Here in the corona-verse, being a small business owner has never been more difficult. This week, we’re going to talk about the best tips and ideas to attract customers to your business and increase sales.
Before you even get one foot into your door, you should spend time honing your business acumen.
People like to support local businesses, so go meet the people! Sponsor an event or local sports team. Start a reciprocal relationship with a complementary business. Go to community meetings and join a relevant trade association. You cold also consider using a service like Meetup to find relevant events where you can network.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but more businesses fail due to lack of vision than you might realize, especially if your company deals in something more abstract than, say, general vocational labor like plumbing or cabinet making. Do some research to make sure your product is something the people you’re trying to reach need.
If your business is of the brick and mortar variety, looking clean and professional could make all of the difference, and can be a great way to gain trust with your clients. Looking professional can go a long way toward giving your business credibility, especially if you are newer to the scene.
Even if a business is your competitor, it couldn’t hurt to start a dialogue. Know what they’re doing and how you can shift your focus to fill a different niche.
You should also take the time (and money) to hire a designer or marketing agent to help develop your brand persona. If you’re on a tight budget, you can get solid results for as little as $10 these days! If you have the funding to start a business or are somewhat established, you likely have the budget to pay more, but hey, it’s better than nothing!
If you choose to use a service from something like Fiverr, we recommend shelling out at least $100-$200. If you have the space in your budget, however, you could never go wrong going with a traditional marketing firm, as you will likely get higher quality results.
In addition, hiring the right staff is paramount. Again, this comes down to what type of company you’re running, but for any business, having the right team can make the difference between failure and success.
Make an effort to identify the clientele you are looking to attract, and do your best to show them how you are the answer to their issues. Also, take the time to establish your business’s unique voice. A rural roofing company will more than likely make different rhetorical decisions than a downtown coffee shop.
In classic rhetoric (going all the way back to Aristotle!), there are three main modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. With some finesse, you should be able to integrate all of them into your company’s image.
This is an appeal to authority. Do you have a master’s degree in graphic design? Then your graphic design company already has some innate credibility. Did you work for a plumbing company for ten years prior to starting your own business? Your clients will see that as a huge boost in credibility – use it!
Pathos is an appeal to emotion. Do you have an interesting story to tell? Did you overcome immense adversity to get to where you are? You can use your story to get people interested in you or your product.
Logos is, logically, the appeal to logic! Surprised? Probably not, but you can use this mode of persuasion if you have strong, trustworthy stats, data, or facts to show your audience as a means to establish credibility. Do nine out of ten doctors prefer your product? Tell us that!
No matter how good your product is, it won’t matter unless people know it exists. Good advertising can have a snowball effect – a little effort can go a very long way.
Take some time to plan an advertising strategy. Do some minor research on types of advertisements and see what you think will work best for you.
Get your business on all major web channels. Starting a Facebook account for your business, getting on Yelp, and building a website are great places to start. Not only do they help your brand’s credibility, they will be a boon to your effort to get customers in the door.
There are a million and one different advertising methods. If you’re unsure as to which one you should go with, it might be a good idea to go with an advertising agency. If that’s out of your budget, think about investing some money into trying several different methods to help pinpoint the one you think will work best for you.
Giveaways and contests. Having regular giveaways and contests can be an easy way to get customers to remember you.
Advertise online. Facebook, YouTube, and Google are services that just about everyone uses, and they all have extremely robust advertising systems that can target users with a scary amount of depth. You don’t need to ball out at first, either – putting even $100 into advertising on each has the potential to reach thousands of potential customers in your area.
Flyers and cold calling. There’s no shame in taking it old school! If appropriate for your business, you might consider taking your ads directly from you to your customers. Break out the ol’ phone book or print out flyers. Again, modern technology makes it almost too easy – you can get 1000 fairly nice flyers on a service like Vistaprint for only around $100!
Have some discounts/referrals. This is the oldest trick in the book, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. Have a method of applying discounts to your services, whether they’re weekly discounts, new customers discounts, or discounts for referrals. It may take some trial and error, but it’s important to find the right balance.
