Category: Guides

Bloggers are a special breed. Their work involves many facets. If they are freelancers, they must market to potential clients and keep a flow of business coming their way.

If they decide to start and monetize their blog, they have a huge task ahead, but can certainly generate a following and income with a full commitment. If they work for companies that have clients, they must take on tasks that can be challenging, requiring research into unknown areas and mastering lots of new information. 

But bloggers are committed. They get up every day and tackle even the most difficult tasks, intent upon doing their very best, no matter how much time they may need to spend creating perfect articles/posts. And it is how they get paid. And if they are beginners starting their blogs, the challenges are even greater.

Beginning Each Day with the Best Intentions

As a blogger, you may begin your day with the best of intentions – a full day of work, pumping out those blog posts. Somewhere along the line, though, there are distractions. If you work from home, you are well aware of some of these – kids at home, for one, along with daily chores, interruptions from phone calls, visitors, and pings that signal messages, emails, and such. 

Even if you don’t face all of these, other distractions are self-imposed. These are all the temptations that rear their ugly heads as you work online – news outlets with intriguing headlines, your email accounts, social media, and more. So how do you remain productive against these odds and find all the resources you need to complete each article topic so that it is approved and accepted by the employer?

You need tools and resources to help you with all of these challenges. Here are 10 of them divided into two categories: productivity by removing distractions and productivity by using tools and resources to craft exceptional blog articles.

Tools and Resources to Remove Distractions

Distractions come in all types, and they always reduce productivity. A survey conducted by Pegasystems found that the average worker, in any environment, moved about on his computer to and from as many as 35 different applications each day. Of course, some of these included accessing resources related to their work, but a similar study conducted by Workfront showed that those who work spend only about 43% of their workweek on their actual work tasks. They state that the biggest disruptions are messaging, emails, and social media.

Here are some tools that should help you remain focused:

Freedom 

Here is a free app that lets you block website and app distractions on all of your devices. You set a particular period for the block and specify the sites to be included. Obviously, as a blogger, you cannot block all access to the Internet, but you know those that are the culprits for you.

Forest

Here’s an app that serves as a bit of a motivator. Each of us wants to be successful and “win.” The Forest app plants a seed as you begin to work and set a timer for getting a task completed. As you remain on task, the tree continues to grow. If you exit the app, the tree dies. Ultimately, you can grow an entire forest, the more on-task you remain.

Todoist

This is an app for those who can be disorganized and hop from task to task, forgetting what should be done. Todoist is an app that functions like the traditional to-do list. It organizes tasks by order of priority, along with due dates and built-in reminders. Another cool feature is that it tracks progress on each assignment.

These are just 3 of many apps that will help you stay on task. A few other tips are as follows:

Setting Up a Productive Work Space

If you work from home (and most bloggers do), then setting yourself up at the kitchen table will never work. You need a dedicated, isolated workspace, no matter how small, where nothing else happens but your work. No one else is allowed into your workspace when you are there. This resource will provide you with the means to set up your space, no matter how small it may be.

Biorhythm Calculator

You may not really know your own body and mind, in terms of what hours of the day and days of a month during which you are most productive.  This great tool will let you track your levels over a 30-day period so that you can set up your work schedule based upon your highest energy times. Reserve your least productive hours and days for easier and other tasks. And you should run this calculator every several months, as things do change.

Tools and Resources to Streamline Your Blog Writing

Some blogs will be relatively easy to pump out. You are familiar with the topic; you enjoy the topic; and you can easily focus. But this is not always the case. There are many topics with which you are not familiar and which will require some research, sometimes quite deep, in order to provide a piece that is approved and published or that your followers will find compelling and engaging. Fortunately, technology can provide some great tools.

Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo has done the research that you often do not have time to do. You can access this site, type in a few keywords related to your article topic, and you will be presented with all the most recent trending research and topics, including links to articles on those topics. And if you have a topic that you know will be the subject of many blog articles you may be writing, you can even set up alerts.

Co-Schedule Headline Analyzer

All bloggers understand the power of a compelling headline for a blog article. They know that without that headline, many will simply skip the article entirely. Co-schedule offers a free headline analysis that will provide a full report on such things as “power” words, emotional appeal, etc. Type in a potential headline, and the tool goes to work, even making suggestions for improvement.

