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Real Estate Wholesaling For Beginners: Learning The Process And How To Begin

Real estate wholesaling is the procedure where the 'wholesaler' obtains an agreement from the vendor of a specific property and designates that very same agreement to a buyer. It is also an effective temporary financial investment technique as well as an excellent way for people to get into the property investing market. This is due to the fact that wholesaling doesn’t need considerable resources to get going. Wholesaling also helps newbies to learn quickly regarding real estate sector and to gain very useful settlement abilities.

A dealer can gain profit by recognizing properties that are being sold under market price, making a contract with the vendor of the residential or commercial property, and designating the acquisition agreement to one more customer. They gain profits through this wholesaling charge attached to this deal which is usually a portion of the total property price. Buyers are usually property rehabbers or various types of capitalists who would choose not to hang around determining affordable properties or discussing with vendors. By working as a middleman, dealers produce earnings by helping investors locate and also close on prospective offers.

 How To Locate Cash Buyers In Real Estate Market

Finding vendor leads is fifty percent of the challenge in maintaining effective wholesale marketing, while the other fifty percent is developing a strong checklist of all cash buyers. Wholesale dealers generally build their customers checklist through a mix of networking as well as direct marketing. At some point, developing solid business partnerships can result in repeat transactions, helping to secure a great deal of the uncertainty. 

Here are a couple of techniques utilized by dealers to target and look for cash buyers. Let’s go through them below. 

• Craigslist: Read a lot of "for rent" or "for sale" properties to determine property owners who may have an interest in future wholesale deals.

• Networking: Connecting with local landlords, investors, and also real estate representatives can bring you to significant experiences and help you create lasting partnerships. Be an active participant of your real estate local investing club, wherein you might encounter cash buyers, fellow investors who might present you to prospective customers, or somebody who intends to be partners with you in future projects.

• Forms of Lead Capture: Establish a lead capturing form for your website where site visitors can send their contact details. To enhance web traffic of your site, advertise your brand name via social media sites, blog writing, marketing.

• Courthouse Public Auctions: Check out court house public auction sessions on a regular basis to connect with this team of cash purchasers. Do not forget to give out calling cards and follow through any connections you made.

• Tough Cash Lenders: In reality, not all of the cash buyers would actually have a complete acquisition cost of an available property on hand. In those cases, they often get assistance from a tough money lender so they can close an offer. As a result of this, these tough money lenders could be outstanding sources of cash purchaser recommendations. They’re interested in helping you to ensure that they will be able to help in the financing of future purchase returns.

 How To Gain Maximum Earnings In Property Wholesaling

If you have started your wholesaling business, you probably are searching for suggestions about how to optimize your returns. Below are 5 vital techniques to maximize wholesaling objectives:

1. Consider The Vendor

Negotiating a desirable rate can be challenging, even though a vendor is encountering foreclosure. They could have other choices to check out, like other wholesale dealers or cash purchasers. That’s why it’s important to place yourself in their shoes when negotiating. By communicating and letting them know that you actually understand the situation, you'll help your opportunities of closing a deal.

2. Transparency

One more element to developing a successful wholesale real estate business is being transparent. This character is essential when attempting to obtain wholesale offers because honesty will constantly be the very best policy in anything you will do, especially as a property investor. You’ll have to clarify your position, your intentions, and the dangers connected. Vendors usually wish to deal with individuals whom they feel that they can rely on, despite the price.

 3. Have A Solid Exit Strategy

For a wholesale dealer, the common exit technique is quickly assigning agreements to buyers for the fee of wholesaling. To effectively do so, dealers must devote time to regularly develop and preserve their wholesale customers list. More buyers you listed means higher possibility that you'll have the ability to hand over a property. 

4. Keep Everybody Involved

Even though you have an authorized deal or offer, you are required to see points until the closing like staying in touch with the vendor while maintaining the customer updated about progression that has actually been made. They might have lots of inquiries along the road.

5. Follow Up Post-Closing

Every offer you close must be considered as a chance to expand your wholesaling business. Once a purchase is completed, make the effort to connect or establish a meeting. Frequently, dealers will certainly close an offer and proceed without debriefing.

 Two Techniques To Close A Wholesale Deal 

We've talked about assigning an agreement, however there’s another choice: double closing or double escrow.

 Assigning The Agreement

Assigning an agreement means that dealers offer the agreement, not the actual property itself. They don't possess the property, but they manage it using an agreement. Keep in mind that you need to sign an agreement to buy a property, referred to as a sale and purchase agreement.

 Double Close

Also referred to as "simultaneous close," double close is also a profitable wholesaling technique. The procedure of a double close is witnessing the investor buy the property and resell it after a few days. 

Wholesaling in real estate is an exceptional opportunity for beginners who want to enter the property investing sector. It requires little up to no initial funding and is an excellent way to learn more about real estate market.

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Signs of Being a Hostile Driver

You may seem like a vehicle driver who is confident, however, are you harmful? "No, I’m assertive." There are reasons why tickets as well as insurance coverage can stun self-proclaimed assertive motorists. Exactly how we consider what differentiates assertive, hostile as well as protective driving frequently falls short. When it comes to road rage, may it be the vibrant mutterings under a driver’s breath or reducing "negative motorists" off, it’s just the utmost case. Many people in crashes have a great driving document. However, everyday life implies that web traffic hold-ups, time grinds, impolite motorists, as well as tension could leave us not aware of the security and safety risk steaming within great neighbors. Perhaps it’s not a behavior or it’s just on your early commute. The periodic negative day could be a dangerous day of hostile driving. Isn’t your life relying on remaining calm?

Hostile driving is harmful and a major factor to annual vehicle crashes of about 5 million. Accidents are the main cause of deaths for individuals aging from 3 to 33 years old. Out of 12 reasons, hostile driving is the leading cause of fatal crashes. Half of all the deadly accidents are triggered by hostile driving.

Reasons For Deadly Accidents Caused by Aggressive Driving:

Speeding

Failure to yield

Careless driving, usual harmful behaviors

Failure to follow traffic signals

Most people would agree that aggressive driving is more of a problem in our country than it used to be. If they were honest, they'd also admit they've engaged in that type of behavior on occasion. Stress, fatigue, and impatience are a few reasons why people slip into this disrespectful and often dangerous driving practice.

Aggressive driving has been defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as engaging in a combination of traffic offenses that endangers other people or property. It's slightly less serious than road rage, which involves committing a criminal act, such as using a vehicle as a weapon or confronting another motorist with a gun. However, aggressive driving can easily escalate into a more dangerous situation.

Still sure that you’re not a hostile driver? How about we inform you that following traffic signals implies decreasing speed when the light is yellow and that slow rolling stops definitely are not real stops? Are you constantly in a rush? Are you often upset while driving? These are signs of hostile driving. To put it simply, what if an impatient as well as time-starved driver is actually a hostile driver? The moment conserved might likewise be money and time shed in tickets, crashes, as well as injury. Watching the expressions as well as routines of hostile driving might reduce your tension as well as possibilities of accident. And also, it's less expensive than yoga exercise courses.

Indications You Might Be a Hostile Driver

SPEEDING UP. Continuously. It’s a real thing. You are permanently in a hurry and time-starved, irritated by traffic, which is an inhumanly stressful routine, as well as drivers who are so slow that they hardly reach the limit. You reside on these fast lanes. And also, let’s admit it, you believe it is just the lane for individuals like you, who’s going quicker than everybody else, but not for people who are passing only a couple of individuals in front of them.

FAILING TO YIELD RIGHT OF WAY. It's constantly your turn. If somebody is reluctant to go, it’s certain that you’ll go for it just like when the light is yellow, (which is harmful and a major no-no). It’s really noticeable that the entire globe has plenty of unskilled drivers.

WEAVING. Regular as well as dangerous lane modification is part of daily life. People think about this as effectiveness. You invest most of your time looking for chances, going across as numerous lanes as feasible, as well as searching for police officers. You snap if there is an area you can not get involved in. You often go down to the left-- anywhere left is. At the same time, you often think of reasons why you are not in the racing field.

NOT USING SIGNAL LIGHTS. Unexpected turns and last minute change of lanes imply that directional signals are often late. You want to go where you have to be as fast as possible without holds or even turns barred. You think the roadway is a battlefield. You have this question in mind, like what will happen if somebody accelerates because you place your signal? But deep inside your heart, you do know how important it is for drivers to give you a signal about what they are planning to do, either they’ll turn or change lanes, and you prefer it to be done in a timely manner.

TAILGATING. You’re never content with how close you are because for you, somebody is constantly blocking your wa). Continuously, you are attempting to interact with your concern when driving. You tailgate. You blink lights. You see yourself unexpectedly accelerating and breaking every once in a while.

THE HORN. This is not a rage management device. Great vehicle horn etiquette and behaviors are essential to a risk-free and calm drive not only for you, but also for others drivers on the road. A risk-free, assertive driver will hardly ever utilize the horn. Sometimes, it is a pleasant "hi" to several distracted drivers. A hostile driver will certainly blow the horn. That’s for sure.

LANE BLOCKING. Intentionally avoiding somebody from changing or merging lanes. A behavior like this is especially paradoxical because many aggressive motorists think that obstructing lane needs to be a violation.

