Category: Blog

The Rise of Freelancing Embracing the Digital Frontier for Techy Professionals

Introduction:

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the traditional concept of a 9-to-5 office job is being redefined. With the advent of technology, the freelancing industry has experienced an unprecedented surge, offering tech-savvy professionals a unique opportunity to work independently, on their own terms. This paradigm shift has given rise to a new breed of professionals known as “techy pros,” who are leveraging their expertise in the digital realm to build successful freelance careers. In this article, we explore the benefits and challenges of freelancing for techy professionals, as well as provide valuable insights into thriving in this fast-paced and dynamic field.

Flexibility and Autonomy:

One of the most alluring aspects of freelancing for techy pros is the freedom it offers. As a freelancer, you have the flexibility to choose your own projects, clients, and working hours. Whether you prefer to work from the comfort of your home office, a cozy café, or even while traveling the world, freelancing empowers you to create a work-life balance that suits your individual needs. This level of autonomy allows techy pros to fully explore their creative potential, pursue diverse projects, and constantly upgrade their skills.

Expanding Opportunities:

The digital revolution has opened up a world of opportunities for techy professionals. With businesses increasingly relying on technology to stay competitive, the demand for tech-related skills has skyrocketed. From web development and graphic design to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, there is a wide range of niches where techy pros can excel and find lucrative freelance gigs. Additionally, platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Toptal provide a global marketplace that connects freelancers with clients from all corners of the world, further expanding the potential for growth and collaboration.

Continuous Learning and Skill Development:

Freelancing in the tech industry is an immersive experience that requires techy pros to stay at the cutting edge of their field. To thrive as a freelancer, it is essential to continuously update your skills and adapt to emerging trends. Fortunately, the freelance ecosystem is conducive to learning, as it exposes professionals to a diverse range of projects and clients. Engaging with various industries and tackling new challenges allows techy pros to expand their knowledge base, acquire valuable insights, and stay ahead of the curve. This constant learning process not only enhances their marketability but also contributes to personal and professional growth.

Navigating Challenges:

While freelancing offers numerous advantages, it is not without its challenges. As a techy pro, you may face fierce competition, pricing pressures, and the occasional uncertainty of project availability. Building a strong personal brand, honing your marketing skills, and cultivating a robust professional network are crucial in overcoming these hurdles. Embracing a proactive mindset, constantly seeking new opportunities, and delivering exceptional results will help you stand out amidst the competition.

Conclusion:

For techy professionals seeking a more flexible and fulfilling career path, freelancing presents a world of possibilities. The dynamic nature of the digital landscape, coupled with the growing demand for tech-related expertise, makes freelancing an attractive option for those willing to embrace change and take charge of their professional journey. By leveraging their skills, adapting to market trends, and continuously investing in personal growth, techy pros can establish thriving freelance careers that offer both financial stability and creative fulfillment. So, why not explore the vast opportunities of freelancing and embark on a journey to shape your own destiny as a techy professional?

Cricket World Cup Final: England beat New Zealand in insane Super Over thriller

Cricket World Cup 2019 final, England vs New Zealand at Lords — England have won their maiden Cricket World Cup in dramatic style, beating New Zealand by boundary countback after both the super over and 50-over game were tied.
Chasing 15 to win in the extra over, Jimmy Neesham and Martin Guptill took 13 from Jofra Archer’s first five balls before Guptill was run out by Jos Buttler following a mythical being Roy throw as he came back for the second run on the last ball.
It meant European country won the sport once rating additional boundaries than the Black Caps, thanks in part to the heroics of super over batsmen Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.
However, even the tip of the regular match was shrouded in drama as Stokes hit eighty four not out and each groups finished on 241.
With fifteen needed off four balls, Stokes launched Trent Boult over the mid-wicket boundary for six.
From the following delivery he again hit Boult into the deep, and as New Zealand attempted to run him out on the second run the ball hit Stokes’ bat and deflected to the boundary.
Stokes instantly apologised, but the umpires were left with no choice but to award four overthrows and six runs in total.
Adil Rashid and Mark Wood were then both run out at the bowlers’ end on the final two balls of the innings, as Stokes kept the strike but fell one run short of victory.
It came once New Sjaelland seemed to be up to the mark of the sport with European country teetering at 4-86.
Lockie Ferguson took 3-50 and Jimmy Neesham 3-43, while Colin de Grandhomme went for just 1-25 from his 10 overs.
Nerves had seemed to be setting sure the hosts, with Joe Root getting out in uncharacteristic fashion for just seven off 30 balls.
But from there England recovered.
Buttler and Stokes put on 110 for the fifth wicket, with Buttler looking the far more comfortable of the pair.
Together they got the margin down to 46 off 32 balls, before Buttler sliced Ferguson to Tim Southee at deep extra cover on 59 off 60 balls. Chris Woakes followed two overs later when he tried to hit Ferguson over the legside but skied it to wicketkeeper Tom Latham.
Liam Plunkett and Archer each went within the penultimate over to Neesham, but all the while Stokes was going.
New Zealand had a chance to remove him with 22 needed off nine, when he hit Neesham to Trent Boult at the deep mid-on boundary.
Boult took the ball cleanly, but put his foot on the rope as he went to relay it back to Martin Guptill and Stokes survived.
However, it had been solely to be the beginning of the drama in one amongst the simplest one-day matches ever vie.
Earlier, Woakes and Plunkett had been the simplest for European country with the ball with 3 wickets every.
Henry Nicholls had vie a individualist with the bat for brand new Sjaelland together with his fifty five, because the Black Caps struggled to create momentum.
The win is England’s first major men’s World Cup win on home soil since the 1966 football World Cup.

