If you are running your own business, you will agree that you get pulled in several different directions every day. As an entrepreneur, you already know that building business leadership skills are best for your organization. However, it can be challenging to know which are the best skills and should be given priority. Keep here to learn tips that can help you to translate your passion for business into practical business skills. Here are five business skills that you must master.

Delegation Skills

It is a critical skill that you must have, especially if you are working with other employees. Delegation is a skill that involves assigning responsibilities to others to finish particular tasks. Employees are a vital part of your business, and you can only succeed if your employees can successfully carry out various routines for your business. You must therefore start by knowing how to delegate work. It is necessary to allow your employees enough time to complete the assigned tasks effectively. You must also be able to follow up with your employees to know whether they are getting any challenge in their delegated responsibilities. If you must this, you will make your business work for you.

Time Management Skill

It is very hard to succeed in business if you cannot effectively manage your time. Optimizing time allows you as the business leader to only focus on the task at hand. If you master the art of time management, you will realize that you won’t be distracted by the futile items. If you have a task on hand, first focus on it and you should not start attending to other duties before completing the ongoing tasks unless it is very necessary. Still, if you point out distracters, it is advisable to delegate them.

Negotiation Skills

This is one of the vital skills that you must have as the business leader since no business deal does not involve negotiations. We do negotiation everyday unconsciousness. If you want to increase your client base and sales, you should enroll for a negotiation training class.

Listening Skills

Most leaders are not good listeners. You are trained and accustomed to always giving the solution and direction that your mind forgets you also need to listen. The life leadership training equips leaders with the act of speaking to the extent that they forget how to listen effectively. Perhaps it is the best time you start couching yourself on how to start listening more than speaking. You can start this by adequately preparing for the meeting and using tactics like mirroring tactics. This tactics involves repeating what you have heard to ensure that you understood the content and the intended message.

Communication Skills

We cannot overemphasize the importance of communication skills when it comes to the success of the business. While it is an important skill, most entrepreneurs tend to ignore it and do nothing to improve their communication skills. You need to communicate well both to your clients and your employees to have a successful business. This means that your employees too, must have good communication skills and in case they don't have, you should ensure that they get trained. You are good to go if you can effectively communicate your vision with conviction and passion.

We cannot overstate the value of business skills for professionals who want to expand their business careers. The above are some of the vital skills that you must start acquiring. If you master them, your business will expand as you will retain more clients.

How do you get a novel published? Getting a novel published is no easy feat and it requires a few different methods in order to be achieved. Those who get their novels published have done work in advance in order to ensure the publishing completion.

As with any endeavor, it is vital that you maintain a good working relationship with a company in the industry. You will also want to address the issue of publishing your novel by distributing your proposal to a wide array of potential publishing companies. Of course, the most important part about getting your novel published is that you make sure the quality of your work is impeccable before submitting your proposals.

Choose a Publishing Company to Target

You can start off your venture by choosing a publishing company to establish a good working relationship with. This just may end up being the company that publishes your novel. From this company, you will gain knowledge and information that would have otherwise been impossible to obtain.

The purpose of this specific method is that you will learn from experts about the process of publishing. You may call the publishing company and ask to speak with staff members simply in order to be versed on the process of publishing a book. You may ask questions like "What are your qualifications for choosing a book to be published?" This can open up the opportunity for negotiations training in the future. Having an open dialogue with someone in the publishing industry will help you to better understand how it is that you can get your own book published.

Submit Your Request to a Wide Array of Publishers

There's no need to limit the scope of your submissions to just one publishing company. It is actually advisable to submit your novel for publication to a variety of different businesses. This statistically increases the chances that your novel will be published.

Each publishing company will want to feel as though your submission to them is special. For this reason it is recommended that you write a cover letter before each of your publication submissions.

Ensuring the Quality of Your Work

The entire purpose of publishing a novel is to get your story out there and to demonstrate your success as a writer, as well as to convey a message to your audience. For this reason it is necessary that you are confident in the quality of your written material. Your story will be your livelihood and you will want to make sure that it is something that you can pride yourself upon.

There are many different processes to checking the quality of your novel. You will want to perform many edits on the content of the novel, in terms of grammar and spelling. You will also want to edit your novel for the content of the writing, perhaps even editing the storyline itself in order to convey your desired message. Your novel should be easily readable and these are editing methods that can facilitate that.

Getting Your Novel Published Really is Possible

Should you decide to employ the methods mentioned above, it is perfectly possible for you to get your business' novel published. You can open up communication with a publishing company, offer your novel to many publishing companies, and edit thoroughly. 

