Is it a certain number of hours worked, or a number in your bank account? Perhaps it’s a mental state? “The answer to this question is as unique as the person answering it,” says Julie Cohen, a career coach who has worked with hundreds of people and authored Your Work, Your Life…Your Way: 7 Keys to Work-Life Balance. Here’s how 12 entrepreneurs and other professionals define the elusive “work-life balance....

If you happen to have an online retail startup, you’re in luck – for a couple reasons. One is that the ecommerce sector is clearly on the rise. People have been shopping online for decades, but it’s now becoming more the norm than the exception. 2015 was actually the most successful year for funding in the online retail space. There was a total of $11.3 billion being invested across 415 funding rounds....

At Innovate Celebrate 2017, you’ll be able to sign up for a wide range of mentorship tracks with everything from one-on-one attention to group advice from tech leaders, experts, investors and influencers in industries that coincide with your particular niche and stage of startup. Mentor Sessions Presented by Revelry Getting one-on-one attention is nearly impossible in the startup world. Founders, CEOs, investors and directors of employees are always moving a mile a minute and rarely have time to sit down and talk shop....

All it takes is a little digging to extract the data and insights necessary to inform your decisions on everything from marketing to sales. In fact, 36 percent of B2C marketers use data mining and analytics to forge stronger relationships between brands and customers. Data should drive your decisions, influence the messages you send out, and enhance the first impression people have of your brand. Beyond creating that perfect message to capture people’s attention, how can you use data to make a good first impression?...

Going into creating your startup with a partner carries a number of important advantages according to Smallbusiness.chron.com. It’s critical that your partner bring something different to the startup from your skill set. The world is constantly changing, and that is even more true when it comes to marketing tools and strategies. It is important not only to have the right marketing strategy but also know how to deliver it effectively in the modern technology-based world....

Here is a simple breakdown naming and explain four tried and true methods of advertising your company online. Google Adwords To be effective, pick a local area and a combination of keywords that are not too expensive. For example, if you use web design in your ad, the cost per click will be too high to make it worthwhile. If you choose all of United States, you might get a 1,000 clicks, but you might only get few to buy from you....

In the startup community, we’re seeing a parade of underdog disruptors trying to change the way people work and live. And while we as consumers benefit from disruptive innovation and the competition it brings, we also love to see startups supporting one another. I’ve been studying and working in recruitment technology for five years. It’s a crowded space, but one that’s ripe with innovation. There have been many giant acquisitions and funding plays made in recruiting — LinkedIn bought Bright....

Fortunately, these 5 essential rules will help ensure that your dashboard won’t fall flat on its face. It will be viewed as a helpful resource by your senior management figures rather than a burden. Focus On Your Audience The first rule of successful dashboard creation can be one of the most overlooked – keep your audience in mind. Ask yourself ‘Who am I creating this dashboard for?’ Follow up this question with, ‘What do they want to see?...

However, conducting market research is a lot harder than it seems. With the overwhelming amount of data obtainable via the internet, it’s more challenging to siphon what’s relevant and beneficial for growing your business. To ensure your success, below are five of the best market research strategies and resources you can leverage: Conduct Exploratory Research When it comes to market research, it’s best to start with wider scopes before investing time, money, and energy on statistically accurate data....

We asked founders which sites they’d recommend for quality, inexpensive stock photography to use for their company. Check out what they said below: – Steven Newlon of SYN3RGY Creative – Jules Taggart of Content Strategist – Steven Buchwald of Buchwald & Associates – Copley Broer of RadPad – Mallory Van Waarde, Magnifyre

1. Collaboration Video production is a team effort. Think about all the roles that are necessary for a good film. You have your director, producer, the screenwriter, editor, music supervisor, so on and so forth. In order to make a great creative video it’s essential for both efficiency and latency that everyone on this team is on the same page. This can turn the video production process into more of a conversation, where everyone can share their feedback....

What is Black Hat SEO? Black hat SEO is the practice of utilizing untrustworthy procedures to damage a contender’s rankings in web crawlers. Negative SEO assaults can take various distinctive structures: Building hundreds of spammy connections to your site;Hacking your site;Duplicating your content and appropriating it everywhere throughout the Web;Directing connections toward your site using keywords like poker online, Viagra, and numerous others;Making fake social profiles and destroying your online reputation; andUprooting the best backlinks your site has....

There’s nothing wrong with this, provided it’s not all that you see. The journey through entrepreneurship is not without its dark elements. It takes long, arduous years of dedication and work for most people before they reach the success stories that you see. Every polished image you see came about due to hard work and behind-the-scenes sacrifices, sometimes checkered by despair and failure. That’s the real truth about entrepreneurship, and here are a few more, in case you want to walk down this path:...

That means that it’s important for you to make sure your app has enough elements that keep user engaged and busy with your mobile app. Here are top ways to get customer addicted to your mobile app. Attractive User Interface User interface is the first thing users see when they download your app. If you have simple and sleek design, then users will keep coming back. An app that is well structured will help user use and navigate app quickly, it will also make lasting impression on user’s mind....

The candidate pool is diverse with international startups coming out of the Czech Republic, Switzerland, China, India, Canada, Malaysia, Brazil, Australia, the UK, and Mexico. There will also be a solid share of US representation with startups from New York City, Rochester, Stanford, Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Mountain View, and Berkeley. The bottom line is that Batch 9 is a big one for 500 Startups. Of the 29 companies, 11 of them have at least one woman on the founding team, which is big news when you consider that 500 Startups recently launched an AngelList syndicate, 500 Women, with the express mission to empower women investors and founders....

What did your competitors do? Copying your competition is not only ill-advised, it’s also fairly illegal. However, there’s no law against getting a few ideas based on what your competition has put together. Figuring out what their reasoning was behind a certain design can help guide you along the way. Does some particular font or color or shape resonate particularly well with your target audience? Analyze your competition, and see what you can learn from them before creating your own startup logo....

Like much in the health space at the moment, there are numerous entrepreneurs and startups making a big difference. We’ve decided to take a look at some of the best first aid tech out there at the moment and take a closer examination of how it’s changing the world of first aid. Drops First Aid Drops First Aid, by Dynamisk Helse, has a very smooth interface that breaks down information into three separate parts....

With 92 percent of U.S. companies now using social media for recruitment, it’s time for your company to step up the way it attracts and hires young talent. The future of recruiting demands intern and job applicants to showcase their know-how and skills with jaw-dropping accounts of creativity. It’s up to employers to think outside the box and generate truly imaginative ways to not only attract awesome talent, but also allow them to showcase their expertise and “fit” for the position and company....

People Are Searching Differently When Siri was launched way back in 2011, nobody knew how it was going to play out. The thing is, Apple took a chance with Siri and it repaid wonderfully. So when Google launched Google Now, it wasn’t much of an innovation, but it was more like following the trend. At the very beginning of the internet, people made their queries through web browsers, then came mobile phones, and now voice searches are all the rage....

1. The Marriage of Social Media and Traditional Book Marketing 2015 will see more social media engagement and activity from businesses, but it will not replace traditional book marketing. Marketers will learn to use them in conjunction with one another, which is the recommended practice. The moment smartphones, tablets, and e-reading devices became ubiquitous was the moment that e-books took over the reins. And the moment physical books became digital was the moment that options for publicity expanded....