argues that Latin American states “need to persevere with the technology, follow the lead of the UNDP and become early adopters of this ground breaking new way of protecting citizens and enhancing economic opportunity in the food production sector which we need to drive exports.”

Ashes into diamonds: A Highly Innovative Post Burial Option Changing the Face of Death in the UK

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With a total of over 600,000 funerals annually, the funeral industry in the UK is valuedat approximately £2billion with an estimate of 4,000 funeral directors at present offering cemetery, crematorium, embalming and mortician services.Due to popular demand for unique and customized ways to commemorate the deceased today, the face of industry is evolving to accommodate innovative post burial options such as ashes into diamonds.

Ashes into Diamonds: Immortalizing the deceased with a beautiful gem

Ashes into diamonds refer to synthetic diamonds born in the laboratory from the carbon extracted from the cremated ashes of the deceased. This process emulates the formation of natural diamonds in the earth’s mantleunder conditions of extreme temperature and pressure.

Here’s how expert ashes into diamond vendors like LONITE with an existing branch office in London, UK can turn the deceased into a stunning memorial diamond;

Step 1: The hair or cremated ashes are analyzed to determine whether they contain enough carbon to be turned into a diamond; about 200g of ashes or 10g of hair are required. The carbon content of ashes differs from case to case and the total contained carbon may or may not be enough for the ashes intodiamond creation process.

Step 2: The ashes are then placed in a specialized crucible and the crucible is heated to over 5000F to make sure every element except carbon oxidizes and then temperature is raised further so that carbon can become graphite.

Step 3: The graphite with a metal catalyst and a diamond seed crystal are placed into the core. The core goes into a specialized ashes into diamond press capable of creating extreme tension which then starts working thus bringing the pressure to about 800,000 pounds/square inches.

Step 4: During the last stretch when the press is working, the temperature in the room stays about 2500F so that the ashes turned diamonds become solid. Purification takes approximately 5,000 minutes for each ashes into diamond ordered.Impurities are removed and reduced to 1/500 of the original impurity content providing 4N purity (99.99%).

The craftsmanship of ashes into diamonds requires a combination of skills to create a memorial diamond from start to finish, namely; gemology which is the science dealing with identifying and evaluating natural and artificial gems, science and technology which requires the practical application of scientific knowledge, and art & design which requires conceiving and producing a plan for theashes into diamond before it is even made.

Why should people consider ashes into diamonds for the afterlife?

A diamond is a precious stone consisting of a clear and colorless crystalline form of pure carbon, the hardest naturally occurring substance. Commemorating the deceased into such a stunning gem not only immortalizes them into an everlasting legacy but also pays tribute to the kind of person they used to be.

Ashes into diamonds are safer for the environment compared to cemetery burials which release 10% more carbon dioxide in the long run. Excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results into suffocation of living organisms, narcosis and global warming altogether. Cemetery overcrowding, especially in the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets also poses a huge threat to the environment as gardening and the use of maintenance cleaning products pollute the underground waters.

Ashes into diamonds can be passed down from generation to generation on special life events within the family such as weddings and engagements, as an everlasting legacy to celebrate the life of the deceased and the kind of person they used to be.

Affordability compared to existing traditional practices. The average cost of a traditional burial in London is 4,257GBP with a 13% annual increase, a rate that is higher than that of inflation in the country whereas ashes into diamonds cost between 1,400GBP to 15,600GBP depending on the cut, size and color of your choice.

Ashes into diamonds are also possible for petswith the color, the cut and the size of your choice as well; Most people have at heart to pay tribute to their deceased petsfor their companionship while they lived and for being a big part of the family.The process of ashes into diamonds for pets, the technology used, and order process is the same as in humans and is possible for any type of animals: horses, birds, dogs, lizards and cats as long as you can provideat least 200gr of the pets’ ashes or 10gr of the pet’s fur.

