‘It sounds a little extreme, but in this day and age, if your work isn’t online, it doesn’t exist,’ says Austin Kleon, the New York Times Bestselling author of Show Your Work! and while talking about the real estate industry, we can’t disagree. According to the statistics gathered by the National Association of Realtors, 52% of homebuyers search for available property online before buying property for themselves. With the right strategies provided to you by an internet marketing agency, you can easily make them your clients. How can a digital marketing agency help your real estate business? Being flexible with customers’ needs and remaining available to them are the new earmarks of the real estate industry. To take your business up a notch, the first step you must do is connect with a team of experts running a digital marketing agency. They are experienced in understanding the audience, elements that affect their decisions, and the response expected according to their behaviors online. Here’s how we think it will benefit you. It helps make your business hassle-free. Let’s be honest, do you think you can handle advertising, communicating with customers, running your social media pages, exploring new projects, and managing sales all by yourself? Alone, it gets overwhelming to look after everything, but working together with an efficient agency makes it doable. People prefer services that are automated, user-friendly, and time-saving. A digital marketing agency can help maintain all three by identifying target markets for your real estate business and providing them with an accessible platform for buying, leasing, and filing the required documents. It provides business transparency. By making you a mobile-friendly website equipped with chatbots and android/iOS applications, a digital marketing agency can ensure customer of transparency in this industry. Studies show that a whopping 67% of people use chatbots for customer support. Website design, compatibility, and functioning must be accessible for those who visit it. Accurate information about current projects is made available on these services on the go, which includes pricing, location, legal documentation, value-added features, and your contact information. You can add search filters like budget, accommodation, and features on your website to help your consumers find their dream homes. It opens doors for creativity. Gone are the days when there was no room for creativity in the real estate industry, and you only had to rely on data. With on-point digital resources, you can easily stand out among your competitors through minute creative changes. A few examples are creating virtual tours of your projects using original shoots covering the surrounding areas and adding compelling voiceovers to aim at potential buyers. Use digital platforms effectively to identify target markets by launching different creative campaigns. The options are countless; a team of experts will help you craft a practical layout that matches your business profile because individuality matters the most in this industry. Read: 10 Best Instagram Features To Market Your Startup It helps connect with clients. A digital marketing agency can build for you an engaging online presence through social media platforms. Being visible online improves organic traffic on your websites and mobile applications to a great extent. You can hire persuasive social media managers to look after your community and answer their queries related to the business. Using pay-per-click advertisements, you can also offer your loyal followers exclusive promo codes that will eventually make their minds up to consider you as their go-to real estate agent. You can build your brand credibility by adding online reviews of these devoted followers on your websites. Effective use of backlinks and the right Search Engine Optimization game plan can help you gain an online reputation effortlessly. The endnote: Hiring a digital marketing agency to look after your real estate’s digital needs has to be appropriately monitored. Before signing the contract, it’s essential to have a detailed discussion about the tools they have in store for you to use, the custom plan they’re providing you, and assess their expertise in the field. At the end of the day, your key focus is attracting quality leads and generating more significant sales. To learn more about our digital marketing services and packages, visit the Beacon Innovation services page.
How to become an interior designer in 7 easy steps?
