In today’s cutthroat SEO environment building quality backlinks is as important as ever.

However, acquiring backlinks just for the sake of backlinks is is more than ill-advised. Relevance for your (or your client’s) industry vertical will be critical as you assess the various link building service providers on the market. In addition, as the search engine algorithms continue to become more advanced, they will better include the ability to recognize both the quality and relevance of the off-site content you (or your SEO agency) produces.

As link building services still remains one of the most heavily-weighted factors impacting your rankings in search engines, it is important to understand how you can procure backlinks in an ethical, economical and scalable way in order to have the best impact on your business and drive sustainable results for your business long term. In a former time, it was easy to buy inexpensive links at scale from fly-by-night outsourcing firms out of places like India. Today’s focus on quality and relevance means such days are far behind us.

And while this has increased the overall cost of garnering high-quality backlinks, it also ensures that only the most professional sites show up higher in the search rankings than their competitors.

Google’s algorithms continue to give credence and credibility to sites that demonstrate high levels of trust and authority. One of the greatest ways your website can demonstrate such authority is by having large numbers of similar sites relevantly link to your site. This acts as a signal of authority, further increasing your site’s overall relevance in search rankings. Demonstrate your expertise, earn links and your site is sure to rank higher in search.

However, quality link building is not done so easily. Quality and scale are almost diametrically opposed. Maintaining both concurrently can be extremely difficult. However, if procured properly links can be one of the best tools in increasing your search presence over time.

As such, it supplementing and complementing your own internal link building campaigns with the help of knowledgeable link building services can be extremely beneficial for long-term SEO success.

The Top 10 Link Building Service Providers

As you look to supplement your own efforts in building quality backlinks back to your website, it will be important to note the following service providers as you look to build quality backlinks for your online business. It is always advised that when building out your own link building campaign with a link building partner that you perform your own ample due diligence, ensuring the company you hire meets the standards of professionalism that matter to you.

In making my assessment of the best link building companies, I kept several key considerations in mind. First, how long has the link building agency been in business? What are the company’s minimums in terms of engagement cost? What types of case studies can the company show and how has the company performed overall in field testing for various industries?

1. SEO.co

In operation since 2008, SEO.co has been providing high quality link building for over a decade. The company’s mantra is quality. They cater to higher-end clients and agency resellers looking to white label the company’s SEO services, allowing smaller SEO agencies to scale their link building without putting in efforts on their own. The firm employs writers in-house who produce the content that then is published (with links fully intact) to high (DA 50-90) Domain Authority (DA) websites. The company maintains direct relationships with thousands of high quality site publishers, allowing their clients to procure extremely relevant links from very high quality websites. Per the company’s site, they guarantee placement or your money back. In addition, the company has a nice purchasing dashboard, allowing users to easily buy links based on DA and destination URLs.

The company is based in Seattle, WA and continues to provide outstanding service to both direct website owners and SEO agency partners & resellers. They come highly recommended for their work. As part of the 2023 update, the company also now operates Link.Build

2. Stellar SEO

As a top-tier link building service provider Stellar SEO provides a suite of solutions to its clients for acquiring backlinks for SEO that are both relevant and high quality. The firm’s concierge service provides clients with a unique strategic approach to building links, not typically had (e.g. broken link building) by other SEO link building agencies. Stellar SEO is very disciplined in how they approach the link building, gaining links for their clients that are niche-specific and industry-relevant. Unfortunately, that sometimes means that Domain Authority is not as much of a focus.

Like the other link building service firms listed above Stellar SEO is based in the United States with a staff that speaks English and a service that bespeaks of high quality.

3. FatJoe

Based in the UK, FatJoe has been in the business of link building and content marketing for years. One of the areas that sets FatJoe apart from the competition, is an easy-to-use customer dashboard. Their custom dashboard allows clients to search and purchase among a myriad of the company’s services, which includes direct link building and even higher-end Blogger Outreach. Blogger Outreach is billed by the hour and gives your business relevant links via direct outreach from the FatJoe team. While this service is billed hourly for the hours worked, it is one of the better means of sourcing backlinks from the most relevant sources on the web.

The company also includes press release and blog writing services for other on and off-site content marketing needs. With an entire team of content writers, their turn-around time is relatively quick and their quality is “good enough” for most websites.

4. LinkFish

By focusing on link building for highly competitive niche websites, LinkFish has built a name for themselves for focusing on the human aspects of building quality content and quality backlinks. As a company LinkFish focuses on old fashioned techniques for procuring placements for client campaigns. That is, the company takes a hands-on outreach approach to finding the most relevant websites for building quality links. The company does not require on-going contracts and they provide link analysis, SEO audits and backlink profile clean-up services.