Popular post-burial trends in the UK funeral industry besides Ashes into Diamonds

Besides the ashes into diamonds option, some of the unique and innovative post burial trends that are changing the face of the UK funeral industry include:

Ashes into a reef: The process involves putting the remains of the deceased into a cement mix before it is poured into the form which the coral grows on; this ecologically safe option helps to preserve and protect the marine environment.

Ashes into space:Here the ashes of the deceased are launched into space in a trip into orbit and back to earth or a one-way ticket on a more adventurous journey into deep space.

Memorial tree:The cremated ashes of the deceased are placed into an urn which is then planted in the ground; the urn naturally decomposes in the long run as the roots expand through the biodegradable urn resulting into the birth of a very beautiful tree.

Green Cremation: Here, a chemical process that uses water and potassium hydroxide alkali solution chemically heats the remains and what is left is a fragment of bones. When purified and dried, these tiny particles are the same as traditionally cremated ashes.

Ashes into ink tattoo:Here, a portion of the remains of the deceased are mixed with tattoo ink before it is applied to your body; reportedly there aren’t any health concerns involved.

How one chooses to send off a departed loved one is very personal and sometimes uniquely customized to suit their preferences. Each of the above post burial options are safe for the environment especially with the growing concern over toxins entering our groundwater from burial grounds. Ashes into diamonds and the many other available options also provide a convenient way to preserve the environment and honor your departed loved one with a unique legacy.

28 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales

Research demonstrates that smaller businesses, by and large, are not maximizing the benefit of their Internet presence.

29% of small businesses do not have a website, according to a study conducted in 2017 by Clutch (link). As Max Elman, the founder of Razorfrog Web Design, said in a statement released with the report:“No matter what type of business you run, if you have customers, it’s necessary to have some sort of information online, at least a page describing who you are and offering contact information. It’s essential to have this information indexed and shown to those looking for you.”

Image Credit: Clutch

New research by Approved Index, a B2B comparison site for business services has revealed the number of UK SMEs operating without a website and calculated the predicted uplift in revenue if they were to launch a new site, by industry sector and business size.

Key findings of the report include:

  • 1.98 million SMEs do not have websites, costing them over £343 billion each year
  • Introducing a website could equate to an average uplift in revenue of £173,769 per business
  • Small-sized businesses stand to make the largest growth in revenue – £106 billion per year if they introduce a website

Some entrepreneurs feel discouraged after working on several business listings without getting the results they had in mind at the start. The problem is that not all business directories live up to Google’s standards, causing them to get ignored by the search engine.

Let’s analyze another economical circle: the online battleground. What is the role of web directories today and are they worth your time and money?

Getting a website listed on a directory used to be a sure path to web traffic and success. However, all this changed as search engines developed, and since 2012 when Google released the “Penguin” update, the value of directories dropped significantly, however, “directories can still play an important role in helping drive referral traffic to your site as well as bolstering your SEO campaign” according to an article published by Search Engine People, an industry specific publication.

Matt Cutts, the former head of the web spam team at Google, said in 2012 (video), that submitting to directories are recommended, if the directory accepts quality sites and is not simply a free-for-all link site: “Does the directory reject URLs? If every URL passes a review, the directory gets closer to just a list of links or a free-for-all link site.” – Matt Cutts

Some of the foremost known web directories are the Yahoo! Directory and the DMOZ. The Yahoo Directory has been shut down since 2014 and DMOZ was shut down a few years later, on the 14th of March 2017. The AOL-owned directory, DMOZ, was no longer supported by AOL.

Quality web directories hire trained reviewers whose job is to evaluate submitted links and put them in the right categories.

Matt Hodgson, owner of Addme, a SEO company founded in 1996, concluded that when done the right way, directories such as Jasmine Directory are far more reliable than a typical search engine result because they are edited by real people who go through every link to determine whether it provides any relevant information.

For example, Jasmine Directory lists educational resources and allows users to submit businesses for easy access by visitors. This web directory has been in existence since 2009 (created as a collaborative university project). It is renowned for its high editorial discretion and features several categories including arts, business, computers, finance, games, health, home, kids & teens, news, recreation, reference, science, shopping, society, sports and regional.