You have possibly analyzed while reading this that reckless driving is hostile driving. It’s simple to enable the periodic or everyday stress to produce lethal behaviors. Defensive Driver Courses as well as other programs are progressively being needed by drivers. Road rage stats reveal that about fifty percent of drivers are anticipated to tailgate and scream at drivers. Don’t wait till it’s late. Drive securely. Enjoy your ride.

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Is It Time for Music Marketing Technique Change?

So, you have actually created music advertising successfully and marketing strategy. After going live, you might be asking yourself just exactly how successful your technique is. You might also be asking if you did it right. The objective of the music advertising and marketing technique is to advertise your music to listeners and also obtain your brand out there, and if you've just released your latest track, create buzz around its launch. The concern is, just how would you know if it's time to modify your strategy? What would be the signs that it's time to alter your music advertising and marketing technique?

We have actually circled around 6 indications that it's time to alter your music advertising and marketing technique to maintain your efforts effectively.

You Have This New Task

A guaranteed indicator that it's time to alter your music advertising and marketing method is that there’s something new that you can advertise. If your own strategy was tailored towards introducing yourself or you artists, but now what you want to focus on is you remarkable production, there are a couple of points you wish to change up.

Your Target Listeners

Try to gain even more press simply by approaching music blogs, radio stations and if you're yet anonymous, indie recording labels in order to help obtain your direct exposure to the audience.

Advertising

If your main advertising and marketing network was e-mail advertising and marketing, it’s possible for you to get to a bigger, much more target market on platforms as well as networks where they mostly frequent.

Develop The Ideal Plan

Show the audience why they must pick you. Best results include a track video, background information about the project, quality images, and certainly, a web link and hard copy of the track itself.

It's Been a Long While

A leading misunderstanding when musicians develop a music advertising and marketing method is you just need to create one and then never ever think of it again. That's entirely incorrect! Your music advertising and marketing approach resembles a living and breathing creature. It has to be revisited often. Taking care of it, in some cases, needs you to make a couple of changes to strategies you have. In case it’s been a couple of months or weeks since you’ve reviewed your strategy's development, this is just one sign that it's time to alter your songs advertising and marketing technique.

The most effective method is to change your method every 2 weeks and evaluate your development. Are your fans reacting with your articles? Do you have any kind of media presence from the track promotion package that you have sent? Should you not see outcomes that you desire, it will be best for you to do some tweaks.

You're Not Obtaining Any Type Of Website traffic

Lots of musicians develop websites to publish their track catalogs and act as a center for all aspects of their songs. However, a solid sign that it's time to transform your music advertising and marketing technique is if you're not receiving any kind of website traffic due to the fact that you're either not providing your audience a reason for them to check out your tracks or you’re not marketing yourself enough.

See to it that you're updating your website regularly, including posting dates of your future tour or concerts, or posting links to your new tracks. If you're the type of an independent musician that enjoys journaling and creating blogs, make sure that you promote your music on different social media sites as well as your email newsletters in order to accentuate and boost your website.

An additional factor as to why you're not receiving any kind of web traffic may be because fans can’t locate you. An unquestionably innovative yet well deserving adjustment you must make towards your strategy is to take advantage of search engine optimization services. By enhancing your SEO rank through techniques like integrating and linking generally browsed search phrases to your website, it makes your site noticeable to music enthusiasts who could be searching for brand-new sound audio-- your own!

Your Branding Was Transformed

Suppose you intend to expand your followers and get your brand name around, you need to agree to develop, which implies that if you notice that your audience is no longer up to date like millennials aging late 20s to early 30s, then you require to switch over your music advertising and marketing approach.

Another indicator that you’re supposed to change and develop your music advertising and marketing technique is when you have actually changed as a musician. Possibly you're trying out a different audio, or you wish to cheer up your shade combination; either a superb factor for changing your strategy a bit and probably your language as well. The most effective strategy is to review your preferred photos and look for color patterns you have a tendency to be attracted to or resemble your type of language with your audience.

Nobody Is Interacting with Your Web content

An effective platform when it comes to engaging new and existing followers is social media. The business card of top quality web content is when followers are liking or reacting to your blogs, leaving comments, sharing it to their friends, and the most important is if they follow you. If you're not obtaining much of these points, it’s a precise indicator that it's time for you to change your advertising and marketing technique.

To figure out what adjustments you have to make, begin by viewing similar musicians from your own market and also see what type of postings are gaining the most interaction. Later, review your pages in social media sites, email advertising, and marketing content material if you're sending such newsletters to your fans and also find out what type of web content would your audience love to see. Even a few updates could make a huge difference.

You’re Not Collaborating with Musicians

An important way for you to make it and succeed in the industry of music is to collaborate and also develop connections with other musicians. These connections not just cause collective efforts, yet they also cause amazing songs promo chances. A well-defined indicator that it's time to alter your advertising and marketing technique is if you haven't thought about partnership or have not discovered an effective break.

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About Paradise Wedding Chapel

COVID-19 wedding information

We are here for you! Even if it's short notice, we are doing ceremonies by reservation only! We're working quite a bit from home right now and we're coming in for the planned weddings. At this time, the best contact tool is email. Please book one of the packages below and we will be here for your wedding, or you can contact us for updates or questions at info@paradiseweddingchapel.com. 

The Marriage Bureau is open daily from 8 am to 12 midnight with proper safety protocols.

Wedding • Vow Renewal • Commitment Ceremony 

For your Las Vegas wedding, or vow renewal, or engagement ceremony, you can select any of the packages we sell. With any of the ceremony add-ons we have, you can also customize your Las Vegas Wedding Kit. For you and your bridal party, our gift shop provides gifts and presents.

Las Vegas wedding packages

If you suggest another language ($100 minister fee), ceremonies are held in English ($60 minister fee). Please let us know if you would like to order a ceremony in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or German, as these are accessible on the basis of availability.

Las Vegas wedding packages - Elvis

Oh, you want him! We've got him! The tall one here, and the short one... Elvis or Mini Elvis! During your Las Vegas wedding or your vow renewal ceremony, many packages to choose from will keep you happy! Elvis is going to walk you down the aisle, serenade you, and make your ceremony official. 

We are here for you! 

At Paradise Wedding Chapel, we have Las Vegas Wedding Ceremonies in a sleek and modern, but warm and inviting Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. When you step through the front door, you will feel so at home that we actually call this room the living room! Our Bridal Suite is welcoming and stunning. But the chapel, most of all, is beautiful. The new décor is straightforward but elegant. The benches are like nothing you'll find in any wedding chapel in Las Vegas. It's one-of-a-kind indeed! This is not the cheesy Chapel of the Wedding! (We would be happy to make suggestions if you're searching for one of those!) This Las Vegas Wedding Chapel is the one you've been hoping to find!

The Las Vegas wedding chapel that truly cares

Paradise Wedding Chapel will make your day! This Las Vegas Wedding Chapel is your answer, whether you are getting married for the first time, the fifth time, renewing your wedding vows, wanting a marriage ceremony or just a super enjoyable pretend Las Vegas Wedding! You've discovered one Wedding Chapel that, above all else, specializes in customer service. We do care for your experience and aspire to exceed your standards. To fit every budget, we have Las Vegas Wedding Packages. We can do that if you're looking for something super easy. If you want 60 guests, 5 bridesmaids, and a Unity Candle Ceremony, we can do that too! Our goal is to deliver the best quality Las Vegas wedding experiences. You are our focus!

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7 things you need to know if you’re renovating your bathroom

Preparing to launch a new remodeling project for the bathroom? This is your first time going through a redesign of your home? It's a fun chapter in your life and one that's the best way to approach it. To help you understand the perfect balance between your imaginative customization needs and practical design ideas that will help you bind the entire bathroom together, we have compiled our favorite tips and tricks.

All of us want a bathroom that represents our personal style and can provide the comfort we need at the same time. Apart from that, however, it is also important that it has the correct fixtures and facilities that can also provide function and value. Fortunately, you can have it all by careful preparation, selecting the right contractors, and choosing the right design. Here are some of the best tips that could turn your dream of bathroom remodeling into reality.

1. “Draft” your bathroom

You can first speak with someone who will be using the space before you even contact a remodeling company for your bathroom remodel. Try to have a conversation about the fixtures and finishes you are going to use and how much of a budget you're prepared to payout. It's important to have a little extra while you prepare for your budget because you never know if there will be any unforeseen issues that will raise the cost later on.

Some additional budget-planning tips are here: 

Set aside at least 20% of your budget just to cover the unforeseen expenditures and surprise expenses you are likely to face during your remodeling project. 

Work with your family to set the correct cap for your budget and strictly preserve those limits.

As you step forward with the project, this preparation will be very beneficial and go a long way towards keeping with your bathroom renovation plan. You have to realize that the process could take about 30-90 days once you start with the renovation. Try to avoid the idea of changing your plans, no matter how long it would take until financial restrictions or issues arise.

By delaying vendors, buying new products, and moving your end date further and further out, changing your plans will produce more secret expenses. 

If you have a tough time drawing up a plan for your bathroom, talk to a remodeling contractor and ask for their advice. A specialist may also have a vision for your theme, and manage the scheduling for both installers and suppliers.

2. Bathroom floor plans

For those who are not conscious, it is highly recommended to keep the plumbing fixtures of the new bath similar to the current plumbing of the bathroom if you really want to save a decent amount of money on restoration and demolition. 

However, if the remodeler finds obsolete cabling or plumbing, there is a huge chance that this specialist will recommend that you gut out the old pipes and wires, which, in addition to changing the positions, would facilitate the installation of the new ones.

