Should You Hire Remote Staff or In Person Employees? Pros and Cons

Congratulations! You have finally accomplished what each and every small business hopes to aspire to, and hire staff to guide daily operations. However, there is still a big question to answer before you start hiring. Do you hire remote freelancers or in-person employees? Lucky for you, this guide of the top pros and cons for each can help solve that question once and for all.

Hiring Remote Staff

Pros:

- You have more flexibility to rehire. Firing or replacing a self-employed freelancer is much easier than an in-person employee. Plus, they’ll be more understanding since that’s what they signed up for in the person. Say goodbye to filling out complicated paperwork and the awkward last days that come with it.
- You can save money since you don’t need to offer them high-quality benefits or a commuted salary.
- They are in charge of getting their own licenses and permits so you don’t have to.
- You won’t need to train them since the one you hire should have plenty of experience beforehand.

Cons:

- Since their work is done under their own business name, there is less of a chance they will promote your business or brand.
- Unless you have already drafted an agreement between your contractor, all the work they do will not be owned by you.
- A self-employed remote staff is usually hired short term, so there is less of a chance this is a worker you will spend a long time with.
- Since you can’t exactly monitor what they do from their location, you may lose some sort of control on the way you operate.

Hiring In Person Employees

Pros:

- Your employees will feel like they are part of the team, which will boost morale and job satisfaction.
- Hourly wages are often less than freelancers because an in person employee has more job security.
- Your business will always be fully staffed, even when your workload grows. If you depend on remote staff and freelancers, they may not be available every time you need them.
- You can delegate a lot of tasks that you do not have time to complete yourself.
- You will spend less time training staff since there will be fewer new faces coming in and out of your business. Your in person employees know how you like things to be completed.
- If you choose to go on vacation, you can relax knowing your business is safe in the hands of a trusted few.

Cons:

- With full-time employees, you may be required to provide benefits like health insurance or paid vacation time.
- You are required to pay their salaries on a regular schedule, even if your business is having a downturn. This will mean that you need to have a savings account to cover their salaries, should this occur.
- In person employees require more paperwork to be done.
- Depending on where you live, you may be responsible for any training or licensing requirements needed by your employees.

So Which Is Better?

There is no clear answer to this question as it all depends on your situation and the job you need to be completed. Check out our post on why outsourcing is a better value than in house, in most circumstances. If you have a short-term position open that you do not see yourself needing in the future, a remote worker or independent contractor would be best. If you need someone for the long term or someone to handle face to face communications, an in person employee would be better. It all depends on your and your business’s needs.

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Want to make the second half of 2017 better than the first? Consider writing your goals down daily.

There's nothing quite as rewarding as feeling that you're in a state of perpetual progress. Whether you're realizing a personal dream or advancing in the professional world, knowing that you're moving forward can generate a feeling of deep satisfaction while also boosting your self-esteem.

Even if you're happy with what you've accomplished during the first half of 2017, you're probably thinking about strategies you could implement to make the second half of the year even better. If this is the case, it's important to note that setting goals can be an incredibly effective way to make it happen. Read on to learn how to write and realize your goals so you can lead a more productive, positive life:

Why Goal Setting Is Important

Setting goals is important for many reasons. First, doing so causes you to focus in on what you're attempting to accomplish. It also empowers you to start thinking about what steps you need to take to realize your specific goal. The role that goal setting plays in increasing the likelihood of realizing an objective is undeniable. As noted in Inc., people who create goals for themselves are more successful. The article also indicates that individuals lose 30% of their performance and capacity potential when they don't focus on their goals.

Another great benefit of setting goals regularly is that it helps you lead a more orderly, organized life. Unfortunately, studies show that the majority of people do not plan. This oversight is the culprit for a wide range of challenges that individuals experience in life, including financial complications and health issues. By simply becoming a purposeful planner who writes down goals and focuses on realizing them, you can get on the road to leading a more structured, productive life.

How To Optimize Your Goals

Once you recognize the great value to be found in setting goals, you may be ready to get the process underway. There are several strategies you can deploy to make the most of the goal setting process. One is making your goals SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-specific

Making your goals SMART is important for several reasons. By making your goal specific, you can really zero in on a certain issue and resolving it. Having a measurable goal means that you'll be able to analyze your activity and judge results according to quantifiable data. This process will prevent any ambiguity or vagueness that might have existed regarding your efforts and their outcomes. Also note that making your goal realistic is important because if it is too challenging, you may become discouraged by your inability to realize the objective.

