bettercallpaul Archives - Page 19 of 49

Guest Post: Business Trip: 5 Things to Help Your Work Travels Go Smoothly

If your job requires travel, you might be spending many of your working hours at an airport. It can be exhausting, but it’s often necessary. Don’t let yourself become weighed down by the burden of having to go on business trips. Instead, embrace them as an opportunity to explore new regions and make important connections. Here are five things to help your work travels go smoothly.

Find the Right Transportation

You might be traveling via plane or train for some of your business trips. However, if it’s a shorter distance, you need a good car. If your current vehicle has been used for quite a while, it might be time for an upgrade. Look for a vehicle from a place like st george car dealership that will be able to handle the distance you’re traveling. If you’re taking a plane or train, make sure you are able to book a flight that works with your schedule. You don’t want to have too many layovers to make. Work with your employers to see what kinds of arrangements can be made for you.

Leave Early

Got an important meeting to make? Don’t leave anything to chance. Instead, you should leave as early as possible. If driving, leave at least a half hour before you need to arrive (based on meeting time or when you need to check into your hotel). For air and train travel, arrive at the airport/station early. Book flights that will arrive with plenty of time for you to get situated. If there are any delays, you need to communicate to the others as quickly as possible.

Pack Wisely

You don’t want to have everything under the sun in your suitcase for a business trip, especially if it’s a particularly short one. Make sure you have the clothing you need. Your best business attire should be in the suitcase, properly dry-cleaned and folded. There should also be toiletries (preferably travel/trial sizes) and casual wear, such as pajamas. If you can avoid checking your baggage, do so. Time is of the essence when it comes to business trips, and you don’t want to be held up by baggage delays.

Sleep Well

Travel can be exhausting. However, you shouldn’t try to come into a meeting running on minimal sleep. Make sure that you are sleeping well the night before you leave. Go to bed at a reasonable hour and aim for about eight hours of sleep. You also need to factor in the possibility of jet lag. If you’re changing time zones when flying, you might be exhausted upon arriving. Give yourself a window of time to relax at your hotel and re-adjust your clock before your first meeting.

Keep Track of Essentials

You should know where your ID, passport (if applicable) and money is before anything else. They need to be easily accessible to you and protected. Don’t let them be hanging out loosely in your pockets or be jumbled in your suitcase or carry-on bag. You should have a clear idea of where they are. They should also be up-to-date with current renewal dates. You should also keep some money/credit card in a secret spot in case of emergency.

You can’t predict how a business trip will go. However, you can plan ahead and make sure it goes as well as it can. A positive attitude also makes such a difference. Realize how much you can get out of this experience. Not only can you make strides with your business partnerships, you can also step outside of your comfort zone. By following these tips, you can have a truly excellent experience on your next business trip.

Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.

#BetterCallPaul – A Conversation with Tom Parks

Tom Parks is the co-owner of Premier Franchise Solutions, a franchise consulting and marketing agency. However, what is it that makes franchises so appealing? What’s the strangest franchise he’s seen? And how does he really feel about The Last Jedi? All that on this episode of A Conversation With
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Paul has been a visual storyteller for as long as he can remember and decided to turn that into a career. He chose video as his medium and his award winning style has been seen nationally as well as praised locally. A self-proclaimed community proponent and pro-Michigan advocate, he owns and is creative video strategist for UnoDeuce Multimedia which is celebrating its 6th year in Lansing. Paul was just recently awarded the 2015 Entrepreneur Institute Micro-Entrepreneur of the Year.

Don’t forget to
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Thank you for watching this video. I hope that you keep up with the weekly videos I post on the channel, and just so we couldn’t keep this channel going without your support, so please comment, like and share.
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Also Subscribe to the main UnoDeuce YouTube Channel Here to see the client work we are putting out up to 3 times a week!

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Guest Post: A Guide to Creating Compelling and Engaging Social Media Posts

Nearly everyone is active on social media since it’s an excellent platform for sharing whatever you want. However, posting for a business is an entirely different story such that you have an objective to reach out to your target market.