Each of the categories includes fields, for instance, the Computers category feature internet, software, hardware, programming and so forth and the fields in turn list matching websites.

Benefits of Mobile Car Valeting Services

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For most people, cars are like their second homes. Busy lifestyles coupled with long commutes make them spend many hours while driving. For instance, you may have different appointments to attend, grocery shopping, and other cases in which you use your car to take your family out for fun or even visit your friends. Basically, your car endures a lot during the day.

Consequently, the car is bound to take a beating and accumulate clutter, dirt, and a lot of rubbish. Busy daily schedules may also mean that you lack time to get your car checked and cleaned regularly. The good news is that you can get mobile car valeting by Woshline or other outstanding car maintenance service providers in your region. Here are some of the benefits associated with mobile car maintenance services.

Get hassle-free professional car valeting services

Given the toll your busy schedule takes on your car, it’s likely to take a couple of hours to get it clean and neat. Mobile car valet Swindon allows you to keep your vehicle clean. The overall vehicle valeting process is excruciating and time-consuming as well. Not to mention the cost of acquiring the right car valeting supplies particular if you own two or more cars. Mobile vehicle valeting services eliminates the need to get these supplies and offers you access to the most reliable services. Besides, professional car maintenance teams handle your vehicle with utmost respect and care.

Most people think that these services are expensive, but you will be surprised to realize that you will be paying less when using mobile car valeting services. You don’t need to drive to a fixed care wash or purchase any product required in the cleaning process.

Save time

Time is among the scarce and highly valuable resources. You already know that visiting a car war take much of your time, something you may have especially if you have a busy schedule. Does this mean that you should neglect your car? Leave it unwashed for weeks or months?

Definitely not!

Mobile car valeting allows you to keep your vehicle clean and tidy while saving on the time. This is because the service provider comes to your current location and handle all the valeting activities there. You don’t have to be present while the car servicing is underway and offers you the convenience of focusing on important activities and travel in a clean car as well.

It’s worth mentioning that not every company individual providing these services deliver what they promise. Thus, you should focus on getting a valeting service provider that uses eco-friendly cleaning products and microfiber fabrics to dry the car. Such products can preserve your car body by keeping scratches at bay.

Besides, you should engage a highly skilled and experienced expert to clean your vehicle. Therefore, you should do some research before you pick a car valeting service provider. In addition to finding out the cost of the services, it’s good to analyze the availability of the service provider, the quality of the services they offer and their expertise in this industry. After all, you want the best value for your money.

5 Essentials of Starting a Pop-Up Restaurant

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Pop-up culture has taken over the hospitality industry in recent years; from a peanut butter fondue bar to a restaurant serving only tinned seafood, themed eateries are having a moment. The exclusivity that comes with a pop-up store’s limited run appeals to the modern shopper by maximising FOMO (fear of missing out), and offers the perfect opportunity for you to experiment with your own business.

There are a few different reasons you might be opening a pop-up restaurant: you may want to explore a new theme or new menu to test the response; you might be trialing a new location before expanding your business; or you might be starting a new business altogether to see if you have what it takes to make it as a chef.

Pop-ups can be open for as long as you want, whether this is just for a day, a weekend, or an entire season (seasonal pop-up bars are becoming increasingly common). But regardless of how long your restaurant will last, there are some essentials you need to consider. Here, we’ll outline the most important aspects, giving your business the best head start.

Choose the right location for your restaurant

Pop-ups can launch almost anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to pick a location. To have the most success, your pop-up needs to be based in an easily accessible location with high visibility and plenty of transport connections.

The restaurant itself needs to be large enough that it can host as many customers as you can feasibly cater to during the busiest time. Do your homework to make sure your pop-up won’t be in direct competition with any established restaurants nearby. Running a pop-up at a market filled with other pop-ups is an increasingly popular option, as customers in these areas will already be in the mood for something a little different.

