Millennial workers can do a lot of good as well as harm to a product, service or brand even when not directly involved in the company’s social marketing team. They can also make a lot of difference with their personal tweets, updates, and posts related to the business. This is where you must find ways to create an internal campaign that points to this untapped leverage for your brand. By doing it right, you can guarantee creating an astounding social media presence that will create wave upon wave of success for your brand.

Social media solutions like all other marketing strategies for your brand require some deep thinking, planning, and practice. Content production, for instance, requires certain level of research to know precisely how to position a message. In the hopes of bringing utmost effectiveness to your campaign, training and guidance for your millennial workforce are essential factors to ensure that a clear-cut, unique and consistent brand voice be heard.

Without a doubt, your brand identity had been through a lot of successes and failures over the years. That somehow makes it easier to establish the right voice for your brand. For startups and businesses that wish to carve a new identity in the market, however, such concept may not be the case. The need to establish the right voice is crucial for them to make their social media presence felt and reverberated.

To develop such a challenging feat, certain aspects must be considered. One is to carefully identify what the company and its products or services truly stand for. Do you have a unique sales or service philosophy that differs from the rest? Methods of communication between customers or clients and the company must also be identified. So are your goals and objectives as well as expectations. Most importantly, it is also imperative to delineate what benefits customers are to enjoy from your brand.

Creating a solid brand voice must be infused along with these tenets. While a millennial workforce may have great advantage in utilizing social media, only by knowing what and how you want the brand to be perceived by your target audience or prospects will mark the difference.

The efforts in building a solid voice does not stop in generating a solid voice for your brand though. It requires a certain level of commitment to deliver something in a consistent manner. One challenge to this is the perceived unpredictability of millennials when it comes to marketing. Finding a way to ensure that they effectively infuse their individual personalities into the brand’s voice without restraining their creativity as well as enthusiasm will be of great help in creating a consistent brand voice. Add to that the real-time feedback of customers to make things go full circle.

All in all, gearing your millennial workforce with the right knowledge and unwavering loyalty will help amplify your brand’s social media leverage. Engage them. Train them to become brand ambassadors for your business. With their creativity and zeal for achievement– and social media savvy, you can finally guarantee delivering a brand voice that will echo the nucleus of your brand.

To ensure that you get to easily move from one job to another, you need to have versatile or adaptable skills set. This particular skills set should not only be focused on one career path but must be broad-spectrum in a sense that it can fit to most, if not all, employment sectors. Employers are looking for people who have “employ-ability” skills or skills set that can fit to various job roles. So, what are these skills?

Communication Skills. Be prepared to have both excellent written and oral skills. Your own resume and its cover letter will deliver the “first impression” on your written capabilities while your interview will sound off that of your oral skills. Make sure to demonstrate articulateness when speaking while writing succinctly and with clarity. Employers look for these as it helps to carve a growth mindset, creativity, and aptitude.

Interpersonal Skills. Unless it’s a one-person mission to the moon, you will most definitely be working with co-employees, customers and clients, bosses, and so on. This is why the need to have good interpersonal skills is essential. This allows you to effectively partake as a team member, negotiate, and make good decisions. It also helps in satisfying client expectations as well as customer satisfaction. Excellent interpersonal skills usually stimulate empathetic listening leading to ease in building rapport with everyone.

Critical Thinking. Employers will also be on the lookout for your problem-solving and decision-making skills. Critical thinking is the ability to gather and evaluate relevant information—and the eye to pick the best solution. Along these lines, people with good critical thinking skills are also known to be effective in terms of planning, organizing, and getting things done efficiently.

Leadership Skills. While many believe that leadership skills are mainly focused for managerial or supervisory positions, this one is virtually being deemed essential on all new hires. This ability is about influencing others to achieve goals. Often, self-confidence is the best gauge being looked at by employers.

Computer Skills. This is the information age when everything is driven by technology and the Internet. Aside from knowing basic computer skills, some employers also look for specific requirements like ability to use apps, e-mail platform, social media, or programs related to their operation will be sought out.

Creative Skills. Bring your innovative and inventive mindset when applying for a new job. This skills are no longer just limited to marketing and designing but in many aspects. Finding new ways and means to make systems and procedures more effective and efficient has always been a target of businesses.

Numeracy-Presentation Skills. These two skills set are often interrelated. Presentation often require the ability to understand certain data like statistics, surveys, graphs, demographics, and other aspects essential to decision-making and reasoning. Numeracy skills can also become irrelevant if presentation skills are lacking.