Cricket World Cup: India vs New Zealand live

Cricket World Cup 2019, India vs New Zealand, first semi-final — The first-semi-final between India and New Zealand has been pushed into a second day after persistent showers on Tuesday.
New Zealand will resume its innings at 5-211 with 3.5 overs to go and India to play its full 50 overs if the rain stays away on Wednesday. Unlike the group stage, the ICC has locked in reserve days for both semi-finals and the tournament decider.
With plenty of runs expected on a flat pitch, New Zealand elected to bat after winning the toss and its innings was halted after 46.1 overs by the rain, with Ross Taylor (67*) and Tom Latham (3*) at the crease.
If the reserve day is also washed out, India will automatically progress to the final after finishing first in the group stage. A minimum of 20 overs per side is required to constitute a comlpeted match, and the forecast for Wednesday suggests that is more than likely to happen.
There is only a 10 per cent chance of any rain between 6am and 4pm (local), before a 40 per cent chance of light rain between 4pm and 5pm, and back under 10 per cent for the remainder of the day.
Taylor, Jimmy Neesham and Kane Williamson all enjoyed lives before the rain hit on Tuesday.
Eventually out for 67 to Yuzvendra Chahal, Williamson survived a tough run-out chance on 36 when Virat Kohli missed a direct-hit. Later MS Dhoni failed to get his fingers underneath a Taylor edge off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah when the batsman was on 22.
Neesham was arguably the most fortunate, with Rohit Sharma misjudging a chance at mid-wicket off the bowling of Hardik Pandya and only managing to get the finger tips of one hand to it. Pandya eventually got his man for 12 in the 41st over, before Bhuvneshwar Kumar had Colin de Grandhomme caught behind for 16.
The dropped catch was salt in the wounds for Pandya, who is battling injury to get through his full 10 overs. Having gambled on picking just five genuine bowling options in the XI, India’s semi-final plans were rattled when Pandya limped off the field after bowling the 17th over with what appeared to be a hip flexor issue. The seamer returned before the 21st over and was back in the attack in by 27th but has looked uncomfortable since.
After surviving an lbw review on the very first ball of the game from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Martin Guptill was caught for one at second slip off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth over. Ravindra Jadeja then bowled Henry Nicholls (28) in the 19th over to end a 68-run stand.
The highest run-scorer at the 2015 World Cup, Guptill has struggled this tournament, making 167 runs at 20.87.
“For Matin Guptill it has been a tournament to forget,” Ian Smith said in commentary.
“It’s a sad sight really because he knows he’s not delivered,” Smith added when cameras shot a dejected Guptill sitting in the team dressing room. “It’s a reflective sight that pretty much sums it up. You can put your arm around him and say don’t worry, it will come, but he’ll never take that.”
TEAMS
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin First State Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, river Boult

Cricket World Cup 2019, SemiFinal, Australia vs England

Cricket World Cup 2019 final, Australia vs England at Edgbaston, Birmingham – Australia is desperate to set up its second final against New Zealand in as many cricket World Cups, but it must first overcome their oldest enemy on their turf, free-scoring favourites England.
Australia was bowled out for just 223 having won the toss and electing to bat fist.
Smith was promoted to bat at No.3 after Usman Khawaja was ruled out due to injury.