Make sure everything is legal

While licensing laws change between councils and cities, you still need to make sure you complete the appropriate paperwork for your pop-up. For example, you’ll need a license if you’re planning on serving alcohol. Even if you choose the BYOB route, you may still need approval from the council. You will also need relevant licenses to play music for restaurants in the background.

Getting approval for these licenses can take some time, so it’s best to apply well in advance of your opening date. Find out which licenses you will need using the government’s helpful license finder.

Have enough room to cook your food

Regardless of what type of food you’re serving to your customers, you need the space to safely and quickly cook the meals. If you’re choosing to cook everything fresh on the premises, you’ll need to have the right equipment installed, and follow the relevant health and safety guidelines to protect staff and guests.

Another option is to cook some of your food off premises and transport it in every day, which could be helpful if your chosen location is on the smaller side. Instead of using your home kitchen—which likely won’t be big enough for your business—you can hire out a commercial kitchen. Some companies, like Dephna, offer commercial kitchens without the equipment installed, giving you the option to customise the space to suit your needs.

You may also need a commercial kitchen if you’re looking to launch a takeaway and delivery service. Having an extra kitchen allows your physical space to focus on serving customers visiting your pop-up, while a separate kitchen handles the delivery orders. This became more common in 2017, when delivery giants Deliveroo offered restaurants pop-up kitchen space dedicated to orders placed on the website. The scheme (previously known as RooBox) aimed to take away some of the pressure in the main restaurant, and the pop-up kitchens were conveniently located close to the city centre for speedier delivery times.

Ensure your marketing is as strong as possible

The beauty of pop-ups is that they’re temporary. Because of this, you to guarantee customers turn up from day one. Marketing your pop-up well in advance ensures people know about your restaurant, and can encourage them to turn up on the first day. You can do this on your own social media pages, or by collaborating with influencers to reach a wider audience.

Create banners for your website promoting your pop-up, and include click through links to the event registration page to encourage your customers to sign up for tickets. Setting up an event page on social media and issuing tickets, whether for free or at a cost, will remind guests that your pop-up is opening.

When you open a new restaurant, we know you want to offer people the best food, the best memories, and the best time. At Template.net, they have made a series of professional restaurant templates with original content for your greater ease. Now with our 100% customizable samples

Offering tickets to your guests also gives you the chance to get their details and any personal information you may want or need, such as dietary and allergen requirements. This also builds up a database of customers, which you can then email regarding business news and future plans, such as taking your pop-up to another city or launching a permanent store.

Hire staff with the right attitude

As your pop-up will only be open for a limited time, you have to ensure that every customer receives the best service possible, as it’s crucial to give the best impression. Your staff should share your attitude and passion for the business, and should have the drive to watch the business succeed.

Finding part-time or temporary staff with these qualities can be difficult, but it’s crucial to the success of your pop-up restaurant. One way to do this is through working with a staffing agency, who are experts in placing their staff in temporary positions, and will be able to find the right fit for your business.

Having excellent customer service can ensure that your initial customers keep returning for the duration of your pop-up and increases the chances they will spread word of your restaurant to friends, helping to grow your customer database. Having a dedicated customer base for a pop-up ensures that if you do ever relaunch at a later date, you will have returning customers, guaranteeing you some income from the start.

Whether you’re looking to expand your current restaurant business, or launching a brand new venture, pop-up restaurants are a great way to introduce your brand to new customers. If your pop-up does become popular, you can launch on a more permanent basis to grow your business even further.

Looking into building a retirement village? Here’s what you need to know

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Data from government agencies and the United Nations are showing an unprecedented increase in the world’s ageing population.  The older population is growing at an unprecedented rate, with 8.5% of global citizens who are 65 years old and older. This percentage is expected to increase to almost 17% in 2050. One staggering information is the fact that older people are increasing in proportion to world population growth. Another significant data is that the ageing population is found in almost every country in the world.