There's no question that almost the entire U.S. has shifted its selling methodology from person-to-person selling to selling virtually.

Real estate agents are almost being sold 100 percent virtually. Auto sales are now typically 90 percent virtual. Even pharmaceutical sales to doctors are now not only being held virtually but that 60 percent of all surgeons, the doctors who most rely on pharmaceutical sales agents for technical support, feel that long after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, that there would still be significant restrictions on the amount of in-person sales visits.

In other words, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed virtual sales into a new world, and rightly or wrongly, the changes will be more or less permanent.

So How Well Are Virtual Salespeople Adapting to the New Sales Environment?

Frankly, many businesses are failing miserably at virtual selling.  Both life and business will go on after COVID-19 is over, but in the meantime, virtual selling can be a useful tool. 

So What Are Some of the Challenges of Selling Virtually?

Two of the major challenges are gaining the buyer's attention and keeping them there, and developing a relationship virtually.

These are things that salesmen do naturally in person-to-person sales, but require a great deal of coaching and practice to do naturally as part of virtual sales. Salespeople soon learn that these are not easy tasks to master in virtual sales.

In addition, salespeople need to completely be able to master the platforms they use to communicate to potential clients, whether it be by Zoom, Skype, or another platform.

Everything in a virtual sales pitch must go completely smooth so that the client forgets that they are talking virtually. And every mistake, whether it is a slideshow that stops mid-presentation or a cell phone that rings in the middle of your pitch must go perfectly.

And not only must a sales pitch go perfectly smooth, with no interruptions, but salespeople must be experts in teaching their potential clients how to use the platform they may choose to do video chats with.

For example, before a salesperson and a client can chat on skype, either the salesperson or the client must go on Skype and send an invitation, which is then accepted to chat. Sounds simple, but try explaining it to a 60-year-old man who barely knows how to turn his computer on or read his email.

Conclusion

Yes, it's a brave new world out there, but just as horse-driven carriages gave room to automobiles, so too, will selling virtually dominate the world for many decades. 

Defining Microservices

Microservices has been called Microservice architecture. It can be viewed as an architectural style. It structures an application of services which are:

* highly testable

* highly maintainable

* loosely coupled

* independently deployable

* includes organization around business activities

The microservice architecture will enables:

* rapid delivery (complex applications)

* frequent and reliable delivery (applications)

* organizations are able to evolve technology stack with services

A Distributed System

Microservices-based application is a distributed system. It is able to run on multiple hosts or servers.The services need to interact with the use of interprocess communication protocol.This can be:

* HTTP

* TCP

* AMQP

It depends on the type and nature of each service. All Microservice-Based Applications must be Secure and Compliant within the world of business. In addition, a service mesh is a language agnostic. It is very beneficial within Microservices.

Microservices: Improving Communication In the Business World

When a business incorporates Microservices, they will have improved communication and added benefits:

* it will be easier to maintain and build Apps; simplicity is weaved into the services. Applications are split into composable fragments that are smaller. Every microservice is in a separate area of the code which incorporates added ease and simplicity

* Cross-functional and Autonomous Teams; the organization will have added success when it can adapt to cross-functional teams. Solving problems is included because all roadblocks are omitted and information is sped up on all levels. This includes the knowledge centers. Everyone can have access and less time will be spent looking for any needed information when it is easier to access

* organization around the Capabilities of the business; the goal revolves around user experience and customer satisfaction which adds to the success. The developers create products as opposed to projects. This provides a business have product management included

* improvements in speed and productivity; The increase is a result of the apps being more scalable and easier management of them. hey will be more resilient and quicker

Microservices: Communication Strategies In Business

Microservices are becoming more and more popular within businesses.This is because communication is increased with the use of the following:

* the clean programming

* added design benefits

* it is simple to extend

* a variety of microservices to use to add to communication

Every business needs an efficient communication strategy in place. Microservices offer high-levels of communication among teams. There are no language barriers to contend with because the system is not language specific. microservice architecture can be implemented, in any business, regardless of the language. This adds to the following:

* greater potential for agility

* cost reduction

* reuse and granularity

Conclusion

The software architecture has the ability to be composed into smaller independent services. These processes will exchange data and procedural requests. This is done with the use of application programming interfaces. This is known as APIs. Microservices will go further with the actual architecture. This is considered to be a product of a rapid development process. When fast-moving software development is combined with the SEO principles, the microserservices emerge. This is often a single process that involves a few different functions. They are related to the application. The microservices can recreate the workflow with the use of one service for the name of one customer. Microservices improve communication in businesses, by adding efficiency, speed, experience and more to the business mix. 