In addition to making your goals SMART, make sure that you place them in a visible region of your living or work space. This step is immensely powerful because by keeping the goal in eyesight, you'll be constantly thinking about it. Once your mind starts moving in this direction, you're more likely to devote mental energy to the realization of the objective.

Don't Delay: Start Creating Goals Today!

Individuals who want to realize their personal dreams and professional visions should know that setting goals is a great way to make it happen. Use the information and ideas presented in this quick reference guide to remain on the road to goal construction and realization!  Ready to start taking action and writing your goals down? Check out our line up of planners.

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When Should You Hire Employees as a Business Owner?

Knowing when to hire employees as a business owner can be tough, especially for a startup. Many owners opt to do the work themselves rather than get involved with the expenses that come along with training, insurance, payroll and the like. The truth is, however, that businesses do need to have workers within the establishment at certain times. The following are five signs that a business owner needs to hire employees and can no longer function as a one-man or one-woman show:

The Owner Works 29 Hours a Day

One key indicator of the need to hire some workers is when the boss does not have any time for anything, including sleep. Overworking oneself is counterproductive because it decreases the quality of the products and makes for shoddy customer relations. Additionally, the owner may become cranky and display an unusually short temper that doesn't work well with business partners and prospects. It's okay for a business owner to pass some of the burdens to another person or entity. Workers can serve that purpose. They can help with all the tasks that come down on an owner every day.

Demand Is Overwhelmingly High

Another sign that the business needs workers is when sales start scaling up, and the demand for the product requires more production time than the current "team" has. The owner should consider that a positive occurrence and hire a team quickly to meet those business demands.

Projects Are Incomplete

Incomplete projects are a tell-tale sign that the owner needs to make a move. It's possible for someone to have so many things to do that he finishes none of them. Hiring workers will allow the delegation process to begin.

Stress Rears Its Ugly Head

Owner stress is a sign of a severe need to add some flavor to the establishment. Stress is unhealthy for anyone, but it can be devastating for a company owner who has no workers to take his place. Stress can cause ugly physical symptoms such as migraine headaches, fatigue, heartburn and the like. The emotional consequences are heavy, as well. A strong workforce acts as the support system for the owner. With a team in place, the leader can decide which issues to deal with and what to leave with other people who may be more suitable for the task.

Customers Are Leaving Because of Neglect

Finally, departing customers is a surefire indication that a job fair needs to occur. No matter how good a service or product may be, people still want above-average customer service in their package. They will find a provider that wild give them that if they don't receive it from the current provider. Ideally, an owner would look for workers before the business scaling climbs to an overwhelming level, and he is unable to meet consumer needs.


Many tools are available that can help to cut the expenses of hiring and training workers. An owner can find an amazing team without putting the business into debt. That's totally possible. One way to cut expenses on hiring a staff is to team up with a recruiting agency and get all of the hiring tasks in one bundle.

A recruiting agency is responsible for posting ads, screening the applicants, interviewing the prospective employees and onboarding them in some cases. All the owner needs to do it express his desires about the type of workers that he wants, and the recruiting agency can seek exactly that. Once the owner finds dedicated, high-quality team members, he can rest and feel confident that the business will run smoothly on its own.

So you can hire locally, or you can hire remote workers all as w2 employees. Or alternatively, you could read our post about outsourcing either to a company or an individual.

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How To Build a Personal Brand That Impresses the World

With the rise of the internet, specifically social media, it has become more critical than ever to pay attention to your personal brand. Whether you’re actively involved in running an online business or merely want to put the best face forward for present and future employment, don’t ignore branding. Which social media property is best for building a brand? There is no one size fits all answer. It depends on the demographic you are trying to reach. Should you choose Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or blogging? The answer is a solid yes - and maybe.

The Challenge

In addition to targeting the correct demographic, you will quickly become aware of the problem that trying to make best use of a handful of social media sites can be a full-time job. There’s a good chance that you should choose just one to start with. Eventually, you will have tweaked your profile, grown an audience, and established yourself as a presence on, say, Facebook. At that point you might want to incorporate an second social media outlet or you might be perfectly happy with the one you have.

Blogging-Content Creation

Let’s talk about blogging first. There are a few good reasons that everyone should consider blogging as the foundation of their overall branding campaign. A blog gives you an online property that you control completely. Have you pondered how quickly a social media outlet could disappear, taking all your hard work with it into a cyber void never to be seen again? Remember when MySpace was a big deal? Nothing but a pile of bones now. Most branding experts would recommend you create a blog as a home base and use social media to drive traffic to it. Don't have a lot of things to say yourself? Consider outsourcing it.