5. VerticalMeasures

A results driven SEO firm, VerticalMeasures provides a myriad of digital marketing services to its clients, only one of which is direct link building via highly-relevant content marketing. Rather than being solely niche-focused on link building, the company takes a more holistic SEO agency approach, creating content that ultimately drives online results. As such, the company spends more time on strategy prior to implementing a plan of action that will deliver the needed results for client campaigns. VerticalMeasures is based in Phoenix, AZ and their team is U.S.-based and highly regarded for their work in digital marketing, link building tactics and SEO.

6. DigitalCurrent

Like several other link building services mentioned here, DigitalCurrent is a link building company that focuses on quality content, website relevance and Domain Authority. When it comes to building links in today’s market, these are table stakes for procuring the best possible links available.

The company looks to be proactive in measuring the impacts of changing search engine algorithms, giving them the ability to provide advice that is both timely and timeless as they provide sustainable link building services for client campaigns. They also perform direct publisher outreach, engage directly with influencers, create infographics and build links by creating online scholarship programs.

7. Linkology

Linkology differentiates themselves by measuring linking domains in several ways. First, they look at existing metrics provided by third-party firms like Moz and Ahrefs, but they also take into account relevance and linking publisher website traffic metrics. This holistic approach to procuring publishers for clients helps ensure some of the highest quality links are built. For instance, if you were a shoe manufacturer looking to rank for shoe-related terms, Linkology helps find shoe-specific websites that have high authority and existing organic traffic that would be willing to link back to your brand and website. The company also takes a very customized approach to how they build links for their clients, allowing clients to choose among a number of different link building packages. Linkology is based in the United Kingdom.

8. HigherVisibility

Like others in this list, HigherVisibility is a link building service provider that focuses on 1) websites with high authority, 2) websites with existing traffic and 3) websites whose content, theme and existing audience are relevant to your given niche. While this approach takes a bit more effort (which can sometimes translate into higher cost), it ultimately leads to better results for clients SEO link building campaigns. Apart from just link building, the company provides a host of other digital marketing solutions including PPC management and website design. They’re not simply building links for clients. They take a tailored approach to organic and inorganic website success.

9. TheHoth

As one of the larger players in the link building services market, TheHoth (“Hit Over The Head”) is one of the more well-known service providers in the space. They boast thousands of clients with mixed reviews in online forums. Given the nature of what they do and the scale with which they’ve reached, there is a high likelihood of having such feedback. I have personally used their service in the past, but the particular service offering worth noting when it comes to link building is Hoth Blitz. The company’s Blitz product utilizes the firm’s internal sales and marketing team to work email and phone to procure publication of your intended links on very high Domain Authority (DA) websites. Provide them with your target destination URLs, desired DA and your given keywords and the company’s army of outbound marketers will get to work at procuring the links you desire. TheHoth is located in sunny Florida.

10. PageOnePower

In operation in Idaho for over a decade, Page One Power is one of the most well-known firms in the link building services world. With engagement minimums of around $3,500 per month, PageOnePower isn’t an SEO agency for mom and pop local businesses. The firm takes a very relevant-first approach to link acquisition, procuring links based on specific client goals and objectives. They take great care in putting together specific link building strategies that match what their clients are looking to accomplish both short and long term.

The company doesn’t just use Domain Authority or Pagerank as a specific metric for obtaining high quality links. Instead, they look at numerous on and off-site factors, choosing to actively find links that best match a site’s current backlink profile and eventual goals. Before, during and after a link campaign is run, the company helps communicate why a given link, website or target URL was the strategy, allowing their expertise to trickle-down to the given landing pages in question. However, with the company’s minimums there are no guarantees and the links acquired sometimes may not move the needle fast enough, particularly if the budget doesn’t meet the company’s medium-sized engagement dollar threshold.

Choose Your Link Building Service Wisely

When choosing your agency, it is best to be picky.

You’ll want to avoid things like private blog networks and other scam and spam link farms that are not a form of white hat link building.

A private blog network (PBN) is a group of websites that are owned by a single entity and used to link back to your main website(s). PBNs are often used in SEO as a way to artificially increase the ranking of your website(s) on search engines.

The use of PBNs has become increasingly controversial in recent years, as Google has begun cracking down on websites that use them. As a result, 必利勁
it’s important to be careful when setting up and using a PBN, and to make sure that you’re not doing anything that could get your website penalized by Google.

While the above list of link building service providers is not meant to be exhaustive, it does include some of the most well-known and referred companies in the industry. In most cases, your link building campaigns will perform well with links acquired from any number of the companies on the above list. However, you should certainly seek out your own due diligence, asking the right questions of your would-be search engine optimization (SEO) agency, ensuring any links you acquire through their efforts are helpful and not hurtful to your overall website goals.

The post The 10 Best Link Building Services & Backlink Building Companies for Improved SEO (2023 Update) appeared first on Smarterware.