Tools for Language Use

Blog articles must be simply written, using informal language and simple sentences. There are tools to check for this, such as Grammarly and the Hemingway Editor. And you can also order proof help from any number of writing services that will check grammar, punctuation, and such. Remember, the reading level should be at about the 8th-grade level unless you are writing a highly technical piece.

Evernote

This is one of the most popular free planners and organizers. You can take notes and sync them across all of your devices, thus keeping all of your ideas for articles in one place. And this includes visuals too. So, if you are out for coffee and an idea hits, just get it jotted down.

Trello

If you need to manage your workflow among many blog articles, this will be an extremely helpful app. And it’s free. This app offers an easy layout, as you can group your tasks into cards and boards with due dates. An easy way to manage multiple tasks and meet all of your deadlines.

Ready to Jump-Start Your Productivity?

Check this list. Are there tools or suggestions that could benefit your blogging? While blogging has become a huge economic sector, the competition is also tough. Only those who can produce engaging content that people want to read/view and share with others will ultimately earn you the reputation you need to become successful.

You’re a brilliant copywriter, but when it’s time to buckle down and get some work done, your mind hops from kittens to tacos, then new shoes to turtles.

Perhaps it has to do with your new at-home office due to COVID-19 restrictions. Maybe it’s because your office workspace is too noisy or features an uncomfortable chair. 

Whatever is holding your productivity back, here are five tips to get back on track and take your copywriting career to new heights.

1. Invest in a standing desk

It’s time to get down to business. But is your comfy office chair bringing down your productivity? Recent studies say yes. The survey studied more than 140 people who changed from a sit down working arrangement to an office with an adjustable height standing desk workspace.

More than 52 percent said they felt more focused on their work, and 43 percent reported a sizable uptick in performance. The study was done over a full year at a single office and decreased average sitting time by one hour per person throughout the course of the study.

In addition to boosting productivity, standing desks can improve mood, your focus, your brainpower, and your ability to problem-solve. These benefits will allow copywriters to spark more creativity and efficiency when it comes to pumping out copy.

Human beings were not meant to sit around all the time. We were made to move. Get on your feet!

2. Buy a pair of noise-cancelling headphones

Noise is a contributing factor to a myriad of distractions during your copywriting career. But did you know that jamming out to a specific playlist that soothes and comforts you can double as a productivity booster while eliminating other noisy distractions?

It’s true!

Are you a hippie at heart? Try some chill folk music. Have a deadline coming up? Maybe it’s reggae music for the next few hours. Are you pitching a content strategy for a new client? Perhaps it’s time for some hip hop or metal.

Whatever kind of music you like, the mood you are in, or the task at hand, combining work and music is like peanut butter and jelly.

With noise-cancelling headphones, you can get lost in your own copywriting and allow everything else to fade away into the distance. Your brain even will enable you to associate different tasks with different music, so get busy making some different playlists for different clients today. 

3. Download the Momentum extension

Distractions are everywhere, especially if you have recently moved into a home office working arrangement. On top of the distractions you would typically get at the office, such as high noise levels, sleepiness, and hunger pains, you now have domestic distractions like your playful dog, the growing pile of dishes, and the remote control.

Don’t let online distractions break the camel’s back. 

Copywriters spend much time online. One of the most challenging aspects of everyday life as a copywriter is learning how to avoid social media scrolling and video watching.

Enter Momentum, a browser extension that displays a personal dashboard every time you open a new tab in your browser. The tab shows a beautiful photograph with your daily list of to-dos, complete with a motivational quote.

Momentum is a constant reminder of what you should be doing (writing copy) and what you shouldn’t be doing (watching cat videos). 

4. Disable your phone

If you want to boost your productivity during your copywriter career, you need to do something about one of your biggest addictions: your phone.

You have a few options. You can turn it off entirely and promise yourself you won’t look at it for the next eight hours (unlikely), you can leave your phone at home, or you can turn off your notifications.

Think for a moment about how many times during the day you get a push notification. Your phone yells out to you with a chirp, a beep, a song, or a buzz, and you unconsciously extend your arm out to greet your phone, like a puppet adhering to its master through a string.

You get a notification every time your connection accepts your LinkedIn request, when your Aunt Martha posts a picture of baby Peter, or when you get an email from that news service you signed up for five years ago.