Interested in knowing how to become an interior designer? In this article, we have listed down 7 easy steps which you can follow to opt for your dream profession. Skills Required to be an Interior Designer Interior designers combine practical skills and aesthetic vision to develop designs that affect the human experience. This is not just the understanding of theoretical concepts, this art also requires enthusiasm for design theory, fine arts, and floor plan functions. They work with clients to create functional and attractive commercial and home design solutions. If you think you have taste and attention to detail, ask yourself a few questions. When you enter a home or business, have you imagined anything that would improve the space? Do you have extensive renovations or other practical experience in your home? Do you like it? Let us look at the steps you need to take as an aspiring Interior Designer so you can quickly establish and grow your business Read: Social Media Marketing by Beacon Innovation: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need Education and professional licensure. Mastering interior design tools and techniques requires investing time and effort to gain education and professional qualifications. This could be the same as a Diploma Interior Design course or a more detailed bachelor’s degree in interior design. Designers can independently learn various trading tools like CAD through an online process. Some universities offer self-study interior design qualifications to help students get into the field. Great designers need to hold technical areas such as spatial planning and traffic flow, color theory and psychology, lighting, materials and furniture design. You also need to master creative thinking, problem-solving, project management and customer management skills to stay up to date on the development of materials, technologies, regulations and trends. Therefore, learning the tools of the trade is very important. By having the technical know-how and the right design approach, you and your customers can gain greater confidence and avoid serious mistakes or costly delays. Appropriately research schools offering interior design courses. Choose a program that is reputable and recognized, and gives you a good start in your interior design career. Solid Portfolio The portfolio should show the designer’s eyes on aesthetics and functionality and should show the designer’s process using sketches, mood boards and, if possible, images of the completed project. These aspects of interior design can be particularly difficult, so projects that consider color and light stand out. The more impressive your portfolio is, the more likely you are to acquire new customers. You can also brag about listing your previous jobs, but you are in your business. Online portfolios are always recommended over printed portfolios. However, this does not deny the usefulness of the printed interior design portfolio. We encourage visitors to browse the portfolio when they visit the website. This is the only way they can get their attention, switch to potential cooperation and develop relationships for future projects. The Internet is full of example templates that you can use as a starting point. Your portfolio could be as simple as a digital flipbook or pdf file where you can easily share links. You can also show your work and personality through the video and move on to the next step. You can also update your portfolio frequently to reflect new projects and trends that may be relevant to your area of expertise. Learn about virtual opportunities There are many well-known interior design courses that provide online learning options for students seeking non-traditional education. Many of these programs can be learned through free YouTube tutorials or by registering for short courses. Some free online tools for virtual room design are open to the public, and interior designers have an advantage in this game. Almost all professional interior designers use software to complete their project plans; but the ability to make preliminary sketches is also very useful. The ability to use these two methods makes you an asset to your customers. These digital tools only add extra charm, especially when the freehand drawing is not your strong suit. Dare To Be Different Your portfolio should be an impressive snapshot of who you are as a designer and what special you have for each project. If you have genuine Affinity, it will appear in your work and you will rank up quickly. Avoid the temptation to take on everything you can think of, and focus on projects you’re truly passionate about, to build a body of work which tells a strong story. Instead of copying other people be creative and unique and set your own trends. Do what makes you happy, Use non-traditional colors, Use one-of-a-kind items. Stay Up-to-Date With Trends Trends come and go, and you will need to stay ahead of curve. Being able to understand and forecast trends can help maintain relevance and demand. And if you can see the bad trends, your career will be able to stay relevant in the coming years. Follow color trends, read trade magazines, and join design, photography, art and illustration forums to quickly hear about new trends in the industry. You can reach out to other designers, share