Understanding What Full Custody Is

Custody is obviously a hot button issue when it comes to divorce. In fact, it’s probably the most important and integral element of a divorce – even more so than finances. (You can always go on to make a lot more money and improve your financial situation after divorce, but your kids are permanent. They need what’s best for them now and always.)

While every state is different, there are several different types of custody. There’s legal custody and physical custody. There’s sole custody and joint custody. There’s even grandparent visitation and custody.

Sole custody, also known as full custody, is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in divorce situations where one spouse has concerns about the other spouse’s ability to be a good parent. But if you’re going to go down this road, you better be sure it’s what you want.

Before asking for full custody, make sure you understand what you’re requesting. Full custody means being a solo parent. It makes you responsible for all aspects of your child’s life 24 hours per day.

In other words, having full custody isn’t something to take lightly. You become the one who is 100 percent responsible for your child – no other legal support system is in place. Sure, you can always get help from your parents, aunts and uncles, friends, etc. However, in the eyes of the legal system, full custody means you are totally responsible for your children.

3 Tips for Seeking Full Custody as a Dad

Sole custody is necessary in certain situations. If you deem that it’s the best path to pursue, you’ll want to proceed with precision. As a dad, you unfortunately might face some circumstances that make it feel like you’re walking uphill. However, your status as a dad should not technically impact the outcome of custody.

“Legally, states have laws that prohibit gender-based rulings in custody cases. Having said that, the data doesn’t lie. Mothers are almost always the benefactors of sole custody rulings. So while you have a fair shot, it’s hard to shake the idea that there’s a subconscious prejudice lying beneath the surface,” says attorney Rowdy G. Williams.

As a dad, here are several things you can do to beat the odds and potentially win sole custody of your kids:

1. Orient Your Life Properly

The most important thing you can do is orient your life properly so that you’re able to care for your children well. Not only does this matter in terms of giving your children a safe and healthy life, but you also have to prove it to the courts. Here are some examples of orienting your life properly:

• Rearrange your work schedule so that you’re working more traditional hours while the kids are in school and are able to be home with them before and after school.
• Remodel or modify your home so that you have enough space for your children to live comfortably and safely. Remove anything that could be a risk to your children.
• Keep a journal to document how you care for your children. Make notes about feeding, doctor’s appointments, school requirements, etc.

Little steps like these show your competence as a parent and help you communicate your care and responsibility for them.

2. Prepare a Parenting Plan

It’s wise to come up with a formal parenting plan. Typically, in joint custody cases, this involves working with your spouse to explain how you’ll share duties, expenses, and responsibilities. However, if you’re aiming for sole custody, you’ll want to work with your attorney to come up with a parenting plan that shows you’re capable of handling everything on your own.

3. Trust Your Attorney

Speaking of your attorney, trust them! Your legal team is experienced and qualified to handle your case. Give them the facts, explain your desires and expectations, and allow them to go to work for you.

Adding it All Up

Just because you’re a dad, doesn’t mean you have to give in to the fact that moms typically win sole custody of their kids. If you feel that sole custody is the best route, pursue it. Hire a good attorney, get your information together, and build a case so that your kids can live the best life possible.

The post What Dads Need to Know About Getting Full Custody appeared first on Smarterware.

It’s also important to think about what makes somewhere the perfect place for you. Are you in need of a better job market? Or do you want somewhere more affordable? Do you enjoy mountain life or want to be closer to your family near the coast? There are many factors that could sway your decision.

If you need a little inspiration, take a look at the top six places to live in the United States for 2022.

Denver, Colorado

Known as the Mile-High City, Denver is rated as one of the most beautiful places to live in the United States. The downtown is a rather small area in comparison to many other cities, which makes it easy to get around and gives you the feel of being in a community rather than in a major metropolitan city where no one knows your name.

In just thirty minutes, you can be out hiking in the mountains after work or paddleboarding down a nearby river to watch the sunset. Plus, you are conveniently located just thirty minutes away from an international airport, so you’ll be able to get anywhere you need to be around the world.

Asheville, North Carolina

If you are looking to stay closer to the East Coast of the United States but are looking for a similar appeal to Denver, you may want to consider checking out Asheville, North Carolina. It has the same big city appeal as Denver, but with a small-town feel.

The city is also a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is extremely close to the gorgeous Great Smoky Mountains. If you love being outdoors and enjoy the health and wellness scene, Asheville might just be the place for you.

Phoenix, Arizona

If you have never visited Arizona, you certainly are missing out. Phoenix has so much to offer with its thriving arts and culture scene, along with an endless array of food, music, and their love of sports.

Plus, if you are looking for somewhere to live comfortably at an affordable rate, you’ll be very pleased with the cost of living index. With beautiful gated community homes in Phoenix, you’ll always find somewhere safe, affordable, and close to the excitement of downtown.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

We may have covered some ground in Denver, but another area that doesn’t get quite the recognition it deserves is Colorado Springs in southern Colorado. The city is about an hour south of Denver but competes tremendously with its cost of living by a whopping 15%.

