This Tech Marketing Founder Breaks Down Why Your Business Belongs in the Cloud
Hello, mobile workplaces.
Photo: Christina Jones Photography
Contrary to what you hear, the cloud is safer than ever before with myriad opportunities to scale your business. Years ago, companies had to buy robust data racks and hire IT professionals to handle all the IT needs of a company 24/7/365. It was time-consuming, and a huge expense that small businesses simply couldn’t afford.
Nowadays, the cloud offers security, scale, and more at an affordable price, making it one of the best solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Businesses are often confused about moving to the cloud. It makes sense to feel overwhelmed since the cloud can often seem elusive and mysterious. This confusion can make it hard to make the leap to cloud storage. With that in mind, let’s break it down.
What exactly is the cloud?
The cloud is a central location where you backup and store all data, making it accessible from any location with an internet connection. Cloud providers maintain data centers where the information is stored (and often replicated to another data center) for safekeeping in case a complete meltdown happens.
If your business operates at all online, more than likely you should be considering the cloud. Here’s why:
1. Mobile Workplaces
Accessing files from any location, rapid sharing, and auto backups means the cloud enables you and your team to have the perfect mobile workplace. Store your images, audio, video, and files directly to the cloud instead of spending time and money upgrading hard drive space for every employee.
2. Security & Cyber Criminals
It’s not just financial or healthcare data that cybercriminals want anymore. Any data can be used for ransom, including photos, research, trade secrets, and even your website.
As a business owner, these are real issues to confront as you continue growing your business. You’re not only protecting your data, but you’re also protecting your clients’ data. That means all personal client information, credit card data, passwords, usernames, and emails are your responsibility.
Depending on your cloud provider, they can protect your business from cyber threats, DDoS attacks, and malware. The cloud also enables you to add multiple layers of security like two-factor authentication.
3. Data Storage & Backups
Remember that “Sex & the City” episode where Carrie’s laptop broke down, and she lost all her work?
For businesses, not backing up your data isn’t only risky—it’s irresponsible. Every entrepreneur should take some time to look at their business from a bird’s eye view, and that includes the technology demands of your business. Being in the cloud means that all your work can be automatically backed-up and accessed by your team with little to no effort—and at a more affordable cost than attempting to buy all the infrastructure yourself.
4. Scalability & Growth
Starting your business is one thing. Growing and scaling it is another. Lucky for you, the cloud is incredibly flexible. This means you can start a business with minimal IT requirements and easily expand your cloud storage space as your business grows with little upfront investment.
About the Author: Naly Rice is the founder and CEO of LNCG, a tech branding, marketing, and design agency. She is a blogger at NalyRice.com and is a burgeoning speaker who talks about entrepreneurship, women, and minorities in business and tech marketing.
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This story was originally published on March 16, 2019, and has since been updated.
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The Anatomy of a Killer "About" Page
Because you have less than three seconds to grab someone's attention.
Photo: Christina Morillo for Pexels
If you think about the pages on your blog or business website like the squares of a Monopoly board, your about page would be Boardwalk. This piece of virtual real estate is so valuable, people come barreling through your front door like it’s a never-ending open house, whether you invited them in or not. They’re intrigued! They’re curious!
So what have you planted on your about page?
Remember, you’ve got approximately three seconds to seduce your Mr. or Mrs. Right (customer) before they jump ship to the instant gratification of another shiny domain. They’re instinctively going to head to your about page. When they get there, this is what they need to see: clear content, with a hook, that answers questions, and has an element of surprise.
How are you faring in these five areas? Let’s take a look.
The Hook
There’s a clever little tool in writing you’re going to need to get to know intimately if you don’t already.
It’s called the hook.
It’s your angle. Your “bingo!” Your “aha” moment. Your “slap me down and call me Suzy, this person really gets me” statement. And the writers who produce the most memorable work are masters of the hook.
It’s all about infusing the theme of your message with the emotion that will reach right into the belly of your readers, make them spit out their muesli and pay attention to what you’ve got to say.
It takes in the worldview and assumptions of your reader and challenges them with a new idea.
Hit them right between the eyes with a powerful intro statement or heading to your about page that does exactly that. Surprise them, shock them, and most of all… become a master of intrigue through words.
The Language
Nobody ever made a lasting impression by thinking, “I hope I sound professional.” Be bold in your language choices and work hard to ensure you don’t sound like everyone else.
Go through your copy with a big red pen and underline any words or sentences that feel too generic or cliched. If you think you’ve heard it all before, so will your readers, which means you’re not capturing their attention (refer back to the hook and try again)!
The Photography & Design
You may be a word nerd through and through, but if your about page doesn’t look pretty (or work well on mobile) it’s going to be pretty easy for potential customers and clients to left swipe you right outta there.
Invest in design. Use subheadings to break up chunks of text. And for the love of WordPress, do not publish your page without a photo that shows the world who you are (eye contact and smile, people!).
You wouldn’t buy anything from a shopkeeper if you walked in and they were wearing a paper bag on their head, so don’t be shy. Show yourself!
The Personal Touch
Don’t be afraid to stamp your personality on the page, but don’t feel you have to tell the world your ENTIRE life story, either.
Think back to your connectors, to your audience, and don’t get too caught up. They want to know your story but they also want to be able to relate.
Give them just enough of what they need to know about you, but ultimately keep the page all about them (uh-huh, that’s right… this page is all about THEM).
If you’re still chomping at the bit to tell more of your story, why not write a blog post called “10 things you never knew about me,” or tell your story in an emotion-fueled post?
The Call to Action
Once you’re satisfied your copy is alluring, interesting, informative, and tells your customers everything they need to know, you’re ready to rock!
Think about what call to action you want to include on the page? What’s your priority?
Is it...
Directing people to your services page so they can book to work with you?
Asking them to contact you to make a booking?
Getting them to sign up to your email updates?
Sending them onto the blog posts you’re most proud of so they can immerse themselves in your brand?
Don’t overwhelm your customers with multiple links – keep it clean and simple so your about page can perform at its best.
This piece originally appeared on BlogSociety and has been reproduced with permission.
Love this story? Pin the below graphic to your Pinterest board.
This story was originally published on April 16, 2019, and has since been updated.
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