their views in the design community, get professional feedback, and have the opportunity to collaborate on ideas in general. Home décor during a pandemic With the pandemic, many people are becoming overly aware of their likes and dislikes about the space they live in. There are many online resources dedicated to ideas you can use to decorate your home. Homeowners allocate space during working hours and set this space to be more reminiscent of a traditional office where they can leave workdays. You can add beautiful backgrounds, beautiful artwork, and plants for all-day zoom calls. Social media is perfect for home décor where you’ll find what you’re looking for during pandemic. You can dive into Pinterest and enter the simplest ones to get pages and pages inspired by others. Finding your people and being able to rent what they like is only a matter of minutes. If you’re
Pakistan Hosted World Environment Day 2021
It was indeed a privilege for Pakistan – as has been stated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Through its clean and green initiatives, Pakistan has earned this honor. The Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen applauded the country’s leading efforts and said that Pakistan is walking the talk. Malik Amin Aslam, Special Adviser to PM for Climate Change, took pride in announcing the launch of UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 with Pakistan being the host of this year’s World Environment Day, setting up the direction for the next ten years. The World Environment Day 2021, was hosted by Pakistan in the Convention Center, Islamabad. Ms. Zartaj Gul, Climate Change Minister Pakistan, begun the session and briefly talked about following Pakistan’s Initiative to combat climate change. Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Electric Vehicle Initiative: aims to have 30% elective vehicles in Pakistan by 2030 Recharge Pakistan: to utilize rain and flood water to increase the water table Climate Smart Agriculture: to be introduced in the areas of Punjab and Sindh to enhance food security Ecosystem Restoration Initiative: aims to reverse the damages to ecosystem Tree 20 Youth Package: to link tree plantation with students’ evaluation in schools Climate induced migration was also highlighted and efforts are requested towards a policy for climate induced migrants facilitation. President World Economic Forum Børge Brende, talked about opportunities coming out of UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration i.e. Eco-preneurship Opportunities for youth. He also called for investments, education and capacity-building initiatives for nature protection and restoration Executive Director UNEP, Inger Andersen, joined the session and highlighted four points for Ecosystem Restoration and how Pakistan has taken the lead in all of the below-mentioned initiatives. Finance flowing: must increase three times by 2030 and four folds by 2050. For this purpose, Governments’ should allocate funds. Protection of those who manage land in law and in deed Cities should become green havens by making nature a fundamental part of urban settings and enhance green spaces. Restoration of the blue planet UN Secretary General, António Guterres, marked UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration a Global Call to Action where everyone can contribute to mutually make peace with the nature Malik Amin Aslam, Special Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, made major announcements regarding Pakistan’s commitments to combat the adverse effects of climate change. In relation to Bonn Challenge, Pakistan has registered restoration of one lac hectare of forest area Protected Areas Initiative: There will be 15 new national parks in Pakistan. For this purpose, National Park Services Academy will be established in Ziarat, Quetta for training of 5,000 youth. Recharge Pakistan: 15 wetlands on the left and right of Indus River will be recharged with flood and rain water. Two pilot projects are to be started soon. Green financing: includes Green Bonds of worth 500 million dollars that are launched by WAPDA last week and blue bonds which are in discussion with three countries. UK’s Prime Minister Borris Johnson and China’s President Mr. Xi Jinping shared messages for Pakistan’s World Environment Day Session. Prime Minister Imran Khan concluded the session with his inspiring remarks and stated that UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration is a course correction opportunity for the world. It is imperative to combat the negative impacts of consumerism. He also talked about global warming and the need to direct efforts towards melting glaciers. Globally, countries are affected by the unpredictable and adverse impacts of climate change such as a thousand glaciers has melted in Tajikistan, while Philippines is affected by cyclones and hurricanes. Besides, PM Imran Khan, applauded the forest guards who have assisted Pakistan in achieving plantation of one billion trees. He also appreciated the women in northern Pakistan who have planted nurseries. As a way forward, he has laid emphasis on the awareness of planting trees and the significance of the role of schools and teachers. Read More: Beacon Innovation Digital Agency
How to Digitalize Traditional Business Practices?