The catch is that you are still a stone’s throw away from some of the most beautiful hikes, parks, and mountain ranges like Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. It has an awesome local brewery and food scene and is incredibly easy to get around with a relatively high walkability score.

Tampa, Florida

If you have ever wanted to live the island life, you may want to consider living down south in Tampa, Florida. The weather may get hot and humid in the summer, but the spring, fall, and winter are the bread and butter as to why so many people love it here.

You are close to several beaches around the Gulf of Mexico and even to adorable little islands like Davis Islands or Sanibel for a staycation getaway. Talk about living a year-round vacation life!

Boston, Massachusetts

There is something romantic about the historical Northeast life. Boston, Massachusetts is home to 2,300 acres of parks, many of which are historic landmarks. With higher education systems such as Harvard University and MIT close by, you’ll always be around a sense of prestige.

But this pays off by providing major job opportunities in healthcare and technology. Plus, you can’t forget the enthusiasm of the New England sports-loving Irish crowd!

Wherever you decide to live next year, make sure you are taking into consideration what is right for you. Think about every factor, including your budget, employment needs, and what type of environment best suits your hobbies and interests. And of course, no matter what, take your time deciding.

It’s a big life-changing decision to move, so you want to be rational with your decision-making.

The post Top 6 Places to Live in the United States in 2022 appeared first on Smarterware.

Not every workflow management tool is as valuable as it should be, though. To choose the best one for your business, look for a solution that has the following essential qualities.

Ease of Use

Naturally, you want the opportunity to test any workflow management platform you’re thinking about using. You ought to get a chance to confirm it’s user-friendly enough to suit your needs.

But it’s worthwhile to recall that you probably won’t be the only one using your workflow management tools. Just because you believe a product is relatively user-friendly, that doesn’t necessarily mean others will agree.

Depending on the size of your firm, it may not be possible to let every team member who’s apt to use the workflow management solution test your options. Still, you do want to involve an array of team members to participate in the testing and review stages.

Input from others will help you identify the most user-friendly product with greater ease and confidence.

Reporting

One of the key functions of a strong workflow management platform is the ability to allow managers to get a clearer sense of their teams’ progress. It should also give them the freedom to review past processes and identify inefficiencies that may need to be eliminated.

Because of this, a workflow management solution must include reporting features that give users a thorough understanding of what is and isn’t working.

Workflow Creation and Modification

The odds are high you can identify several workflows within your company, depending on the various types of projects your teams work on. The workflow management tool you select should offer you the option of creating new workflows as well as modifying the existing ones.

Some programs require users to write new code when they create new workflows. For obvious reasons, that’s not ideal. You need to find one that lets users create new workflows without having to know how to code first.

Notifications

A useful workflow management tool shouldn’t merely allow you to keep track of the steps in a given process. It should also empower you to establish triggers so that once a step in a process is complete, the individual or team responsible for completing the next step gets notified.

Professional Appearance

The visual appeal of a workflow management platform may seem like an unimportant quality compared to the others listed above. Certainly, functionality is more critical than aesthetics.

However, it’s still a good idea to use a workflow management platform whose interface is relatively professional-looking. Studies have indicated that people are more productive when their clothes have a reasonably “professional vibe.”

It’s also been shown that a clean, organized, and attractive workplace has a positive impact on productivity.

People subconsciously associate certain visual qualities with the workplace. That’s why professional-looking clothes and sharp-looking offices are more conducive to productivity and engagement.

A polished-looking interface should have a similar effect. Keep all these points in mind when you seek a workflow management platform for your business.

Again, the tool can yield major benefits … but it’s more likely to do so if you choose one with the above qualities.

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5 Copywriting Tips for Blogs

Marketing trends and hot hacks come and go, but the principles of good copywriting hold true year after year. Here are some useful tips you can apply to your current blog copy strategy to get a larger number of clicks, higher engagement, and more conversions.

1. Quality Always Supersedes Quantity

We live in a society where more is typically associated with better. People think if they can accumulate more, do more, say more, watch more, sleep more, eat more, or work more, etc., that they’ll get better results. This idea has permeated (and even dominated) the world of marketing and copywriting. People have this idea that the more content you can create, the better your results will be. But do you want to know the truth? Quality always supersedes quantity in this realm.

You’re much better off producing one piece of highly-optimized, useful, and unique content every month than a dozen shallow, thin pieces that don’t add any value to your reader. Stop focusing on how much content you produce and figure out how you can make your content more engaging and helpful to the audience. That’s where real success comes from.

When you have quality content, it’s easier to build links. It’s also easier to gain traction on social media. All of the heavy-lifting that once wore you out becomes a cakewalk.

