Month: April 2022

As a nascent ecosystem in its Precambrian era, the blockchain startup community is challenged by many impediments. The isolated silos created due to a lack of a unified network with singular standards, the relatively high aggregate cost of peer-to-peer transactions, the absence of regulatory bodies and governance, the transformational and disruptive effects of integrating decentralized networks into various sectors, and the security and privacy concerns over the accessibility of data on publicly-shared ledgers are some of the complex issues that are met with legitimate concerns.

Additionally, the most popular blockchain use cases like cryptocurrencies—and NFTs which rely on crypto for trading—have seriously-limited scalability compared to other conventional online payment and money transfer systems like PayPal. The high volatility of crypto as an asset doesn’t exactly help the situation at all. It may provide opportunities for those who are after short-term gains via trading, but it hurts crypto as a medium of exchange.

However, the biggest obstacle that precedes them all in terms of importance is a lack of awareness and understanding of the technology among the general consumer population. Marketing for crypto and NFT startups shares many areas with the traditional startup marketing paradigms as all businesses rely on some type of marketing. But there is nuance in how it should differ in approach. Keep reading to understand what we mean as we lay out different effective strategies.

Top-of-the-Funnel Content Marketing

The blockchain industry is in its early stages of development and is still considered niche. But the development train is rushing forward at full speed, creating an ever-widening chasm in its wake between what is understood—or even known—by the mass consumer market and the most advanced fringes of the technology itself.

Outside the crypto and NFT circles that follow the technology’s development trajectory with a laser-like focus, there is a void of knowledge that greatly hampers the efforts of the blockchain startups at making their products and services more visible in the market.

So, the first and foremost problem is the market size that needs to be expanded which admittedly requires a more collective effort on part of the whole ecosystem. But as a single startup, there is an opportunity to have an impact in increasing the market size for the whole blockchain landscape while simultaneously increasing your market share and establishing your brand in the scene.

To do that, one needs to fill the knowledge void which is most effectively done via content—i.e., a marketing tool native to the Internet for a technology that is native to the Internet.

However, educating consumers about your product or service is not enough. You need to ease the average (and mostly unaware) consumer into the market by casting your content marketing net as wide as possible. And since you are targeting prospects in the awareness stage, there needs to be a lot of “unteaching” involved as buzzword-induced misconceptions are a big part of the problem.

Targeting Intent

If there is one thing that startups are short of, it is time. And as effective as ToFu content is, it is a long-term plan that needs to be mixed with other short to mid-term strategies. Crypto and NFT startups should always have their eyes on the other end of the marketing funnel where customers are in or close to consideration and purchase phases. These are the people who are already in crypto circles, familiar with the technology, and need the least amount of convincing.

Startups can narrow down their targets even further to a group of potential customers who have at least tried their hand in crypto investments or even those who are crypto natives. Since these groups are already sold on the technology, they are much closer to conversion, and targeting them can yield the most return in the shortest period possible. From retargeting ads to search engine optimization, intent-based targeting includes every conventional digital marketing channel that operates based on the customers’ online actions—although some companies offer specialized packages and services for blockchain and NFT startups.

Incentivizing Early Adopters

As the blockchain industry keeps stepping towards maturity and gets embraced by and integrated into more sectors, we witness more and more crypto-native businesses being born. These businesses have one particular advantage compared to traditional e-commerce businesses. The Internet now has a native currency and they have access to it. The ways in which startups can incorporate it into their business models are virtually endless.

One of the hardest phases of getting a new business going is getting the early adopters on board and subsequently crossing the chasm into the mainstream market, not least because you are fighting an uphill battle to drive change. Systems and consumers’ behavior don’t change; unless directional force is applied. By involving early adopters in the upside, startups can devise such a force.

The more traditional startups are very limited in terms of how they can acquire early customers. They either have to resort to growth hacking techniques that have abysmally low expected returns or piggyback on an existing network effect.

Crypto and NFT startups on the other hand have the ability to offer tokens to early adopters and thus incentivizing those who believe in the startup’s vision. By benefitting from the potential success of the company, these customers become much more invigorated early evangelists and help accelerate its network effect.

While a personal statement is only part of the graduate school applications process, having a statement that impresses and engages the applications committee will help you to stand out from the rest of the candidates. Therefore, it is vital to craft a winning personal statement if you want to secure your place in the graduate program of your dreams.

What is a Personal Statement?

