Millennials or not, first meetings can bring out anxiety in anyone. There is simply nothing more unnerving than being sized up by the other party. It is also but natural to want to be liked and be given the amount of attention and respect. But the need to create a killer first impression is the first step in building rapport, a salient aspect in excellent interpersonal skills.

People naturally feel intimidated or unsettled when being entrusted into an unfamiliar environment. But confidence and optimism will help you overcome situations like this. But while many millennials are touted to be oozing with confidence, building rapport still needs consistency and constant practice way beyond the ease of first meet-ups. To build rapport, certain skills set like verbal and nonverbal, motivational, active listening, sense of humor, and empathy must be utilized.

Building rapport is the very process that turns a killer first impression into a lasting one. This is where trust and mutual respect usually comes in. To start, here are some important behaviors to consider:

Building rapport by starting strong on your first impression can be tricky. Experts believe that first impressions carry a huge weight in dealing with other people. While it may be true, it still takes a lot of consistency and constant communication to tighten such rapport. Practice and mentorship will help largely on this aspect. When done accordingly, you can guarantee building lasting relations with everyone else—and often to your advantage.

There are 101 optimistic ways of retaining post-vacation vibe. The key is to always look forward to coming back. Work is, after all, your bread and butter—and without it, planning your next getaway will be virtually impossible.

Technological investments, however, are not created equal. Some of these tech solutions will provide the necessary advantages. For the year 2017, the following tactics can be used to spruce up your tech investments and enjoy more promising results and returns.

From data acquisition, advances in computer technology have shifted to “data-curation.” Data collection will finally become more interactive and intuitive delivering a certain level of a collaborative environment without sacrificing privacy. Web optimization or having a strong online presence will continue to become a major player in small businesses. Project tracking in terms of expenditures, cash flow, transparency, and so on will become more advanced and usually done in real time. Cloud-based solutions will continue to provide more insights but will become largely encrypted leading to more freedom yet more private data communication. With this, small businesses must learn to gain key focus on the business and the right tools to generate more productive results.

Streamlining business cost is one of the most important achievements of outsourcing. Small businesses can put expertise as well as economies of scale to good use without having to create “costly” ancillary departments. By outsourcing specialized services like IT, HR, accounting, and customer support, you spend less time on these matters and put more focus on your core competencies and processes. Aside from convenience and cost saved, outsourcing also allows you to innovate more and find a new niche in the market. Finding a reliable business outsourcing partner, however, must be dealt accordingly to ensure positive results.

Mobile technology is the team to beat in the years to come. It’s no longer just mobile tech but SMART mobile technology. Intuitive and interactive, smart mobile technology will continually impact business communications, sales, logistics, marketing, and other business tactics. Smartphones and tablets, as well as hybrids, will continue to utilize promising mobile technologies. Interfaces will become more simplified. Connections will be faster and more wide-ranging while maintaining more privacy.

Small business will be powered by more sustainable sources like solar, wind, water, or biomass. This will echo the growing needs of the environment due to continuous decline. While global warming is heavily debated, more and more small business will engage in tech-savvy sustainable energy to ensure cultivating a culture of accountability and co-existence.

Innovative technology has a strategic role to play in the rise of small businesses today. These tactics will help deliver them to another level of growth without having to overspend. In the end, technology and other innovations will keep pushing them to become more competitive.

The number of sponsored ads and social media subscribers will grow at a rate of 9% of 3 billion?  That’s …hmm, you do the math.  Consumers and businesses are all over social media.  You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and more.   This is a digital venue that allows users to maintain relationships.  Those relationships become a great avenue for word-of-mouth recommendations and client reviews.  For businesses, these platforms are where you can promote products and services.

As social media continues to grow, the electronic gadgets we use to also continue to evolve.  Those gadgets allow real-time activity driven by real-time marketing.  Sounds like a win/win but not without challenges.  It’s important to stay ahead of the social media by keeping us with the digital trends.  To get you started, here are Social Media Fun Facts To Up Your Digital Game in 2017:

Live streaming has become more popular. We’ve leaped beyond the days where youtube was the only place to use your video.   Facebook Live is dominating and Instastories and Snapchats are close behind.  But don’t be mistaken, YouTube is still the place to be.  Real-time activity with real-time marketing is the key to success.    Remove your social media fears and get creative on YouTube, Facebook Live, Snapchat, and Instagram Stories.   Ultimately, your business can stay ahead of the competition with a sound video strategy.