While these skills sets are often on the table for employers and headhunters to consider, it is also important to develop positive attitude towards people, work, and the company you wish to work for. Expertise may be required in some aspects particularly in highly technical jobs but, all in all, employers will always choose someone who is willing to develop, learn and grow with the company.

While it is easy to choose buying a house over leasing one, it cannot be said the same to an office space. For one, you need to understand that this means lack of flexibility in your current space. Your business will be “tied-up” to the current location making it harder to expand when the need requires so at a later time. Of course, this also entails coughing off a big chunk off your capital for the down payment, improvement, and maintenance costs.

However, buying also comes with astounding perks. For one, it allows you to have a clearer perspective on your fixed costs. Keep in mind that office rental usually increases year after year. Mortgage interest and property taxes also provide hefty tax deductions thereby, increasing your “income” potential. Take note also that real property rarely depreciates allowing you to have a solid investment for the future or as a retirement fund.

Many startup businesses and small-scale entities prefer leasing or renting an office space over buying to give them more flexibility. Not only does renting allow them to be flexible in terms of image and location, renting also allows them to covet prime property in a more affordable way. Basically, one does not have to shell out huge capital investments that only get tied up to idle asset like an office space. Subsequently, this also allows them to simply let the business grow first and then, be able to move from one prime location to another as they thrive.

But while the option may seem perfect for up and starting businesses, leasing also have notable disadvantages. Remember that lease increases annually and if your business does not take-off as planned, such cost may be too much of a burden. Leasing does not also assure you long-term hold on a strategic location. Often, some landlords tend to toughen their agreement once they see potential in their property.

So, should you lease or should you buy an office space? Again, it all depends on your long-term goals as a business entity. Often, one’s decision will involve not just strategic location but also tax, financial, and personal reasons. Do take note that the surge of rent-to-own office spaces is fast becoming the trend these days. With the help of a financial planner and broker, finding the best deal may give you the win-win situation you want.

Millennials are the ultimate go-getters. When they put their head unto something, they will pursue it to the best of their abilities. Which is remarkable but only when you are not within their path. As a business owner, you may find it increasingly difficult to keep this talented lot around. Studies have often indicated that millennials are always on a job-hopping spree in their mindset of progressive growth.

So how does one rein millennials and inspire them to be part of the company growth? How will you immerse them into the business culture you take years to build?

The answer could very well be on how you motivate your own workforce. Virtually all employees, young or old alike, want a sense of accomplishment in what they do. No matter how fantastic or mundane, millennials want to be praised for their efforts. This means positive feedback is one of the driving forces keeping employees happy and motivated—and satisfied to stay.

While focusing on your employees’ strength and giving praise to fully motivate them, the task of delivering such is not a walk in the park. Millennials are not stupid to see pretensions and false praises. These individuals are not as naïve as you think. Amid their inexperience or lack thereof, they look at the world on a different lens. However, there are certain ways to ensure that your positive feedback be heeded.

Of course, as much as sincere praises will keep your millennial workforce happy and satisfied, it is also essential to point out outright irregularities and negativities. Recurring mistakes and blind spots, for instance, must be called out. Not necessarily to disappoint but more on giving them a chance to improve. When you criticize, do it constructively to ensure growth. In all things else, be kind. Often, people stay because they feel cherished and nurtured.

Timing is essential when it comes to posting content on social media. Add to that the type of platform being used, the target audience, type of content, and marketing goals in mind. But while there is no best time to post such contents, there are optimal times to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, SnapChat, and so on. Here are the recent guidelines on social media posting time for US audiences:

Millions of people nationwide are perpetually logged in to Facebook on their mobile devices than their desktop PCs. Though mostly used for personal networking, Facebook has also started becoming a must-have for businesses. When it comes to posting quality content that earns more clicks and shares, the best time is slated on Wednesdays at 3 PM, 12 PM to 1 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, and between 1 PM to 4 PM on Thursdays and Fridays. These time slots tend to deliver the highest clickthrough rates and traffic spikes. Do remember that Friday posts must either be upbeat or funny to match audience’s mood.

Twitter is another platform embraced by millions. The best times to post, however, are during weekdays between 12 PM to 3 PM and then, at 5 PM. Businesses make good use of Twitter postings from Mondays to Fridays with special engagement on Wednesdays and the weekends. Other tweets coming at 2 AM to 3 AM, 6 AM to 7 AM, and 9 PM to 10 PM are deemed successful. Basically, this platform is as varied as it can get to learn to experiment.