Graduate schools often ask for personal statements from student candidates. A personal statement is a narrative essay that explains who you are as a person and your reasons for applying for a particular course. This helps the admissions committee understand you better and gauge if you are a good fit for their program.

While a statement of purpose or letter of intent talks more about your academic or professional credentials, a personal statement is more about you. It is an opportunity to talk about your personality, experiences, interests, passions, hopes and dreams, and life goals. In short, it is a way for you to tell the committee what makes you a worthwhile candidate.

1. Read the Instructions

Some graduate schools are open to applicants writing in any style but other schools have specific requirements on the content, formatting guidelines, and word length of the personal essay. Schools may also have particular submission methods. You must read and understand the instructions and prompts and ensure that you adhere to them.

2. Be Specific

State clearly why you have chosen that particular graduate school and program. Research the institution, the program, and its teaching faculty. Provide reasons on why the program attracts you and what you can offer in return. Avoid using general terms or the prestigious reputation of a school to justify your interest in a program.

Remember that a personal statement is about distinguishing yourself from the other candidates. Hence, it is helpful to share specific examples to support your statements. For example, if you are applying for environmental studies, write about how you volunteer with conservation organizations and talk about the efforts you make in your daily life.

3. Be Relevant

While anecdotes are fun to read and write, try to keep it relevant. You may be tempted to add unnecessary content to fill in the word count but it will only convince the admissions committee that you lack focus. Be sure to only include experiences that are related to your intended program and career path. For instance, a shoreline survey is much more relevant to environmental studies than your beach holiday in Ibiza.

4. Watch Your Tone

Tone can be a tricky thing to get right. Ideally, you should sound authentic yet confident and professional. It is helpful to remember that applying to graduate school is a formal situation. You may be tempted to make jokes or use colloquial speech, but try to remain respectful and maintain the appropriate boundaries. At the same time, avoid using flowery vocabulary or exaggerated narratives.

5. Strong and Compelling

As with any essay, you want to capture the attention of the reader immediately. The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the scene for strong storytelling and highlight the important points. As mentioned, avoid clichés and gimmicky language. Be polished and straight to the point. The final paragraph of your essay should be conclusive. Reiterate your main points and focus on the future.

6. Address Your Shortcomings

Your personal statement is an opportunity to plead your case for entry when your grades are less than ideal. This is your chance to explain and provide context for the weak points in your academic record. Clarify the barriers or extenuating circumstances that may have affected your grades and educational history and write about how you have learned and improved from the challenges.

7. Proofread and Edit

Your personal statement is also a display of your writing prowess. You may have excellent experience but poor writing skills may get your application denied. Give yourself ample time to draft, proofread, and edit your statement several times over. Check it carefully for tone, spelling, grammar, punctuation, readability, and length.

Where possible, ask a friend, family member, or mentor (or all of the above) to proofread your statement. They can provide suggestions on relevance, structure, and content, and catch any errors that were missed by the others. When in doubt, a shorter essay is better than a longer one, as long as you adhere to word count requirements.

8. Call the Professionals

The personal statement is a rare chance to dazzle the admissions committee. To make the most of this priceless opportunity, consider engaging a professional writer to perfect your statement. Expert personal statement service providers can craft your personal statements from scratch or edit your written statement for you.

An exceptional personal statement could be the difference between your graduate school admission or rejection. A personal statement proves to the school why they should accept you. By writing to the best of your ability or hiring a professional to help, you can create a brilliant statement and secure entry to the school that you want.

After you have spent months nurturing your prized garden, the worst thing that could happen is to watch it get devoured by pests. Pests can multiply quickly and destroy a healthy garden overnight. Fortunately, you can restore some balance to your garden ecosystem by attracting predatory insects that feed on these pests and keep their numbers under control.

Use Pesticides Wisely

Chemical pesticides are highly effective and can provide swift results. However, many pesticides and insecticides are broad-spectrum and will kill all insects in their wake. This means that the good insects will be wiped out along with the bad ones and that it can take longer for you to create the environmental balance that you want in your garden.

Try to use natural alternatives for pest control such as neem oil or pepper spray. These will not leave toxic residue on your plants and soil and will not affect the life cycles of your beneficial insects. If the infestation is too serious and you have to reach for chemical pesticides, be sure to choose a product that degrades quickly and targets a specific pest.