In this digital era, where everything is online from marketing to shopping, it is crucial to digitalize traditional business as well. During the pandemic, the questions that keep popping up in many business owners or project managers’ minds are: How to digitalize their businesses or projects? What marketing techniques they should adopt to draw more customers or to create more impact? Traditional Marketing merely refers to offline marketing strategies such as print ads, business cards, broadcasts (commercials on radio or TV), posters, brochures, and billboards. With many people preferring to read their news online, even newspapers are going digital and due to this global digitalization, many companies are revising their conventional methods of doing business with technology at their side. Amidst the second wave of COVID-19, majority businesses / companies are either partly operational or have opted out to work virtually again. Therefore, investing right money in right marketing strategies may help them in digitalizing traditional business successfully. How can Beacon Innovation help you to digitalize your business and its marketing? Beacon Innovation, provides a complete set of tools to digitalize your business efficiently. We specialize in helping organizations in areas where they lack digitally. We create and re-design your brand name by providing you with accurate e-commerce and digital marketing strategies. We have a team of experts that uses all the key elements from content development for your social media pages and website to designing and setting up advertisement campaigns so that you are always available to your customers whenever they are searching for a service. Website Development is a Crucial Part in Digital Transformation. Almost every customer will search up for your brand name online and having your own website that is user friendly, interactive and up-to-date is the key to grab maximum clients. We develop user friendly and attractive web sites for our clients that list all their products, services, reviews, contacts, addresses and FAQs in an eye-catching and effective manner. Who doesn’t like their website flashing at the top of Google Search? Beacon Innovation have expertise in Search Engine Optimization that improves your ranking in Google search results so that you have a better chance of maximum potential clients visiting you online and this will ultimately result in increased sales and leads. There is a saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Visuals have a greater impact on the human mind than that of words. A good design ought to be simple but creative and unique. We provide our customers with unique designing services in the following areas: Logos, Website Designs, Social Media Posts, Flyers or Business Cards which adds value and meaning to the content. Our team has hands-on experience in designing and are equipped with the latest designing tools to fit your designing needs. Furthermore, we have video and animation experts who create customized animated and white board visual videos tailored according to your business marketing goals. With the advent of digital marketing, the need to have Digital Transformation for your business/brand is increasing. We can help you take that step to digitally transform your business. Our aim is to provide you with the best services, worked out through the skills of our expert team. If you are looking for any of the services mentioned above, we will provide you a worthy platform, so that all your needs would be fulfilled. Read: Beacon Innovation: Digital Strategy
What is Fintech? Overview and Usage
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs dictates that after a person’s physiological needs are met, they prioritize personal, emotional, financial safety, and security before anything else less critical for survival. “Ignoring technological change in a financial system based upon technology is like a mouse starving to death because someone moved their cheese.”– Chris Skinner Fintech, which technology describes as developing and distributing financial products and services, is one of the most involved innovation areas in startups. A rich area of research is the relation between technology and innovation. Information technology is commonly recognised as an essential component of internal process optimization, as well as new product creation and new service creation. The question is what is Fintech? Fintech is defined as design and delivery of financial products and services through technology. Industry surveys suggest that novel fintech offerings may be particularly appealing to young, high-income, high-value customers. As time passed and new security measures were introduced, the finance industry began transforming itself into what is called fintech. Read: How to Digitalize Traditional Business Practices? Fintech Cybersecurity and Stability Undoubtedly, the digitization of financial services may be of interest to most customers because the technology was not considered to be 100 percent effective. The risks most people were preoccupied with were identity fraud and money laundering. In 2020, more fintech firms will be taught how to secure their business operations and survive a cyber attack. Fintech in Big Data Fintech companies used unstructured, structured data known as big data for customer segment detection, fraud detection and risk management. In Fintech, big data can be used to spot fraudsters more quickly than a human eye can. The collected big data is analyzed to classify consumers’ usual purchasing behaviors and behaviours. Fintech firms will also be able to use big data to identify consumers and give them more customized deals. Fintech in AI The AI-powered systems being introduced help to reduce banks’ and other financial institutions’ operating costs. Experts will be among the most common factors to expect to see the relationship between AI and fintech grow stronger by 2020. Fintech traditional stacks weren’t efficient in real-time scenarios. However, what else one can have a stack that can adapt to customer