Being a network frequented by professionals, it goes to follow that LinkedIn engagement is always at its peak during workdays and preferably just before and just after working hours. The most optimized posts garner the best clickthroughs during midweek at around 5 PM to 6 PM. Tuesday is the top day-of-the-week contender garnering the most clicks and shares at around 730AM to 830AM and on 10 AM to 11 AM. Other days also enjoy the same time slot with the addition of 12 PM on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Steer clear of Mondays as well as the middle of the night posting though.

A female-dominated social media platform, posting on Pinterest tend to be more active during night time at around 8 PM to 11 PM including Saturdays. Optimize your posts for the rest of the week between 2 AM to 4 AM and 2 PM to 4 PM. On Fridays, go light and bubbly by posting feel-good posts at around 3 PM.

These platforms are largely developed for mobile-savvy social media users, who tend to engage during off-work hours when the fun begins. A favorite among the millennial crowd, it is crucial to get that when building a post concept. The best times to post on these platforms is any time with the exclusion of 3 PM to 4 PM. Other businesses have also seen a huge success in posting during these times—2AM and 5 PM on any day of the week as well as at 7 PM on Wednesdays. Video and photo posts, however, get the most hits between 9 PM till 8 AM, any day.

To conclude, social media platforms are definitely here to stay. These platforms will remain in demand as more and more people become hooked to these communication avenues for information and knowledge. To successfully engage with your audience, proper timing, appropriate content, and consistency must go together to help deliver your message across.

Here are online-based business startup ideas for less than $100:

Freelancing. From content writer to web design to social media manager, online freelancing is one lucrative business idea that continually pulls in more investors and successes. Arm with your talent, a computer, and a solid Wi-Fi connection, you can virtually start offering freelance services to clients looking for reliable third-party operatives.

Virtual Assistant. Simply called VA by many, this is the Internet’s version of personal assistant. Here you get to manage websites, social media posts, emails, phone calls, website content, accounting books, and other requirements a client wishes to pursue. Basically, it is akin to being someone’s personal secretary operating at a remote location.

Social Media Consultant. Maintaining multiple social media accounts can be tough to businesses. Timing and content aptitude require skills and efforts. When done right, you can get more clients and increase your business portfolio.

Vlogger or Blogger. You can either be a product or service blogger delivering fresh new contents like reviews, PRs, articles, and other written prose to market such. Or you may make good use of tech-savvy gadgets that easily captures or creates videos. Post such on YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms to start gaining clickthroughs leading to profiting from ads.

Affiliate Marketing. For prolific and popular bloggers or vloggers, engaging in affiliate marketing can mean good business. Simply learn the secret on persuading people to click through those links or to make a purchase to earn incentives.

Web Design and Development. Arm with your skills in designing artistically powerful concept, you can build up a third party web design firm. All you need to do is to learn basic and advanced web design development and begin managing online interests for businesses. For a more in-depth and comprehensive web services, learning how to code or program websites will also help diversify your business portfolio.

Dropshipping. Basically, an online shop that bridges clients and suppliers, drop shipping gives consumers better pricing and access to wide array of products in the market. You will not maintain any physical store aside from one that will house your personal computer or laptop and online modem to begin this venture.

P2P Online Marketplace Host. Rent out one of your rooms, a detached part of your duplex, or any available space to people looking for budget-friendly accommodations. If you live in an area where vacationers flock to, this one will definitely deliver the passive income you need.

Product Reviewer. Be the first to test and deliver reviews for new products in the market. Like affiliate marketing, starting a business that delivers no-nonsense review will help give consumers more informed decision on what to buy.

Other online-based business startup ideas are resume writing services, instructional video creator, domain name buying, “flipping” websites, logo design, translator business, eBay seller, app developer, online content producer, sourcing services, and so on. The Internet is a thriving business market where consumerism thrives. Get a solid grip on your skills and talents and put them to good use. When done accordingly, you can guarantee to create a solid market base leading to success.

Millennials who want to break free from long-held obsolescence are encouraged to travel to find fresh, innovative ideas in doing business. It would be such a shame to explore in an encased glass when the whole world is beckoning them to partake, to take the plunge. To give you a clearer perspective, here are some of the reasons why today’s millennial populace should put traveling on top of their priorities list.