If your budget is small and you need to maintain the same footprint. Don't worry, with the use of some tricks explicitly made for that reason, you can still give the impression that the room is a little bigger. Pedestal sinks, for example, are better known for making space look more spacious, so transparent glass shower doors are more desirable than tub shower curtains, as this will block the light and make it seem more enclosed. Also, as an alternative to a small medicine cabinet mirror, you may also suggest using a large mirror. Doing anything like this might double the space around your area of vanity visually.

3. Led lighting design

While an elegant faucet finish would certainly make a bathroom look elegant, once you consider installing ample and luxurious bathroom lighting, you'll never make a bad choice. Well-designed vanity lighting is likewise capable of removing the shadows on faces. 

A combination of LED recessed lights with wall sconces next to or over the mirror is also a smart idea since you can still mount and use dimmer switches if it is too bright.

Ambient and overhead

Overhead lighting is very necessary for bathrooms. As for ambient choices, the use of sunken track lighting, frosted glass fixtures, or even rice paper can always be considered. Similarly, perimeter lighting is also able to create both soft, ambient glow and usable illumination. Often, it is highly recommended to start using pendant lighting. Something like this makes it possible to disperse light in a direction that gives the illusion of a lovely centerpiece ceiling.

4. Poet Interiors

Have you observed that certain glass panels really do not go all the way to the top of the ceiling of the bathroom? There is a reason for that since a lot of experts agree that it allows more air circulation inside the bathroom to hold frameless glass installations from floor to ceiling. 

For good ventilation in your bathroom, there are some rules that must be observed. It's not just a code, it's safer for your wellbeing, too. Stuff like aerosol sprays would be left without adequate ventilation to stagnate the air. That would make it more and more difficult to use the bathroom over time. The renovation of most bathrooms involves some form of ventilation, either through a centralized system or through window installation. Shower doors, panels, and screens must leave sufficient ventilation space. The steam that builds up and permeates the air during a hot shower to the point where it becomes hard to breathe. You need somewhere for the steam to escape during a shower, and ventilation helps to circulate fresh air into the room. Besides, during an emergency, there should still be enough space for clearance. Custom shower systems provide you with the option to have a glass transom that can be tilted open to release steam and other contaminants into the air in certain instances. Adding a fan to the bathroom increases the airflow capabilities of your bathroom. Based on the size requirements of your bathroom, if you already have a fan built, you may want to add a second one.

5. Enlarge the Space

If your bathroom is on the smaller side, then you have to unleash your imagination to build the space to make it look bigger. Try to use all the space in your bathroom as much as possible. If your goal is to open the room, glass doors for tubs and showers are fine, and the pedestal sinks are ideal because, compared to cabinets, they take less space. For those who need storage, but do not have much room to work with, all cabinets and tower cabinets above the toilets as well as towel racks are fine.

6. Pick Timeless, But Strong Flooring

Bay Vista

A survey by Consumer Reports found that 80% of homeowners prefer durable flooring for bathrooms over trendy flooring for bathrooms. Not that there aren't many choices that are both robust and trendy, but people just want to go for the safest choice when it comes to brass tacks. 

Certainly, porcelain, ceramic, and stone tiles look exquisite and appealing to the eyes, and they are also water-resistant options that make them the ideal bathroom flooring tiles.

Nothing is better than baseboard tiles with respect to longevity, and these tiles are often known for adding an elegant finishing touch. 

Tiles for the bathroom are not meant to be fragile. When you walk around your bathroom floors every day, several times a day, you need floors that are beautiful but can also take a beating. Don't compromise your design for anything that doesn't look fine, but because you like the way it looks in your new bathroom, you also shouldn't choose bad stuff.

You don't have to come up with a balance between feature and shape, luckily. Many of the above-mentioned options are both stylish and sturdy enough to be well-suited for bathroom use. Plus, several vinyl manufacturers produce specialized materials that are designed to withstand exposure to moisture and foot traffic. 

7. Design In Mind For the Future

In order to ensure that the value of your property increases over time, it is vital for those who are thinking of putting their home up for sale five years from now, to consider renovating your home for that purpose. On the other hand, it's really important to make sure that the design of your bathroom is something you would really enjoy and suit your style and desires if you're planning to live in your home for a couple of years.

The best balance of comfort, luxury, style, value, and durability needs to be found. This is no easy feat, but you can start putting the pieces together with the aid of a trustworthy contractor with some much remodeling advice to explore what designs and renovating structures can make you and your family happy.

When it comes to the daunting decision-making process for your bathroom remodeling project, you are never alone. To get you started with the fundamentals, you can use free online tools such as our Remodeling 101: A Free Homeowner's Guide. Your bathroom remodel project's brainstorming and the planning process can be enjoyable, but it's difficult to find out what materials and appliances are right for you when you go alone.

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MarketWatch releases the Global "Digital Rights Management (DRM) Market" report

Two weeks ago MarketWatch released its research on Digital Rights management. The report includes points on the Key Manufacturers Profiles in Detail with Granular Analysis of the Market Share, Production Technology, Market Entry Strategies, Revenue Forecasts and Regional Analysis of the Market. They also cover the industry position and viewpoint of main regions based on major key players, country, product types, and end industries. MarketWatch’s report is a thorough evaluation of Digital Rights Management (DRM) including enabling technologies, current market situation. 

According to the report, the Digital Rights Management (DRM) Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 12.65% during the forecast period of 2020 to 2024.

What is Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

As defined by TechTarget Network, Digital rights management (DRM) is a systematic approach to copyright protection for digital media. The purpose of DRM is to prevent unauthorized redistribution of digital media and restrict the ways consumers can copy content they've purchased. DRM products were developed in response to the rapid increase in online piracy of commercially marketed material, which proliferated through the widespread use of peer-to-peer file exchange programs. 

Brief overview of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) market

The internet has revolutionized nearly every industry and field. It has become a platform for business and enterprises. There is a lot of digital content, which has its pros, cons and of course, challenges. Many businesses that have digital content opt for a digital rights management solution to keep an eye on how their content is used.  Digital rights management solutions contain information on where the digital file originated along with the scope and reach of the associated access rights. 

Other trends that contribute to the expansion of the DRM market include:

MarketWatch’s report has shown that more and more businesses are anticipated to implement bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, which means employees use their own devices for accessing the company information. This policy poses risks including that of proprietary document theft to the mobile platforms. 

There is an overwhelming amount of content available over the internet, which has provided the consumers and businesses with more options. This availability and accessibility can be dangerous, so the holders of intellectual property need to protect their content.

The growth in the cloud-based deployment is driving the demand for DRM solutions globally -as IT investments by financial institutes rise. 

What does the recent report on DRM and COVID-19 contain? 

The report contains information on Digital Rights Management (DRM) Market size (value and volume) by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2020 and forecast data 2024. The report covers the global market particularly the United States, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, North America, India. The market is categorized based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.

As indicated in the report, the top key-players and leading manufacturers of Digital Rights Management (DRM) Market Size 2020 include:

● SAP SE 

● Oracle Corp. 

● Adobe System Inc. 

● OpenText Corporation 

● Axiom Global Inc. 

● ArtistScope 

● Vitrium Systems Inc. 

● Locklizard Limited 

● Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 

● Widevine Technologies Inc. 

● Bynder LLC 

In the report, you will find tables and figures that help analyze the worldwide Global Digital Rights Management (DRM) market. The statistics are key to understanding the state of the industry and are a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.

The report contains a complete market overview, list of top manufactures, scope of the report, key market trends of Digital Rights Management (DRM) market. 

Recent trends of Digital Rights Management (DRM) Market

As you will see in the report, the Media and Entertainment sector are expected to hold a significant market share. Enterprises are going to continually incorporate innovative content into their infrastructure, so digital media content created is anticipated to increase. This digital content needs to be securely stored and managed so that it’s compliant with all legal requirements including the intellectual property (IP) rights. 

Besides, a lot of digital content owners and providers continue to lose revenue and piracy and thefts continue staying on the rise. In 2016, HBO, for instance, lost a great share of its revenue  as an episode of Game of Thrones was leaked and disseminated due to piracy. To protect their revenue from digital assets, companies need to prevent privacy and monitor the usage of their intellectual property. This rising demand is anticipated to drive the global digital rights management market during the forecast period.

Which region will be the fastest growing?

The answer is Asia-Pacific since the investments done by the leading vendors increase. Given this rise, the government is currently trying to come up with ways to prevent the theft of original data. In addition, consumers in this region are using solutions like IPTV, OTT, and IoT technologies. 

Another key factor making the Asia-Pacific the fastest growing region is that compared to the other regions there is a significant amount of customer base, which is helping to drive the demand for the application of the DRM market during the forecast period. 

You can purchase and read the full report on MarketWatch. 

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Digital Marketing Benchmarks - Paid Search, Organic Search, and Social Media

It is important to benchmark your company’s performance against competitors. Benchmarking proves as a vital source in understanding your current standing in digital marketing in addition to evaluating your business’s SERPs, ROIs, and potential revenue losses. 

When you understand your company’s standing in the market against your competitors, it also helps you to identify digital opportunities in your market. As a result, you can use that information to improve your business’s current performance and develop a KPI driven marketing strategy and achieve digital excellence in the long run. 