Social media is the place where friends become customers and strangers become friends.  And social commerce is the ability to purchase products and services during your social media experience.  Facebook is making it convenient with the Shop Now option and Twitter with the Buy Now options.   They’ve become the one-stop shop for business.  It’s the best digital workspace you could image.  Of course, you want to use your website as your core foundation but remember to catch your customers where you can.  And there are 3 billion waiting on social media.

The demand for fast response and instant solution is surging.  Messaging apps make it easy to achieve both and increase customer engagement. This way you win customers and create ambassadors for your brand. Want to power up your customer service?  Download messenger and never miss an opportunity to ensure quick validation and fast interaction.  Customers appreciate the fast response and personalized engagement with your business teams.

It’s opened a new window on organic visibility, paid or sponsored advertising, and a more creative approach for consumers to enjoy your brand.  Advertising has become even more pronounced and versatility is the top concern as it becomes global in scope.

This year you have seen how brands ever evolving with creative and emerging tactics, to intrigue the social subscribers’ memory, interest and need. But instead of dividing efforts on various platforms, focus on one platform that will deliver the most-est results.  Use your other channels to share the interest and gather new prospects while leading them to your product and services awesomeness!

Truly, it is perplexing to imagine a life without social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ or WhatsApp.  At least not without a large advertising budget in media and print!  Social media has become a part of today’s highly connected society and fast-moving society. To keep up, it’s important to stay relevant, be creative and content, content, content! This way, you guarantee that you keep up in an ever-evolving market and achieve sustainable success.

To event planners, creating their own personal brand is a must to stand out among hundreds of competition in the market. As an event planner, there really is no limit to what you can do if you complement creativity with hard work and commitment. But all that will be lost if you do not cultivate your own personal brand, the YOU in the business of events organization. With the industry continually in upswing, this gives you a bright future up ahead—but only when you do it right. Creating your signature brand then, requires careful thought. The same can also be said with businesses building their own “signature brand” via events organization.

Instead of the usual sponsorship deals or philanthropic means by donating funds, top brands like Clinique, Coca Cola, sports outfitters like Nike and Reebok, insurance companies, and various organizations are joining the fray in the hope of sustaining their personal brand with something else. Clinique, for instance, has set its eyes on UK’s fun run extravaganza—Run or Dye, a 5K run wherein runners are thrown with dyed powder every 1K they finished, and “Kiss It Better”, another fundraiser. In both these events, Clinique is posting itself as a brand ambassador for beauty, creativity, fitness, and of course, the life of the party! Fun is what it’s selling and every run brings in a huge pack of brand awareness and in-store promotions, too.

It is important to understand that this is not an entirely new concept though. Businesses used to promote causes as well as advocacies and then, using such support as a means to promote their brands. Today, however, they tend to be more hands-on in the realm of event organization. Think about The Body Shop and its signature campaign versus animal testing, Kenneth Cole’s AWearNess events and campaigns, TOMS shoe revolution, Hanes for the homeless, Shake Shack’s Great American Shake Sale, Dunkin Donuts Cop on a Rooftop, and many more.

From one event to another, there is literally a personal brand littered all over it without anyone knowing. It’s a marketing campaign but one that’s solely based on social responsibility. While it cannot be denied that certain businesses do events to make their businesses endearing to the bevy of supporters for a particular cause or advocacy, it is still a welcoming change. Truth of the matter is that—no event in history has ever happened without the financial backing of businesses and, in a way, their brands.

Bottom line is: Both event planning and business markets are enjoying the concept of personal branding vis-à-vis social responsiveness. As brands continue to use events to forge trust and loyal following from its new and existing customers, event planners also continue to flourish. This mutualistic-symbiosis offers a perfect alignment of sustainability in the business arena. While event organizers or planners build their personal brand to deliver unique ideas, businesses are also doing its best to create a persona that allow closer relationship with its customers. All in all, the concept of personal branding allows a harmonious fusion—something that brands, event planners and consumers are just too willing to embrace.

To jumpstart your goals of cultivating an innovative workplace culture, here are some surefire ways to achieve success:

The collective capacity of people working in a company to create value is what business is all about. It provides a strong compliment to the business rules. To succeed, it’s essential to start cultivating sooner than later.  Empower everyone to see the beauty of a highly innovative and collaborative workplace.