Millennials can capitalize on their youthful brazenness to conquer their fear of the unknown. Fear makes many promising entrepreneurs and professionals degenerate into oblivion. Allowing these young go-getters from going after what they want without getting scared of stumbling or failing, they can embrace any situation life will throw at them—and eventually find ways to overcome them. Business, career, and life in general are all about taking risks. Traveling to uncharted territories is already a risk in itself allowing millennials to gain courage in taking the plunge over and over again.

Soaring to New Heights

Many unexposed young people tend to settle in whatever is deemed available, easy or profitable even at the absence of originality, creativity or growth. To travel-savvy millennials, settling is a thing of the past. Their exposure to different lifestyles and cultures allow them to expand their views about themselves. Traveling allows them to build a sense of renewed confidence where the one-size-fits-all doctrine no longer held its charm. It carves a new path for them to unleash their prowess from within.

Many of those who do not commit to traveling are virtually leaving in a bubble. It is such a shame as there are so many opportunities that lay in wait for those willing to chase them. Millennials who commit to traveling are being prepared to perform (or outperform others) in the global market. It’s a riot out there and those who have immersed to such variations and differences have a clean grasp on the many avenues that lead to success. Travel around the world. Look for opportunities. Ask questions and learn from them. It is one thing to be competitive and completely another to do so globally.

Communication is an essential aspect of business and career. Travel-savvy millennials exposure to the melting pot of cultures, languages, and personalities allow them a broader view about various situations in life. This helps them easily adapt to varied situations and being able to survive even in the toughest of them. By exposing themselves to different personalities, this also improves their communication skills and narrative style with different audiences.

Yes, there is more to traveling than what meets most millennials eye. Like a learning laboratory, one has to explore the many avenues in life to fully comprehend their significance later on. Traveling is all about millennials immersing in activities that will enhance their growth and competitiveness mindset. It also gives them the courage to look at business or career in different lenses and find success no matter how hard the challenges.

Style Maven. Think Rachel Johnson with all that oomph and charm. Becoming a fashion consultant is one of the most thriving industries today. You can start out by linking your fashion consultancy firm to an established retail business. Widening your network among friends and work colleagues will also be of great help. Build your brand and reputation in the market to open a huge following from celebrities and big-wig names in the industry where being not in fashion is a crime.

Designer Shop. With all the tools online nowadays, enhancing your penchant for style and inventiveness can be done in more ways than one. Let your creative prowess take center-stage by setting up a designer shop. You can have a brick and mortar shop catering to local fashion enthusiasts yearning for a new taste of glam and charm. Extend it with an online shop that caters to those off your grid.

Fashion Blogging. For those who have just “retired” from mainstream fashion industry but still want to be active in the field, this thriving business is the one for you. Set up a fashion blogging platform then, connect with active friends in fashion and clothing. Be their mouthpiece in the online arena and simply charge for your services.

Fashion School. You may also go the extra mile and open your very own fashion school, virtual or otherwise. Facilitate training on costume and fashion designing, makeup techniques, Cosplay designs, seasonal fashion, and so on. Be reminded though that this is a highly competitive business and will require astounding brand management to build-up your reputation.

Costume Rental Center. Do you have a collection of glamorous outfits, special occasion dresses, accessories, and other fashion items? Make good use of these design pieces by renting them out. This business allows you the opportunity to earn money from things that you no longer use but offers great aesthetic help to others.

Fashion Accessories Shop. Starting a fashion accessories shop is another rewarding opportunity this 2017 for womenpreneurs. You can have both brick-and-mortar store and online shop to cater to varied clienteles.

Beauty Salons. Train in some of the country’s top beauty schools. Learn the magic in creating your own mark in the business of hairstyling, makeup, nail art, and if you may, tattoo art. This has always been a thriving business, one that has no reason or season for abating. Hire certified personnel in the area and market your brand online.

These womenpreneur-focused business ventures will be rocking the New Year. Welcome 2017 with a bang by planning out the details as early as now! Do take note that a business coach can come handy at this time when you want to do it right.

As important as the struggle of getting out the victim mentality, it is essential to first know what such mindset entails. A person who has a victim mentality is someone who puts blames on others for whatever failures or mistakes or errors in judgment that happened in his or her world. It also holds true to individuals who simply put too much confidence on sheer luck or that they are bound to fail due to being unlucky. Like a curse, it allows them to believe that things are beyond their own control. Some people called this the “Pontius Pilate” syndrome wherein to absolve oneself from sins, she must wash her hands off from the responsibilities that go with it.