At the end of the day, your goal is to get your business in front of as many people’s eyes as possible. Then, if your service is good, the best advertising method of all, word of mouth, will take care of the rest.
If you’re not tech-savvy, consider hiring a digital communications specialist. Having a good website and a strong social media presence can be a very valuable asset to your small business. If a communications specialist isn’t in your budget, you should still do your best to get yourself online.
Create an account on all of the major social networks – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are great places to start. Use your brand persona to inform the designs on your accounts; for instance, using your company logo as your profile photo. Try to have the same handle for all social media accounts.
You should also strongly consider building a website. If this sounds intimidating, you could hire a web developer, or use a service like Fiverr if you’re on a budget. That said, WordPress.com and Wix make it absurdly easy to create a good looking functional website for free.
Be sure to pick a solid domain name. Make it short, catchy, and relevant to your company. If you ever run into any questions, such as needing to link your domain name to your Wix website, just search your question on Google and you’ll find your answer.
Make sure your website is built with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Good SEO can be the difference between your company showing up at the top of the first page on any given Google search or at the bottom of the eighth.
You could also consider writing blog posts for your website. Depending on what your business focuses on, you might need to provide potential clients with important context or answers to specific questions. If you’re really savvy, you could even consider producing videos and podcasts for your company, which can help expand your presence on the web.
Get listed on Yelp, Qbitt, and other popular business directories. Getting good user reviews on these services can also be a big boost. Many companies offer incentives to people who provide reviews on Yelp and Facebook.
Qbitt is the best new way to help grow your business and manage your employees. Check out Qbitt for free on iOS, Android, or in your web browser!
Did you know that you can place a Qbitt button on your website? If you want to give your clients a convenient way to schedule with you and your team, you’re going to want to do this, and it couldn’t be simpler!
If you know a bit about how your WordPress website works, it’ll be a piece of cake to follow along. If you have no idea what WordPress is, contact your web developer and show them this article. They’ll know what to do.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Have you claimed your business on Qbitt yet? If you haven’t, you’ll be glad to hear that you can do it quickly, and for the low, low price of absolutely free!
Head over to Qbitt and sign in to your account. Search for your business and follow the prompts to claim it. If your business is not currently listed on Qbitt, simply go to your dashboard and hit “Add my business”.
If you’re familiar with WordPress, keep reading. If you’re not sure what you’re doing, you might want to consider contacting your company’s web developer for more information. That said, if you’re careful, it’s not too hard to do.
If you’re ready to move on, you need to make sure you the right WordPress plugin. Download the “Header and Footer Scripts” plugin and get it installed (installation guide).
Now that you have claimed your business and have your plugins all set, it’s time to get the code from Qbitt. Sign in to your Qbitt account and click your profile picture in the top right. Hit “Settings”.
From there, navigate to the “General” tab. Click “Generate Widget”. Select which widget theme you would like and take note of the code snippets. You’ll need those in the next step.
You made it this far! Onto the final stretch! Open your WordPress dashboard! Go, go, go!
On the side of the screen, you’ll see a bunch of options. Go down to “Settings” at the bottom, and then click “Header and Footer Scripts”.
Add the <head> tag, one of the code snippets from earlier, to the “Scripts In Header” block. Should probably be the only thing there. Hit save.
Next, go to the page that you will want to display the widget on. Copy the <body> code and place it where you want it to show on your website.
The button should look like the image above. Be sure to preview the changes before hitting publish to make sure it’s where you want it.
That’s it! You’re all set!
If you followed all of the steps correctly, you should have a brand spanking new Qbitt widget on your site. From there, your customers are able to interact with you in ways you both will enjoy. Be sure to download Qbitt on iOS, Android, or use your web browser.
With most office workers still stuck at home due to, y’know, the apocalypse, many startups and small businesses have resorted to using video conferencing apps to conduct their meetings and other workplace functions.
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The quarantine has provided fertile ground for video chat apps to proliferate. With so many to choose from, finding the one that will work best for your team might seem daunting, but we’re here to help.
All of the apps we’re going to discuss here are feature-rich, robust, and trustworthy. Certain issues aside, you can rest assured that any information you send on these services is secure.