2. Good Headlines are Everything

Whether someone sees a post on social media, a search result on Google, or they’re browsing your blog’s homepage, there’s one thing that makes people click (or not click) above all else. It’s the headline.

Most bloggers write a piece of copy and then slap on a headline at the end. But in reality, your headline should be one of the biggest points of emphasis.

The only goal of your headline is to get people to click. You can use any number of tools to do this, but curiosity, urgency, and specificity are great places to begin. Reach out and touch people’s emotions – fear, empathy, excitement, etc. – and they’ll click in droves.

3. Create a Slippery Slope

If the goal of the headline is to get people to click your article, the objective of the first sentence is to get people to read the second sentence. Likewise, the goal of the second sentence is to persuade people to read the third sentence. If you can get people to keep reading the first five to seven sentences of your copy, they’re much more likely to stick around.

In copywriting, the lead of a blog post can be likened to a slippery slope. You want it to be so slick that people can’t help but slide down to the bottom (i.e. the end of the article).

4. Make it Digestible

Long-form copy is in right now. Google loves it and readers love it. But the biggest challenge of creating monster 2,000- to 5,000-word posts is that it’s easy to lose a reader in the middle. They see a bunch of words and become intimidated. Then they bounce before ever making it through to the call-to-action.

The biggest key to writing long-form copy in today’s environment is to make it digestible and easy on the eyes. You can do this by using any number of mechanisms, including bullet points, numbered lists, graphics, charts, video, subheadings, bolded words, italics, etc.

5. Always Give a Next Step

Getting someone to actually click on a link and visit your blog post is a massive undertaking. Getting them to read the entire post – or at least skim down to the bottom – is another huge win. Unfortunately, many bloggers let this opportunity go to waste by failing to include a next step.

Every blog post – whether it’s purely informational or there’s an upsell – should have a clear next step that the reader can take to continue moving through your funnel and/or website. Whether it’s recommendations for related posts, a lead magnet with an opt-in form, or a link to a sales page, you must capitalize. You don’t need a hard sell every time, but there should be a little direction.

Putting it All Together

Copywriting isn’t rocket science. Yet if you study a bunch of blogs, you’ll find that 95 percent of the copy is just plain bad. This doesn’t mean the blogger is a terrible writer. It does, however, indicate a lack of understanding of what high-conversion copy looks like. Hopefully, this article gives you some ideas to leverage as you seek to improve your own copywriting skills.

The post 5 Copywriting Tips for Maximum Blog Engagement appeared first on Smarterware.

3 Virtual Trends in Real Estate

Real estate is, by its very nature, a physical and face-to-face industry. Whether it’s a residential property or commercial office space, every piece of real estate can be seen with the physical eye and traversed with your two feet. So while this is one industry that can never be totally virtualized, there’s certainly been a lot of innovation and reimagining of the industry over the past couple of years. Here are some of the noteworthy trends:

1. Virtual Showings and Tours

Virtual showings used to be the redheaded stepchild of the industry. Brokers, agents, buyers, and sellers all disliked them (when compared to the real thing). But with changing circumstances comes a willingness to embrace new trends. And as the technology improves, it’s becoming a more practical option than ever before.

“A decade ago, virtual tours were largely wobbly, with grainy, uneven imagery. Now they’re glossy and polished — often as well done as a professional television or streaming production,” insider Tom Acitecelli writes. “Ten years ago these tours threatened to cut agents out of the home-buying process, but now it’s the real estate industry that’s embracing them.”

While it’s unlikely that virtual showings will replace in-person tours any time soon, look for the former to play a more important role in the years ahead. If nothing else, it offers increased flexibility for buyers and sellers alike.

2. Leasing and Property Management

If you speak with experts in commercial property management, you’ll discover some significant changes and noticeable growth patterns in this niche. More specifically, we’re seeing an increased emphasis on establishing a digital tenant experience (DTE).

“As the name implies, DTE emphasizes that the tenant experience should be prioritized as an amenity that they will value and continue to buy into,” Crown Commercial Property Management notes. “What can this look like? Reimagining the in-person tenant experience can be a paradigm shift for property managers looking to retain their clients and grow business through COVID-19 and after.”

Virtual showings and tours are a major component of DTE, as are mobile app experiences and streamlined digital processes that allow for seamless rent collection and safe maintenance.

DTE is becoming more commonplace in all areas of the real estate industry, but is particularly common in the commercial office space niche where everything happens at a much larger scale.

3. Virtual Staging

Home staging has been a staple of the real estate industry for many years, but the modern version looks a little different than it did in previous decades. Though physical staging still has its place, we’re seeing a shift to virtual staging in 2021.