requirements in real time? AI & machine learning is proving very successful when processing data streams in real time. It can also improve customer interactions and reduce risk. Fintech in Banking Fintech equips the banking sector with tools that make it more efficient than ever before. Banking institutions use technologies such as chatbots to improve customer service, mobile applications to provide consumers with real-time insights into their bank accounts, and machine learning for fraud prevention. Fintech-Next Generation Privacy SecureKey is a leading provider of identity and authentication which simplifies the access of consumers to online services and applications. SecureKey’s next-generation privacy-enhancing services empower consumers to easily and privately claim identity information using trusted providers, such as banks, telecom companies, and governments, helping them connect with a digital credential they already have and trust to essential online services while ensuring that information is only ever shared with specific user’s permission. “People are tired of having so many passwords.” -Greg Wolfond
Online Education Challenges During COVID 19 in Pakistan
Article Summary: Present study examined the experiences of teachers regarding online education challenges during COVID 19 in Pakistan. Findings of study illustrated that the majority of faculty members had no previous experience of online teaching while few faculty members reported previous experience of online teaching. According to findings of current study, the majority of teachers reported satisfactory online teaching experiences during COVID-19 and agreed to the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. Moreover, findings illustrated that barriers experienced by teachers in online teaching included increased workload, less interaction with students, lack of policies, lack of instructors training, lack of quality of course, inability to control students cheating, and lack of internet connectivity. Thus, it is clear that there are some major barriers associated with online education which need to be addressed. Key Words: Online Education, Challenges, Teachers’ Perspective, Pakistan Background: Closure of educational institutions during COVID-19 is one of the leading steps in combating the pandemic. In Pakistan, introducing a digital learning system on a national level has been challenging for the Higher Education Commission (HEC). However, HEC (2020) sanctioned educational institutions to adopt a digital platform for continuing teaching and learning during a crisis. Because: Stop teaching and learning was not a wise decision. Thus, embracing the digital education system became a need of time. Online education was unconventional in Pakistan (Akram et al., 2020) however, studies conducted on digital learning reported the feasibility of online teaching and learning (Mukhtar et al., 2020; Sethi et al., 2019; Jawad & Ashraf, 2012). In developing countries, lack of resources is a main concern in the use of digital media for education. Besides, lack of resources it is considered that the foremost challenge in use of digital media is lack of technical skills among teachers (Riaz et al., 2020). Capability of instructors in order to incorporate different tasks and tools while teaching digital education are important to attain course goals and objectives (Bailey & Lee, 2020). Students attending online courses might easily get distracted by the content available on technology which may influence their participation in online class (Melor et al., 2012). Thus, it is crucial to engage students in live online sessions that can be only possible if instructors have previous knowledge and skills in adopting digital media as a medium for education. To make digital learning more effective, improving technical skills and competencies is a crucial need of the present era. Though, training teachers to enhance their capabilities in technology seems challenging and costly, it is vivid that such initiatives ensure the standard, productivity and efficacy of online education. Therefore, it is important to identify teachers’ perceived barriers in online teaching. Keeping in view the major concerns of digital education, this study examines teachers’ experiences of online education challenges during COVID 19, perceived online teaching barriers and perceptions of teachers regarding the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. Methodology Sample A total sample consisted of 52 teachers (Females = 58%, Males = 42%). Due to Covid 19, this sample was approached through online platforms such as LinkedIn, Email, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. In current study, 75% of the teachers were teaching at private universities, 14% at semi-government universities while 11% teaching at public universities. Moreover, the status of teachers suggested that 83% of teachers were working full-time while 17% working part-time. Survey Instrument Primarily items from Lioyd et al. (2012) were used including a limited number of authors’ self-developed items. The 11-item questionnaire consisted of four subscales including interpersonal barriers, administrative issues, internet access, and technical issues. Items were scored on 5-point Likert type scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree. In addition, two items were used to assess the faculty experiences of online teaching. For instance, “Have you previously taught online?” scored on “Yes and No”. Secondly, “How was your experience of online teaching during CVOID-19?” scored on “Good, Neutral and Worst”. Lastly, teachers were also asked “Is using technology for education the way forward in Pakistan” responded on a 4-point Likert type scale ranging from “Definitely Not, Probably Not, Probably Yes, and Definitely Yes”. Results Findings in figure 1 revealed that the majority of the teachers had no previous experience of online teaching (62%) however, 38% teachers reported previous experience of online teaching. Figure 1. Distribution of Teachers Responses on Previous Experience of Online Teaching