First-drop is where Smith has historically been at his strongest, and Chris Lynn predicted before the match that he will relish in the role again. And he did, topscoring with 85 after Australia lost 3-14 inside seven overs.

“I think he’s just going to come into his own. He loves that accountability to be the match-winner,” Lynn said on Fox Cricket. “He’s been down at four where he’s been a little bit restricted.”

Kerry O’Keeffe expressed some doubts, saying his 12 months away from the game “has hurt him”.

“I don’t think he’s at his best,” he said. “I think his backlift is as big as it’s ever been, I think his reaction time is slower.

“I just think if they (England) get an early pole I just don’t think he’s quite what he was and they will bounce him.”
England did get that early wicket as Australia suffered the worst possible start when opener Aaron Finch was trapped in front by Jofra Archer in the second over for a golden duck. He reviewed the decision, hoping he made contact with his bat first, but ball-tracking showed the ball was going on to hit the top of middle stump.

David Warner (9) was also sent packing in the following over, edging a brilliant seaming delivery from Chris Woakes to first slip.

Peter Handscomb came perilously close to falling for a golden duck to Chris Woakes, surviving England’s lbw review by the tightest of margins.

“Handscomb very lucky to get away with that,” Michael Clarke said of the Australian surviving the lbw review, before touching on Smith’s scratchy start. “Smith just struggling to find any sort of timing.”

Woakes got his man shortly after, bowling him for one.

Alex Carey and Smith breathed life into the innings with a 103-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The former was struck early in his innings by a bouncer by Archer that left him with a deep gash on his jaw that continued to bleed through his innings. He has since been cleared to wicketkeep in the second innings.

Just when the Australians had a reason to be positive again, spinner Adil Rashid snared two wickets inside one over to put them on the ropes again.

Carey (46) was the first to fall in the 28th over, caught on the ropes by sub-fielder James Vince before Marcus Stoinis’ (0) tournament went from bad to worse, trapped in front by Rashid’s wrong-un.

The same could be said for Glenn Maxwell (22) who failed to impress once again, chipping to cover off a well-disguised Archer knuckle ball. Pat Cummins (6) joined him in the sheds three overs later, caught at first slip off Rashid.

Smith was one half of another rebuild, this time with Mitchell Starc who contributed to a 51-run stand. Smith’s dream of a century was cut 15 runs short though when Jos Buttler whipped off his glove and threw down the batsman’s stumps at the non-striker’s end. The ball travelled in between Smith’s legs on the way to the stumps, which were rattled with right-hander mere centimetres short of his crease.

Starc (29) was gone the very next ball, caught behind of Woakes. Jason Behrendorff (1) was the last man to go, clean bowled by Mark Wood.

How Small Businesses can benefit from Digital Marketing Campaigns?

Every business starts with smaller capacity at the start, it is the people and the perfect policies which make the business grow and help spread at huge scale. There is no doubt that we’re currently living in the modern era of technology, where with the change of technology on daily basis and innovations, it is no difficulty for anyone promote their activity in the global market or to engage with the mass audience. All you need is to remain up to date with the market/audience requirement and plan your strategy in a manner that will get a maximum response with minimum time and cost.

With the change in business methods and techniques and with the rise of e-commerce as well as digital business, one can easily set-up its own small business from their room and expand it through the means of digital marketing. Digital marketing campaigns benefit businesses of all sizes by giving growth and access to the mass market. And as far as small businesses are concerned, it is a better approach than T.V or print advertising as it interacts with truly personalized marketing and that too with an affordable price.
The main advantage of the digital media campaign is that you can easily promote your product by targeting the specific audience that can be reached in a cost-effective and measurable way. For example, if your product is specifically designed for adults or kids, you can easily restrict your marketing to adult or kids only using through the digital media campaign. As of today, all the companies regardless of its growth, and size are in the race of digital marketing campaigns. It can be estimated by that even the marketing of the world largest soft drink selling company Coca-Cola is incomplete without digital media campaign. So here’s how digital marketing can help you grow your business.

Promote through social media

No one can deny the fact that social media has a huge part in our lives, either for communication or interacting with social circle. So with the huge rise in social media users, there is be no better place than social media to market your products, because one of the main goals of your marketing is to target maximum audience and for that, you need huge numbers of people which can be easily available on social media.