For this purpose, we decided to bring onboard the paid, organic, and social media benchmarks for 2018, as reported under Markle’s Digital Marketing Report. This article will only cover the most surprising and significant statistics from the report and discuss benchmarks for organic, paid, click-through, social, and cost. 

Google Cost per Click for Advertisers in 2018

Let’s start with the basic cost analysis to have a better grip on the rest of the statistics. The average cost per click paid by advertisers on google search for brand name keywords rose by 30% in 2018. And while we are discussing the average cost paid by advertisers, the organic search visits experienced a slight fall. The desktop organic search visits fell by 5% in 2018. 

2018 Benchmarks for Paid Search

The feature of Google Shopping Ads is a vital tool to utilize the maximum benefits of paid search. The shopping ads continuously expose your brand and your products to your potential audience in a visual manner. The ads also contain your brand’s name, your product’s name, and its pricing as well which adds to the overall engagement of your ad. 

From the statistics of 2018, Google’s shopping ads spending has faced a sweeping increase of 32% in the year. However, spending on text ads is calculated to experience a 6% decrease. Besides this, you can measure the effectiveness of Google Shopping Ads from Google’s search ad clicks which comprise 59% of total clicks in one quarter. 

Excluding clicks for brand-centered keywords, shopping ads happened to generate more than 82% of the retailer’s Google search ad clicks in the second quarter. 

Following are some key benchmark statistics for paid search:

The click growth for the second quarter stayed steady at 7% while the cost per click fell from 11% to 10% from Q1 to the second quarter. 

The spending growth for google search ads scored 18% in the second quarter of 2018. 

Consumer goods, pharma, health, and retail-related ads experienced the most CPC.

The non-branded google shopping text ads came in with 13% growth. 

The average cost per click paid by Google search advertisers for their own brand keywords experienced a growth of 30%.   

2018 Statistics for Organic Search (Search Engine Optimization)

The overall site visits completely driven by organic search experienced a 2% rise. However, with the rise of mobile searching, desktop organic search as a whole experienced a 5% fall in the second quarter of 2018. 

Google drives the majority (96%) of US mobile search since it has the largest search engine market share. In the last few years, mobile use has increased significantly which has caused a notable increase in the mobile organic search – it hit an all-time high, with organic search visits figures as high as 55%. 

Moreover, Yahoo is not the default search engine on Mozilla Firefox anymore which has strongly affected its organic search results. On the other hand, Google experienced a growth of 2% in the second quarter of the year 2018. 

As opposed to Yahoo which had to experience a 35% decrease in its organic search results, Bing experienced a 12% decrease in its organic search results in the second quarter of 2018. 

2018 Social Media Benchmarks (Paid and Organic)

Some marketers and digital marketing managers completely choose to dismiss the effect of social media on marketing results. Whereas the truth is quite the opposite, given the effect of social media marketing on ROI and performance, social media is in the mind and hearts of most consumers out there. Whether you are opting for a B2B marketing strategy or a top-grade campaign centered for B2C, you can utilize significant benefits from social media marketing. 

You can achieve all your potential customers on social media since it is a market filled with a large number of audience. Social media is a medium for businesses and companies to speak to their target audiences in every touchpoint area. 

Let us have a look at how these social media channels have performed in 2018:

The businesses which did not necessarily start from social media marketing have performed relatively low as compared to the businesses who kick-started their journey with social media i.e. LADBible, BuzzFeed, 9GAG, etc. More than 80% of traffic on LADBible comes from social media channels and BuzzFeed and similar news channels have at least 40% social media referred visits on regular.

In 2017, social media referrals were able to generate 2.9% of the overall traffic on the internet. However, in 2018, the number increased by 0.8% by the 2nd quarter of the year. According to Merkle, 3.7% of all site visits came from social media in Q2 2018. 

By the end of the second quarter of 2018 and excluding Instagram ads, the overall Facebook ad spending came in with a 40% growth. On the contrary, the Instagram ad spending growth has been four times that of Facebook (177%). 

Some of the primary social media statistics for 2018 are as follows: 

YouTube presented a 300% growth in site visits.

Instagram-induced site visits rose by a swooping 236%.

Facebook does account for most of the social media-driven traffic, however, it only generated an 8% annual growth. 

Total mobile visits were combined to generate 77% more traffic through social media platforms in Q2 2018. 

Brands that actively invested in YouTube advertising also saw significant growth in their traffic. For an average of 169% more spending on YouTube advertising, there was a 225% increase in impressions obtained through YouTube.  

Instagram ad spend has exponentially been on the rise.

Unfamiliar with how to benchmark? Reach out to our team at Joseph Studios so we can help you keep track of your progress and where we can help your organization improve!

[jamiehueblog]

An overview of franchising trends in 2020

It may seem like 2020 will never end but the calendar says otherwise. The spooky decorations on the streets indicate that we’re wrapping up October, which means only 2 months left for 2020. So, before we get the results of 2020 and primarily its impact on the economy, let’s take a look at some of the trends in franchising during 2019. Spoiler alert: 2019 was a good year and  we’ve seen the franchising industry, especially the top 200+ brands grow. 

It’s safe to say that the franchising industry took a hit in 2020 but what did the industry look like before this big challenge called COVID-19?. Generally, emerging hot brands kept growing and brands on the decline continued to slow. Here are some numbers that describe the overall picture - the top-ranking 200 brands grew sales by 4.5%, which is $30.1 billion. In comparison, the growth last year was 4.2%.

McDonald’s, for instance, passed the $100 billion mark and retained the No. 1 spot followed by 7-Eleven, which got close to $90 billion and obtained more than 2,500 new locations. KFC and Burger King, which are No. 3 and 4 respectively, expanded internationally. Ace Hardware is at No. 5 position with $17 billion. Subway, Domino’s and Pizza Hut share the eighth position. 2020 was a good year for their competitor Chick-fil-A, which made it to No. 9 from No. 12 by adding more than $2 billion in sales and 140 locations. And the tenth position belongs to Circle K, which hit $12.5 billion in sales.

The role of the location 

A closer look at the growth of the top ten as well as the rest of the franchises shows that the increase of units (new branches and locations) played a big role. The expansion in 2019 was international. The top 10 brands acquired 8,984 new international locations. With domestic expansion, the top 200 added more than 12,000 locations, reaching 536,658 units overall. The bigger chunk of the growth was among the top 10 brands, which built more than 10,000 locations overall in 2019.

In addition to new locations there was also significant rationalization and optimization, as many brands shut down underperforming locations. Difficult labor environment and intense competition are two of the many factors behind this trend. Subway closed the most locations (more than 1,500), and H&R Block closed more than 500. Among restaurants, Long John Silver’s was highest with 133 shut downs in 2019. In reality, the shutdowns didn’t result in a net negative but the contrary. In all, 13 brands in the top 200 were net negative on location growth but net positive on sales. Sonic Drive-In., for example, closed 80 locations but still grew sales by $240 million. Chili’s, closed 22 locations but added $66 million in sales. And the most impressive of all was  Roto Rooter, which shut down nine locations and grew sales by $121 million (a 9.6% growth rate). 

Rough estimates growth

2019 was a good year for almost all industries as they all saw at least some sales growth. There were of course a lot of industry-specific ups and downs as the overall growth was pushed by some red-hot brands, but also dragged down by some brutal performances. But on average, it was a good year. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the hottest brands: 

Home2 Suites by Hilton (No. 98) grew by 38.8%, 

Orangetheory Fitness grew by 28.6% and jumped up seven spots to land at No. 87 on the list,

Nothing Bundt Cakes made it to the top-ranking 200 and was at No. 196. The sales by 23.4%, 

MOD Pizza grew by 23.3% and ranked No. 163,

Due to its international expansion, KFC made additional $1.6 billion, 

Burger King grew by $1.2 billion,

Hyatt added $1.2 billion in sales.  

And the brutal performances: 

Holiday Inn and Steak ‘n Shake lost $175 million,

Applebee’s lost $160 million,

Tim Hortons lost $153 million,

GNC lost $125 million, 

Epcon Homes & Communities dropped by 20.6%,

Steak ‘n Shake dropped by 17.5%, 

Long John Silver’s dropped by 13.2%,

Edible percent dropped by 11.8%.

A sneak peak into 2020 results

It takes no expert to see that the COVID-19 crisis had its toll on the restaurant and hotel business. Maybe the past year’s exponential growth will make up for it and maybe not, there is no saying until the year is over. Similarly, we can expect a decline in the automotive segment, which had 8% growth in sales last year since our vehicles sat in the garage for months. 

We know that the picture won’t be good but to the extent to which these industries suffer will be apparent later. 

[jamiehueblog]

Stock investment as a retirement strategy

Retirement is often associated with being over 60 years old and buying a house in a warm place and having grandchildren over for holidays. However, if there is enough money, you can retire any second you want. Retirement doesn’t equal being old, it equals saving enough and with some stock investment and a little bit of luck, you can achieve that. 

A lot of people avoid stock investment because of its volatility but if you think about it, it’s more of a benefit than a disadvantage. Yes, the stock market does go up and down but so does every other market and if there is anything that the pandemic has taught us is that nothing is predictable. So let’s discuss why stock investment can be your retirement strategy. 

No but seriously, when should you retire?