They’re also all capable of features such as file sharing and screen sharing. Certain features, such as additional storage, additional security benefits, and live customer support, are only available on the paid or enterprise-level versions of these apps.
Zoom is easily the most popular and well-known video conferencing application today, likely due to its prominence in culture and the media at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some fast facts about Zoom.
Use Zoom if you want to keep things simple or have a big team. Zoom has perhaps the best interface of all of the video conferencing services, and can host the most participants. In addition, if you want to away from the eye of mega-corporations like Microsoft and Google, Zoom will probably be your best bet.
Skype is the OG of video chat platforms, and has certainly had the most time to build itself up. It still might have the perception of being that old tool you used to video chat with your grandparents in the pre-smartphone era, but since it’s purchase by Microsoft in 2011, it has evolved into a robust video conferencing tool.
With its “Meet Now” feature, you can video chat with up to 50 people with no time limits on meetings. It’s not particularly well-advertised, resulting in it not being used as much at the small business level, but its fairly high capacity of users and its integration with Outlook should entice any team.
There is also a paid version of Skype (Skype for Business) that adds additional enterprise features such as file sharing, but it’s set to be integrated into Microsoft Teams by 2021, so you’re probably better off choosing between Skype or Teams.
Use Skype if you won’t need too many enterprise features and have a tight-knit team. Skype isn’t exactly barebones, but if you know you’ll need additional security features or Microsoft Office integration, you should look into Microsoft’s other video conference offering, Teams, discussed below.
If you know that you won’t need those tools and are wondering of Microsoft Teams’ recent updates on its capacity and video chat length cap will revert like Google Meet’s post-pandemic, it might be worth your time to get your team set on Skype.
Teams is another Microsoft video conferencing product that, up until recently, has primarily targeted enterprise users. With a recent update due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft bumped their maximum users in a Teams chat from 20 to 250, and the app’s 24 hour cap on conference calls was similarly ousted.
Most of the key features a startup or small business will need to use can be found in the free version of Teams, though if you know you will need more file storage, meeting recordings, and guaranteed uptime, the paid version can be yours for as low as $5, with costs increasing as your data needs do.
Use Microsoft Teams if you need the Microsoft Office and Office 365 integration. While some of these features are available sporadically in Skype and Skype Business, Teams will be the way to go to guarantee that you will have access to all of the features you might need.
Google Meet is currently providing its entire feature set for free until September 30th. Until that deadline comes, Meet can give you 300 hour-long meetings with up to 250 participants, and you also have full access to try the app’s deep set of security features.
Use Google Meet if your team uses Gmail and Google Drive. If you’re already deep into Google’s infrastructure, Google Meet will certainly meet all of your needs. Gmail already has Google Meet built right in, and if you need to record your chats, the Enterprise Essentials edition can save your recordings directly into your Google Drive.
When scheduling an appointment, Qbitt automatically creates rooms in your favorite video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Meet. See what else Qbitt can do for you on iOS, Android, and in your web browser!
Starting a business is a daunting task. As enticing as some of the extreme cases may sound, most startups are doomed to go down in flames. Even startups backed by big money only succeed 15% more often than ones that start in your backyard for $25 and a Starbucks gift card from your grandma. Here are our best tips on what to do when starting a startup, and how yours can be one of the ones that succeeds.
This is the big one. We get it – your startup is destined to change the way we do… whatever you think your product is going to do. The truth is, there are a lot of people out there with big ideas who think they’re going to be the next Facebook or Google, but even if your product succeeds and turns a profit, there’s an infinitesimal chance you will be one of the big players – and that’s okay!
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there are about 100 million new startups every single year. That’s about 3 new startups per second! Most of these will barely take a step above the ground floor, sure, but the competition is still there.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t aim high or aim to succeed – quite the contrary! We just want you to temper your expectations and not feel bad if your idea doesn’t end up being sold for $1 billion and changes the history of the human species.
If you set unrealistic goals, you run the risk of issues like allocating money and resources to the wrong places or biting off more than your schedule can chew. Know your scope.