Moreover, sponsoring your post through major social sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will also be trustworthy. You can schedule your brand promotion to any specific country, any age group or any region of the world and the social sites will let your post-show to the audience. There are many companies who are running their marketing campaign on support from the sponsored content.
As there are several ways to promote your content through social media, one of the best way among it is to hire a content creator to sponsor your business campaign or giveaway any social media celebrity to monetize it. For an instance, if any content creator gets more than 10 million views in a week on his/her content, then he or she must be suitable for your campaign because this will let your business interacts directly with the audience in the form of personalized marketing.

Online Advertisement

Small businesses have very little resources and capitalization. Gone are the days when the online advertisement was only affordable to mega business and companies or an International Organizations. The digital marketing revolution levels the online playing field by providing small businesses the chance to compete against big boys to attract their share of the targeted audience.
With digital marketing campaigns, small businesses now have the opportunity and a platform to perform sales and marketing products that were previously available only to large organizations. Now without a call center, and an office space you can interact effectively with multiple customers, even customers from out of your town or any other part of the world.

Hire a social media consultant

You can’t become an engineer without enrolling in the high school or university. The same implies for your business, you must need a social media specialist which will consult you about your marketing strategies. After hiring a qualified consultant to be able to assist you in growth of your business and engaging audience through digital media campaign, you should then focus on measuring the milestones regularly which definitely indicates that you need to have goals before you start implementing the digital marketing techniques.

Fact about Digital Marketing Campaign:

You can’t become an engineer without enrolling in the high school or university. The same implies for your business, you must need a social media specialist which will consult you about your marketing strategies. After hiring a qualified consultant to be able to assist you in the growth of your business and engaging audience through the digital media campaign, you should then focus on measuring the milestones regularly which definitely indicates that you need to have goals before you start implementing the digital marketing techniques.

Why your marketing strategy needs the right logo and what makes it right?

Is there any business in the world which do not require marketing? Well, marketing is very essential for any kind of business because a business without marketing is like Human being without a brain. From Facebook to Google, Samsung to Nike, no matter how much goodwill of their product they’ve been established in the market, the fact of the matter is they still require marketing to make the most out of their products. But marketing does not consist of a single word, it usually falls into several subcategories, some makes it through advertisements, promotions or others etc. Yet there is another thing which is supposed to be the backbone of any business or marketing strategy and we can’t take it for granted. And that’s your right business logo.
Your logo is arguably the most important tool in all your advertising toolbox. Because it reflects your brand’s goodwill and gives your company an identity that represents your mission and your policy like what certain thing you want to achieve through it or want to happen? If it’s well executed, then it will get you to accomplish your goals. But on the contrary side, your poor logo design can and will repel customer and fail to convey your brand message to your potential customers. Let’s suppose, consider the logo of Coca-Cola (largest soft-drink manufacturer) and try to replace it with a single letter “C”, would it be more effective? Would it be able to convey the message? The answer is a big No because it fails to tell the customer at the first sight that what they’re offering. So let it be remembered, it’s not some random mark.
Before we proceed further, let’s clarify: your logo isn’t your brand, in fact, it represents your brand much like your clothes represents your personality. And definitely, no sane person can choose fair dress up and stretched clothes for themselves. But your clothing definitely instantiates upon the requirement, you choose to put formal clothing to represent who you are. Obviously, they aren’t you, but they give others idea that you’re going participate in some corporate meeting or any other event etc. likewise, the same implies for your logo. Through font, color and mark design, it conveys your company’s personality.
Developing your logo, should take some time and thought, after all, you just need the right logo as it is the strategic endeavor that will be the anchor to all of your future advertising. Here the question arises what makes our logo right? To make your logo right, you should keep a good eye on these following rules.

Right fit

Remember your logo is the most overlook part of your brand and something which describes your brand at first glance. So your logo must differentiate a brand within a category in that each tends to have its unique design, distinctive color, and type of treatment. So if you have a business, you have competitors. And if you have competitors, you need one right logo whose fundamental task will be getting consumers to think of your company first.
Generally speaking, the logo isn’t a random mark but the most important, and such a vibrant part of any brand. So as smaller the business would be, harder and stronger will be your logo. Harder and stronger means choosing the right fonts and color combinations for your logo design. For example, if your brand targeting audience is senior persons, then you should use serif fonts because seniors might prefer a more traditional way of it. So as young people who, tend to get attracted towards modern sans serif fonts.
The same goes for the colors you choose for your design. From a marketing design perspective, blue color evokes trust. With too much yellow you might make people anxious. In fact, there’s a whole science behind the emotions of color, and you can use this information to design a logo that makes the consumer feel really good about your product or company ever before they’ve interacted with you.