One of the effects of the increase in the world’s older population is that retirement villages are growing in popularity. Many senior citizens build retirement communities or villages where they can reside side by side a retirement village could be one apartment block or a number of condominium units adjacent to each other. If you are looking into building a retirement village with your group of friends, here are some things that you need to know:

  1. A retirement village is beyond sharing costs.

Many retirees not only consider shared costs when they build a retirement village.  More importantly, it is a system of support where a group of friends share life experiences, share tangible resources such as a vehicle or Wi-Fi, and lend a helping hand to make their lives easier. Many retirement villages have residents who have close-knit relationships and who are there for each other through thick or thin.

  1. Get financing from a dedicated team that offers flexible solutions.

When it comes to building retirement villages, there are many property finance deals available today offering many different options.  Choose the best one that would fit your budget, preferences, and lifestyle. Excellent property finance providers provide flexible solutions for seniors who are planning to build a retirement village.

  1. It is better to sign a village disclosure statement or memorandum of agreement which is duly notarized by a lawyer.

Although building a retirement village with your group of friends may be considered a personal decision, it is best to protect everyone’s interests by drafting a document that details various future issues that may be overlooked such as coverage of property, what to do in case of a dispute or problem among residents, and many others.

The retirement industry is booming because the baby boomers are all getting older. The demand is still expected to rise in the next few years. This article highlights three important things that you need to remember when you’re planning to build a retirement village.

Watch Buyers Guide – What’s Hot?

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You keep seeing all of these cool people wearing watches and you finally decided that you want to buy your own watch. Picking the right watch is such a great feeling and you get to join a club some illustrious folk. Blue dial watches are indeed very fashionable. We’ve seen more blue dials than ever before in the previous several years. SpotTheWatch can guarantee you to find the best blue dials on the market. They’re fashionable, adaptable enough to wear with a variety of outfits, and their timeless look never goes out of style. The tough part is picking that perfect watch. It can be quite an investment, depending on the watch you decide to get, so you definitely want to choose carefully. You have made a great decision by jumping into the watch world and may be thinking about buying them online. Do not worry, there is an option for you, no matter your taste or budget and we are going to guide you in the right direction.

Watch movements

When you start getting into the watch world, the word “movement” is going to come up a lot. The movement of your watch is defined by the way that the minute and second hands sweep around the face of your watch and the inner mechanisms that produce those “movements”. The movement of your watch encompasses it’s entire practical function, which is to tell time. Without movement, your watch would not be able to tell time.

There are 3 type of watch movements: quartz, mechanical and automatic. We will give some explanations of each type of movement.

Quartz

If you already own a watch, it is probably a quartz watch. These are easily the most popular types of watches. The average person you see wearing a watch is most likely wearing a quartz watch. This is because quartz watches are very cheap to manufacture and are really accurate at keeping time.

Quartz watches work by sending an electrical current through a piece of quartz, the piece of quartz vibrates and the circuits in the watch convert the vibrations into a pulse that moves the hands on your watch. They do not run as smoothly as the other two types we will mention, but they are a great multi-purpose watch. They can be worn with formal wear and they can be worn during manual labor or sports.

Mechanical

Mechanical watches are powered by a hand wound spring. These watches do not need batteries. The spring is wound up and slowly unwinds over time. That energy causes the second hand to move around the watch. Having a long spring means that your watch will work longer before being rewound. A shorter spring means that you will have to rewind your watch more often. Owning a mechanical watch is about more than just telling time. People pay more for mechanical watches because of the craftsmanship involved in making them.

Automatic

The automatic watch is another variation of the mechanical watch. These watches are powered by a wound spring and use gears to keep time. However, these watches do not require you to wind the watch yourself. Another name for these are “self winding” watches.

There is a rotor inside of these watches that freely spins every time you move your wrist. That rotor is connected to the mainspring in your watch. That rotor then winds up the mainspring in your watch. These are the Rolls Royces of watches. The main downside of these watches is that they do require occasional tune-ups to keep them accurate. These watches are not cheap, but there are options that are more affordable than others.

This pretty much covers the bases, these are the main decisions you will need to make when buying a watch. Ultimately, it is up to you to just buy whatever watch makes you happy. For even more information on finding a watch, you can view this article. Or click here for a chopard watch.