Define an Objective

What is the point in developing your personal brand? Ask yourself this question and seriously ponder the answer, which will differ depending upon whether you’re trying to raise employment exposure, start a business, sell more product, or try to stand out from competitors. Any of these are legitimate objectives, but you need to decide which one you’re going after.

Consistency

Perhaps more important than agonizing over which particular social media platform to use is to make it a goal to stay consistent across any that you do use. That means constancy of imagery, colors, slogans, and, most important of all, posting. You simply must post content consistently to do your brand any good. See the average posting frequency below for popular websites. These aren’t hard and fast rules but are a good guide:

Facebook and Google+ - 2 times daily
LinkedIn and Instagram - 1 time daily
Twitter and Pinterest - 5 times daily

Which Social Media is Best?

 

Obviously, there is no single hard and fast answer for which social media offers the best bang for your buck in brand building, but here are some facts to consider.

1. 71 percent of all adults online use Facebook, with the percentage of seniors increasing. Usage has been stable since 2013 with women the predominant force.

2. Twitter is especially popular with the under 50 and college-educated crowd. If your service or product targets that demographic, get tweeting.

3. Instagram is dominated by the 18-29 age group.

4. Pinterest would be a good choice if you have visual, art-oriented products to sell. Women are the vast majority of Pinterest users, and also make this the best social media platform to sell stuff to.

5. LinkedIn, to no one’s surprise, is the choice for higher income, college educated users.

The Bottom Line
When it comes to building your personal brand online, what you do is not as important as doing something. Take control. Get proactive. These days you’re not going to be taken seriously until you tend to that brand!

Want to take your productivity to the next level? Invest in our of our amazing planners.

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So you want to be an entrepreneur. But are you willing to sacrifice? Early mornings, late nights. What are you willing to give up?

Plenty of people want to be entrepreneurs. The word itself brings to mind an exciting life of creating new things, having a flexible working arrangement that allows you to travel the world, and making quite a bit of money. Of course, there’s much more to it than that, and if you want to succeed with entrepreneurship, there are several sacrifices you’ll need to make.

 

Financial Security

 

Few people are truly financially secure, as employees can lose their jobs at any time. Still, when you set out to build and run your own company, you have far less financially security than you would if you were working a 9-to-5 and collecting a salary.

When you have a job, you typically know how much money you’re going to make every month. You don’t need to worry about not making anything during a down week for your company. You could have benefits, such as health and dental insurance. When you start a company, you don’t have any guarantees. You could make millions or you could make nothing, and you’ll be paying your own insurance costs.

A Normal Schedule

 

If you research some of the most successful business owners in the world, one thing that they all have in common is that they spend a ton of time on their work. They are able to do so because of their passion for that work. This doesn’t mean that they spend every waking moment working and never have any fun, but they certainly work more than the average person.

You can’t create a successful company if you’re not willing to put in the work. There will be times when you need to get up at the crack of dawn or stay up past midnight to get things down on time and keep moving forward.

People Who Hold You Back

 

This can be one of the most difficult sacrifices to make, but it’s essential if you want to succeed in life. There’s a popular saying that you’re the average of the five people who you spend the most time with. If you’re spending your time with intelligent, ambitious people, then you’ll also build those traits in yourself. Their drive will be infectious, and you can all help each other succeed.

On the other hand, if you spend your time around lazy or directionless people who are content to go through life doing the bare minimum, their attitude will rub off on you. These are the type of people who will sidetrack you from your goals and try to get you to hang out even after you’ve told them you have an important project due.

You don’t necessarily need to cut people out of your life completely, but if you want to be an entrepreneur, you need the right people around you. That means you must start spending more time with the right people and keep the time you spend with bad influences to a minimum.

Making the Sacrifices

 

How you feel about these sacrifices tells you quite a bit about whether entrepreneurship is right for you. The reality is that someone who has the right traits to be an entrepreneur will have no problem sacrificing any of these things – in fact, they’ll want to sacrifice them for a better chance at success.

It’s all about what your dream is worth to you. There’s no shame in whatever path you choose, but if you’re going to pursue a life of entrepreneurship, you need to do it wholeheartedly.

Want to take your business planning to the next level? Invest in our most popular business planners.