Emotional Attachment

Your logo is one of the reasons behind the emotional attachment of your brand/product with your consumer. Considering the recent statistics from marketing and entrepreneurship: 93 % of purchasing judgments are made on visual perceptions, whereas, 7 % of consumer say color is the reason they buy a product. These facts are comprising of an evidence why you need a logo that is professionally designed to elicit a favorable reaction from consumers. And if you get succeed to engage your consumer through your logo, then they will be more likely to remember your business. And if they remember your business, then there are high chances they will buy from you. The fact of the matter is, your logo is your first impression – so makes it right in the first chance because you don’t get a chance to make another one.

Future of outbound marketing in 2018

Outbound marketing is the opposite of inbound marketing and considered as one of the oldest ways to market your product. In case if you don’t know what does outbound marketing stands for? Then for your concern, the word outbound marketing stands for the way of marketing that perform externally or outbound. Outbound marketing refers to any kind of marketing that conveys its message out to an audience. Outbound marketing consists of more traditional forms of marketing and advertising such as TV commercials, radio ads, print media ads, tradeshows, and bill boards etc. however it is yet the less profitable way of marketing as compared to inbound marketing and ironically organizations spend as much 90% of their marketing budgets on outbound marketing.

As we are living in the year 2018, it is a fact that for the past years, the inbound marketing has dominated in the market a lot. The organizations have shown a keen interest in investing in their marking budget through inbound marketing. A huge rise has witnessed in the recent years for search engine marketing that considered as inbound marketing. It goes without saying that outbound marketing has been on a downfall, however it is not all finished yet. Still, companies are hugely investing in print, sign boards, and TV commercials, and how much this is effective in terms of improving their sales is a different debate. But looking at the current downfall of outbound marketing, one can easily put a question mark on its future. Does outbound marketing exist in future? Will it remain the source of sending the marketing message to the audience or improving the sales of an organization? These are the questions that can be raised in anyone’s mind looking to market its products.

The current big thing in the tech industry is Artificial Intelligence, the one whole industry is talking about and about which the tech giants are taking step towards it. The Artificial Intelligence is bound to shake things up in the online marketing sphere as well. As I mentioned before, in the past decade the outbound marketing lagged behind as back then, there are now slim chances that outbound marketing will bounce back in 2018 or later in a big quantity. With artificial intelligence, businesses can have a more powerful outbound campaign than ever before. Here’s how:

Accurate Data Prediction

The worst thing about outbound marketing efforts was that it was based entirely on assumptions so that no data and figures can be calculated to evaluate the results. So due to artificial intelligence, we can predict more accurately as when a certain person has a higher chance of becoming an audience and then converting than otherwise. Moreover, it can tell us multiple things that we didn’t know previously, like a person’s level where he or she could be in a better position to buy a certain package for its organization.

The Data importance

Outbound marketing succeeds when it reaches the appropriate audience and targets the right customer, and that starts with great data, whom you are trying to convince, what message do you want to send, and when you are saying it. With high-quality lead data, one can easily predict that in future, the companies will benefit from the outbound quality even more through the better quality of data.

A better knowledge of business

Big data analysis makes you understand your target market better as compared to the previous manner in which we imagined possible outcomes, which can definitely lead us towards making outbound marketing a more effective strategy than inbound efforts.

Summary

As we entered in the year 2018, we look forward to outbound marketing getting better day by day and becoming an even more powerful tool for sales and marketing teams to acquire new customers, upholding the new technologies to make it possible. Therefore, it is safe to say that outbound marketing is going anywhere at least as its looking, so our marketing strategies will definitely be relying on it. So, outbound market is definitely the thing which we will look forward in the future.

Mobile wallet and their impact in 2018

Money is the great thing around which the whole world revolves. And quite probably it is the only thing, the whole world is an acquisition for, from a small employer to the C.E.O of a huge company, all they exist because their respective designations are the source of money. So to cope with the challenges related to the money such as to handle a large amount of cash, to save it at a secured place, or to send it from one place to another, the system of banks were introduced. The concept of modern banking was formally introduced in the 17th century, since then the banking systems have formally become the source of keeping the money, history of transactions, deposit etc.