Be realistic about what you can accomplish and you will be more likely to succeed. If the circumstances allow you to go bigger, take the chance, but only after careful, pragmatic consideration.
As tempting as it is to go it alone, you’re more likely to succeed if you study. Extensively. This was true in the 11th grade, and it’s true now as you’re trying to start a company.
Read books. Read articles. Watch credible videos. Learn what has worked in the past and what doesn’t and make educated choices based on them. It might be difficult to find the time, but even a little bit can go a long way.
While early tech giants like Facebook and Google were mostly flying by the seat of their (digital) pants, we live in the future now where there are a plethora of great tools to use for your startup. One of the biggest problems new startups have is being disorganized, and Qbitt, our free scheduling app, is an excellent resource for your startup to use.
While it was great working with Roger when you started that band in college, he may not be the best partner for your tech startup, given that grad was six years ago and the most he’s done since then is play video games in his parent’s basement.
The people who work under you need to either be passionate about your product, bring an important skill or talent to what you’re trying to accomplish, or both. If you happen to still be in college or are planning on going soon, there’s perhaps no better place to network and meet like-minded individuals, so take full advantage of where you are at. Speaking from personal experience, there’s perhaps no better place to make lasting contacts.
Let’s say you’re already out of college and didn’t do as much networking as you had hoped. That’s okay! There are plenty of ways to meet other big thinkers and entrepreneurs – with Qbitt being one of them! Qbitt is designed to bring local businesses together, and with the app’s built-in social network, it makes for a great place to meet other business owners.
If you’re just starting out, it couldn’t hurt to try to be a part of a startup first, rather than trying to be CEO right out of the gate. This could be a great place to network or meet a mentor – someone who has been there before who could steer you and your ideas onto the right path.
We all love money. Even people who say they don’t care about money love money. With that in mind, realize that only 40% of startups ever end up turning a profit, let alone succeed in any meaningful way.
You should be in this because you feel as though there’s a niche to be filled and that you have the means and knowhow to fill it, not because you envision yourself on a yacht carrying a smaller yacht in five years.
Don’t let the glitz and glamor of the few million or billion-dollar startups obscure your vision. Approaching your startup with cynicism in your heart can kill your dreams faster than cyanide in your veins – keep both far away!
If you’re approaching your startup from the perspective of wanting to make money and not because you feel you have a service that can fill a niche, you may want to take some time and restructure your plans.
Despite their romanticized image of modern sleek offices filled to the brim with comfy couches and pool tables, nearly 70% of startups begin at home, and 58% start with less than $25,000. If that seems like a lot of money to you, make sure you understand that lower five-figure numbers like that barely scratch the surface of what most successful startups will end up costing.
If you’re just starting out, chances are high that you’re not going to be working with a lot of money, making finance management paramount to your businesses’ success.
You may have come up with your million-dollar idea drunk on cheap whiskey on a Friday night, but that doesn’t mean your company needs to match that energy. Your first step should always be to make a solid game plan.
Who is paying you to work on this product/business/idea? Do you know what channels you will want to market and advertise through? How much time do you expect this idea will take to come to fruition? Using free organization and scheduling tools – like Qbitt! – can be a boon to your startup.
Before you laugh this one off, take a moment to think about it. Are you sure your product is useful? Will it really fill that niche? Are there products and companies out there doing what you’re doing better already?
If your project is already well underway, ask yourself this: is my product high-quality? Does it look cheap? Did you skimp on your web designer? How well does it stack up to the established titans in your respective industry? This may seem like a no-brainer, but too many entrepreneurs skip these questions – don’t let it be you!
Only a third of startups ever make it to the 10-year mark. There’s no doubt that you’re carrying most of the load of your new entrepreneurial effort on your own back, and there’s absolutely no shame in using all the tools and resources you can to ensure your success.
Qbitt is a revolutionary scheduling app that will almost certainly prove to be an invaluable piece to completing your startup puzzle. Here’s why.
82% of businesses fail due to cash flow issues. Indeed, given their failure rate, attempting a startup is such a big risk that everyone involved, including you, will tend to be hesitant toward pumping money into the new company.