Virtual staging, which allows for greater flexibility and customization at a much lower price point, is particularly conducive to virtual showings and online listings. It’s not about tricking the buyer – it’s about giving them ideas and inspiration. When a property is virtually staged, buyers can see how a space may be used to its fullest potential.

Virtual staging was once a niche aspect of the industry. Today, it’s a thriving trend and commonly embraced practice.

“People had heard of virtual staging but the quarantine gave people a new reason to try virtual staging,” says Young J. Kim, CEO of Bella Staging. “We’re getting three times the orders we were getting before COVID.”

Aside from obvious factors increasing demand for virtual staging, the improvement in technology has made it a more practical option. With advanced features like shadows, reflections, and proprietary 3-D modeling, it’s possible to achieve flawless results.

Embracing the Digital Age

The virtualization of the real estate industry has certainly been accelerated over the past year, but many of the trends that are emerging will continue to play a significant role in this space well after this era of social distancing passes. And though physical showings, staging, listings, and processes will never be completely replaced, any professional or business that wants to remain competitive in this space over the next couple of decades will be forced to evolve and adapt.

The post Exploring the Latest Virtual Trends and Innovation in Real Estate appeared first on Smarterware.

But with so many options for kitchen upgrades, how do you know where to begin?

Setting Your Goals

First, you need to spend some time setting your goals.

What are you hoping to achieve? What’s most important to you?

Consider:

• Aesthetics. Aesthetics may seem superficial, but they can have a major impact. A beautiful kitchen can boost your mood when you’re living in the house and make a powerful first impression on anyone seeing it for the first time. It will also help you find better tenants and sell the home faster (and for a higher price).
• Functionality. Let’s also consider functionality. Some types of countertops and cabinets are much more versatile and easier to use than others. Plus, if you choose the right selection of appliances and smart devices, you can cook cleaner and more efficiently.
• Tenant appeal. Are you thinking of renting the home? If so, you’ll want upgrades that look appealing to tenants, but nothing so over-the-top that it results in a lower return on investment (ROI).
• Sale price. Speaking of ROI, you’ll need to consider the eventual sale price (and sale speed) of your home. It’s generally not worth upgrading the kitchen if you’re about to list the home on the market, but if you’re going to live in it for a few years, your remodel can bring you personal value and still boost the price of your home.
• Budget constraints. Kitchen remodels can be very expensive, depending on the upgrades you choose and how much you’re replacing. You may need to set a strict budget to control what you’re willing to spend.

The Most Important Ways to Upgrade a Kitchen

With these goals in mind, these are some of the most important ways you can upgrade your kitchen:

• Countertops. Countertops are one of the first things you notice about a kitchen and one of the items you’ll use the most. A beautiful countertop can instantly bring brightness and life to a kitchen – and serve to make it more functional. A new countertop will usually set you back at least a few thousand dollars, but you may be able to upgrade your existing counters with a veneer.
• Faucets/sinks. You’ll also need to turn your attention to the faucets and sinks in your kitchen. If you’re looking for a quick, inexpensive upgrade, you can likely replace the sink yourself – and new materials should only cost you a few hundred dollars. Once installed, you’ll have a much more attractive and functional piece to bring life to the kitchen overall.
• Cabinets. Cabinets are another landmark of your kitchen. If your cabinets are small, old, or poorly placed, all your other kitchen upgrades may seem inconsequential by comparison. Unfortunately, cabinets are one of the most expensive upgrades in your kitchen, especially if you’re tearing down and building back up from scratch. However, you can often get tremendous value by simply modifying the cabinets you already have; for example, you can save thousands of dollars by refacing your cabinets rather than replacing them entirely. And if you’re looking for something even cheaper, you can paint them.
• Appliances. Your stove, oven, refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher often stay with the house when you sell or look for a tenant. And if they’re new and in good condition, they’ll make a much more favorable impression. Each appliance will set you back a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, but it may be worth it if your current appliance isn’t modern.
• Flooring. Next, you’ll need to think about flooring. Low-quality, worn, or damaged flooring can instantly make a bad impression on anyone wandering into your kitchen for the first time. And in many cases, it’s not hard to replace. Upgrading your floor to a nice hardwood can instantly add both aesthetic and functional value to your space.
• Lighting. Lighting may seem like a small upgrade, but it can make a big difference. The right lighting fixtures, in the right position, can instantly highlight the best qualities of your kitchen and make it seem more inviting to you and your guests.

Most of your other choices will be secondary. Consider working with a professional contractor to get a sense for your options and choose the right combination of appliances and upgrades for your kitchen.

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What Makes the CPA Exam So Difficult?