Today, when we are living in 2018, the technology has a great impact on our lives. Things in our surrounding are constantly changing and so as our requirements. As we become destitute of smartphones, our lives are totally relying on it. Now everything is just one touch away from your smartphone. Following the needs of instant payments, shopping from worldwide, payment confirmations, sending payments, all in one solution of mobile payments were introduced.
The successful assessment of mobile payments can be estimated from that the world-renowned coffee chain Starbucks 24% transaction are of mobile payments. Furthermore, there are mobile wallets revealed by the top tech companies in the world such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay. All of these apps tend to provide alternative digital payment solutions and convert into a cashless society. So let’s discover the impacts of mobile wallets in 2018 and so on…

Mobile wallets on the rise

Mobile wallets are a versatile and secure way to act as a consolidated platform to deal with your financial services at your fingertips anytime without having the need to go to a physical bank. Although, these payments are often subject to banking regulations, yet banks have an aversion toward too many mobile wallets startups for the fear of becoming physical banking obsolete.
Traditional bankers would be happy if the customers stick to plastic money, but from a customer’s perspective, why carry an ATM or credit card when direct transfer can be done from a mobile? Customers obviously don’t like a lofty wallet with plastic money (credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards) to make a payment. So how about making mobile payments wherever they go? This is where mobile wallets make their great entrance. Unlike leather wallets, mobile wallets promise the flexibility and the power as a consolidated platform for making payments.

Pay with your phone

We’re just about to enter in the days, where we no longer need to dig into our pocket to withdraw currency notes, coins, bills, or even our credit or ATM card. Now our smartphone will be enough to deal with all these kind of problems. You can now pay through at any restaurant through your smartphone or any other place without taking tension of your transaction details, history and balance. And obviously, you can also use many services regarding the web stores and even some apps have in-app payment options which make easy to send payment from one to another.

As mentioned before, the mobile wallets by the tech companies, there are some services that do not even require to install a separate application: with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, in-store payments are built into the wallet and person to person payments happen inside the application. Like Facebook payments don’t require another application, you do everything inside the messenger application.

Potential for mobile wallets?

There is no doubt about the fact that the potential for mobile payments is huge and it normally lies under the hands of the millennials. In fact, according to a survey, it is reported that 8 out of 10 millennia’s shop and pay their bills online via mobile phone. As we see this trend continue, we can hope for more advancements in both, offline and online mobile app payments opting digital payment technology.

The Future?

The future of mobile wallets seems to be very promising. The financial ease and with the revolution in the banking world, the mobile wallets are definitely going to rule the financial markets. It seems from the mobile wallets startups that are coming a day after another, that the idea of mobile wallets somehow becomes successful. In an increasing tech-savvy era, we can expect to see a majority of payments moving towards cashless transactions.

Mobile Payment Apps: Why Are They So Successful

As a mobile app developer, a lot comes into mind while designing your application. Some of the features and functionalities one incorporates in their app greatly influences how successful one’s app usage and uptake will be. Experience is the best teacher, so it has been said, and so today we are going to take a look at one of the fastest growing niche in the mobile app industry, mobile payment apps and see what tricks one can learn from this sub market to add value to their mobile business idea.

With the rise of digital age, and high end encryption mechanisms, banking, payment and insurance services have not been left behind. Leveraging on technology to ensure easy and fast, safe and secure, personalized and borderless money transfer at the tip of your fingertips. Though a relatively new sub market, it has definitely received positive reactions from the clients. What makes it more interesting as will be seen in the graphs below, mobile payment apps usage is very high across all age groups, and as a mobile app developer, target age group is key factor in determining the success of usage and uptake of your mobile business idea.

In 2016, 40% of the US mobile phone users engaged in mobile payments through different apps. By 2020, it is estimated that 90% will be active users of mobile payment apps, hence continuous growth is what we can expect from this sector. Some of the market leaders in mobile payment apps include:- PayPal, Level up, Apple pay, Google wallet, Venmo, Shell + Jaguar in-car app, PayPal slack bot.

What makes Mobile payment apps so successful?
We are going to take a close look at some of these mobile payment apps and see what features most have in common, and their unique factors that have made them so appealing to clients. Hopefully from the few insights we will get, they will greatly improve your next mobile app development project.

1) The convenience factor
Mobile payment apps all have one thing in common, they bring a certain degree of convenience in the services they offer, money transfer and payments. A very huge part of the population own smartphones hence by using mobile payment apps, the service providers have brought the services closer to the people. Making it more secure for the clients to carry out transactions, instead of the alternative of carrying cash or debit and credit cards which for a long time have had issues with encryption flaws. These payment apps save time as most of the transactions are instant, and reflect on the recipients accounts almost immediately, regardless of how far they. All these at the tip of fingertips of the user. This type of convenience is one of the major factors that has made mobile payment apps so popular.