Victim mentality, however, can be deeply ingrained on other people’s habits and way of life. When things take a downturn or when a business or career does not go as planned, they sometimes resign to the idea that it is their fate to be that way. They sadly become captive to their own limiting beliefs. Many of those who continually use the victim mentality card came from tumultuous childhood. They grow up surrounded by failure, abuse or being discouraged. This somehow leads them to lay blame on other people and the very circumstances they are in, leaving a way out for themselves.

Sadly, such mindset can lead to relationship problems, work issues, and recurring failure in business. The more a person gets too deep into this way of thinking, the more she will cement the thought of not being able to take control of her life. It allows her an easy way out hence, keeping her from living the truth or change her circumstances, and worst, continue living in such a destructive pattern which continually prevents her from reaching for the best opportunities and possibilities.

While it may be hard to correct victim mentality, many professional coaches do not undermine the capabilities of the brain and the heart to grow beyond what’s expected of them. No matter how ingrained into one’s habits, gaining confidence and taking control of your life can be done.

1. Commit to changing your mindset and to cooperate in every way possible to take control of your life. Write down situations and circumstances which you put blame on others. This is the most difficult to do as you will confront your own psyche but when done with great care, you can finally move a few steps further in discovering your true worth.

2. Acknowledge that these situations are done by or in part by you. Without a doubt, there are also enablers out there who will pester on your shortcomings. While pity and compassion are welcoming, they can also hinder your ability to take full responsibility of your actions. Recognize these circumstances. List them down.

3. Consider acknowledging past hurt that continue to weigh you down. The victim mentality sometimes emanates from abuse and accumulated emotional pains. Accept them as part of your past. Learn to forgive and break free from your self-imposed chains. A good coach will help you get through this. For instances of abuse, a therapist’s guidance will make a lot of difference.

4. Start on a clean slate and bask in the essence of gratitude. Rather than focusing on old stories and what you do not have, concentrate on hope that each day brings. Pause and learn to channel positive energy by assessing the positive outcomes of your past hurts. Focus on the positive. Focus on building your confidence.

Breaking into the victim mentality pattern can be a tough nut to break. Take small mincing steps in doing so. Build up your confidence level. Let it reshape your thoughts and actions. With persistence and patience, you can finally break free and enjoy astounding opportunities to your business, career or life in general.

Millennials are, by far, the largest active workers today. Research has shown that in both macro and micro employment scale, these young professionals and entrepreneurs are growing in numbers leading industries and companies to new heights. But while their mindset may differ largely with that of the baby boomer generation, the millennial workforce still maintained its penchant for teamwork-based management albeit at a highly tech-savvy environment.

Prolific multi-taskers and oozing with self-confidence, millennials idea of achieving success can be both beautiful and beastly. They make good use of their insatiable energy and passion in setting seemingly impossible goals as well as high expectations upon themselves making them seek out complex challenges while yearning for that work-life balance. Additionally, their need for social connections, fast-and-furious approach in getting results, and relentless passion to hasten all forms of advancement without thinking things through can be both astounding and fatal when not done accordingly.

Upon close inspection, it is clear to see that there looms a huge generation gap and cultural disintegration between two succeeding generations. This somehow reveals a likely dislodgement of the long-held belief and processes on employee engagement and motivation. Basically, what could have worked for decades to a large baby boomer generation may no longer be successful in today’s millennial generation. Millennial workforce today is more into dynamic career opportunities, feedback-based growth, robust recognition, and diversified management performance.

This is why many companies today, particularly those which cater largely to a millennial workforce, have to come up with sound engagement strategies aligned to their needs. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation measures must be explored to drive engagement levels of such a highly dynamic workforce. It is also becoming clear that with their proclivity for feedback, managing performance should be on top of their list of engagement drivers in the workplace.

It is also important to note that many millennials take pride in the reputation of the companies they work for. Often, these workforce is emotionally attached to their organization making them fiercely devoted to its core values and principles. This is why companies must work doubly hard on upholding, if not improving, their overall reputation by adding compassionate programs to their operational tableau.

Indeed, there is more to the working millennials than what meets the eye. To help maintain their engagement level while improving their productivity, it is essential for organizations to guarantee transparent processes, recognize both key drivers and threats to engagement, set appropriate goals, and have multiple engagement strategies in place. To be more effective, it is also crucial to conduct annual engagement studies to keep your system up-to-date.