Plant for Diversity

Monoculture gardens are like unlimited buffets for garden pests. Simple cropping systems create a concentration of food that invites pests to gorge themselves as well as allows them to reproduce at alarming rates. Designing your garden to feature a diverse mix of plants will make the habitat more resilient and friendly to beneficial insects.

Having a large diversity of plants will also ensure that your common garden pests only feed on one or two types of plants at once instead of decimating your entire garden. Different beneficial insects have different habitat requirements, so you should have plants of varying heights and characteristics.

Low plants can give shelter to ground beetles while big, leafy plants are perfect ambush locations for praying mantises. In addition, certain predator insects such as parasitic wasps require food alternatives in the form of nectar from wildflowers to supplement their hunting.

Plant More Flowers

It may seem strange, but planting flowers—particularly wildflowers—is one of the best ways to attract beneficial insects. Indigenous flowering weeds are adapted to your local climate and are already well-known to the beneficial insects. Indigenous plants are more likely to be able to fend off pest species than cultivated or imported plants as well.

Flowers that provide nectar and pollen such as honeysuckle and lavender will not only look beautiful but bring wasps and hoverflies. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in the bodies of pest insects and control their population. You can also include flowering plants like nasturtiums that ‘trap’ pests so that predator insects can feed on them easily.

If your garden beds are already full, consider lining your garden beds and margins with flowering plants. These margins can act as corridors for the beneficial insects. They function as important shelter sites while still allowing them access to the plants around the garden. Just ensure that these plants do not go to seed and encroach on your planting beds.

Provide Water

Just like humans, insects need to stay hydrated to survive. You want your beneficial insects to stay in your garden instead of flying off in search of water. Although beneficial insects can theoretically drink from the puddles that form when you water your garden, it is ideal to create a permanent water source for them, especially if you live in a hot and dry climate.

The simplest way to make a watering hole is to place some rocks in a shallow saucer and fill it with water. Make sure that the rocks are peeking out of the water’s surface as they will act as perches for the insects. If you have the space, digging a pond in your garden will invite a host of other beneficial aerial predators such as dragonflies and damselflies.

Provide Shelter

Insects need to have safe and secure homes too. Keeping a compost heap and mulch on your garden beds will provide a sanctuary for earthbound predators such as ground beetles during the hottest hours of the day. These moist places also allow them to lay eggs and prevent their larvae from being eaten by birds or other insect predators.

You can build simple natural shelters for beneficial insects like ladybirds by stacking sticks, stones, or wood. These hiding spots help them to stay out of the wind and bad weather and you can place them right next to your problem plants. If you like, you can even build miniature bug hotels that can double up as cute garden features.

Of all the known insects in the world, only a tiny proportion are harmful garden pests. Because we love our natural environment, we should take care of the other insects that provide essential services for the ecosystem. By encouraging the organic growth of beneficial insects, we can keep pests in check, protect our garden, and do our part for Mother Nature.

Any healthy business that has its sights set on long-term growth employs a high-level digital marketing strategy that leads the general direction toward its long-term goals. These goals typically increased revenue, sales, market share, profits, company value, customer base, and other similar metrics.

To reach these broad long-term goals, businesses must set actionable, precise, and more bite-sized objectives that serve as milestones by which progress toward goals is measured. To this end, we need to talk about the engine of business growth: marketing.

In this article, we are going to specifically talk about marketing objectives; explain what they are, and discuss how they fit in a business’s overall marketing strategy.

What Is a Marketing Objective?

To lay it out as simply as possible, the relationship between marketing objectives and marketing goals is akin to the relationship between business objectives and business goals that we explained above.

When business objectives are set, marketing is leveraged as an instrument to help close the gap between where the company currently is and where it should be in a given time frame. As to how marketers should approach this, marketing goals are set to provide general guidelines in terms of where the resources should be poured into and what channels should be focused on. These marketing goals are in turn broken down into a set of marketing objectives which are measurable, tangible, and specific marketing actions that are assigned to specified marketing teams and members.

Although we spent some time discussing these four concepts—i.e., business goals, business objectives, marketing goals, and marketing objectives—terminology does not matter so long as the distinctions are made and the language defining these concepts is unified within an individual organization and the agencies they work with. The reasoning behind this is to give clarity to everyone involved by setting agreed-upon standards. It is much easier to track, review, and improve performance towards quantitative targets when all participants are in the same boat.

What Are Some Examples of Marketing Objectives?