What convenience do you hope to bring to your prospected clients way of doing things that they currently are not able to access? This should be one of the main questions you ask yourself as a mobile app developer. One is allowed to think outside the box. An example is Shell+ Jaguar in-car payment app, which allows Jaguar automobile users to pay for fuel in filling stations at the tap of a button. The team is also looking into integrating parking fees payment as also part of the package, enhancing convenience to the end user.

Depending on your target market, the answer to this question may be what sets you apart from the rest of your competitors and makes your product and services a darling to the consumers.

2) Seamless User-interface design
It is one thing to have an app with high popularity among the masses, and another thing to have an app with high usage, and if you want both, to be able to attract and have a high retention rate, a seamless user-interface design is mandatory.

If you take a look at the mobile payment apps, their user interface is designed in such a way that it is very attractive, easy to follow through and very simple. Ease of carrying out transactions ensure high usability of app such as PayPal and Google pay. Depending on the target market and intended use of your app, one should try as much as possible to ensure that the user interface is attractive and simple, but even in the simplicity, the purpose/ service offered by the app should not be compromised.

3) Rewarding systems
Building a lasting relationship with your target clients is very key, as this is what will determine how successful your enterprise will be. One of the methods of building customer loyalty to one’s brand is rewarding them with loyalty points every time they transact using your service/product. The more they accumulate the points, the stronger the customers loyalty gets, and higher the chances for the customer to stick around.

One of the most successful stories so far in terms of rewarding loyalty points through mobile payment apps will have to be Starbucks. Starbucks, the Seattle- based coffee giant, through its app, has been able to integrate mobile payment as well as a rewarding system in the same platform. What makes their system unique, is that the user does not enroll, but rather the system automatically signs up the user to the rewarding system once they create an account. Automatic enrollment is very under-utilized, as most apps require the user to prompt the enrollment procedure, while some of the customers may not be really aware of how to go about this, hence both the customer and you, as the service provider loose out.

Therefore, as you look to roll out a new mobile app project, evaluate the viability of having an automated customer loyalty rewarding system and ensure that the clients are fully aware of the advantages that will come with this feature.

4) Cross-platform integration
Most mobile payment apps are also accessible via desktop apps, hence enhancing cross platform integration. PayPal for example has a very appealing and stable desktop app while its mobile app is also very convenient and easy to use. The seamless integration across multiple platforms ensures user friendliness and some sort of variety for the clients and this should be the target of each and every app developer where applicable. Ensure that you offer as much inclusivity as possible, as some users may prefer to use their desktop computers more that the mobile app. Ensure that the services offered across the multiple platforms co-relate and that regardless of which platform is used, the user needs are met.

Also with the dawn of Artificial Intelligence, you can decide and go a step further, and use the power of AI, and build bots integrated into your app to enhance usability and simplicity. An example of a successful mobile payment app that employs a bot in its use is PayPal SlackBot, which one can easily send a command with the name of the recipient and the amount to be transferred and the bot processes the transaction and generates a report for you. With AI and BI(Business Intelligence), mobile app developers can enhance the user experience of their clients and offer tailor-made services based on their needs, wants, likes and offer personalized experience to the user. This will set your app apart from the rest of the competition.

11 Steps to Consider Before Starting a Software Project

Not with standing the fact that every person plans for important tasks in a different way, the same is not true with a huge and complicated software project. A software project which is a set of elements responding to various inputs to produce a pre-defined outcome is a combination of a plethora of human and automated factors.

And to manage and plan for a software project, certain tried-and-tested methodologies can be employed by software project managers to ensure that the final deliverable meets the ultimate goal of stakeholders and clients. These methodologies help you break down the mammoth project into smaller tasks, while sticking to timelines and quality specifications.

Hence, it is important for every project manager to consider the following eleven steps to ultimately churn out an error-free and completely satisfying software project to your esteemed customer.

1. Focus on the Complexities of Your Project At Hand
You will agree with the fact that organizing a project is the most important responsibility of a project manager. Requiring him to possess an eye-for-detail about each and every task that should be completed on time, he should be able to churn out huge projects with a number of complexities through the use of human and technical supports.

Nothing should come to him as a surprise when he primarily focuses all his efforts into enlisting the numerous complexities the entire project can pose at various stages of development. Team management skills coupled with knowledge about software can help him address the concerns of managing a project so as to deliver it on time within the scope of financial and technical requirements.

