Incomia

Corporate gifting should be fun! It also serves a valuable purpose to your business—from contributing to your client retention strategy to augmenting your employee awareness program. During holidays, anniversaries and major events, company gifts have become an essential feature of business. At the same time, corporate gifting can be complex. For instance, giving wine or spirits were once the norm. Yet, such gifts send a mixed message to your health and well-being programs. And many you know may see the value in cutting back on alcohol . Plus, you want your gift to be unique, reflect your values and offend no one while also delighting everyone. The situation gets complex fast, and you have work to do! Don’t worry. We’ve curated some great gift ideas to get you started. But first, let’s run down just a few essential considerations to keep you on track. Company gift dos and don’ts Do Run your gift ideas by human resources Consider gifts that reflect your environmental values of s...

This world is a hectic one. Technology only exacerbates the feeling that no matter how quickly we move, how much we accomplish, it’s never enough. To combat this, Ryan Holiday turned to the ancient Stoics. In his 2019 book, Stillness Is the Key , he analyzes how physical, spiritual and mental stillness can save us from the chaos.  What is stillness? It’s the art of finding inner peace . “If a person could develop peace within themselves—if they could achieve apatheia, as [the Stoics] called it—then the whole world could be at war, and they could still think well, work well and be well,” Holiday writes. Sound equally beautiful and wildly difficult? It is. Holiday isn’t one to sugarcoat. But like any of the great ways to change our lives , easy isn’t part of the recipe. With practice, patience and dedication, you can reap the benefits. Here are 22 ways to practice stillness within your mind, spirit and body: Stillness of the mind Stillness starts within the space between our ...

From focusing on conversational content to knowing your audience, here are the 13 answers to the question, “What are the best strategies for optimizing content for voice search? “ Focus on Conversational Content and Use Natural Phrases  The best strategy for optimizing content for voice search is to focus on conversational and question keywords. It’s not that you shouldn’t use short-tail keywords, but they make your content far less relevant in the case of voice searches. Your content should contain natural phrases. This is because people tend to ask entire questions when using voice search devices rather than putting in short-tail keywords. Thus, you should add conversational keywords to your content for voice search optimization. Jay Bats , Co-Founder, ContentBASE   Think locally  We are moving toward a world where people and gadgets are both mobile. As a result, it’s crucial to keep in mind that mobile and local are intertwined, particularly in voice search. ...

“Racial pay gaps are an issue in every industry,” NBC News reported last year. “Nowhere is it worse than in influencer marketing.” That NBC story cited a study from the public relations firm MSL U.S. and The Influencer League, which found a 29% pay gap between white influencers and influencers of color. The gap between white and Black influencers, specifically? A whopping 35%. That disparity comes as no surprise to Pamela Zapata, who saw firsthand the inequities in the industry during her decade-plus in marketing, production and influencer strategy—and set out to fix it. In 2019, she launched Society 18 , an influencer management and digital marketing firm that focuses on multicultural and multiethnic content creators. Zapata wants to show influencers of color that their skills and talent have value, and these days, she has a roster of creators who trust her team to build their brands and showcase their uniqueness . We sat down with Zapata to talk about setting out on your own, su...

The first time I went whitewater rafting, my river guide was a scraggly hippie whose response to every topic, from butterfly sightings to tornado warnings, was, “No worries.” This was the spring of 2005. I was 25 and four years into a professional career; he was about the same age and taking his sixth consecutive semester off to find himself. Before our group plopped into individual inflatable kayaks, our dashing and potentially doped-out guide gave us a set of instructions from on high, like a doctor passing out free heart attacks: “The No. 1 cause of death out here is people getting their foot stuck in rocks and drowning when the river pulls them under,” he said. “The only thing you can hope for then is that your leg snaps and you break free. So if you take a spill, don’t try to stand up. All right? No worries.” A few hours into the trip, we encountered a set of falls named Fat Lady Squeeze and my boat capsized. My shin rapped against the rocks below the surface. I flipped over on m...

More than 50 million people across the world consider themselves content creators . Kiersten and Julien (@richandregular) themselves left the real estate industry to invest more in being creators through podcasting, blogging, making videos and more. This week, they share what the creator economy is and how people are monetizing their online content on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Patreon. They discuss establishing yourself as an expert online, making relevant content, the earning potential of content creation and developing brand partnerships . There is a variety of debate and misunderstanding surrounding the creator economy, ranging from the assumption that the term refers specifically to influencers to what separates a creator from a standard user. Despite this lack of a solid definition, however, creators are shaping up to be one of the fastest-growing small businesses, as according to a 2022 Adobe survey , 165 million creators have joined this space since 20...

“There is a reason humans are so fascinated with stories,” says Nancy Duarte, author of DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story and Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols . “People are interested in transformation, and in a well-told story; they see themselves in that story.” According to Duarte, the classic three-part story structure is: Set up the hero—a likable, but flawed, individual—and the challenge they must face. The hero faces difficulty, which they work to overcome. The hero emerges, transformed. “When we see people overcoming roadblocks , it gives us hope, and that creates an emotional connection,” Duarte says. Applied to business, this means we want to support entrepreneurs whom we identify as those heroes, or products that help its customers be that hero. If two products are equal in value with the same benefits and outcome, we will choose the product that we connect to emotionally every time. “But to get ther...

It’s not uncommon for money or economic talk to come up at the Thanksgiving dinner table, which can result in heated disagreements with loved ones. Money is complicated and people can be irrational about it. Family can become defensive when talking about financial plans or even make you second-guess your own understanding and decision making . Meeting like-minded people is one of the best investments you can make toward your financial future. Community has been a secret weapon for Kiersten and Julien (@richandregular)—a place to ask questions and get real-life advice about everything from debt payoff to wealth building . This week they discuss ways to find community online and in person, and the benefits of growing your social and support circle.  Your family might mean well, but their advice often comes from a place of concern for your future well-being rather than one of support. Finding like-minded people allows you to get answers based solely on your question, rather than r...

It might seem counterintuitive, but it’s important to embrace procrastination as part of your writing process.  Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer, writer and speaker focused on inspiring businesses worldwide to elevate their marketing. This week, she chats with On Your Terms host Erin King about embracing the struggles of writing and marketing while staying true to your personal brand . Many of us wait to start writing until conditions are perfect, but thinking that way often prevents us from writing at all. As Handley argues, not only will conditions never be perfect, whatever you write will always have flaws you regret later—and that’s OK. To get our work into the world , we have to be willing to move on and accept that getting things done is better than getting them done to perfection . Handley continues on to discuss pathological empathy, why you should find a writing partner and the importance of finding the voice of your personal brand before the visuals.  ...

Brian and Jamie Ratner have a lot going on. The husband-wife duo are parents to two teenagers; the recent co-authors of ParentPreneurs: A Decade of Deals from a Messy Minivan ; and the founders of CertifiKID , a 12-year-old web-based business that offers families discounts at nationwide locations, ranging from summer camps to amusement parks to farm festivals. Backed by Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary, CertifiKID is the kid-friendly version of Groupon. We talked to the Ratners about working together, parenting and one of their smartest business decisions. Where did the idea for CertifiKid come from? Jamie: I was in charge of security management at a law firm, and I had a blog on the side related to food and fitness—just what my interests were. I stumbled upon the company Groupon when it was first starting and I loved the concept, but it was all spas and restaurants. I had just had two little, little kids and wasn’t going to spas and restaurants. But I loved the concept, so I pres...