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CEO says it’s about investing in tech & talent. Accounting ARC With Donny Shimamoto Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

CEO says it’s about investing in tech & talent. Accounting ARC With Donny Shimamoto Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

As a freelancer, you might have clients request services from you that you can’t deliver. However, plenty of other freelancers could offer that service. Enter cross-referrals and professional networks for freelancers, which allow you to refer clients to other freelancers with different skill sets. Partnering with others who have complementary skills allows you to offer broader services to clients and build lasting relationships that benefit everyone involved. Benefits of a Diversified Freelance NetworkBuilding a diversified freelance network can help you grow your business by expanding the value you provide to clients. By partnering with freelancers who have skills that are complementary to yours, you can count on each other to meet the needs of clients who contact you, leading to more value for clients. Here are the key benefits: Increased client retention: When you can recommend trusted collaborators for additional services, clients will know you have a reliable network of people who offer what they need, making them more likely to stay with you. This trust strengthens long-term relationships.Improved client satisfaction: Clients appreciate seamless access to multiple services through a single point of contact. This one-stop-shop experience builds trust and encourages repeat business.More robust service offerings: Partnering with freelancers who specialize in areas you don’t, such as design, SEO, or development, allows you to offer clients the solutions they need from other experts without overextending yourself.Consistent client pipeline: A strong network and referral system can benefit you and other freelancers. Just as you make referrals for freelancers in your network, your connections also recommend you to their clients, keeping your workload steady even during slower periods.Opportunities for growth: Working with others allows you to learn from their expertise, improve your skills, and explore new projects that wouldn’t have been possible alone.Identifying Complementary Skills and Potential PartnersFreelancers often work in specialized niches, and identifying complementary skills can help you find other specialists to add to your network. Start by assessing your expertise and the gaps in your service. For example, if you’re a writer, think about skills that enhance your work, such as design, web development, or SEO. Or, if you’re a photographer, you might partner with freelancers offering social media or marketing services. Consider using a strategy canvas to map out your skill offerings compared to others in the market. This visual exercise helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for collaboration. For instance, say your analysis reveals that your content creation skills stand out, but you lack expertise in digital advertising. In that case, it may make sense to partner with a marketing specialist. By clearly seeing where your offerings align or differ from others, you can pinpoint areas where partnerships could fill gaps and make your services more competitive. Another approach to try is to is to evaluate the types of requests you frequently receive but cannot fulfill alone. If clients often ask for branding support, consider collaborating with graphic designers or brand strategists. Similarly, developers could partner with UX designers to create seamless digital experiences. Leveraging strategic partnerships as a freelancer requires effort, but it’s worth it. Attend networking events to meet other professionals in your industry. Engage in online communities like Reddit or industry-specific Facebook groups to connect with peers. Platforms like LinkedIn and Alignable can also help you identify skilled freelancers. Keep a running list of potential partners, including their specialties and contact information, so you’re prepared when referral opportunities arise. Building and Nurturing Mutually Beneficial RelationshipsAsking for help can be powerful, especially in freelancing. It can strengthen your connections to the freelance world and build trust between you, other freelancers, and clients. But it relies on building strong connections that are mutually beneficial. Approach potential freelance partners with a collaborative mindset to build valuable, long-term relationships. Other freelancers should know they’re getting as much out of their connection with you as you do. Focus on the mutual benefits of a partnership, highlighting how working together can expand each other’s offerings and provide greater value to clients. To connect with a potential freelance partner, start by reaching out with a clear and genuine message. Introduce yourself, explain what you admire about their work, and suggest specific ways you could collaborate to benefit both of your businesses. Once you establish partnerships, work on nurturing those connections. Share each other’s work on social media or in newsletters to boost visibility. Co-marketing initiatives, like offering bundled services or writing joint case studies, can showcase your partnership’s value. Regular check-ins — whether monthly emails or quick video calls — help maintain clear communication and alignment. Over time, these practices could lead to increased freelance business referrals from your network. Just be sure to return the favor. Setting Up a Cross-Referral SystemA well-organized referral system can streamline collaboration between you and other freelancers and ensure clients receive high-quality service. To stay accountable, create a referral agreement with your partners. This agreement should outline expectations, such as how to make referrals, any fees or commissions involved, and the level of communication required. Then, develop standard communication templates for introducing clients to your referral partners to ensure professionalism and consistency. Include key details about the client’s needs and why your partner is a good fit. Make sure you fully understand your partners’ expertise and working style. Discuss client expectations in advance to avoid miscommunication. Sharing work samples or setting up a quick meeting to align your referral approaches can prevent surprises. Freelancing Success Through CollaborationBuilding partnerships with complementary freelancers can expand your services, improve client satisfaction, and open doors to new opportunities. Cross-referrals create a reliable network that benefits both you and your clients. Through genuine collaboration with the right freelancers, you can strengthen your freelance business and satisfy more clients. View the full article