Everyone has different age preferences of retiring; someone wants to retire at 55, you want to retire at 40 and someone is a workaholic and wants to retire at 70. You may change it but you should identify a preliminary age of retirement that will give you an idea of how much time you have to save up enough money. So, open up your agenda of retiring, and with big numbers write down the desired age of retirement. 

Once you have a timeline, you can understand how much you need to save to lead a comfortable life. We don’t expect you to know every single detail of your spendings neither now nor in the future. Nonetheless, it’s important that you monitor your expenses and have even a vague idea of what our future expenses can be. For example, if you just had a child (or plan to have one in the near future) go to your notes and write down college under expenses and highlight it because it has become a priority for you. The savings for your retirement might eventually end up being a college tuition. The point is each and every event of your life affects the retirement plan so you have to deal with them as well. 

How much should you save?

There are a number of regulations on retiring in the U.S. Employers, insurance companies, trade unions, the government, and other institutions offer various retirement plans and the amount of pension you’ll get greatly depends on them. To put it simply, instead of salary, you will get a pension but it is not enough for you to enjoy your retirement. So, you will need to save too. 

The timeline and the list of expenses will help you identify how much money you will need for the retirement. Let’s say you want to retire when you are 60 and you presume you are going to leave for at least another 20 years. If your average monthly expenses are $2000, it means you need at least $480,000. Now, that is a lot of money and if you’re saving for 30 years, you will have to put aside around $1333 per month, which is a lot too. This is where stock investment comes to your rescue.  

Stock investment is a risk and many are afraid to lose all the money and go back to square one. In reality, stock investment is a calculated risk. No financial advisor will let you invest all your money in one stock, instead, you will have a diversified portfolio with high risk and low risk stock options. Yes, market crashes do occur but they are not permanent. 

When should you invest in stocks?

Stock investment is a reliable retirement strategy if you have time, at least another decade. 10 years is enough time to see significant change in the amount you saved, plus if anything is to happen, you will have enough time to revise your strategy or turn to plan B. On the other hand, if you’re close to retirement or already retired, it’s better to invest in cash and bonds as stocks don’t play out well in 3 to 5 years - not enough time and high risk. 

What’s the stock market like right now?

Given the current climate and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming presidential elections, it’s really hard to say what’s the market like right now as the picture changes nearly daily.  As of October, these fiver are the best stocks to watch and buy: 

Target (TGT)

Beyond Meat (BYND)

LGI Homes (LGIH)

Twilio(TWLO)

Freshpet (FRPcT) 

After President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus, the major indexes retreated. On the other hand, many leading stocks are offering buying opportunities. There are many mixed signals right now but according to experts, the stock market is recovering quite quickly. So, do consider stock investment as your retirement strategy. Just make sure to look into it and research it thoroughly. 

[jamiehueblog]

8 tips to prevent data loss

You’ve definitely at least once in your life lost a file that you really needed - maybe it was an assignment, video shoot or a photograph. In any case, you relate to the pain of data loss. Things happen and we are not always able to restore the data, so the best we can do is either prevent the data loss or ensure that we have a backup of important data. 

In this article, we will discuss 8 tips that will help you prevent data loss and avoid that suffocating pain of losing hours of work. 

Always use cloud 

Yes, it’s that annoying thing that your iPhone keeps telling you and you keep clicking “Remind me later.” Apple products are not the only ones that have cloud backup. You can use services like  SugarSync or SpiderOak to auto backup and store your documents, photos and files on a remote cloud server. You can also use platforms like Dropbox or Google Drive for working files. These platforms automatically save all your updates and plus, you can access them from anywhere and any divide. They do have storage limits but upgrading it is rather affordable.  

Don’t ignore the automatic backup reminders 

When your laptop or your phone reminds you about the existence of backup, don’t ignore it. Do take the time to back up your files. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry. This is especially important for laptops given they contain larger data. You can also use an external hard drive to copy all your data including preferences and software and reinstall them if need be. This step requires buying a hard drive, which can be quite expensive but it’s a cheap price to pay that will spare you further inconveniences. 

Turn “Saving” into a habit

If you don’t use platforms like Dropbox or Google Drive, you need to manually save your files, edits and other modifications. Do it as often as you can. Your laptop may shut down or maybe your cat spills tea all over it, in any case, saving files can help you to access the latest version with most updates. A lot of operating systems have an Auto Save feature, so do turn it on to save emails, writings and whatever material you have on your editing software. You can also save your browsing history in order to find and access any links that you need but you should also clear your cache and cookies frequently to free up some memory/space. 

Prioritize your data 

It’ll be absolutely great if you could back up all your data both on your laptop and your mobile phone but sometimes chasing after many will result in you losing everything. So do try to prioritize your data and focus on the so-called “critical few.” If there are files that are extremely important, make sure that you have copies saved in different platforms (E.g. hard drive, another laptop, Dropbox). If you use Gmail, you can always email some of those files to yourself and it’ll be saved in that communication and accessible to you anytime and anywhere.  

Make a tech list 

Now, this might sound very geeky but a good inventory is always useful.  Make a list of all the electronics you own along such as laptops, tablets, ebooks, mobile phones with their serial numbers, date of purchase, specs and warranty info and technical support phone numbers. The key is to write it down on paper, so that it’s accessible when none of those pieces of electronics are at hand and store it somewhere safe. In case anything gets lost or stolen, you can refer back to this sheet.  

Think beyond technology 

So far we’ve talked primarily about backing up tech via tech but sometimes good old hard copies are the best way of storing data. When it comes to sensitive data, this may not be the best way but in terms of photographs or other documents, hard copies can be saviors. Technology is great, it helps us a lot but it’s also unpredictable and no one can say for sure that any back up platform will work 100%. 

Don’t avoid investing in data loss prevention 

We live in the era of alternatives but sometimes it’s better to simply pay then spend time and energy looking for free alternatives. We recommend investing in cloud storage or other backup measures. One time payment can save you multiple trips to tech support. It’s good to be proactive, so spend an extra 5$ a month to protect your data in case of emergencies, which are unavoidable. 

Keep calm when an accident happens 

Sometimes the solution to a data loss problem is a simple Ctrl Z but because you were panicking, you didn’t do it and lost everything. So, when you do lose the sight of a file, keep calm and figure out what to do. Use another device to Google and turn to professionals as quickly as possible. 

[jamiehueblog]

9 things you should know before having a destination wedding

Congratulations, your big day is coming and we are sure you’re excited to get the planning started. One of the very first things that couples need to agree on is the location of the wedding. Many choose to do it in their hometowns while the brave ones decide on destination weddings. If you belong to the latter then keep reading to find out what 9 things you should know before having a destination wedding. 

Destination weddings are an excellent opportunity to combine traveling, honeymoon and wedding celebration. It’s also a great way to explore a new culture with your family and friends. But you should also know and you probably already do know that organizing a destination wedding is hard. But hopefully, with these 9 tips, you can have a smoother destination wedding. 

Start from the budget 

Broadly speaking, you can have a destination wedding anywhere on the globe but there are travel and legal requirements that you should consider, there is also the big matter of budget. So, before you move any further in your planning process, make sure to sit down and figure out how much money you can and are ready to spend on your wedding day. That budget will be your guiding point in picking a country, a location and making a guest list. 

Not all guests will show up 

There are very few couples that can afford covering the expenses of all their guests and there are even fewer, who actually do. You surely want your loved ones to be there on your wedding day but the truth is not everyone on your guest list will be able to make it. Even if you tell all your guests not to worry about presents, coming to your destination wedding is still an expense that not everyone can afford. There are some things you can do to make sure that most of your guests show up - for example, send them a save the date card as soon as you can, give them enough time to figure out the finances, and try to get discounts for them at a hotel. 

Some of your guests might be upset 

Continuing the topic of guests, it’s not only you who will be disappointed that not all your friends and family can make it, some of your guests might be upset that you chose a destination wedding. There are, in fact, cases when guests think you are having a destination wedding so that they don’t come up. So, prepare yourself for possible backlash. 

Check the marriage laws of your wedding location

If you want to have your wedding abroad then even before thinking about the budget, you should check if the country allows foreigners to get married. There are a lot of countries that require at least residency for couples to legally get married. If the marriage laws are against you, you can legally get married in your hometown and hold a symbolic ceremony in the wedding location.  

Translate the documents

If the country’s marriage laws do allow you to get married there, make sure to check what the required documents are and whether you need to translate them into the local language. If so then find a reliable and licensed translator to handle the documents. 

Check the weather 

Having a destination wedding entails traveling, which means you have to do all the things that you’d do if you were going on let’s say, a vacation and it includes checking the weather and packing accordingly. When choosing your wedding attire, make sure that it’s appropriate for the weather, so that you don’t freeze or sweat.

Lack of privacy during the honeymoon

Unless you are going somewhere else for your honeymoon, you might run into many of your guests. It’s highly unlikely that all your guests will leave right after the ceremony, many will choose to combine it with their vacation and spend some more time there, which means avoiding each other can be hard. If you do want to have privacy, you may change the hotels, or go to another town within the state/country for your honeymoon. 

Some things are out of your control 

It doesn’t matter how involved you are in the wedding planning, some things will always be out of your control. Distance, time zone, language are obstacles that you will experience. You can have a minimalist wedding with a small planning team, so that you have fewer things to worry about and have fewer things that might go wrong. 