Thankfully, it’s not 2004, and there are a lot of really powerful tools for your startup to use. That said, many will cost you your precious and likely limited money, so finding free ones can be hugely important – and Qbitt has you completely covered in that regard.
Every one of Qbitt’s features are free to use, whether you’re using its robust employee scheduling system, or you’re scheduling a service from a local business.
There’s a good chance your business is already listed on Qbitt! Simply sign in, click the business tab, find or search for your business, hit the “Claim Business” button, and follow the prompts. After that, you’re ready to go!
Once you have claimed your business, you’re able to take advantage of Qbitt’s most powerful tools and features. Using Qbitt’s custom calendar, you can create a schedule for all of your employees and easily communicate with them.
Are you and your team stuck working remotely? With Qbitt, you have a convenient way to create a virtual conference with all of your employees.
Simply open the app, create a meeting, select your favorite conferencing service (such as Google Meet or Zoom), and Qbitt will automatically create a new room with the chosen service, ready to access for all the people invited to the meeting.
Through Qbitt, it’s never been easier for companies to communicate with their clients and vice versa. Qbitt’s proprietary social networking component allows businesses and firms to provide updates and marketing materials to their clients, as well as answer questions and concerns.
On the flip side, consumers are able to be the first to see new deals and specials from their favorite local businesses. In addition, when they have a service heading their way, Qbitt has the option to provide customers with location tracking.
With Qbitt’s full-featured social networking service, it’s easier than ever to connect with other local businesses, entrepreneurs, and, of course, potential clients.
Don’t get left behind! Take advantage of Qbitt’s robust features for your startup today, absolutely free. Check out Qbitt on iOS, Android, or in your web browser.
Thanks to a certain deadly virus ravaging our nation, most of us are flush with more free time than we’ve ever had (or wanted!). On the surface, this might make you think that tasks and errands are easier than ever to complete.
However, the truth of the matter is that without a schedule to follow most of us, will spend the majority of that time glued to our La-Z-Boys rather than learning to code, finishing that screenplay, or (god forbid, right?) doing our jobs from home.
There are many different ways to manage your time, but, as with everything, some are better than others. We’re going to share our five favorite time management techniques and methods to help keep you on track.
As much as we want this to refer to an awesome sci-fi version of the classic sport, we’re talking about the next best thing – a time management technique! Timeboxing is fairly straightforward. Let’s say you have free time from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and you want to clean up around the house, finish a report for your job, and play that new video game you bought. You would then divide your available time among the three tasks.
As with anything, there is some nuance to this method. As fun as it would be, it wouldn’t make much sense to devote 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM to playing your video game, leaving you only a couple hours to do the more important tasks.
You could use the 10:00 AM to noon block to get your house chores out of the way. After tiring yourself from that, take an hour to eat lunch. You could then devote the final 1:00 PM to 6:00 block to both your report and your gaming desires. When you finish your report, you can feel free to spend the rest of your block on the least important task. Seems pretty simple, but it’s more effective than you might realize!
This one is a little unconventional. Your first step is to drive to a pet store, purchase a frog, and then cook it. Here at Qbitt, we recommend using a slow cooker or outdoor grill.
What’s that? Oh, the other “Eat That Frog” method? Whoops! Hopefully you didn’t stop reading at the end of the last paragraph!
“No, you don’t have to eat me.”
In all seriousness, this method is derived from a lesser-known Mark Twain quote: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”. That is to say, the frog is your most difficult and tedious task, and probably the one you’ll want to put off the most.
Still, it will eventually have to get done, and finishing it first will make the future tasks less intimidating. Having the worst behind you can be the wind in your sails you need to get through your day.
We get it. You’re smart. While that’s great, that doesn’t mean you can do everything on your own. Trying to manage a schedule entirely in your head is doable, but, like trying to scale a mountain without any climbing gear, is far from the best way to go about it.
We live in the future. The smartphone is perhaps the most incredible invention in the history of the human species – so use it! While we could spend all day telling you why Qbitt is a fantastic (and free!) way to manage your time, we get that we’re not the only game in town. Take some time to do some research on some time management apps and develop a system that works for you.
