You must have heard many news like – market dropped due to some political upheaval in the middle east or the market soared due to some referendum in Europe. In the age of globalisation, all the markets and businesses across the world are intertwined, hence any geopolitical event has the potential to move the global markets.But where does that leave the investors? What should be their ideal approach to counter such uncertain situations? The good news is – whether markets fall or rise, it’s an opportunity for the investors. Here’s how.Investors In The Market CycleThe reason we say that whether market falls or rises, it’s always an opportunity for the investor is because if the market falls, all the stocks on your watch-list, most likely, will be in the buying range. And when the market rises, it’s a perfect point for you to sell the stocks which have reached their target price.The key point is – if you have a long-term perspective in stock investment, it will be your armour against all the uncertainties of the stock market.Let’s take a look at the market phases which comprises the market cycle.The Bear MarketThe bear market is a market condition where the prices of the securities fall considerably and the market goes through a significant downturn. In such situations there is widespread pessimism about stock prices and a lot of panic selling takes place which further escalates the downturn.Though it’s a nature of the market to swing up and down, intraday traders and short-term investors, who deal in huge quantities, have no other option but to sell their holdings to minimise their losses.However, long-term investors have an advantage in this phase, as they can choose to hold their stocks while they also have an alternative to average their existing stocks and buy new stocks. Always remember, the bear market is a perfect opportunity to enter the market and build a robust portfolio.Market Accumulation Phase (Consolidation)This phase takes place after the markets have hit the bottom and some value investors think that the market situations is good to buy as the worst is over. Valuations of stocks are very attractive in this phase while the market sentiment is still bearish. Which makes it an ideal time to enter the market. In the accumulation phase, prices are flat, as the disillusioned sellers start selling while the wise investors pick it up at a healthy discount. Owing to such turn of events, market starts to pick up.To get through such phases, investors should just be patient and hold their stocks. Giving in to your impulse of selling stocks due to continuous consolidation will only bring you losses. It’s just a phase which passes sooner or later.The Bull MarketThe bull market simply means that the market is on its upward drift. The market index goes high and all the major stocks start soaring. This is the phase investors invest for. One thing investors should ensure while going through this phase is that it’s not a buying period, it’s the time to review your portfolio and sell stocks which have reached their target price. In a way, all the investment, and calculated risks you take while the market was down pays off when you reach this phase. If you make the right choices, you will be handsomely rewarded.
Maximize Your Cash Returns by Shopping Online
Gone are the days when you spent hours in shopping. Nowadays shopping can be done online. You are almost done with some few clicks. Online shopping is becoming a trend in the UK market these days. People who are so busy with their routine hardly find time to shop. Online shopping is the best way for the workaholics. Not only has it made their works easier but also offers maximum cash benefits. There is lot more ways to maximize your cash earning while purchasing an item online. Let us discuss about online shopping and the cool ways to maximize your returns.
What is online shopping?
With the advent of cutting edge technology, shopping can be made online like the same way you do your virtual shopping. You can buy anything online without visiting the shop in person. These online portals have user friendly navigation in order to ease up your shopping. Ranging from groceries to complex electronic gadgets, you can buy everything online. Nowadays lots of shopping portals have different set of procedures to buy things online. All these portals have separate payment gateways were you can make the payment online. All you have to do is to own a credit card with sufficient funds on it and an internet connection.
What’s special about online shopping?
These online shopping portals have lot more differences compared to your normal shopping. Lot of offers, discount coupons and many exclusive freebies are some of the highlights of the online shopping. Some portals even offer free home delivery. Online shopping is one of the safest ways to buy expensive items. You can compare the quality and cost of some items contrastingly. But, you can’t do the same while you do you r shopping in person. Some sites offer cash back guarantee while you do online shopping in their portals.
How to maximize your profits while doing online shopping?
Online shopping is a cool trend nowadays. You can make your shopping more productive and beneficial when you chose the right portal to do one. These cash back portals are nothing but similar to B2B sites (Business to Business site). Majority of these cash back site contains a variety of links of the popular shopping portals in the UK . These cash back site serves as a gateway to your convenient shopping. They have nothing to do with the shopping stuffs.
They simple have the details of the top notch retailers and their offers in their portal. It doesn’t end here, as one of the most interesting features of this cash back portal is its cash back offers for every purchase you make trough this site. Most of the cash back portals offer free membership and you will be given a separate account. Every time when you purchase any item through any of the links listed in the cash back portal, your account will be credited with certain sum of amount. When your account crosses certain limit, you will be paid by the cash back portal. So, you not only enjoy the cash back benefits but also enjoy some other cool offers like discount coupons and credit points. These coupons can give you much more benefits than any other shops can offer while you shop in person.