Based on survey results, the majority of teachers marked online teaching experience as satisfactory (50%) however, 40% teachers reported their online teaching experience as neutral. In addition, 10% of teachers considered online teaching as the worst experience (See Figure 2). Figure 2. Responses of teachers on online teaching experiences during COVID-19. Current study investigated the perception of teachers regarding the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. According to findings, the majority of the teachers agreed (90%) to the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan while 10% of teachers disagreed (See Figure 3). Figure 3. Distribution of teachers responses on use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. According to findings, the majority of teachers reported an increase of workload during online classes (71%), lack social interaction with students (64%) while 23% of teachers reported issues related to time management and anxiety/fear during online classes (15%) (See Figure 4). Figure 4. Percentage of teachers’ response on items related to interpersonal barriers. Responses of teachers on the items related to administrative and training issues depicted that the majority of teachers confronted troubles in controlling cheating (81%) and readjustment of quizzes, assignments and midterms (67%). In addition, other barriers associated with administrative and training issues included lack of policies for online classes (52%), lack of instructors training (48%), and difficulties in conveying course concepts (36%) (See Figure 5). Figure 5. Percentage of teachers’ response on items related to administrative and training issues. 42% of teachers agreed that there was a lack of internet services during online classes
The Future of Mobile Technology
“If your plans don’t include mobile, your plans are not finished” – Wendy Clark The world operates in synchronous time which means the digital world needs to amp up communication technologies and strategies. From ordering food to attending online classes, mobile technology has become the quickest medium for simplifying lives. A lot of people talk about mobile as an enabler. But it’s more than that. It’s really a multiplier. At its heart, it’s really a game changer.” – Shawn Covell No matter which technology you choose, it should allow statistical insights. Mobile technology records a variety of information about customer interactions which are used to identify overlooked customer needs. Later, teams can utilize this data to improve customer’s experience. Read: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FOR 2023 Market is in search of new technology to disrupt the current situation. Mobile technology with the boost of 5G telecommunication technology will lead among companies which would be a game changer. For now mobile technology will be the primary hosts for these emerging technologies. However, as the Sixth Wave of Innovation will progress, this technology will be replaced with other devices that are more efficient, immersive and effective. The Sixth Wave of Innovation? Labelled as Fourth Industrial Revolution is about Digitalization, Sustainability, Robotics and Automation There are possibilities that mobile phones may become obsolete but it depends on the pace of emerging and advanced technologies. Although mobile phones won’t phase out right away: Old habits die hard. And we may be far too addicted to our pocket devices to give them up entirely. But one thing is for sure that some factors are primed to send today’s mobile phones to it’s grave over the next decade.
What should countries learn from COVID-19 financial disbursements for social protection?
During COVID-19, financial disbursements has become one of the major concerns. Globally, governments have launched various financial assistance packages to deserving households. Depending on the countries resources and technological advancements, they are adopting either digital or manual modes of payment for these cash transfer schemes. With the rising number of COVID 19 cases , the need for digital payments has become ever more significant. While, China has introduced digital modes of payments to avoid social interactions which may also become standard operating procedures (SOP) for any advanced country. However in Pakistan. you can see around fifty to hundred masked men standing outside a college building to receive monthly support stipend. During the viral pandemic outbreak, digitalization is the only safe way to manage domestic payments, financial disbursements, and sustain the global economy effectively. Contact-less digital payments assist consumers in getting their essentials with comfort and safety from their homes. They also help out organizations and governments to distribute funds among needy people more rapidly and precisely. Hence, countries lacking modernized financial services should quickly equip themselves with new digital tools to not only limit the viral transmission in current situation but to also keep up with the technological development pace globally. Collaboration between government, private organizations and entrepreneurs can provide better opportunities for vulnerable people to tackle the crisis situation via developing new digital services. As of 2024, these models have been refined and expanded to enhance resilience against future crises. Financial Disbursements Models 2024 Digital Payment Platforms Government to Person (G2P) Payments Blockchain Technology Mobile Money Services Public Private Partnerships International Aid & Loans The countries which are already on the right track still need to ensure consumers data protection and privacy. Additionally, such governments are expected to strengthen and implement cyber crime laws for e-theft and hacking so that people may not dare to reach out to others’ accounts. Most importantly, providing digital aid to remote areas with limited availability of internet and digital equipment should become an integral part of countries’ digital development strategies. Authors: Naveeda, Safoora Wajahat