Enjoy your wedding

It’s so easy to get caught up in planning and forget to enjoy this wonderful occasion. Maybe the flowers are not what you picked and the calligraphy is not right. Months and years later, you won’t remember these small details, so just put them aside and enjoy your wedding day. The most important person is with you and you are surrounded with friends and family - that’s what weddings are about not flowers and welcome cards. 

[jamiehueblog]

How to use marketing automation to qualify leads?

“There is a traditional and well understood process for generating customers for B2B businesses. The marketing team uses a range of techniques from advertising to content and email marketing, with the aim of passing the leads generated to sales. The sales team manages leads, nurturing them into customers often using customer relationship management (CRM) software to track and quantify progress.” This is the process of customer generation as defined by Jumplead. While marketing and sales teams do work independently, there is one area where they overlap - lead quality. 

Should it be the job of the marketing specialist or that of a sales specialist? Well, neither. With marketing automation, these two parties can work together to qualify leads. Salesforce, world’s top DRM defines marketing automation as “technology that manages marketing processes and multifunctional campaigns, across multiple channels, automatically.” So let’s look into how marketing automation can help qualify leads faster and more efficiently. 

Generally speaking, there are two ways of qualifying leads - lead scoring and lead grading. Lead scoring entails assigning a numerical value to certain actions such as visiting the pricing page and then getting a total score of your leads, which will indicate how interested they are in your product or service. With lead grading, you are evaluating each lead on a scale of A to F to ensure that leads passing from marketing to sales match your company’s ideal customer profile and can be converted. 

Marketing automation is used to automate these two processes, so that only high-quality leads go to the sales team. 

Go to the sales team first 

The implementation of marketing automation should begin from the sales team. They interact with the customers on a daily basis, so they have a better understanding of which leads can be turned into clients, what cues to look into and what action to pay attention to. Work with them to determine lead scoring and grading criteria which will be used to qualify leads. They can also help you understand what is the best way to organize the handoff between marketing and sales. It is crucial to be strategic and determine the most effective point of handoff. 

Keep in mind that these are people and potential customers that are being transmitted from one department to another, so you need to be careful and guarantee a smooth experience. 

Develop a buyer’s profile 

When talking about lead grading, we mentioned that grading is done based on to what extent the lead matches the brand’s buyer profile. If you don’t have a buyer profile in place then you should develop one as soon as possible. The buyer profile is your ideal customer. When designing a buyer persona, you need to be as specific as possible - gender, age, profession, occupation, needs, challenges, dreams, you should even name them. 

The buyer profile will give you an insight on who you’re looking for and become an important criterion to assess and qualify leads. 

Double check before selling 

Your scoring, grading and buyer persona are in place and your lead qualifies based on all criteria. It’s good news but before you proceed to selling double check to make sure you’re selling to the right person. Grading and scoring are excellent methods but there are some things that they can miss such as position. So, before you pass the lead to the marketing team, scan the lead thoroughly not to miss any important piece of information. 

Does your prospect like you or want you?

There is a big difference between interest and intent. To identify which one of these your lead has, you need to look at their activities. Are they browsing your blog posts or did they request a quote from you? The former is just interested in your product/service, whereas the latter is clearly showing intent to purchase your product/service. Identify the hotter leads and direct your time and efforts towards them. You can also automate this process by modifying your scoring model so that it’s geared more towards these intent signals in order to prioritize the most high-quality leads. Your sales team will definitely appreciate this approach!

Artificial intelligence and CRM data to the rescue 

And our final words of advice - use your CRM data and artificial intelligence. With CRM data, you can make sure that the same person always works with the same lead (if and when they come back). It’s always easier and more pleasant to talk to someone who already knows your problems and the status of your request. 

Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, can help with examining the leads. It may take more time and resources (especially finances) but AI can find leads that are a great fit for your company based on their persona and your buyer profile. Some AI solutions can prioritize leads and determine where to focus efforts. Simply put, AI can take over lead grading and scoring, so that your marketing team can concentrate their efforts on other tasks. 

Final thoughts 

Marketing automation to qualify leads may seem like an unnecessary use of your time and resources but once you do it and see the results, you’d regret not doing it sooner. 

[jamiehueblog]

A complete overview franchising: what it is and how it works

Technically speaking, franchising is a type of license. Here is a more elaborate definition by Investopedia: 

A franchise is a type of license that grants a franchisee access to a franchisor's proprietary business knowledge, processes and trademarks, thus allowing the franchisee to sell a product or service under the franchisor's business name. In exchange for acquiring a franchise, the franchisee usually pays the franchisor an initial start-up fee and annual licensing fees.

The franchising is based on a mutually beneficial relationship in which the franchisee gets the rights to use the trade name and the business model of the franchisor and the franchisor gets to have another branch and receive additional profit from the franchisee (one time initial fee and ongoing royalty fees). The franchisor is also required and actually even incentivized to provide training and ongoing support to the franchisees. 

Franchising is an excellent option to become an entrepreneur without having to pass through the difficult stages of establishing a business such as drawing up a business plan, finding investors, revising a marketing strategy, building customer base, etc. As a franchisee, you buy and implement a working business model and tap into the existing customer base. 

As a rule, franchisors don’t interfere with the day to day operations and management of the franchise. They can and will provide some guidance, information and best practices on human resources and general management but the franchisee has autonomy to hire, compensate, schedule, set employment standards and practices, and discipline their staff without consulting with the franchisor. However, when it comes to larger issues, the franchisor has a say and if the franchisor changes something big in the company, for example rebrands, the franchisee has to follow them and implement the same changes. 

At its core, franchising is a system for businesses to expand and offer their services or products in new locations. The relationship is bound with a contract but both parties involved (the franchisor and franchisees) are considered to be different businesses in a legal and practical sense.

What is the process of franchising like?

For the franchisor, the process entails management, training and support. Once you are sure that you want to be a franchisor, you need to start looking for people to invest in your franchise system. If you are an owner of a big and popular company then you can pretty much skip this step as people will approach you, you won’t need to go after them. 

There are federal and state franchising regulations involved that are hard to understand and navigate on your own, so it’s better to hire a professional consultant or a lawyer, who will help you handle the necessary documentation. 

When you choose your franchisee, you need to train them and support them so that they become successful which, needless to say, is in your best interest. Many experts recommend hiring a franchise management staff that will market, sell and oversee your franchises. It can be hard to run a business and provide support to another entity but with a dedicated team, you can ensure the success of the franchise and still have time to look after your business. 

For franchisees, this process is all about detailed research. Generally speaking, there are four steps involved in becoming a franchise owner: 

Identifying business interests and making a list of industries based on them. 

Research franchising opportunities in those industries and conduct due diligence. 

File the necessary documentation and seal the deal. 

Receive training and support from the franchise to begin the operations. 

This, of course, is a simplified overview of the steps. In reality, each of these steps takes time, energy and money. Due diligence alone requires commitment. Here is how The Conversation describes due diligence: 

Potential franchisees need to know what they are committing to before they decide to buy a franchise. This homework is known as due diligence. It is the process of ensuring that investors get what they think they are buying - and that what they buy is actually worth what they pay. You wouldn’t buy a car before taking it for a test drive, having it checked by a mechanic and making sure there was no money owing on it.

Regardless of the size of the initial fee, investing in a franchise is a big step and a commitment, so you need to be close to a 100% sure that franchising and the specific franchisor are the right move for you. You can gain that confidence only through due diligence. 

The franchisor is required to give you what’s called a Disclosure Document, which includes exclusive information about the actual business, so you will have enough reliable sources for your due diligence. 

The most overwhelming part on franchisee’s end is again documentation and legal issues but luckily, there is no shortage of franchise consultants and lawyers, who will help you make sense of the paperwork. 

Franchising is not rocket science 

As we said in the introduction, it’s a type of license and getting it requires some back and forth, but at the end you become a proud owner of a franchise, so it’s worth it! 

[jamiehueblog]

Web design trends to watch out for in 2020

If you used Facebook or pretty much most other social media a decade or half a decade ago, you remember how flat and boring their designs were. Websites were made with more practicality and efficiency in mind, as opposed to a blend of aesthetical and smart design. And if we looked at them again, chances are, they won’t be particularly pleasant to look at.

Unless you’re new to the industry of web design, you want to get all the updates on the latest and greatest design, so that your work matches the modern standards we’ve all come to expect. Sure, not everything is about following trends, but when we’re talking about aesthetics, it’s easy to get lost in the large variety of styles that people use for their websites.

So, we decided to highlight a few web designs we think are going to be big this year, so you have some idea of what you’ll be working with, or perhaps are working with right now.

1. A Little Darkness Never Hurt

We’ve reached a point of technological convenience, where you can use your electronics pretty much anywhere, one of the most famous places to use it on the bed, especially at night.

You’re sitting there in the darkness staring at the screen and the last thing you want is to be blinded by all these bright vibrant colors that make your retinas melt in their sockets. Which is why so many social media websites as well as tons of browsers allow you to turn on “Dark Mode”.

This is as practical as it is stylish, but there are many people out there who choose to have Dark Mode on all the time, even when there’s light around. It’s just so much more soothing to the eyes and less piercing. Sure, you could just turn down the brightness, but this may just make things hard to see.

Tip: Dark mode works best with minimalistic design since the entire point of it is to make it easier for your eyes to see the screen. By using minimalist design, you’re also making it simple for your eyes to track different areas of the page, making it even more pleasant to navigate.