4 Ways Healthcare Marketing Is Changing: Learn How to Keep Up

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When you consider the evolution of healthcare and marketing, a vast amount has changed over the years. So, trying to predict the future of healthcare marketing is no easy task. If the healthcare industry is undergoing change, marketing must naturally transform to keep up with it.

Many external factors affect the healthcare industry, including changes in government regulations, changes in customer needs and preferences, advancements in technology, economic fluctuations and more. Some of these factors could negatively affect a healthcare provider that may not be prepared whilst others will become motivated to innovate and evolve. In order to remain competitive and successful, healthcare businesses will need to be able to constantly adapt to change and new influences.

New technologies and digital innovation are affecting the customer journey and traditional touchpoints. For this reason healthcare organisations will need to evolve their marketing strategies to engage with their audience.

Here are four key areas which need to be included to strengthen your marketing strategy in today’s ever-changing healthcare industry.

PPC Advertising – Click to Call

With the population growing, the need for healthcare services is increasing. Though we may read in news articles of the rise in demand for NHS services, this demand incorporates many other services such as cosmetic, dental, optometric services, personal injury as well as complementary health services like massage therapy. Healthcare providers will need to be ready to face high demand and prepared to take advantage of new opportunities.  

When it comes to health and personal matters, people still prefer to pick up the phone and speak to a person. In fact, an NHS GP patient survey revealed that 86% of patients normally book their appointments over the telephone. This makes it all the more important that your marketing materials, advertising and web pages all contain a phone number for patients to be able to reach you with ease.

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is a great way for healthcare providers to attract the attention of potential searchers looking for health services. With more people searching on their mobile phones, it is imperative that a phone number is displayed and a click to call extension is added to your PPC campaigns. This ad extension makes the telephone number clickable on the ad or displays a call button when the user is searching via a mobile device.

Click to call extensions make the journey smoother for patients to call the provider and it is important that you are tracking the performance of your paid search ads. With click to call enabled, call tracking software can track the phone calls and attribute the calls specifically to the ad generating the leads.  Call tracking will allow you to identify the successful campaigns so you may implement the same tactics across other campaigns and the under-performing campaigns. You are then able to allocate your marketing budget to optimise your ads and drive more quality leads to your business.  

Mobile Apps in the Healthcare Sector

Thousands of mobile apps are now available that deliver a variety of different functions and healthcare apps are becoming increasingly popular.  With cutting edge technology making apps even better, the mobile option has grown to become a healthcare assistant for many users.

Previously, healthcare apps focused on lifestyle habits and fitness tracking (calories, diet, exercising tracking, heart rate monitoring and general health). But the healthcare mobile app industry has evolved with new possibilities and introduced more healthcare service-based apps including:

  • Tracking prescription refills
  • Prescription dosage reminder
  • Symptoms checking
  • Self-education patient care
  • Make appointments
  • Live chat with doctors, surgeons and nurses
  • Monitoring your recovery
  • Receiving professional medical advice
  • Post-discharge care
  • Insurance claims management

According to The Economist, further development of mobile health solutions is a major priority for investors in digital health, which have poured more than $6 billion into funding in 2017. With the sheer volume of mobile phone users and healthcare consumers, developing a mobile app suitable for your patients will create another way to build consumer loyalty and engage with your audience.

Social Media – Engage with Patients in Real Time

It is predicted that there will be around 2.77 billion social network users around the world by 2019, making social media a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes to reach prospects and customers. With the number of users growing, those in the healthcare sector need to take advantage of grabbing the attention of their patients via social media.

Social media can provide opportunities for physicians to build a relationship with their patients to encourage better lifestyle choices by sharing health studies and up to date research. This can help improve the doctor-patient relationship to drive patient trust, loyalty and increase personal recommendations or ‘word of mouth’ referrals.