There are a lot of things to consider when publishing on social media. You should also understand the different platforms and learn more about your market so that you can attract the right audience at the right time and place.

However, the most important thing you need to concentrate on is to appeal to the emotions of your audience, as connecting with them can help influence them in positive ways.

Below is an infographic to guide you in creating compelling and engaging social media posts on the four most popular social media platforms particularly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. From this infographic, you can learn about the tone you should use, what content to share, when to share it, and so on.

For each platform, there are ways in which you can maximize all the features that each one has to help you gain the attention of your target market.

Work on improving your social media posts by using this guide for your audience, as well as help your business grow.

Source Page: https://www.microcreatives.com/general/infographic-creating-social-media-posts/

Paula Arce

As she makes her way in the digital marketing world as a Content Specialist, she also makes sure that she’s updated with the latest memes and trends among other things. With her inner rapper, Paula pops those headphones in and listens to her R&B and Hip Hop playlist during her long rides to and from the South. She either gets herself a venti cup or two of her fave iced coffee or a cold bottle of beer on a random day. There’s nothing in between.

#BetterCallPaul – YouTube Features

In this episode of Better Call Paul, Paul talks about some things you may not have noticed that YouTube provides after you upload your video.

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Paul has been a visual storyteller for as long as he can remember and decided to turn that into a career. He chose video as his medium and his award winning style has been seen nationally as well as praised locally. A self-proclaimed community proponent and pro-Michigan advocate, he owns and is creative video strategist for UnoDeuce Multimedia which is celebrating its 6th year in Lansing. Paul was just recently awarded the 2015 Entrepreneur Institute Micro-Entrepreneur of the Year.

Don’t forget to
—-
Thank you for watching this video. I hope that you keep up with the weekly videos I post on the channel, and just so we couldn’t keep this channel going without your support, so please comment, like and share.
—-

Also Subscribe to the main UnoDeuce YouTube Channel Here to see the client work we are putting out up to 3 times a week!

http://bit.ly/2jklgle

Follow Me Online Here:

Website: www.unodeuce.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.schmidt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauldeuce
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauldeuce
Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/pauldeuce

Please Subscribe to our Channel!

2nd Brain Collective Podcast – Denise Peek of the Entrepreneur Institute

Ms. Peek has lived in Lansing since 1972 and graduated from Lansing Everett High School. She holds two Associates Degrees, one from Davenport University in Fashion Merchandising & Management, one from LCC in General Studies. In 2006 she received her BA from Northwood University in Marketing with a Minor in Business Management. In 2009 she received her Masters of Science Degree in Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire. She has been the Executive Director of the Entrepreneur Institute for the past sixteen years. In January 2016 she became an Adjunct Faculty Member at LCC teaching Marketing 200 and will be teaching Marketing 200 again this fall.

Her experience in sales & marketing includes, experience in the retail industry, advertising sales in electronic media (cable television & radio) and newspaper has assisted in her duties as the Executive Director. As the Executive Director she facilitates the credit before capital and business plan development training programs. She has been able to increase the exposure of the Entrepreneur Institute in the community and increase the services offered by the organization. In December of 2011 the Entrepreneur Institute became the regions only SBA Microloan Lender.

Accomplishments & Professional Development

Personal Accomplishments

May 1999 – March 2000 – Former board member of the Entrepreneur Institute
March 2000 – May 2000 – Interim Executive Director of the Entrepreneur Institute
May 2000 – Present EIM Executive Director
2001 – Capital Area Michigan Works Alumni of the Year!
2001 – Certificate of Achievement for “Distinguished Achievement” in “Individual Excellence in
Regional Cooperation” by the RED TEAM
2002 – Michigan Works! Outstanding Alumni Award
2005 – Career Woman of the Year, National Association of Career Women, Lansing Chapter
2011 – Catalyst of the Year, Michigan Emerging
2016 – Adjunct Faculty Member Lansing Community College
Professional Development – Certifications/International Trainings/Programs of Study