 2. Keeping Things Simple

An old design turned on its head with some zany colors that pop out, minimalist design has made a giant comeback in recent years and has won over many web pages with its simplistic practicality. This is where they say “less is more”.

Minimalism can mean many things in design, from a simpler font, to overall structure of the web page. Also, avoid being too wordy, as most individuals need very quick and immediate information, as opposed to paragraphs of text. Also, utilizing images and descriptions as a minimalist form of labeling can make your web page more accessible to people who don’t speak the language.

The minimalist design is not only pleasant to the eyes and considered to be stylish, but it also exists to improve users’ attention span and allow them to take in more of the web page without getting tired. Many people lose focus when there’s too much movement on the screen, so a minimalist design allows for better visual flow through each individual page.

Tip: Minimalism is a great style to use for web pages designed to give quick bursts of information, like a Q&A or FAQ page. 

3. Keeping Things Even More Simple

Nothing beats the simple bliss of a basic, yet effective black and white style. This is a classic and it’s very hard to get it wrong, since it’s pretty much everywhere; in most books you read, this Word document I’m writing in, most documents in fact.

Tip: Use several shades of grey with the black and white to give the overall design more depth.

4. Vibrant Colors, Vibrant Life

We love that glow. We love that shine. Combine it together and you get these beautiful, strong colors, which take the overall aesthetic to a whole new level.

One of the best parts of this style, is that it looks futuristic and almost cyberpunk, with a lot of great designs which resemble a high-tech atmosphere and environment.

Tip: Neon colors are very vibrant, but sometimes too vibrant. Combine them with more somber colors, so they don’t get too tiring.

5. Getting Back to the Roots

When we talk about design, we talk about its roots in the craft of hand-drawn designs and illustrations. You can take the concept of style and design back to its roots with hand-drawn elements.

They may be a little cartoonish and look sloppy (on purpose, of course) but for many people, this is a very organic style, as it fits perfectly with their project. It brings more humanity and a little bit of personality to web pages. Sure: saying something is full of “soul” is a bit kitsch nowadays, you can’t look at hand-drawn design without giving yourself a little smirk.

Tip: Make sure you don’t force this style on people. Oftentimes, it can be quite distracting to see hand-drawn designs in every single corner of your website and could possibly be tiring for the eyes to take it all in. Be a little more conservative with this style.

6. Clean and to the Point

Some things need to be direct and to the point. This is exactly why so many web pages use Bold typography. A good UX design needs to communicate its message as clearly as possible. Hence why this design exists. Some people don’t need complicated designs and patterns. They need something formal, to the point and direct.

And nothing says this more than a simple bold typographic style that gets right down to business. You may find it boring, but then that means it’s not a web page meant for you.

Tip: Large letters and big blocks are easy to work with when it comes to building a website for the desktop, but it may cause problems on smaller screens, like phones and tablets. Be careful with how you design it so it’s easy to translate onto a mobile browser.

 7. A Whole New Dimension

3D web designs have taken a backseat to flatter and more plain minimalism, but by no means is 3D obsolete. When used in the right areas, 3D elements can create a more dynamic UX. 3D allows for greater detail in designs, is super engaging and can catch a user’s gaze for longer.

This mostly comes from the depth of the shapes and patterns that catches the interest of the user, as they are interested in experiencing your website from different angles and perspectives.

Tip: 3D overload can cause longer load times on your website. Make sure that the webpages are optimized enough to handle such a high load.

8. Key is in the Detail

Speaking of depth, you can have a 3D experience on your website without the heavy load of actual 3D design, by cleverly using shadows, layers, and other floating elements to give users the illusion of 3D.

Despite the fact that this kind of style is clearly not 3D and only a façade, users will still appreciate the attention to detail, the light playfulness, as well as the practicality that comes with this style.

Tip: Shaders, layers and floating objects can be hard to work with, since wrong placements can cause your web design to look more noobie than old-school. You’ll need to play around with different kinds of shadows and layers before making the final design.

9. Some Satisfying Motion

You can keep things to a minimal, or you can go nuts with your animations. While many web designers are deciding to let animations take a back seat to practicality and better web page load times, animation is still one a favorite tool for many UX developers and is a very versatile tool.

Let’s be honest: we all love to play around with the different animations on the web page and see the little details the developers hid around.

Long story short: we find happiness in the little places, and when they move around, then we’re even more happy.

Tip: Much like 3D, fully animated web pages can also be very performance intensive. Be careful that you don’t overcrowd your page with animations and then find that it takes several minutes for them to load.

10. Old School Turned New School

Gradients are super old fashioned, but also really heartwarming. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to use the late 90s to early 2000s internet, you remember how wholesome it was to see all those out of place gradients and weird color placement.

You can take that style, modernize it, and make it sleek and smart. Gradients are still a great tool in design, so don’t be afraid of them. They’re a great way to add more color and style to your pages.

Tip: Do not use them randomly. Consider very carefully how you use them, so that they don’t look out of place or cluttered.

11. Videos Make Things Easier

Sure a decade or two ago, putting videos on your website could’ve completely destroyed your websites’ performance, as they are so demanding. But nowadays, everyone has some very powerful devices, capable of opening web page videos very quickly and without any hiccups.

There is basically no reason not to use videos in your design unless you are specifically instructed not to, as they’re a great way to communicate information without lengthy paragraphs that very few visitors will bother to read.

Imagine if instead of all these written descriptions there were videos that narrated and demonstrated all these design tips… You know, that’s not a bad idea at all.

Tip: Videos can still be somewhat demanding, so be careful with their amount, length and quality. You still have a lot of room to work with, but don’t overdo it.

To sum up

2020 is a year of big design diversity. Not only are some old-school designs and styles making some pretty big comebacks, but recently developed ones are also holding their own in recent trends. This means picking one out of the lot won’t mean regretting it after a couple years, when that particular design goes out of style.

If you’re a UX developer, just think about these following design ideas and see which ones best fit your project:

Dark mode A Little Darkness Never Hurt

Minimalism Keeping Thing Simple

Black & white Keeping Things Even More Simple

Luminous color schemes Vibrant Colors, Vibrant Life

Hand-drawn elements Getting Back to the Roots

Bold typography Clean and to the Point

3D elements A Whole New Dimension

Shadows, layers, and floating elements Key is in the Detail

User-triggered animation Some Satisfying Motion

Multi-colored gradients Old School Turned New School

Videos or text-only heroes Videos Make Things Easier

It’s looking like a promising year, so keep your eyes open to catch any new style or design that crosses your path. You never know where good ideas come from, so always remember to look all around you.

[jamiehueblog]

10 Techniques Defensive Drivers Should Master

We often think of driving as a skill that you need to learn once. You study the rules, practice driving, pass the tests, get your license and you are good to go. Considering that car crashes are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., we should continuously improve our driving skills and eventually become defensive drivers. 

According to the Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations, ANSI/ASSE Z15.1, “defensive driving to save lives, time, and money, in spite of the conditions around you and the actions of others." The National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course defines it as “a form of training for motor vehicle drivers that goes beyond mastery of the rules of the road and the basic mechanics of driving.” Defensive drivers are trained to anticipate dangerous situations, and avoid accidents caused by adverse conditions or the mistakes of others. Defensive driver’s adopt the following motto: "driving as if everyone else on the road were drunk."

Defensive driving is becoming the new norm and if you want to get a head start and practice this method then these 10 techniques will definitely help you. 

See the big picture 

The overarching idea behind defensive driving is being able to anticipate danger and avoid potential collisions. To do so you need to constantly get the big picture of the traffic. Remain aware of the surroundings and stay focused. Don’t fixate on the car in front of you instead, scan the environment to identify potential threats. Look beyond the car in front of you and try to understand what the three cars ahead of you are doing. Also look to your right, left and in your rearview mirror to dangerous situations if any.

Other drivers might make mistakes 

Defensive drivers count only on themselves. Don’t expect other drivers to handle the situation. Like we said in the introduction, drive as if everyone else on the road is drunk. This mindset helps stay alert and react in case something goes wrong. Even if the other drivers are signaling that everything is under control and it’s safe, don’t put your shield down. 

Assumptions and trusting other drivers are your worst enemies. Trust only yourself and your skills. 

Keep safe distance 

Keeping safe distance is something you’ve learned during your driving lessons, and it’s something that all defensive drivers swear by. You need to give yourself enough room and time to react and adjust to dangerous situations. Just remember how many times the driver in front of you slammed on the brakes, and if you hadn’t kept your distance, it would have become an accident. The other drivers on the road might give you a hard time for keeping distance, but don’t give in to the pressure. Remember, safety first. 

No distractions 

You have read, seen and heard this a thousand times but if you want to master defensive driving, you need to truly practice it. No distractions while driving. This means no cellphones, adjusting the radio or AC, playing with the kids in the backseat, modifying the settings of the GPS and other distractions. We do realize that some of these things like AC and GPS are necessary to use while driving, so try to arrange everything before you take off or if possible, pull over and do whatever is needed. 

Remain Alert

Continuing the topic of distractions. Defensive drivers have to have a clear and alert mind for safe driving. You need to have quick instincts, instant reactions and precise movements to avoid accidents, so any kind of impairment can reduce these instincts and reactions. Never drive when you are drunk, under the influence of drugs or physically and mentally exhausted.