It’s no secret that the CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional exams on the planet. But have you ever considered why that is? In other words, why do roughly half of all applicants fail the exam when they take it? Here are a few explanations:

• Technical nature of the material. For starters, the material is challenging. It’s highly technical in nature and isn’t something you can fake your way through. You either know the answers or you don’t.
• Amount of material. Secondly, the exam is massive! There are four sections – each of which has a multi-hour exam attached to it. (That’s a lot of knowledge to retain.)
• Time investment. By one estimate, it takes somewhere between 80-100 hours just to study and pass a single section. So if you want to pass the entire exam, you must be willing to put in at least 300 to 400 hours of study time. If you’re working a full-time job or have a family, this is a major time commitment.
• Rigors of exam day. Finally, you have to deal with the beast that is exam day. Sitting for several hours in front of a computer answering questions is enough to make anyone’s eyes glaze over. If you aren’t prepared for this unique setup, execution will be difficult.

4 CPA Exam Prep Tips

When you combine these factors, it becomes clear why so few people pass the exam on an annual basis. However, you can rest assured there are ways to increase your own odds for success. Here are some tips:

1. Give Yourself Plenty of Time

The CPA exam isn’t something you decide to take one month and then sit for the next. It takes months of preparation to get to a point where you’re ready and able to sit for the exam. The key is to give yourself ample room in your schedule to make studying a priority. Cramming isn’t an option. You’ll need to devote a considerable portion of your daily time far in advance.

2. Take a CPA Exam Review Course

There are tons of free exam review resources on the internet, but they’re all going to give you the same basics. If you want to take a deep dive into the intricacies of the exam and become immersed in the latest topics, you’ll need to take a CPA exam review course.

A CPA exam review course not only gives you the right curriculum, but it familiarizes you with the exam format and gives you access to expert instructors who know the exam inside and out.

3. Simulate the Exam

Anything you can do to prepare yourself for how the exam will be administered on exam day is going to help you in a significant way. And one of the best options is to sit for simulated exams and mock tests.

Simulated exams follow the exact format and time constraints of the actual exam. And the more you take these practice run-throughs, the more natural it feels. It’s recommended that you take at least two simulated exams before sitting for the real thing.

4. Prepare for the Nuances of Exam Day

Speaking of the real thing, it’s helpful to prepare for all of the little nuances of exam day. You should have a game plan for how you’ll manage your time, what you’ll do prior to the exam, and ways you can get your mind right.

When the morning of exam day arrives, you shouldn’t feel stressed about cramming. Instead, you should feel so prepared that you’re able to relax your mind and walk into the testing center with a sense of peace. The only way to make this happen is by preparing ahead of time.

Pass With Confidence

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your previous accolades are, or what you think you know. The CPA exam is difficult! And the only way to ensure you’re successful is to put in the prep work. By carving out the time required to study, and immersing yourself in the right material, you can approach exam day with confidence. Best of luck!

The post 4 Tips to Prepare You for the CPA Exam appeared first on Smarterware.

Although we’ve lost many small restaurants and pubs, we haven’t lost them all. In an attempt to preserve their livelihoods, determined restaurant owners are coming up with genius ways to stay open for business and protect their guests at the same time. Here’s what some of them are doing.

1. Self-service table ordering

The future is definitely here with contactless self-service table ordering, although it’s not entirely new. For instance, for many years, The Olive Garden has been allowing customers to order, pay, and play games on a tablet that sits on their table. However, guests are still greeted by waitstaff and aren’t required to use the system.

All that is about to change. In states where restaurants are allowed to stay open for dine-in service, their occupancy limits are greatly restricted. Since occupancy limits include staff, those businesses will probably jump on the opportunity to reduce waitstaff to serve more guests. A table ordering system is the ideal solution.

With the current demand to limit contact between people, a table ordering system will also eliminate the need for waitstaff to interact with guests until their meals are ready. Per table, this only eliminates two points of contact—the greeting/ordering process and the payment process—but becomes significant when multiplied by a full day of guests.

2. Creating outdoor ‘indoor’ dining spaces

Some warmer states, including Arizona and Kentucky, still allow outdoor dining. However, dining outside in the winter in Washington or Oregon isn’t appealing. Even in Arizona, most outdoor diners will need to wear a coat to be comfortable. Hardly the ideal dining experience.

Some may say it’s cheating the system, but restaurant owners have found a way to make outdoor dining comfortable for guests despite cold weather. Many are erecting pop-up tents to enclose diners and protect them from the rain and wind. Technically, this creates an indoor-outdoor dining space, but still falls under the definition of outdoor dining.

Some restaurants are investing a good chunk of change in individual pop-up tents to cover 2-person tables outside. Others, like this list of Seattle restaurants, have covered, heated, and tented patios. Many of these restaurants, like Gracia, have posted the protocols they’re following to keep diners safe.

It seems that if a restaurant is going to survive long-term, outdoor dining with a covered, warm space will be a must.

3. Delivery services

Restaurant delivery service is more desirable than ever. In addition to a ban on indoor dining, many people are afraid to leave their homes. Or, they’re at home with young kids, and it’s a hassle to get everyone in the car just to pick up some lunch.