Things to keep in mind before shopping online.
- Even though online shopping has lot of advantages, it has to be done with utmost caution.
- Never reveal your account details to anyone.
- Make sure about the delivery of the products you order. You have to provide a valid address.
- Payment processing must be done with great caution, read the disclaimer policy every time you make a transaction.
- Select a genuine portal for shopping online. Make use of the consumer reviews portal to know about the recent offers and attractive deals.
If you make a clever analysis of the cash portal site, you will be the one to enjoy massive benefit from such sites.
Do You Make These 5 Marketing Automation Mistakes?
Marketing automation has become a vital tool for businesses of every size. It can help you gain and sustain a competitive advantage. Speed up sales results. Plus, enable you to engage more contacts with personalized messages sent at the right time. So you can build good relationships.Yet not each marketing automation system is the same. In fact, very few have all the essential tools in one package of services. If so, that can cause you to integrate system parts from third parties that can cost you time and money, especially when things go wrong down the road.That is why it’s vital to first know what a full all-in-one marketing automation system is all about.Marketing automation is a server-based software that integrates different technologies.4 Automation Technologies Most Vital for Marketing CampaignsFirst, it includes a CRM that allows you to collect, store and use information about your contacts. To be able to segment your contacts by custom fields and tags, behavior – such as opening emails and clicking on links, plus purchases.Second, it includes an automated messaging system for emails, text, postcards and tasks. This allows you to send each message to contacts based on when they opted in, a date, behavior, purchase and more.Third, it has eCommerce functionality. It integrates order pages with a form and payment gateway for one-click purchases. Plus it can allow you to integrate with a shopping cart if you prefer. Most of all, it can automate processes based on successful or failed transactions, subscriptions, trial periods, payment plans, coupons and more.Fourth, it must have a campaign builder that enables you to take each contact on a personalized journey with measurable results. This allows you to create multiple campaigns for opt-in, sales, upsell, downsell and retention.A marketing automation system such as one by Ontraport can provide additional features. These include marketing tracking to help you see which ads, landing pages and emails are generating the most cost-effective results. Affiliate marketing and membership site to help you boost the number of customers and sales. Landing page and form builder to enable you to design professional looking sites in minutes. And a lead router and scoring system to help you and your sales team follow up leads and convert them into customers.Three key benefits of a marketing automation system are that you can customize it for your business. You can have multiple marketing campaigns at the same time that operate 24/7. Plus you can automate processes specific to contacts along their journey. But there are also marketing automation mistakes you can make along the way.Marketing Automation Mistake #1: Sending eMails to Contacts Who Did NOT Opt-in
Marketing automation involves permission based emails. That means you send emails to contacts who give you permission to send them information. You can get permission when each contact opt-in to your system. However, importing a list or manually adding contacts to your marketing automation system is a violation of SPAM rules. If you do this you can compromise the delivery of emails even to those whom give you permission.Marketing Automation Mistake #2: Not Maintaining a Database of Active Contacts
Even after you get a contact to opt-in, you must keep them active. That means, you must continually send them emails with relevant content to engage with at least once per week. Otherwise, they may forget you and not open the few emails you send. Over time, they can become less engaged, diminishing email delivery of your entire database. A re-engagement campaign is an effective method to get non-engaged contacts to interact with your emails again. You get these contacts to tell you if they’d like to remain on your list or opt-out. So you can maintain a consistent and clean contact database.Marketing Automation Mistake #3: Focusing on the Wrong Metrics
Marketing automation allows you to measure the results of your campaigns. This includes opt-ins, sales conversion, email open and click link rates, landing page visits, sales, ROI and more.However, focusing on the wrong metrics can cause you to misinterpret the true results. For example, you may have two campaigns where one has much higher open rates and lower click rates. Yet when you calculate click to open rates you can see an entirely different result. Before starting each campaign, it is vital to know the metric you seek to focus on to determine success.Marketing Automation Mistake #4: Not Split Testing Campaigns
All campaigns differ by the type and number of contacts, content and more. Split testing campaigns is the key to finding what works right. But the key to split testing is to test just one variable at a time. Such as a headline, price, offer, design or target audience. The campaign that wins is the new control. Then you can test other campaigns against the control.Marketing Automation Mistake #5: Not Having a Certified Consultant on Your Team
Marketing automation is both an art and a science. It requires a mix of technology know-how with direct response marketing expertise. Plus an objective mindset that is not biased toward the company or product. These are why it is best to have an independent consultant certified in the use of the marketing automation software on your team. To develop the strategy and build a custom automation system for your business. Plus, to train your team on using the system.