Social media can also help you expand your reach as many patients may only look locally when it comes to healthcare services. Through sharing on social media, new prospects will be able to research your healthcare organisation and determine whether to proceed with you. In fact, 41%  of people say social media will affect their choice of specific doctor, clinic or healthcare facility. So, being able to voice your brand and what you can offer can aid those looking for your service into choosing you over your competitors.

Growth of Virtual Care

When it comes to virtual reality (VR) it has often been limited to the world of gaming. However, many marketers have started taking advantage of VR to attract the attention of their audience.

You may be familiar with virtual tours of clinics and hospitals, as consumers find this an important factor during the decision process in choosing a healthcare provider for their needs. However, introducing VR to these tours means patients can be submerged into the experience and take their very own personalised tour. VR can also be used for educational purposes, patients can virtually meet their physicians who can educate them on any specific medical areas in which they are interested.

Healthcare consumers are spending the majority of their time online researching the service they require but also having in-depth digital conversations with physicians. One way they are doing this is through virtual platforms like telehealth that allows physicians to connect with their patients over video call and mobile applications. This virtual care can offer patients the ability to communicate with their healthcare provider wherever they are saving time and money. It also opens greater choice for patients when choosing a healthcare provider as virtual appointments require no travel, so they are not limited to local services.

Since a growing number of healthcare consumers are eager to adopt virtual platforms, healthcare businesses will need to consider this approach and promote their organisation’s use of virtual care through discussions on social media and using digital marketing campaigns to target those searching online.

How to Make Sure Your Business Is Ready for GDPR

If you didn’t know already, GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, and it is going to be introduced to the UK in May, 2018. The GDPR will replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive, meaning that it will affect how all business store and share data. So, hiring GDPR Consultants can make compliance a stress-free process. The aim of this new legislation is to synchronise data privacy laws throughout Europe whilst also giving greater protection and rights to individuals. This means that we will have new rights to access the information businesses hold about us whilst making these companies manage their data more effectively and have extremely effective GDPR compliance.

GDPR relates only to companies within the EU, but given the massive scale of the market, many businesses are deciding it’s easier to apply its terms worldwide. For example, Apple’s privacy tools are worldwide, as are Facebook’s.

Here are three ways you can take to make sure that your business is as ready as possible before the GDPR is introduced:

  • Educate Yourself

Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position in regards to the GDPR by being ignorant of what it means. By thoroughly reading up on its significance and how it affects you and your business, you could prevent hefty fines that many companies will inevitably receive due to their lack of knowledge about the subject.

  • Make Sure Everyone Understands

Everyone at your business should be aware of the GDPR and what the risks are once it is introduced. By just leaving it up to the IT department, you will cause unawareness in the rest of the business which will leave your company open to make mistakes. It is better to be safe by keeping your whole team educated about GDPR and guaranteeing that correct procedure is followed.

  • Look at Your Current IT Security Policy

Once you think you understand what the GDPR means for you and your business, you need to take a look at how you handle data at the moment and what IT security measures you have in place. Think about what information you collect from people and how you are storing that data. If someone were to request you delete their data, would you be able to do so? This is just one of the new rules of the regulation. You need to work out how you already abide by the regulations standards and what will need to be changed. If you are struggling to work out what still needs to be done, there are many firms out there who are willing to help you with your GPDR compliance and what you can do moving forward.

Currently, under the 1995 Data Protection Directive, failure to conform to the data protection rules can lead to companies being fined an amount of up to £500,000. The highest fine to date has been around £400,000. Although, when the GDPR becomes effective and in to play, penalties and fines will be much harder and will result in firms potentially being fined 4% of their annual global turnover or EUR 20 million, whichever is the highest.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that once the UK completes its Brexit negotiations, it will be an external nation. People are, therefore, hoping that the European Commission will decide that Britain ensures an acceptable level of protection to permit EU member states to hand over personal data to British companies. If it doesn’t, however, then that’s not good for any business that currently works within the mainland of the European Union, unless they are able to open arms of their business within the EU. Contacting an EU representative service will ensure that you are within the rules and in compliance with article 27.

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