Here is an example to further clarify how these pieces come together:

Imagine an American manufacturing company whose primary business goal is expanding its operations to the Asian markets. A business objective for this company would be to open two office locations in China within the next two years. With this business objective in mind, the company sets a marketing goal to increase brand awareness and product demand in the Chinese market. And to achieve this marketing goal, the marketing team set three marketing objectives: (1) create official accounts on Chinese social media networks and gain 100,000 followers across all of them within the first year, (2) build a Chinese website with a local domain name extension on a Chinese server in the first 3 months, and (3) conduct an SEO campaign to optimize for Chinese search engines and reach 30,000 annual visitors by the end of the first year.

How to Set Marketing Objectives?

As you can see in the example provided above, every marketing objective should follow the overarching business strategy which is in turn rooted in a company’s goals and needs. Marketing objectives are highly detailed and low-level tasks (in the grand scheme of things) assigned to specific accountable teams and individuals.

Just like their business counterparts, marketing objectives should be bound by SMART criteria. These criteria eliminate any sort of ambiguity from the equation, making your bottom-up marketing efforts more efficient and effective.

Specific

Marketing objectives must be specific and free from any guesswork in a way that there won’t be any major unanswered questions about it. The set objective should specify what you are trying to accomplish, why you want to accomplish it, who should be involved, and what resources should be dedicated to it.

Measurable

An objective that does not have quantitative metrics for progress measurement is not set properly. The KPIs used to track performance are dependent on the objective defined. In the example above, one of the KPIs used for tracking brand awareness is the total number of followers across all social media accounts.

Attainable

It is imperative to ensure from the very beginning that the objective is achievable not only with regard to time and resource constraints but also the nature of the task. Imagine a scenario where the company in the example above spends millions of dollars and makes all the preparations only to find out that the product cannot be sold in the target country due to legal restrictions.

Relevant

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The objective should be relevant to the business and serve its goals. For example, a relevant marketing objective for a high-tech company in Boston could be to dominate the Boston SEO space.

Time-bound

There must always be a deadline that everyone strives to meet. This is the only way that we can ensure steady and consistent progress toward the objective. Time-bound objectives have higher success rates simply because they create a sense of urgency and help set priorities.

Digital marketing has snowballed into a massive, multi-faceted industry, driven by niche specialists and big data companies. When you, the average Gen Z business owner or academic thinks about digital marketing, you might think about having a website and maybe getting into an online magazine. In this era of fast and faster tech, it’s no longer what it used to be even five years ago, so your impression is outdated. There are many aspects to digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). One of these is the concept of permanent DoFollow links and NoFollow links. This is an explanation of both, and when each kind of link should be used.

DoFollow Links

These are links in web pages that link up to other pages on other websites. The links are used by search engine crawlers when conducting a search. DoFollow links are a good vote of quality of a site. The more links leading to a particular site or page, the better the ranking of that site. The sites linking to a webpage should be reliable and contain good quality, verifiable content in order to upvote the site they are pointing to. Sites with unreliable content will have the opposite effect. Permanent links are always more reliable, and longer-lasting in their effect on ranking. Of course, these types of links are only one factor which affects the ranking of a website in a search.

In Practice

When you include a number of DoFollow links in your post, you are giving credit or votes to those sites to which you are linking. If you use unreliable links or links to sites which have been flagged by the algorithms as unreliable or poor quality, this affects the other rankings of the other links, as well. This is why it is very important to firstly ensure that you always link to reliable, good quality sources, and secondly, try to build relationships with your own clients, and encourage them to link to your website in their own posts.

Sometimes, you can employ an agency to create posts which include DoFollow links to your website, which will improve the ranking of your website. These agencies are niche specialists in SEO and digital marketing, and most will produce good quality content with reliable, quality links to your site.

NoFollow Links

NoFollow links are the opposite of DoFollow links. They tell the search engine crawlers to ignore the link, and not to use it in their algorithms to determine ranking. Digital marketing specialists use this type of link when it can potentially do damage to the website’s ranking in a search engine.

If you have a website and you sell advertising space or have a public space for users to submit links, then these links, which you cannot verify or vouch for, should be NoFollow links. This is a modified DoFollow link that includes instructions in the code. This is what the piece of code looks like in HTML: rel=”nofollow”

In Practice

Your website content on each page, as well as blog posts and any other content you post, should contain links to reliable sources. These types of sources are usually news sites (although there is a list of unreliable news sites like the Daily Mail, a UK-based site). Other types of sources are recognized academic, legal and medical sites, and non-governmental or non-profit organizations. Sometimes, government websites can also be considered reliable, if the link points to official government policy or legislation. Recognized advocacy groups can also be considered reliable sources.