Monitor your and others’ blind spots 

Handling blind spots can be very tricky that is why there are so many accidents when the other car “appeared from nowhere.” To minimize blind spots you can briefly turn your head to check areas covered by your vehicle. You can also use large mirrors or reduce the overlap between your mirrors. All these are effective methods but checking blind spots physically is the best option. 

Try to be visible for the other drivers

Continuing the topic of blind spots - to avoid being a danger for other drivers, try to make yourself as visible as possible. You can use your turn signals to inform other drivers which direction you are taking. Make sure that your brake lights work as they serve as additional signals for other drivers. In case it’s raining or at dusk, turn on your headlights.

Check the weather and road conditions in advance

Constructions happen all the time and because of them, the road can be uneven, which creates problems while driving. Weather conditions like rain and snow can also cause problems. As a defensive driver, you should be a step ahead, so do check the road and weather conditions to be prepared. You should also be able to adapt to these conditions. Slow down, turn off cruise control and stay focused on driving.

Respect the speed limit and keep a steady pace

Always respect the speed limit. It’s there for your and everyone else’s safety. Keep a steady pace and drive with the flow of traffic. Increasing and decreasing the speed as well as constantly changing lanes are distracting for other drivers and it makes it hard for you to anticipate the actions of others.

Don’t overthink, yield the right of way 

You may be in a new city or an unfamiliar street where you are not sure who should have the right of way. If you find yourself in such a situation, yield the right of way and drive when the road is free. 

[jamiehueblog]

Can franchising become the perfect career?

Adapting an existing business model Create your own work schedule and enjoy flexibility. Make a difference in your community Innovative and creative thinking.

Our ideas of career have changed. Big paychecks and benefit packages are no longer enough to keep people at their jobs. They want a career that is close to their hearts and it's something where they can see impact. A lot of people end up at corporate jobs and work from 9 to 5 with good salaries but at the end of the day, they feel tired and eventually get burned out. It is hard to find a balance between a job that pays well and a job that is fulfilling. What if there was one way to have a fulfilling career and in the meantime, be your own boss. 

There is such an opportunity and it's called franchising. Investopedia defines franchising as follows:

A franchise is a type of license that a party (franchisee) acquires to allow them to have access to a business's (franchisor) proprietary knowledge, processes, and trademarks in order to allow the party to sell a product or provide a service under the business's name. In exchange for gaining the franchise, the franchisee usually pays the franchisor an initial start-up and annual licensing fees.

In the next section of this article will discuss why franchising can be a perfect and fulfilling career

Franchising is an excellent way of having your own business without having to deal with the initial struggle of establishing an organization from finding your venue to creating a business model and finding investors. Franchising allows you to use an existing business model to generate revenue. Also, it should be noted that as a franchisee, you have certain financial obligations to the franchisor but at the end of the day, it’s your business and you get to run it.

Franchising instead of founding your own business helps avoid the whole trial and error and immediately proceed to the actual work. To make sure that you are adopting a working business model, research before finalizing the franchising deal. Do market research and competitor analysis to understand the needs of your community in order to address those needs through your franchise.

Another advantage of franchising is that there are options that you can choose from. Pick a business model that not only works but it's close to your heart and your interest, something that you care about. Franchising is an amazing opportunity and an excellent alternative to creating your own business. Begin with franchising and maybe one day you can expand and create your own business.

One of the most tempting things about owning your business is the flexibility of schedule. In today's corporate world it is extremely hard to keep work-life balance. Franchising does require certain time commitment but it also comes with flexibility. You are your own boss which means you can create and control your schedule and develop it around your time with family and not vice versa.

Some prefer to work in the mornings and rest in the afternoon, while the others are night owls and prefer working at night and having the morning free. With franchising, you can give yourself that freedom and the opportunity to create a schedule that is based on your needs. Another advantage of being your own boss means that you can make the shots. Have you ever felt that your ideas at your corporate job are not heard? It happens to more employees than you think. In your franchise, you are the ultimate boss and you can make the decisions and lead your company to success. 

One of the things that may push you to open your own business is the feeling of having a contribution in your community. This is quite hard to achieve with a corporate job unless your values are completely aligned with the mission and vision of your company. But with franchising, you have a bigger opportunity to really make a difference in your community. Starting from the nature of franche be it a beauty salon, a coffee shop or a bakery finished with employees, you can structure your business in a way that is inclusive, sustainable and eco-friendly. To make a difference you can hire people from vulnerable backgrounds and give them an opportunity to make money.

Franchising is also an opportunity to make more money and you can use part of your annual, monthly or even weekly revenue to make donations and support causes that you are passionate about. Having a business that uses local sources is an excellent contribution to the community. If you want to be your own boss and at the same time make a difference, you should consider franchising as your career. 

The last reason why franchising is a fulfilling career is  - it's simply engaging and allows you to embrace creative thinking. Owning a franchise means that you have to have strategic and creative thinking to move your business forward. It is an exciting opportunity to create, brainstorm and to listen to your employees to have growth. With franchising you are generally free to make strategic decisions but if your franchiser is a big company then under your contract, you may have to take their vote in order to finalize a decision.

Even with this type of limitation, you are still free to employ innovative and creative thinking to expand your business. You won't have to struggle with anonymity anymore. You have all the data and all the analytics in your hands to make decisions.

Having something that's yours is extremely exciting. It is indeed a responsibility but it is also an opportunity to show the world what you can do. If you're looking for ways to leave your corporate job and enjoy a more fulfilling career then do consider franchising as an opportunity.

[jamiehueblog]

How to use water filters and drink safe tap water

How can you find out if your tap water is safe to drink?

We can last only three to four days without water. Hydration is extremely important and it's one of the primary sources of good health and energy. As good as it is, if consumed in a wrong way, water can do a lot of damage to your and your loved ones’ health. Not everyone has the luxury of having clean water come out of their sink, so tap water is not a safe option for everyone. Many opt for water bottles, which is expensive and has huge environmental impact and others choose to install water filters. In this article, we will look into safe ways of drinking tap water and also discuss some types of water filters and their benefits. 

Before looking into water filtration systems and investing money in them, you should first make sure that your tap water is actually in need of a filtration system. Depending on neighborhoods and communities, tap water can be perfectly safe for drinking. So how can you know if yours is drinkable? There is a so-called annual water quality report also known as consumer confidence report that has information about the contaminants and toxins that exist in the water. You don’t have to be a chemist to read these reports because they also include information on how those contaminants can affect your health. These water quality reports are done yearly, so they are based on the results of the previous calendar year. The reports are publicly available and are usually delivered to customers by July 1st of each year. 

Here are some things that you will find in your water report: 

- Where the drinking water comes from (e.g. river, lake, groundwater aquifer, etc.) 

- A summary of the source water assessment, which indicates how likely the contamination of the source water is and provides addition sources where you can find the  complete assessment;

- An exhaustive list of all regulated contaminants and their levels that are detected in water;

- Any health effects of that the contaminant detected can lead to;

- Contact information for the water system and the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline.

This piece of document is your go-to answer when deciding whether or not you need a filtration system. The report is pretty cohesive and understandable but if any terms confuse you, you can always look them up. 

If after carefully reading and revising the annual water quality report, you decide that you do need a filtration system then this section will be of great help to you. The market is full of small and big, cheap and expensive filtration systems all with their unique features and it’s hard to make a choice. Let’s look at some types of filters and hopefully, by the end of this section, you will have an idea of which system meets your needs. 

1. “Pour-through” filters - these are definitely the easiest filters to use as they are essentially pitchers with filters inside. Simply pour water in the pitcher and leave it for a while. This is an affordable option but it should be noted that they need to be replaced frequently and you will get a limited amount of water.

2. A faucet-mounted filter - these are the filters that are attached to the faucet. They are easy to install and use however, they do decrease the flow of the water and may not work well with all faucets. 

3. Plumbed-in filters - these are installed into the water pipe (usually under the sink). They are excellent options for filtering large amounts of water.

4. Countertop filters - similar to plumbed-in filters, these ones are also best for filtering large quantities of water. They can be used for a long time and are less likely to get clogged but they can be used with only certain types of faucets.

5. Point-of-entry filters - they are also known as whole-house filters and are directly installed in the water main. They filter all the water in a house (kitchen, laundry room, bathrooms, etc.). Point-of-entry filters need to be installed by professionals and they will serve you for a very long time. 

Size and price are the obvious factors that you should consider while choosing a filtration system but there are other not less important factors. The first question you should ask yourself is “Why do I need a filtration system?” Do you want it to make the water taste good or remove contaminants from it? If you are concerned about impurities then which ones you want to be removed? Each filtration system works well for a certain group of toxins and contaminants, so when choosing yours, make sure you know what contaminants/toxins your tap water has. 

We recommend looking into all filtration systems designed for households and then make a short list out of it with pros and cons of each product. Some of the terms may not make sense to you, so use “reverse engineering method” - what do you not want your drinking water to have? The answer to this question becomes the features your ideal filtration system should have. 

As I already mentioned, price is a big decision making factor. The price for carafes and faucet-mounted filters range between $20 and $50, countertop, under-sink and whole-house filters can cost from $50 up to $900. Don’t forget to factor in the price of installment in case you can’t do it on your own. 

The next big factor to consider is how much water you need to be filtered on a daily basis. If you only need a small amount for drinking then perhaps the “pour-through” filters are the best option for you. 

And last but not least, lifespan - if you are spending money, time and energy on installing a filtration system, it might as well serve you for a long time, right?