Certified NxLevel Business Plan Training Instructor – 9/01
Participant in Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Ghana-United States Exchange Accra, Ghana – 6/05
NeighborWorks America, Program of Study Management and Leadership Program – 9/06
Participant in the “Connecting the Linkages between Gender Equality and Economic Sustainability for Community Advancement and Capacity Building: A Women’s Empowerment Program,
Professional Fellows, South Africa & Tanzania – 9/13
Past Community Involvements

Guest Speaker for the American Marketing Association’s Regional Conference at LCC
Guest Speaker, MSHDA’s Affordable Housing Conference, Connecting Michigan Communities Annual Conference
LCC Alumni Committee Member,
Westside Commercial Association Business Development Committee Member
Facilitator/Business Consultant – BCI Entrepreneur Academy Workshops
Charter Member and Past President Elect, Lansing Black Chamber of Commerce Affiliate Chapter of the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce
Board Member, Community Reinvestment Fund
Consultant/Coach for the Athena PowerLink Network, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce
Learn more about Julie Powers and Greater Lansing Housing Coalition:

Website
Fan Page
LinkedIn – Denise Peek

Guest Post: Key Ways To Help Reduce Your Risk Of Bankruptcy In Business

Your business is still new. It has been operating for only two years, but you’re very happy with the progress you’re experiencing. You contribute the success of your business to all the precautions you’ve done in the past. You’ve been very careful about who you hire, what processes you implement in the business and who should you work with as your suppliers. Sure, you might have been very keen on all of those things, but have you ever considered the possibility of your business heading towards bankruptcy? Your business is still new, and this makes it very susceptible to bankruptcy, and of course, you would never want that to happen to your business. Along with the precautions you’re doing right now, the tips presented below will also help reduce your risk of bankruptcy in business:

You should prioritize debt repayments: If you’re a sole proprietor, you must have acquired debts to start up the business. This usually comes in large amounts, which makes it difficult for you to pay one time to all of your creditors. But since your business is now operating, you should prioritize paying these debts. You can start paying secured creditors and pay those with the highest interest rates first. With your unsecured creditors and vendors, it’s best that you treat them all equally and pay them all something. You should not play favorites with your creditors. But if you still have problems with your debt payments after doing all of these, you should talk with your creditors and ask for possible repayment terms.
You should always maintain an updated business plan: Before you started your business, you should have a business plan. This document is vital to ensure that you know where your business is going and how you could possibly achieve that goal. Your business plan should also include everything about your financial decisions and the business’ cash flow, capital-expense budget and other business expenses. It will also aid in executive decisions to keep expenses and revenues in equilibrium.
You should be accurate and proactive in reviewing financial results: You might have hired employees to help you run your business, but you shouldn’t solely rely on them when it comes to financial decisions. You should take the time to review all of your business’ financial reports and journal entries so whenever you can notice something is off, you can immediately take measures to prevent it from worsening. Time is always crucial for any business.
You should budget for all expenses: Similar as to how you handle your personal expenses, your business expenses should also be budgeted. You should put funds for your quarterly, seasonal and annual expenses as well as additional funds for more unexpected expenses. Doing this will help you ensure that you’ll not be caught up in the expenses of your business and you know where your business’ expenses are actually going. If you haven’t done this in the past, you can start by writing down all of your possible infrequent expenses and make them part of your regular budget. You should be very conservative with your profit margin. You should also make sure that you have a “cash cushion” for your business.
You should consider purchasing accounting software applications: Almost all of the business processes can be done using an application and you should consider purchasing one for your accounting processes. Once things are done using an application, there’ll be less human intervention, which can mean less mistakes in the long run. This can work wonders for you, especially if your business is very young. You’ll not only ensure that your finances are on track but you can also generate accurate reports from these applications. Using these reports, you’d know which to improve in your business.
You should hire a consultant: Since this is your first time to handle a responsibility this big, chances are you don’t have in-depth knowledge of the ins and outs of the business especially when it comes to the finances. If you want to be sure of every decision that you make, hiring a consultant for your business might work out well for you. They’re the best people to ask for help because they have years of experience on the things that you’re doing now. Once you have a consultant working for your business, you’d be able to focus on your business operations while ensuring that you’ll not head towards bankruptcy.