Depending on how many apps you have notifications enabled for, you should expect approximately over 80 push notifications per day. Let’s estimate that you spend two minutes on each notification, which means you’re losing up to three hours of your day away from your task.

Talk about the opposite of productivity.

To add insult to injury, a recent study suggests it takes an astonishing 23 minutes to fully get back to the task at hand once looking at a push notification. Do some simple arithmetic, and you’ll soon realize you’re quite literally losing days at a time by enabling all notifications on your phone. 

Try this tip for a few days and watch the number of words you pump out double.

5. Take regular breaks

We are human beings, not pitch-creating, copy-spitting, word-editing robots from the planet Copywriter. When faced with an eight-hour workday, it is unrealistic to expect that we are doing some of our best work when stuck at our office workspace for 480 straight minutes. 

To boost your copywriting effectiveness and to boost overall productivity and output, you need to take breaks.

Mental, physical, and emotional breakdown can occur when living your life for work five (or even six or seven) days a week. 

Combat this fatigue with scheduled breaks. Studies have found that 52 minutes of intense focus on your work, followed by a 17-minute break, is the ideal amount of time to maximize productivity. Employees who did this in comparison to their non-break-taking colleagues performed better over time. 

Maybe you are 2,500 words into a 3,000-word article when your break time comes. You want to finish so bad and push through the last 500 words. 

Take a break. This article is not going to save the world. Your copywriting career doesn’t revolve around this single article.

Work can sometimes feel monotonous, draining, stressful, or frustrating. Don’t make work the only thing in your life.

Take a break. Your boss will thank you. 

It is certainly no secret; personal relationships are vital to a successful sales career. Cold calls or emails may get your proverbial foot in the door, but the close comes from earning a client’s trust. It is hard to beat a face to face meeting and a handshake as a means to building that desired trust.

As times change, however, the world of sales is experiencing a transition from in-person meetings to a variety of collaborations facilitated through technology.

Of particular importance to sales, is how to develop and maintain a personal relationship with a client in the virtual realm. Whether your use of technology in sales is based on social distancing, saving on travel expenses, avoiding time away from home, or any number of other reasons, there are some suggestions that make the absence of the face to face meeting easier.

Consider these five tips for improving video calls.          

1. Send Calendar Invites

Most people tend to remember a meeting scheduled in a conference room, or a colleague’s office, or across town. But virtual meetings have a way of slipping from the collective, or perhaps selective, memories of certain clients. The use of calendar invites can be particularly important for the online conference and can work to your advantage. 

When sending an invitation to an online meeting, do not make your potential client jump through a series of digital hoops to attend. Include links and teleconference ID numbers as needed. If possible, avoid systems that require your client to download an app, or sign-up for an account, or any other inconvenience which might cause them to cancel your meeting.

Next, use titles that remind your client who you are or what you can do for their company. For instance, rather than a calendar invite titled “Meeting with Kevin,” consider a title that works as an ad for your product or service.

Instead, try, “10-8 Systems teleconference,” or “CAD/RMS virtual meeting.” As your customer looks at his or her calendar in the days and weeks leading up to your meeting, they repeatedly see your company and what you have to offer.

2. Text Messages as Appropriate Reminders 

Communicating with your lead by text tends to show you respect their time and lets them feel they are in control of the conversation. After all, they can respond at their convenience rather than interrupting their day answering a phone call. Start early in your relationship with a potential client and seek their permission to communicate by text.

Regardless of how you first made contact; face to face, an email, phone call, or some other way, asking if you can text them lets your lead know you respect their time and privacy. For example, asking, “Would it be alright if I sent you a text? That way, you can respond whenever you have time,” goes a long way in building a relationship with your potential client. 

A few points of text etiquette are good to keep in mind. First, send text communications during traditional business hours. Unless the relationship with your client dictates otherwise, weekdays after 9 am and before 5 pm are usually best.

Next, maintain a professional tone. Casual phrases and abbreviations between friends and family are far different than what is expected in the business world. Finally, most professionals do not want to have long conversations through text. A brief message to convey information or send a reminder about a video conference is usually all that is needed for effective business communication through a text.       