These are also the types of sites you want pointing to your content. So, it is important to nurture relationships and agreements with legitimate businesses and other entities of the kind listed above. If you have content which can add value to their services or agenda, then send their webmaster a friendly and helpful email, citing the content on your site, why it will add value to their site, and a request for them to link to it. Remember that webmasters receive these requests every day, so do not approach them with an attitude of entitlement. Rather just highlight the way you can add value, instead. If your request is valid, then there should be no reason why the webmaster will not help you out.

Likewise, you must ensure that the links you have on your site which may be dubious are tagged as NoFollow links. There is no reason why you should need to take them down, but they will affect your search engine rankings, in the long and short term, which will indirectly affect your business. So it is worth being aware of this factor, and knowing what to do about it is also a useful and important tool, whether you employ a digital marketing agency, or just stay old school and hire a website developer to keep you online and current.

Going to college is a big deal, and students often feel they have no idea what it will really be like once they start. Here are some of the top questions that students ask before they head off to college.

College is a pivotal moment in many peoples’ lives. It’s a time to further your education on your own terms, so you can have a great set of skills to go out into the big wide world with. Choosing a college feels a little like shopping. You browse websites such as Authority.org to find the college that fits you best. You might visit a few colleges to soak up the feeling and figure out if you can picture yourself there. You deliberate over your application form to make it as good as it can possibly be. And then the acceptance letter comes and the train is in motion towards college life!

Everything feels like it’s laid out in front of you in the build-up to college, but then everything seems wide open once you are nearing the point of actually going. You realize that the college visit and information packs you have don’t really tell you what it’s going to be like. Everything from practical and logistical elements, to the feeling of studying at the college, feels unknown.

Here are some of the most common questions students have before they go off to college.

What Should I Major In?

This is something many students are already worrying about before they even set foot on their college campus. Of course, you want to know which direction you are heading in, and it can be unsettling to be unsure about this. But there really is no rush to decide on a major if you’re not ready. Settle into college life, get your prerequisites in your general education modules, and spend some time thinking further about your career aspirations. Use the career advisory service and get some work experience if you can. This will all help you to gradually focus in on a major that is right for you.

How Will I Make Friends?

If you’ve been to the same school for a number of years, the thought of starting somewhere new without knowing anyone can feel daunting. You may feel like you’ve forgotten how to make friends if you have had an established friendship group for a while. Remind yourself that everyone going to college is in exactly the same position. All new students are in the frame of mind to make friends, so there will be plenty of opportunities. Get involved in as many activities as you can during the first week of college in particular, as this will help to expose you to a lot of new people, some of whom will become your future friends.

What Will The First Day Of College Be Like?

The first few days of college will be more about the settling in process, and your college will tell you about everything you need to do. The first thing will be to move into your college accommodation, and you’ll be given and date and time to arrive. You’ll then be given some instructions of any administration you need to do – this may involve a bit of form filling and going to get your student ID. You’ll also be given a timetable of your classes. If you have time, have a walk around with your timetable and visit the rooms your classes take place in, so you don’t worry about getting lost on your way to your first classes. In each of your first sessions, your teachers and professors will explain how they run things and what to expect. The first days of college are filled with new things, but many students already feel like they’re in the swing of things by the end of the first week.

What Should I Wear?

Although most colleges don’t have a strict dress code, you will want to spend a little time thinking what your choice of attire says about you. First impressions count, and you probably don’t want to stand out to your peers and professors for the wrong reasons. Avoid anything too revealing or impractical, and focus instead on clothes that will be comfortable and look a little professional. Smart jeans, a shirt and a blazer is a classic college look that will help you fit in and be comfortable at the same time. Don’t overthink what you wear, but do also think if you have any clothing that tends to make you feel more confident.

How Should I Get Involved In College Life?

Many students know their college offers a lot of opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities, but they don’t know how to actually take the step to get involved. It’s a good idea to research what the college offers before you go, and make a list of everything you are interested in exploring. The first days at college can be a little overwhelming, and you don’t want to get side-tracked from the things you are interested in. Having a list will help you seek out the clubs and societies you’re interested in joining. You could even email them ahead of time if you want to ask for more information, or to generally make your interest in the club known. Search online and on social media to see what other students from your college are involved in for inspiration too.