As much as we might like to think we’re perfectly rational, logical creatures, many aspects of human nature are inherently irrational and emotional – and that’s okay! You don’t need to be Spock to get your ish done.
Like all the rest, this technique is flexible. Maybe for one task, you tell yourself you need it done before lunch – and for your other task, tell yourself that, no matter what, you are going to start it at 2:00 PM sharp.
These little start times might seem arbitrary, but they can be big 
motivators. The biggest sticking point with this method is having the motivation and self-control to actually start and finish those tasks. If this is something you struggle with, consider melding this method with the next one!
We’re all familiar with dog treats. If Rover does something good, he gets positive reinforcement, usually in the form of food. Most people are generally a bit more complicated than your average canine, but that reward center resides in both species’ brains.
This technique is great when you’re not sure how long a difficult task will take and you have plenty of free time to do it. Let’s say you have a full day to write a blog post about, say, scheduling techniques. You can divide the task into chunks like researching, outlining, and writing.
Sure, your reward could be actual dog treats. We won’t judge.
Take as much time as you need to do all the necessary research and then give yourself a reward when you complete it. Watch an episode of Tiger King while eating a tasty snack. You deserve it! Afterwards, begin the next task, outlining in this case, and repeat.
The idea here is that instead of just working non-stop and/or not providing yourself with a reward, you will ultimately be less efficient than if you were to provide yourself with some me-time.
You can find Qbitt on iOS, Android, and your web browser, absolutely free. No premium version, no hidden costs, no microtransactions. Schedule meetings and interact with friends and local businesses today!
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing its rapid spread across the country, many workers are forced to do their jobs remotely. One of the major changes in these strange, uncertain times is the proliferation of the virtual meeting. Whether through Slack or Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, many of us are new to the entire concept of a conference conducted entirely through webcams. Here are the top 7 tips on how best to adapt to this new era, and how Qbitt can make virtual meetings simpler than ever.
There’s nothing more annoying when trying to pay attention to important information than distractions. A key point to any virtual meeting is to treat it the same as an in-person meeting.
If you’re in the middle of any ongoing conversations, let the parties know that you are entering a meeting. Additionally, set your phone to Do Not Disturb mode to ensure maximum privacy. Just as you’re expected not to look at your phone in the conference room, leave unnecessary devices alone until the meeting is over.
Don’t be the guy/gal with barking dogs or screaming kids running by. Unless absolutely necessary, choose a quiet, private place to participate in the meeting. With that said, context is important – bedroom, yes. Bathroom, no.
Choose as simple of a background as possible. As always, seek to minimize distractions and maximize professionalism. Lighting can be a key feature as well. With the wrong lighting, you can be difficult to see. Try and put yourself in front of soft, indirect light, and do your best to stay away from other light sources in your room. Don’t sit near any windows, and make sure not to have any light coming in from behind you.
Keyboards aren’t just loud. While this can definitely be an issue, they can also be distracting and lead you to unproductive behaviors. Making a concerted effort to not touch your keyboard can make all the difference between being an attentive and responsive co-worker and one who falls behind.
On that note, make sure you’re away from anything that might distract you. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit – they all have their time and place, but in the meeting room is not one of them. Just as you wouldn’t browse Instagram in a meeting with your co-workers and managers before the pandemic, you shouldn’t do so online.
Just as with anything else, context is important here. If you’re a student attending online classes, using your keyboard is a must. Taking notes, answering prompts, and doing relevant research can be a positive use of the ol’ QWERTY. That said, it’s important to stay diligent and not get distracted by other stuff when you’re actively using your computer.
You can also use your keyboard in a work meeting, as long as you make it clear you’re staying fully attentive. Taking notes can even show your client or boss that you’re prepared to take action on what’s being discussed. Either way, if you do need to type something, it might help to mute your microphone if possible.
As the way we do work changes, it’s becoming exceedingly important to have a solid webcam and microphone setup at home. You can find good 1080p webcams on Amazon for around $40. If you’re on a laptop, the built-in webcam will probably suffice for most work or school-related needs. If you don’t have a webcam available and video chat is an absolute imperative, most modern smartphones have good front-facing cameras and have apps for the main virtual chat platforms.