 

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How To Get The Most Out Of Your Digital Marketing Budget- Why Outsourcing is a Better Value Than In House

Digital marketing is a powerful tool when it's done right and has the potential to revolutionize your business. Being able to reach out and find exactly the market that you're looking for, exactly when they're ready to buy is something that marketers of the past could only dream of. While digital marketing is beneficial for most businesses, if you don't handle it correctly, your budget could get blown out of the water quickly. If you are looking to live the "laptop lifestyle" then you will want to scale your organization quickly and efficiently.

One of the great debates that many companies have when implementing digital marketing is whether they should keep the activities in house or outsource them. Both methods have some value in the right situation, but most companies would benefit by outsourcing it to a qualified party. Why is outsourcing generally the best path to go down?

Employees Are Expensive

Perhaps the biggest argument in favor of taking the outsource path is that employees are extremely expensive. Every employee that you add, adds a large amount of money to the costs of the company. In many cases, business owners fail to realize just how much employees cost them.

If you're only looking at the wages of the employee, then you're not getting the whole picture. There are payroll taxes, unemployment taxes, health insurance, retirement benefits, lost time in productivity, and a host of other factors. All of these things add up quickly.

Competent Outsourcing

 

While some activities, you don't want to outsource, digital media does not fall into that category. There are many qualified services out there that can handle all of the digital advertising that you might need. In most cases, they can do just as good of a job as an in house person could for a fraction of the cost overall.

Digital media has become so complex and so specialized that it's difficult to keep up with all of the trends and changes. If you rely on one in house person to learn all of that, it can be challenging. Many digital media firms have teams of people that are dedicated to keeping up with the trends and the changes. It makes it much more feasible to stay on top of things in the digital world compared to just having one person handle it.

Take for instance, content marketing, seo and facebook ads. Can you have ONE PERSON who is skilled in all those things? Possibly but to get someone who is a SUPER PRO on all these things is a rarity. So since as entrepreneurs we want to get the most bang for our dollars, we often look to outsource to companies who have that expertise.

Grouping Tasks

One of the basic concepts of productivity is being able to group tasks together. When you group similar tasks together, you get in a groove and do each one more efficiently. If you stop and start and go back and forth between tasks all the time, you'll be much less efficient overall.

This basic concept is one of the major things that digital media companies have going for them compared to in house talent. For example, let's say that you have an in house person who is going to handle all of your digital media. In a typical day they will have to go through a myriad of tasks that are essentially unrelated. They might go from graphic design to analytics to writing content to making posts on social media all in a short period of time. When you look at each one of those tasks individually, they're not that much alike and require very different skill sets. By comparison, when you utilize outsourcing, all of those tasks could be allocated to an individual who is working on nothing but similar tasks all day. For example, all of the graphic design can be directed to a graphic designer within the outsourcing company. By doing this, the work is done much more efficiently.

Overall, you have a lot to gain by outsourcing your digital media work. You can save time, get better results and save money.

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It's totally OK to treat yo'self on Mother's Day!

 

Mother’s Day is just around the corner! If you are a Mom, we know you are always putting everyone else first! We know you barely have time to go to the bathroom yourself (let alone take a relaxing bubble bath)! Shuttling kids, feeding everyone, and managing everyones schedule to keep everything running without a hitch. 

Sweet motherhood! :) To all the Moms out there you are pretty amazing and we just want to say thank you for all your sacrifices and grace!  Even if you are not a mother, you know someone who is or you have a mother who did these very things while raising you! 
     
Here is a list of 10 ways that you can use your STARTplanner to save the day! Treat yourself or that special Mom in your life.

(So you don’t forget to pick the kids up at school... again.) 

(Cuz every now and then your littles want something besides pb&j)

(So you can save to buy yourself something pretty…Like running shoes, to keep up with your family.)

    

(If mama's sick, the household doesn’t stop, so you best keep on top of it! Can I get a "Holla"!)

(You can finally get rid of all your notes on the back of receipts and post-its EVERYWHERE! Keep rockin' those to-do's!)

(Trust us, it's better when you don’t have to go to the grocery store 87 times a week. We don't want anyone becoming "hangry" #learnedthehardway)

(Turn your dreams into your reality! It starts with setting SMART goals! You got this!)

(That baby book for your 17 year old that never got done? Let’s finally get that off your list.)

(Tell me that having your toes in the sand doesn’t sound amazing!? #yesplease) 

(It’s never a pretty picture when “Santa” forgets who's been naughty or nice ;) 

 

So, what are you waiting for!?! Treat yourself, or that special mom in your life, a planner. 

Don’t know which planner would be right for the mom in your life? We have gift cards available for purchase! Holla!

 

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