Solar energy is the most conscious solution to the environmental problems that we experience as a result of using other forms of energy. Besides, it is one of the most cost-effective ways of powering your house or workplace. For you to use solar energy to run your daily activities, you ought to purchase and install a solar panel in your structure. Nowadays, there are options for either purchasing or leasing solar panels. More than 50 percent of the residential buildings in the United States have installed solar panels. Here is all that you wish to know about solar savings for your home.

How Does Solar Energy Help You Save Money?

No Monthly bills

One of the ways in which solar power helps you save money is that you do not have to pay electric bills monthly. Unlike when you are using electricity, where you are certain that there is some amount of money that will go out to cater to the electricity bills. This is because solar panels installed in your house use the sun as the sole source of energy to power your domicile. All you need to do is to ensure that the panel is positioned appropriately in a way that it gets exposed directly to the rays of the sun.

Affordable Installations

In the modern day, installing a solar panel to your house is no longer a burden as compared to the previous years. There are various solar financing options that you can choose from. Some of these solar financing options include cash purchases, solar leases or PPAs, and solar loans. Each of the mentioned options offers you a different value, which you will enjoy for a long time. Companies like Solar Negotiators that provide solar fresno are selling excellent solar panels at affordable prices, and they also provide you with the solar financing options mentioned earlier.

Improved Home Value

One of the most effective ways of improving the value of your home is by installing a solar panel. If you are venturing into the real estate business, then undoubtedly this is the solution to make your property improve its worth. In our modern life, solar panels are considered as upgrades, just like a furnished basement or a renovated kitchen. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, solar panels increase the value of a real estate by approximately $15,000. However, this depends on the electricity rates and other premiums in your state. Installing a solar panel will help you get more money for your house and at the same time enjoy saving utility costs.

Low Federal Tax Credit

The federal solar tax credit, also known as the investment tax credit, allows commercial homeowners to deduct 10 percent of their costs of installing the solar panels from their federal taxes. On the other hand, the residential homes that have installed solar energy systems do not have a federal credit. These credit taxes vary from one state to another. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the rates of solar energy systems in your state. You can also claim your federal tax credit for solar yearly when you file your annual tax returns.

Conclusion

Solar energy is the best way to go in this era where you ought to be economical and save for many other important things. Solar energy is also reliable and convenient for use in any place.

Having any type of business is something to be proud of. Whether or not you have a small business or if you have plans to start one soon, you need to be ready and prepared to get this business going and be free of any problems. There will be many different problems that come up with any business. This is something to be ready for, but there are now many great ways to be able to do this. All you have to do is have some patent data research so that you can have enough knowledge in this field.

Data Collections 

If you have a small business, it is important and recommended that you learn about the different data collections that are available. It is essential that you are familiarized with the ways that you can store your data and collect it the best way possible.

If you have patent collection data systems, this means that you have legal authorization of the documents that represent your sales activity. This will be able to give you the benefit of having a close link relationship with the field of purchases.

It will also allow you to have access to the patent offices that can help guide you and assist you in anything you may need help with.

Another benefit that comes with using this collection system is that you will have the access to getting a full and detailed report of the activity throughout the year. There are many things that can happen throughout the year. For instance, you will have access to any inventory problems, technical problems, etc. All of the above listed are extremely important to have access to. It is necessary to be able to have the documents to back up with evidence in case there is a need.

Familiarize Yourself 

Being familiarized with these data collections will help you learn more about the ways that you can keep track of your sales and be on top of what products are selling and what products are struggling. By having the patent collection, your business will be able to keep track of any activity that goes on.

Having this type of access is something that is great to have because this means that you will be able to solve these issues faster and with more reliability. As you may already know, owning any type of business comes with dealing with many problems, some that are seen and some that are not seen. Being able to deal with those problems in a fast and reliable way will help you stand out as a company.

Conclusion 

By following the tips and tricks listed above, you will be able to grow your small business and have more knowledge in this field as well. It is essential that you follow these helpful tips and start using this data collection system to grow your business at a faster and more secure way. 

So the storm of Covid-19 is not gone yet. Many businesses have closed shops, but luckily, you're still standing. But maybe you feel like your relationship with your customers is not as strong as before. It's like you don't know each other anymore. So, how do you rekindle that relationship? Here is a small guide to help you get to know your customer during Covid-19.