3. Things Do Not Always Go as Planned: Have a Plan B

Technology continues to make life better. In the business world, the use of the internet and cell phones have successfully taken industries into the second decade of the 21^st century. Technology is great…until it’s not. That is to say; it is not without its occasional lapse in expected operation. Having a backup plan helps overcome these rare but potentially embarrassing moments.   

When scheduling a video conference, it may be wise to consider calling into the meeting in addition to logging in via your computer. In the less than ideal situation in which your 21^st century, hi-def, fiber-optic, video conferencing system did not come through, you may find yourself on an old-fashioned telephone call with your customer.

This is when it is crucial to have a plan to make your pitch with what you have. This phone call may be your only chance to make an impression, close the sale, or develop the all-important relationship.

Avoid statements such as, “I’m sorry the connection is not working,” or “If you could only see my screen, I could show you…” Instead, thank the client for their patients, make the best of the situation, and do what sales professionals do: sell your product!

4. Have Your Presentations Ready in Advance 

In furtherance of building a confidence-instilling relationship with a potential client, consider the vital portrayal of professionalism.  Being prepared for your video call helps demonstrate respect, an imperative component of a professional partnership.

A simple step in your preparation is to have your presentations loaded and ready to begin before joining the teleconference. Regardless of the platform you are using for your deck; PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, or a similar presentation avenue, have both the program and your file up and running well in advance of the call.

As an example, I normally have these 2 web pages ready for my meetings. 

• Law Enforcement CAD Introduction
• How Police Dispatch Software Improves Law Enforcement Data 

I have them pulled up, without my bookmarks bar (I’ll talk about this in the next section), so that I can actually show the client our website, our expertise and it’s a web page that they can get familiar with and will influence them to navigate back to it later if they need anything. 

Most people have been on the receiving end of an unprepared speaker. Perhaps you even had a short period of empathy for someone who struggled to load a program, warm-up a projector, or find their PowerPoint in a sea of files. That understanding, however, usually has a limited lifespan and can quickly evolve into the perception of someone who does not respect your time. 

It is best not to hope for the possibility of empathy when making your presentation. Have the deck loaded so you can immediately begin when the client is ready. Whether they consciously recognize it or not, you will have demonstrated both your level of professionalism and appreciation of their time.  

5. Screen Sharing and the Bookmark Bar

Even when technology works as expected, the human factor can still result in a less than favorable digital meeting. During the recent uptick in online meetings due to social distancing, it was not unusual to see videos or read articles about some breach in basic etiquette as working from home became the norm. Regardless of your location when participating in a video call, there are some points to keep in mind to enhance professionalism and avoid embarrassment.

If you are sharing your screen, please remember to hide your bookmark bar. Often, bookmarks contain information that can divulge a great deal about the computer user. In addition to information such as banking and financial links, bookmarks may include a list of your competitors or other business research you may not want to share with the world.

How about your family’s information, such as the kid’s schools, vacation plans, or other items you did not mean to be part of your business meeting and memorialized in a recorded video conference? Hiding your bookmark bar is a small and easy step to protecting your business and your privacy.

Ultimately, the transition from face to face meetings to teleconferences is likely to increase. Sales professionals must make allowances for this transition by leveraging technology, having a backup plan or two, and embracing the evolution of the inevitable digital handshake.

While the journey to get there may be changing, business and sales still are, and always will be, about building personal relationships.

When you hear the term abstract, what strikes your mind? Odd shapes, unidentifiable patterns, or symbols. We also assume that abstract designs only revolve around paintings, but no, it has also surrounded us in other forms like abstract logo designs.

Using an abstract design approach is a smart choice by designers to make their designs creative and unique. When you ought to have a custom logo design for your business, you search for something that signifies your brand. Abstract logos are the best in passing on unique ideas in cleverest yet simple style. 

There are several other options of custom logo designs for your business, based on text and colors but through an abstract logo, you have a better chance to reveal your business exclusively.

Abstract icons contain geometric shapes and also differ from traditional or classical symbolic forms. It has a vast ground to play with colors and shapes, and it confers a vision to your Business. 

Abstract logo designs are not understandable at first glance, and they can be challenging for your creative instinct even though some are easy to understand immediately.