Most standard pairs of headphones have microphones now, but if you foresee yourself doing video chats for a while, it couldn’t hurt to invest in an external microphone. Again, there are many solid options on Amazon in the $40 range. However, there’s a good chance your webcam or laptop might already have a built-in microphone. If yours has one, test it out to make sure the sound and acoustics are up to par.
The last thing you want to do is hold up an important appointment. If the meeting is at 2:00 PM, you are expected to be ready to go at 2:00 PM. Troubleshooting isn’t difficult, but if you’re unsure how to do it yourself, most major virtual meeting apps provide you with simple ways to test your equipment. Click one of the links below to learn more.
Before jumping into the meeting, prepare any necessary documents, applications, and notes. Fiddling around can come off as distracting and unprofessional.
If you’re the one managing the meeting, you will want to ensure that you schedule all relevant parties and, conversely, don’t invite unnecessary people. Scheduling apps such as Qbitt can prove invaluable to ensuring all of your employees and co-workers know when and where your meeting is. Qbitt allows you to pick a date and time for your meeting, and it will automatically create a meeting in your preferred virtual conference application.
Whether you’re running the show or just participating, it’s essential to prepare an agenda prior to the meeting. This can help keep your meeting organized and will keep everyone on topic. Having a list of talking points or questions can also be very helpful. If appropriate, you might also consider preparing a closing statement at the end of your presentation or when the meeting is concluded.
As previously mentioned, don’t let the casual feeling of being at home distract you from the formalities of an office meeting or virtual classroom. Be sure to introduce yourself politely, and acknowledge other people by name. However, as with anything, context is key – if your boss is showing up in her SpongeBob pajamas, feel free to wear your Star Wars onesie!
A major difference from an in-person meeting is that you probably can see everyone in a virtual meeting at once. Whereas meetings in the conference room would generally have most people looking at a single speaker, virtual conferences provide the means to see all of your co-workers simultaneously – and that includes you! It’s important to appear engaged, attentive, and enthusiastic.
Assume someone is watching you at all times. If you have to pick your nose, turn your camera off!
If you’re sharing your screen, try your best to continue minimizing distractions as best you can. Close any irrelevant tabs, and turn off any music and sounds if they’re not needed. For added professionalism, clean up your desktop beforehand, hide your taskbar (or just press F11 if you are in your web browser), and hide your bookmarks (Control + Shift + B).
This may come as a no-brainer, but if you’re tired or distracted, you might slip up like poor Jennifer earlier this year. If you’re using a laptop or smartphone, make sure you leave them in place if you need to take a break. Definitely don’t lug your desktop and monitor into your bathroom, if at all possible. Even if you’re not doing anything too personal, moving around too much can prove distracting, and, unless your house is spotless, might shine you in a bad light depending on the context.
Speak clearly, concisely, and slowly. As most people in your conference are likely to be in separate locations with varied internet connections and setups, there’s no guarantee that things will go smoothly all of the time. You might short out for just a second or two, but that’s all it takes to knock listeners off of your train of thought, forcing you to scramble and repeat yourself. Changing your speech patterns to match the context can help everyone involved.
Lag, minor connection shortages, and hardware problems can be very real issues in the world of virtual conferencing. While it’s important to get the technological aspects of virtual conferences right, there could always be things that happen outside of your control.
When speaking, try your best to look at your webcam. It’s a good, easy way for your listeners to know that it’s time to concentrate on what you’re saying. If you’re looking at yourself or something else on-screen, it can add an unnecessary layer of confusion to the meeting. Be sure to do your best not to interrupt anyone else speaking, too. All video chat providers have a slight delay between the sending and receiving of video data, so pay attention to that as well.
If you are not speaking, it’s generally a good idea to mute your microphone. Some microphones have a mute button, but every video chat provider will have one to use on-screen. If need be, you can also turn off your camera. This will protect your coworkers from further distractions. It also lets you comfortably take a swig of water, adjust your seat, or let out an otherwise embarrassing noise with impunity.
Let’s recap!