Check On Your Customers

At the time of the coronavirus, you don't need to bombard your customers with marketing messages all over. You can change your approach a bit and let them know it's not only about getting their money. This is the time to bring out your humanity side. Check on your customer's wellbeing and let them know that you care. You can also let them know that you are customizing your products and services to meet their needs based on the current situation.

Leverage the Power Of Social Media

Customers are not coming to the shops anymore, and when they do, they don't stay long. Social media should be your communication channel, where you get to connect and interact with your customers. According to a CMO study, up to 84% of businesses use social media to build their brands, and 54% depend on it for customer retention. If you've used it for any of these, it won't be hard using it to get to know your customers more during Covid-19. Start a conversation on social media that will get your customers engaged. Use this opportunity to know them passively and actively.

Let Them Know You Value Them

There is no wonderful feeling that comes with the knowledge that you're valued somewhere. Getting your customers to know that you value them is one of the ways to create a good connection during Covid-19. Showing them gratitude will go a long way to see your business grow. If possible, go out of your way to demonstrate your support to the community and empathy. People need each other during this pandemic; hence it's a give and take situation.

Make Customer Engagement Your Business Culture

For any business that wants to create loyalty, customer engagement is something you cannot ignore. The pandemic period needs this more since this is the time that many businesses are losing their customers. You need to be there always to understand your customer needs and challenges. Your company should build that curiosity culture that goes beyond one on one call. If you get a new customer, go out of your way to get to know them better. Don't just start making your sales pitch without inquiring more about your customers.

Go Digital With Your Sales

Coronavirus has awakened many people about the reality of technology, especially in the business world. If your business was online only for the purposes of marketing, but when it comes to selling, you go back offline, it’s time to rethink. In fact, virtual selling is now the new storm taking over the world. You need to meet your customers online least you end up losing all of them. So, pick yourself up and start running your business in the virtual way.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed customer habits, and you need to step up to understand those new habits. Your business might still be dealing with old customers, but they seem completely different from what you used to know. Go the extra mile to get to know your customers better during this period. This will help you interact with them better and understand how to package your marketing message. 

With the situation of the world regarding the pandemic, many people are forced to work from home. However, working from home without a proper home office desk can be a challenge when posture issues are concerned. But you cannot afford to put your body posture and general wellbeing at risk simply because you work from your couch or your bed. So, how do you ensure good posture while working from home? Here are helpful tips to consider.

Correct Your Working Set Up

The setup of your work area is an essential aspect of maintaining excellent posture while working from home. You need to have access to raised desktop computers, fancy spinny chairs, and workplace desk assessments that will guarantee you security and comfort. Many people think that people working from home carry out their tasks either on bed or sofa. The fancy bed and sofa may appear comfortable but not for working as they tend to put a strain on the back and neck. You must find some office chairs and tables to help improve your posture so that you can work better and longer.

Maintain a Healthy Sleep Routine

Just because you have your entire office at home doesn’t mean that you get up in the middle of the night to check some emails or finish a quick task. Respect your sleep time and work time and let each take their appropriate time and adequate hours. This means you cannot spend your working hours taking a nap neither can you sacrifice your sleep hours to work. Always ensure you get a good night’s sleep so that you feel fresh and comfortable when it’s time to work. This way, you won’t covet your bed when it’s time to finish some essential office work. Enough sleep will ensure increased productivity.

Find a Posture App

You can only understand the right posture while working from home if you have some help. Remember, you’re not an expert hence have no idea about perfect postures to put you in good shape. Luckily, you don’t need to contact your doctor for this because there are various posture corrector tools and apps you can use for this. It will only take you a few clicks on Google search before you find a perfect app for this.

Download An At-home Yoga App

Since you’ve transferred your workplace from your office to home, get yourself a Yoga app that will help you maintain a good posture during the working process. Exercise is a wonderful activity to keep you active and yoga makes a wonderful home exercise. But you’re not a yoga expert hence you need some help mastering those moves. The need for an office yoga app will work positively to increase your working posture. It will teach you an easy way to perform some essential moves without going out to find a yoga instructor. Yoga exercise helps loosen your muscles and strengthens your body.

Final Word

Having an excellent posture while working at home is not easy but you can do it if you commit. You should do all it takes to improve your posture if you need to be more productive and live a longer and healthy life. The above are just a few tips to help you correct your posture that you should implement. 

Success is not going to happen overnight. It will take a lot of hard work to achieve the business goals you have. Below you will find some tips to help you find your way.