Your business is basically like your child. You’ve exerted your time and effort into it, and that’s why you want your business to grow and operate for the longest time possible. You don’t want everything to go down the drain, and being careful of your financial decisions to stay away from bankruptcy is one way of ensuring your business’ long-term success. These precautions might be new or tedious on your part, but as a business owner you’ll be able to realize that all of these will be worth it in the end. You don’t want your business to head to bankruptcy, right?

This website will provide you more information on how your business can stray away from bankruptcy.

Gail Wilson has more than 12 years of experience under her belt when it comes to business, which she is currently sharing with her clients and peers as part of the law industry. She writes pieces on various law topics that she hopes could help the common reader with their concerns. A family oriented, Gail loves spending time with her husband and two sons during her free time.

What’s a Good Video Length For Social Media?

There’s so many platforms, yet it feels like unlimited time. However, the platforms do have limitations, whether it’s established by them or it’s under your discretion using the analytics they each give you. Video is the premier way in which to tell a story or grab someone’s attention. It does depend on the platform you use to determine what you want to say and how.

#BetterCallPaul – February 2018 Recap

This month we look at what was launched from Fraser Trebilcock, Living Water Ministries, CEDAM and Daystarr Communications
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Paul has been a visual storyteller for as long as he can remember and decided to turn that into a career. He chose video as his medium and his award winning style has been seen nationally as well as praised locally. A self-proclaimed community proponent and pro-Michigan advocate, he owns and is creative video strategist for UnoDeuce Multimedia which is celebrating its 6th year in Lansing. Paul was just recently awarded the 2015 Entrepreneur Institute Micro-Entrepreneur of the Year.

Don’t forget to
—-
Thank you for watching this video. I hope that you keep up with the weekly videos I post on the channel, and just so we couldn’t keep this channel going without your support, so please comment, like and share.
—-

Also Subscribe to the main UnoDeuce YouTube Channel Here to see the client work we are putting out up to 3 times a week!

http://bit.ly/2jklgle

Follow Me Online Here:

Website: www.unodeuce.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.schmidt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauldeuce
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauldeuce
Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/pauldeuce

Please Subscribe to our Channel!

2nd Brain Collective Podcast: Rich Howard of Big Brothers Big Sisters

Mr. Howard grew up in the Lansing area and is a graduate of Michigan State University. He holds a BA in Communication and a MA in Counseling. He is currently a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the State of Michigan.

Rich has over 18 years of higher education experience holding faculty and administrative positions including Registrar, Executive Assistant to the President/Board Liaison and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.

Rich left higher education in 2006 to pursue consulting in the non-profit sector. He has consulted with numerous school districts both in state and national-wide, as well as with Girls Scouts of the USA and United Way Worldwide.

He currently serves as the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Michigan Capital Region located in Lansing. He resides in Caledonia with his wife Peg of 26 years and their 3 children Andrew, Joe and Elizabeth.

Learn more about Rich Howard and Big Brothers Big Sisters, Michigan Capital Region:

Guest Post: 5 smart and streamlined options for Live streaming software to consider

A live streaming occasion has already created havoc in the current online sphere and is an auspicious venture for the future. Supported by immaculate live video streaming software these live streaming businesses have been able to make huge money in the past few years.

Basically to stream anything live from anywhere, whether it is your house or office, you need to take stress and put enough exertion for a thrilling outcome. The plan needs to be without any uncertainties or hassles.

There is barely any alternative in launching a live streaming platform with proper live streaming software. The ones trying to build a website have various ideas in mind compared to the ones looking to launch a live video streaming app. The budget would totally depend on the features included.

Before commencing anything let us talk about what a video content management system is. From the day video has become an important feature for the upgrade of communication and net turnaround, businesses have been coming up with new techniques to store, share and manage numerous files with video content in them across several networks affecting the bandwidth.