Once again, the best thing you can do is treat any virtual meeting with the same respect and consideration as an in-person one. Dress appropriately, free yourself of any distractions (both in your home and on your screen), and treat your fellow business mates as you would like to be treated. Come prepared, stay focused, and your online meetings will go as smoothly as can be.
Could it be possible that the simplest, most robust way to schedule appointments with your employees and interact with clients is absolutely free? It’s true! Find Qbitt on iOS, Android, or on your web browser and discover how it can help your business succeed!
Qbitt’s comprehensive built-in social media platform provides users and businesses with a mutually beneficial experience. In this short read, you will find out what Qbitt’s social media aspect can provide for both customers and businesses.
As a customer, you are able to interact with other Qbitt users, as well as local businesses you frequent. You can share your experiences with fellow customers, as well as interact directly with the companies themselves. This unprecedented depth of interaction provides consumers with an easy way to find reputable services. Qbitt can also provide peer-reviewed recommendations, allowing users to find great companies that their friends and families have used in the past.
You can also subscribe to your favorite business’ profiles, allowing their future posts to appear on your account’s social feed. Simply find a business through the app, hit the follow button, and you will be the first to see their deals and promos. You can choose these interactions to be public, private, or viewable just to your friends.
While customers can schedule services with a given company, they can even schedule with individual employees. If you have a favorite massage therapy clinic, you can schedule an appointment with your preferred therapist within that clinic. It’s never been easier or more convenient to get the service you want, when you want it.
As a business, you can post promotional content, as well as advertise products and services. If a customer sees an interesting post or promo on their social feed, they can click your business profile, allowing them to see details about what services your business provides.
They can then schedule appointments with you, or directly with your employees. These appointments can be accessed through the Qbitt app’s built-in calendar system, as well as through a connected third-party calendar. Businesses can even connect with other businesses, too!
Maybe you’re just someone who doesn’t like to make phone calls. Through Qbitt, you can schedule services and contact businesses directly. Your appointment will be saved to our app’s built-in calendar, and you will be notified as the date approaches.
It’s never been easier to turn fellow entrepreneurs, businesses, and potential clients into friends. Download our free app on iOS and Android, or use Qbitt in your web browser.
In this article, we’re going to discuss what makes Qbitt so valuable to businesses looking to manage their daily work schedules, and individuals who want an easy way to arrange services from said businesses. We’ll cover our unique features, discuss our employee scheduling system, and our digital conferencing tool.
Qbitt has an assortment of great features that separate us from the competition. Our goal is to enable business owners to manage their schedules and personal lives in one place, all for one exceedingly low price – free.
Qbitt’s built-in social media platform allows you to share information with your family and friends while also engaging with companies in a public forum. Businesses can also release promos and drive user interactions as a marketing tool for their companies.
Schedule your appointments and virtual meetings through our system and automatically sync them with your Google Calendar.
Our peer-reviewed and friend system-based recommendations allow users to find services from companies that their friends and families have used in the past. This trust building system is meant to lend to the overall reliability and professionalism of a business.
Our unique feature of allowing users to book appointments with businesses enables an ease of access to their open hours. Customers can also directly message businesses within the app.
Businesses can reduce their total number of calls and have clients book directly without needing to call or come in to schedule an appointment.
Schedule your employees’ times and availabilities while allowing users to book directly with their favorite stylist, groomer, or plumber.
Our scheduling tool allows you to book with your preferred conferencing system with the click of a few buttons, many of our users agree, it’s easier than booking on the systems themselves. Once your virtual meeting is complete it automatically adds the event to your synced calendar.
When scheduling an appointment, you have the option to link a Google Hangouts or Zoom meeting. Our app will automatically create the meeting for you. If your appointment is through another service, you have the option to link it as well.
When you use Qbitt, you will be immediately struck by its simplicity, practicality, and intuitiveness. Your meeting will be available on both Qbitt’s built-in calendar and your Google Calendar. Qbitt will even send you alerts leading up to your appointment.
Qbitt brings businesses and their communities together with unprecedented ease and style. Don’t believe us? Check out Qbitt on iOS and Android, as well as in your web browser, absolutely free.