Restaurants that provide delivery services to people during the pandemic are going to stay in business longer. The cost of setting up a delivery service will be a barrier to some, but the small business owners who have the available budget, it’s a wise move.

The downside is that smaller businesses can’t survive on delivery income. The cost is too high. However, restaurant corporations with a larger budget have the option of signing up for third-party delivery services like GrubHub.

4. Online ordering

If a restaurant doesn’t already offer online ordering, they’re behind the times. Some restaurant owners have been dragging their feet because they’re not tech-savvy. However, the coronavirus pandemic is providing the necessary motivation to ‘get with the program.’

Online ordering solves many problems and limits contact at the same time. Depending on the restaurant, guests can order online, make reservations online, and check in for curbside service when they arrive.

5. Curbside pickup services

Curbside pickup has been popular for a while, but mostly with larger chains. Now even small restaurants are offering curbside pickup, so guests don’t need to enter the store.

Curbside pickup isn’t likely a passing phase that will end when the pandemic ends. Statistics show that people overwhelmingly favor curbside pickup from their favorite restaurants.

The silver lining to the pandemic

There is a silver lining to the push for contactless restaurant services: convenience. People want convenience. In the immediate future, we can expect to see more restaurants offer heated, covered outdoor dining, online ordering, and dedicated parking spaces to curbside pickup.

The post 5 Genius Ways Restaurants are Protecting Customers Against COVID-19 appeared first on Smarterware.

The majority of people using social media are looking for entertainment, quick connections, and just want to see what their friends are doing. It’s highly unlikely that anyone logs into Facebook or Twitter with the intention of finding a new home to buy or rent.

Businesses that sell products with a reasonably low price point can generate an impulse buy from social media users, but real estate doesn’t work the same way. Nobody is going to buy a house on a whim. If you’re going to rent or sell properties, you’re better off using property management tools that connect you with targeted databases for leads that are ready to buy.

There’s another serious problem with advertising on social media. It’s hard to target anyone without having your ad deleted for discrimination.

Facebook is enforcing Fair Housing Act regulations

In 2017, Facebook announced tighter policies regarding housing-related posts in order to make sure listings for rentals meet Fair Housing regulations. Since then, Facebook has been removing paid ads for real estate listings that target (or exclude) specific demographics related to protected classes like age, gender, and race. Facebook has also been removing regular posts containing property listings without explanation.

Facebook doesn’t want any ads on their network to violate the Fair Housing Act, so their algorithm automatically blocks ads that exclude any audience segments. It’s not fair, and your ads could be unfairly removed, but that’s the way it works. If you’ve been watching your ads disappear, now you know why.

If you can’t post ads to Facebook, you can still post listings to your feed. However, Facebook recognizes these types of posts as advertisements even though they’re not paid ads.

While you could just switch to posting your listings for free to your followers, that’s not an effective strategy. Even if your free posts follow the rules, your friends are not likely to be your target audience.

Your social media followers probably aren’t your target market

Your Facebook or Twitter followers are not likely to be your target market. The average user will see your post about a $350,000 condo and scroll right past. Only people specifically looking for a home in that price range will view your listing. This brings us back to the problem of Facebook deleting your ads for excluding demographics to target your market. You can’t target any market without excluding audience segments. However, doing so will get your ad automatically deleted.

Instead of wasting more time with social media listings, start advertising on channels that produce targeted results. For example, join the YouTube Partner Program to advertise on popular real-estate related channels or create your own YouTube channel for your business.

Focus on marketing channels that produce targeted results

Although it’s possible to accomplish, it’s getting harder for property investors to get targeted leads on social media. If you regularly post property listings to your social media followers, are you getting renters or buyers from your efforts? Or are you just getting a lot of comments on how cool your properties look? If your posts don’t translate into real leads, stop posting to social media and invest your time and energy into better advertising channels.

If you’re going to use Facebook, use a winning formula

Despite the challenges, some investors have been able to run successful ad campaigns on Facebook. However, you need a winning formula to get around the limitations. If you can’t make paid ads work, it’s time to move on. Don’t be afraid to stop posting ads on social media and devote your entire ad budget to marketing on other channels.

If you don’t already work with an ad agency, now is the perfect time to get connected. A professional ad agency will know all the ins and outs of running real estate Facebook ads that stick, plus they’ll help you find more targeted channels for your ads.

If any of your marketing efforts aren’t generating measurable results and you can’t figure out why, hire a professional to troubleshoot. It could be the platform or it could be your ads. Either way, don’t give up until you’ve consulted with a professional marketing agency so know you’re making the right choice.

The post Property Investors: Why Social Media is a Waste of Your Time (and What You Should Do Instead) appeared first on Smarterware.