A video CMS is definitely the answers to these worries. It is primarily software which aids businesses to take care of, accumulate and share videos online. Now let’s discuss the uses of a video content management system.

As content owners begin enhancing the number of videos they’re creating, things like video administration, storage and distribution turn out to be very complicated and problematic. This is the time where video content management software comes in.

A video CMS is a one-stop solution that helps content owners to oversee, monetize, research and track their video content on the web.

A huge advantage of using video CMS, be it live streaming or video-on-demand is that it enables content makers to consolidate the technical aspect without having a negative effect on quality and it makes distributing videos to various OTT stages and tools considerably easier.

How to choose the best online video sharing CMS?

Video broadcasts are considerably larger than Word documents, spreadsheets, and other office archives. The default most extreme record measure permitted in a SharePoint site is 50 MB. To place that in context, you would require more limit than 50 MB to store a single moment of video caught with an iPhone.

With CMS framework, you can just enquire based upon the document names and physically entered metadata. Interestingly, video CMS like Panopto offer the capacity to scan inside videos for particular words that are talked or shown on-screen amid the video, at that point quick forward the watcher to that correct point in the introduction.

Without a video CMS, your recordings cannot be hosted; nothing is done to guarantee compatibility with the gadgets getting to them. For instance, a WebEx video put away in its default ARF format on a SharePoint website would not be distinguishable on tablets or cell phones.

Some of the most recommended live streaming software includes:

Open Broadcaster Software

This is free software for live streaming any event and is the best choice for entrepreneurs with a vision setting feet into this business for the first time. Being an open-source program, the source code can be availed by every single individual around.

You can even relish abundant sources and layouts which are crafted differently for different content including features such as RMTP streaming to YouTube, Twitch, DailyMotion etc. Because of its high performance in the streaming of gaming sites, it is also cherry-picked for live streaming of gaming content.

VMix

If you want your rendering and production to be immaculate then we would suggest you go ahead with vMix which emphasizes on live production. If you want it for free then you have to be content with the basic necessities including simple streaming and recording with Standard Definition quality.

The more you pay, better the resolution you are going to relish. This would take you up to 4K with infinite inputs. You can now add effects to your live streaming video in different channels without your CPU’s processor taking any stress.

Telestream Wirecast

Telestream Wirecast would provide you an excellent pro-quality live recording. With this live streaming software one can also carry out the coding of live streams for continuous broadcast to a number of servers.

IP cameras assisted by HTTP, RTMP and MMS web streams are present in the pro version to generate live scoreboards, replays and advanced audio handling.

XSplit Broadcaster

For recording a professional video using a simple interface is commendable and here is the place when XSplit checks-in. One can relish HD live streaming without making any payment aided by some production tools and audio support.

Premium versions, however, offer incomparable HD broadcasting with the use of the most upgraded production tools.

StreamNow

StreamNow is one such broadcaster software aiding in smooth and non-stop live streaming without any issues. A subscription plan is initiated and premium videos can only be relished after subscription. Users who are not attracted by the subscription plan can also go ahead and commence the “Pay-Per-View” scheme. With safe and robust payment gateways StreamNow is one such live streaming software which acknowledges sharing benefits between the user and the business software provider.

Video CMS software such as Streamhash provides the best products in the market at the moment sticking to the goal of creating a impeccable platform which would be beneficial for both the website and its viewers.

Video streaming has become extremely popular with the days passing by. Upgrades in the computer networking over the past few years supported by modern operating systems and brilliant PC’s have made streaming economical for normal customers.

With the growth of live streaming platforms everywhere, the urgency of top-class live streaming software has increased heavily as well.

Now, it is totally up to you as a budding entrepreneur what you would want to use as live video streaming software for your endeavor. Abundant choices are available in the market. Make sure you choose according to your business remembering its prospect.

Amanda Smith is a marketing professional with expertise in strategies to engage customers and improve business opportunities. Interested in marketing communications and like to keep abreast of new trends and developments.