Do’s for Abstract Logo Design

1. Keep it Simple

Simplicity is one of the main traits of an abstract logo, and they have the power to deliver those ideas and concepts beyond your imagination. It’s easy to turn your idea into visuals in the form of abstract logo designs with an abundance of simplicity.

2. Research

Your business recognition comes from your brand representation, so it is suggested to consider a custom logo design that highlights every aspect of your business and connects it with the audience.

So, it is essential to do robust research before designing your abstract logo, as the Customers must quickly understand the replication of your business concept and.

3. Make it Memorable

Abstract logos are attractive because of their unique characteristics. It assembles the ideas that tell the fundamentals of your brand. Use symbols or icons that make your logo unforgettable that leaves a long-lasting impact on the audience’s mind. 

It is the aim of a logo design company that they design the logo with a profound message and make it memorable forever.

4. Choose the Best Color

Without any doubt, we know choosing an appropriate color for your custom logo design is always an exciting part of the design process. Your color choice decision should be made wisely. As it encloses the awareness and impression for your audience.

In an abstract logo, color highly supports the visuals; your colors and visuals should travel in the same direction. Moreover, for the matter of fact, colors also influence the brand image and customers’ psychology.

5. Multipurpose Design

Make sure that you cover every aspect of the abstract logo, and it is easily modifiable according to every source of display. It should have the versatility to dive into many different themes. The abstract logo is not confusing to create, but it must fit every style.

Don’ts for Abstract Logo Design

1. Do not Over Crowd your Abstract Logo

Your custom logo design is the whole lot that introduces the brand and gains an excellent good reputation for your business. The same case with the abstract logo is informative, so it should not have too much detail.

Overcrowding your logo with extra colors, shapes and text might confuse your audience and fail in achieving the main objective.

2. Avoid Too Much Simplicity

We know that simplicity is the best policy, but it is not best when you overuse it in your abstract logo. Too simple and basic logo lacks in displaying the actual meaning of it. It happens that you get tired of using similar shapes and patterns again and again, but that doesn’t mean you oversimplify it without using any shape symbol or icon.

3. Do not Copy

Your branding logo is all about distinctiveness and novelty; it should have its look and recognition. Your custom logo design stands on its own; it must not be the copied logo of another similar brand.

On the other hand, if your logo has a similar look that leaves a bad impression of your brand and creates a distrust between the brand and its customers. Eventually, the abstract logo is all about creating a strong identity.

4. Avoid Color Blast

Color choice is an integral part of logo designing; the appropriate color choice is the success of your logo. Using too many colors in a single logo will make it look like a color pallet than an abstract logo.

Colors have a high power to evoke emotions and represent the brand so always choose the colors with an open mind and avoid the blast of colors on your logo.

Do check logo design company Logo Grand, an expert in custom logo design based on behavioral psychology of the target audience of your business.

Abstract Designs That Make Your Logo More Artistic 

1. Design with Solid Shapes 

Solid shapes are less complicated, and they send the innate message in your logo. If you want the audience to recognize your logo instantly, they go for this style. Companies like technology and educational institutes like accuracy in their logos, so solid shapes work best. 

2. Design with Lines 

We know that abstract design itself is way distinctive from ordinary things. They tend to portray your image. If we integrate lines in design, it shows connectivity—industries like architecture or construction use lines to share their idea of business. 

3. Design with symmetrical patterns 

You can acquire symmetrical patterns easily if you look around if you look in nature for a while. Clouds, minerals, sea, etc. everything shares a design. 

Symmetrical patterns are eye-soothing; they give the feel of relaxation and peace. Meditation or health centers like to use patterns in their logo. 

4. Illustrative Designs 

If we are calling a logo abstract, that doesn’t mean it is entirely abstract. They do have symbolic objects in them. Adding illustrative purposes can show the value of your brand more clearly. 

Some of the Famous Abstract Logo of Big Brands 

An abstract logo is all you need for your business. They are not bound to any specific industry. So here, you’ll get to see some of the inspiring abstract logos of famous brands. 

Abstract logo for Fashion 

We might think that a logo for a fashion brand also should look fashionable. Fashion brands go with abstract logo design smartly. Instead, they have to use their name in a logo or any other icon they will go abstract. 

Abstract Logo for Food 

Designing an abstract food logo is fun because you have to play with colors and fonts and try different icons in them. 