Two Tips For Entrepreneurs

1) Take a page from the Roman playbook. Do you remember the Colosseum? It is more than 1900 years old. To this day, it is(for the most part) still holding up. The Romans used the same concrete that we use today. And, to this day, there is a longevity that remains intact.

The Romans thought long-term in their goals. They did not count on some quick fix that would guarantee some artificial success. The Romans focused on high-quality. The Japanese counted on a specific niche(kind of like how the Kongo Gumi company focuses on Buddhist Temples).

2) Your company also has to solve a problem that is burning in people's minds. Say, for example, that you have an issue with software architecture. You would need to create some kind of service mesh that focuses on service-to-service communications.

One reason why some companies fail is the company does not tackle a direct issue concerning clients. The products are nice, but the issue is not fully addressed. That could be due to many factors, including the company associates not knowing what the problem is. You have to know what the problem is before you can take your product and services to the clients.

How You Can Place Yourself In A Better Position In 2020

1) You have to concentrate on the human connection. There is no way to succeed without it. Your clients want to know that you can relate to them(or at least most of them) in some way. Your customers do not want to see another company only interested in making a profit. This tip goes for anyone in business. Communication is vital.

2) Everyone in business is supposed to build a brand. You add value with everything you create. Some days will be better than others(in terms of creation and your content). There is no way you are going to be on point every day.

Focus every day on your creation and the content you curate. It is similar to those of us who are writers. You have to create something regularly. It is in your blood. Some days you will be off, but creation is key. You have to create even when you do not feel up to it. Exercising your creative process will help you build a stronger longevity.

One Final Way To Build Your Brand

You want to be a leader and not a follower. That also means that you cannot focus on likes on social media. Everyone is addicted to being liked. You want buyers. Someone who just "breezes in" to look is not going to help you. Those people are there merely for window dressing. Stop focusing on how many people "like" you. Focus more on how many people are actually buying from you. Those numbers will tell you how much revenue is coming in regularly.

Advances in science and technology have made it possible for more people and startups to innovate solutions to modern challenges. It is, therefore, wise for innovators to take steps to protect their work by patenting it. Otherwise, the innovator's idea might be taken by someone else who will use it as his own, denying the original inventor the benefits. Therefore, the services of a patent practitioner are vital to the innovator seeking to protect his invention.

Who is a Patent Practitioner?

Both a patent attorney and a patent agent are patent practitioners. They both must have a science or technology background. Taking and passing a Patent Bar Exam is mandatory for both. But while a patent attorney is a law school graduate licensed to practice law, a patent agent is not. The patent agent extent of law practice is as regards matters of patenting. The patent agent prepares patent applications then follows them up with USPTO. Patent practitioners play a vital role in helping inventors to protect their inventions.

How Does a Patent Practitioner Help Innovator's Patent Innovations?

The process of helping an innovator patent their innovation involves the following:

• Advise inventors on whether their designs are patentable by conducting a thorough patent search. The search is vital to avoid rejection of the patent by the patent examiner.

• Drafting patent applications using your technical background and training in patent law.

• Understanding the fine details of the invention and communicating the same to other parties in the patent application.

• Submit uspto ids containing the patent information to USPTO, the relevant government authority that receives and reviews patents. Full disclosure is vital to avoid stiff penalties later.

• Act as the link between the patent examiner at USPTO and the inventor to make the patent application's necessary adjustments. The patent examiner will accept or reject the patent.

Why You Should Consider Being a Patent Practitioner

Patent practitioners play a vital role in helping the innovator to patent their innovation. Not patenting an invention will lead to loss of ownership rights for the innovator. A patent practitioner allows the innovator to own the creation legally. The inventor will, therefore, enjoy profits from his product without interference by competitors.

As a patent practitioner, you will enjoy practicing the prestigious law profession, even with your technical background. You will also get a chance to serve humanity by creating a level playing field in innovations. Additionally, you will play an essential role in encouraging designs that are the solutions to modern problems in society. An innovator who knows they will receive some protection will be glad to innovate more.

What Are the Requirements For Becoming a Patent Practitioner?

If you have the following traits, then consider becoming a patent practitioner:

• Good knowledge of science or technology

• Above-average writing skills

• Excellent communication skills

• Excellent understanding of patent law

• Take and pass the Patent Bar Exam

• Be registered patent practitioners

Conclusion

The government issues patents to give the innovators full rights over their inventions. Interested parties will not be able to copy the design and use it for their benefit. A patent practitioner plays a vital role in helping the innovator to patent their innovation. The practitioner is knowledgeable in both the patent law and the technical field. Additionally, a patent practitioner must be of good character and high moral standing.