2. Set Aside Preparation and Planning Time
After identifying the complexities of your software project, you as a project manager should set aside time to prepare and plan. Attempting to prepare for the project is an intelligent move to begin with, even before the project starts. The Project Manager who is at the helm of affairs should constantly interact with his stakeholders, informing them about the roles and responsibilities of every person involved in the project. Planning involves chalking out the budgetary requirements along with coming up with the specifications about human resources.

Along with planning and preparing for the software project, you as a project manager should specify clear internal guidelines about what is expected from every team with a provision to track the progress of the project. If need arises, the plan should be able to accommodate adjustments so that you can deliver the project to the utmost satisfaction of your stakeholders.

3. Measure the Scope of the Project
The next step is to gauge the scope of your project. Gaining insights from the efforts you have put in during the project prepping phase, you should be able to identify the main aim of the project. What would you be achieving and delivering to your client once the project is completed? This is an important question that will set the stage for introspecting, enabling you to chalk out a clear cut project plan.

Here that you should bring flexibility to your project. There can arise many instances when a certain client demands more than what he initially asked for during the requirement gathering stage. If you have a flexible plan in hand, you will not be pushed to the wall with new functionalities demanded by your client just before the final release of your project.

4. Make a List of Deliverables
The next step after measuring the scope of your project is to enlist all the deliverables. Making a list of deliverables is a clever move that will ensure all your team members stay in sync. They will not only be in tandem with each other but also in terms of the bigger picture; the successful rollout of your software project through the combined efforts of each and every team member.

5. Identify Elements that Promise You A Successful Project
A successful project is measured in terms of multiple factors. Termed as Key Performance Indicators, it is on the basis of these factors that you can be adjudged an excellent or a good project manager.

While for some, success spells in the form of cost reduction, there are others who rate your caliber on the grounds of the time taken to deliver a huge project. The ultimate quality of the project is another factor that demonstrates your mettle when you will be able to release a flawless application to your clientele. Hence it is important that you identify any such factor that can become your success mantra.

6. Steer Clear by Identifying Significant Risk Factors
As a project manager managing a huge project, it is important for you to anticipate all the significant risk factors. Preempting and enlisting all the factors that can go wrong during the course of project execution, you with an eye on the future can play safe. Limiting all the pain points, you will be able to address these issues through a sense of preparedness. This way, you can resolve any issue with a level head coming from the confidence of being in total control of your project.

7. Work Around SMART Objectives
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound. Setting business objectives in line with SMART specifications will be helpful for you to reach plenty of successful milestones during the course of delivering your project.

A milestone can be the successful completion of a crucial section of your project. Enlisting all such milestones beforehand can help you manage different teams better.
Every person who is informed about his role in the project will be able to look at the milestones and tune them with the SMART objectives. Motivating the team members to complete their ordained tasks, it is through these SMART objectives that you as a project manager can ensure a seamless progression of your project.

8. Pick and Choose Your Team Mates
It is your responsibility as a project manager to choose a team that works in unison with the overall objective of your project. It is hence your prerogative to identify and name all your team mates who will eventually become a part of your project management team. Next in line is to clearly specify their roles and responsibilities in detail so as to avoid a communication gap between what was supposed to be done and what is pending on account of a team member not being informed of his exact role in the project.

9. Span of Control To Be Clearly Spelled Out
It is important that you have a well-defined reporting structure in place, where you will clearly define the scope of work of every team member. Who reports to whom should be clearly specified so as to have a tight control over the final deliverable. Team this with reporting policies that can be implemented on a monthly, weekly or daily basis. This way, you will be able to exercise better control over the project through the timely appraisal of every team member’s performance.

10. Resource Allocation
As described earlier, a software project is the end result of employing human, software and hardware resources. It is through a combination of all these resources that you will be able to bring in a balance between availability and requirement.

Enlisting all the resources that can be put to use, your diligence as a project manager will come to the fore when you proactively employ a resource that is currently available to offset the delay caused by another resource which is absent at the moment. This way, you will be able to keep a check on the most important job that needs to be completed, using the resource that is available, to its maximum.

11. A Final Plan to Set the Stage
After taking into consideration all the above mentioned steps, the final step is to act in accordance to a baseline. This can be your guiding light till such time your project is completed, allowing you to focus on blind spots that arise with the “what if” analysis.

A last minute shock can be just around the corner when a certain team member fails to deliver. It is then that you with the help of “what if” detailing can bring in a new employee to replace the earlier one without hampering the progress of the project. Tagged as a damage-control mechanism, a baseline is helpful to churn out a project on time.