Abstract Logo for Tech

Mostly solid shapes work for the tech industry; they are modern yet minimalist. They usually have icons with plugs and circuits, or they go with initials of the brand’s name. 

Abstract Logo for Sports 

Like fashion logos, sports logos are also minimalist. They are adding initial referencing and related icons that show the connectivity with brands. 

How Will you Find Inspiration for Abstract Logo Design 

Brainstorming

Start with an effective brainstorming; it helps you know what you need or what you have to ask from your designer, what you want to achieve through the design. Pen down your ideas, make rough sketches, and go ahead. 

Think about your audience and think like your audience. Prioritize customer’s preferences and then start. 

Go for Mood Boards

Visual always helps to understand one’s idea and mood boards are the best way to get the idea. It takes a little effort to find related stuff in the form of pictures, from magazines and posters. Simply cut out and paste printed photos on a single board or a sheet. 

You can also go with a digital one. Unfortunately, you are making for logo inspiration, so it must be based on illustrations, graphics and then you’ll get to know what exactly you are leaning towards in a short time. 

Check Your Competitors 

Idea stealing is very common in the designing field, and competitors are everywhere. So it’s good to check on what is already existing in the industry and what you should avoid. Find out what makes you different from others—Hunt for one element that can create a massive difference in your logo design.

What Makes a Good Logo 

The one which conveys your brand message instantly and is easy to recognize is considered a good logo. 

1. Notable and unique
2. Striking and catchy 
3. Easily fit to any size at any place 
4. Enduring 
5. Always brings recognition to the brand. 

Conclusion

There is no rocket science behind designing an abstract logo, but there are some guidelines to keep in mind while creating one. Abstract logo designs are always upgraded, and the first choice of designers will never go out of trend. All you need to follow the correct direction for designing an abstract logo for your company.

When you start to work from home, you might find that it takes you some time to get used to it. This doesn’t mean that you need to accept any drop in your working conditions or your productivity, though.

In fact, the following tips will help you to feel a lot healthier and also to be more productive than ever before. 

Set Aside Some Time for Exercise

When asked why they don’t exercise, over 30% of people said that it was because of a lack of time. If you faced a long commute to work then it is easy to see why this could be the case, with early morning departures and a late-night return every day of the week. 

However, the switch to home-working has suddenly freed up far more time for workers all over the world. One of the best ways of using this extra spare time is by exercising. For example, 15 minutes or so of light exercise in the morning can be the perfect way to get ready to start work.

As well as feeling healthier, you should also be more productive once you start doing this. Once you improve your fitness, this will boost your energy levels, your mood and even your concentration levels.  

Eat Healthier Meals 

Another of the issues with travelling to work each day can be the difficulty in eating healthily. It is easy to slip into the habit of eating unhealthy snacks. Some workers fail to eat a proper lunch, and may also find that they are too tired in the evening to cook a meal. Taking Vitamin supplements can help overall energy also such as Vitamin C.

When you work from home this becomes a lot easier to deal with. There should be no reason to live off snacks and junk food when you are close to your kitchen all day. It is a question of organising your day so that you always have good meals and snacks ready.

As with exercising, eating good food will also help you to work better. A study by the World Health Organization confirmed that the right kind of nutrition can make you 20% more productive, on average. 

Use a Standing Desk

We have known for a long time that sitting down all day long is one of the worst things you can do for your health. The dangers of a sedentary lifestyle include the likes of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

When you begin to work from home, it is the ideal opportunity to change this. The simplest way of doing this is with a standing desk. This piece of equipment allows you to work on your feet, which is a great form of exercise and a way of burning calories as you work.

As with the other points we have looked at, this is a way of being more productive as well as healthier. Research has shown that using these desks can results in a big boost to productivity, as workers tend to feel less tired and more engaged.     

Take Plenty of Breaks

Finally, working from home gives you a greater degree of flexibility. This can be hugely beneficial to both your health and your productivity, if you know how to use it wisely.

Taking regular breaks is one of the key activities to build into your day. This can mean reading a book, exercising or just going out to the garden for some fresh air. A short break from the screen will help your eyes and will also allow you to focus your thoughts.

By following these simple pieces of advice, you will find that the switch to working from home turns into a huge boost to your life and your career.