As a freelancer, you might have clients request services from you that you can’t deliver. However, plenty of other freelancers could offer that service. Enter cross-referrals and professional networks for freelancers, which allow you to refer clients to other freelancers with different skill sets. Partnering with others who have complementary skills allows you to offer broader services to clients and build lasting relationships that benefit everyone involved. Benefits of a Diversified Freelance NetworkBuilding a diversified freelance network can help you grow your business by expanding the value you provide to clients. By partnering with freelancers who have skills that are complementary to yours, you can count on each other to meet the needs of clients who contact you, leading to more value for clients. Here are the key benefits: Increased client retention: When you can recommend trusted collaborators for additional services, clients will know you have a reliable network of people who offer what they need, making them more likely to stay with you. This trust strengthens long-term relationships.Improved client satisfaction: Clients appreciate seamless access to multiple services through a single point of contact. This one-stop-shop experience builds trust and encourages repeat business.More robust service offerings: Partnering with freelancers who specialize in areas you don’t, such as design, SEO, or development, allows you to offer clients the solutions they need from other experts without overextending yourself.Consistent client pipeline: A strong network and referral system can benefit you and other freelancers. Just as you make referrals for freelancers in your network, your connections also recommend you to their clients, keeping your workload steady even during slower periods.Opportunities for growth: Working with others allows you to learn from their expertise, improve your skills, and explore new projects that wouldn’t have been possible alone.Identifying Complementary Skills and Potential PartnersFreelancers often work in specialized niches, and identifying complementary skills can help you find other specialists to add to your network. Start by assessing your expertise and the gaps in your service. For example, if you’re a writer, think about skills that enhance your work, such as design, web development, or SEO. Or, if you’re a photographer, you might partner with freelancers offering social media or marketing services. Consider using a strategy canvas to map out your skill offerings compared to others in the market. This visual exercise helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for collaboration. For instance, say your analysis reveals that your content creation skills stand out, but you lack expertise in digital advertising. In that case, it may make sense to partner with a marketing specialist. By clearly seeing where your offerings align or differ from others, you can pinpoint areas where partnerships could fill gaps and make your services more competitive. Another approach to try is to is to evaluate the types of requests you frequently receive but cannot fulfill alone. If clients often ask for branding support, consider collaborating with graphic designers or brand strategists. Similarly, developers could partner with UX designers to create seamless digital experiences. Leveraging strategic partnerships as a freelancer requires effort, but it’s worth it. Attend networking events to meet other professionals in your industry. Engage in online communities like Reddit or industry-specific Facebook groups to connect with peers. Platforms like LinkedIn and Alignable can also help you identify skilled freelancers. Keep a running list of potential partners, including their specialties and contact information, so you’re prepared when referral opportunities arise. Building and Nurturing Mutually Beneficial RelationshipsAsking for help can be powerful, especially in freelancing. It can strengthen your connections to the freelance world and build trust between you, other freelancers, and clients. But it relies on building strong connections that are mutually beneficial. Approach potential freelance partners with a collaborative mindset to build valuable, long-term relationships. Other freelancers should know they’re getting as much out of their connection with you as you do. Focus on the mutual benefits of a partnership, highlighting how working together can expand each other’s offerings and provide greater value to clients. To connect with a potential freelance partner, start by reaching out with a clear and genuine message. Introduce yourself, explain what you admire about their work, and suggest specific ways you could collaborate to benefit both of your businesses. Once you establish partnerships, work on nurturing those connections. Share each other’s work on social media or in newsletters to boost visibility. Co-marketing initiatives, like offering bundled services or writing joint case studies, can showcase your partnership’s value. Regular check-ins — whether monthly emails or quick video calls — help maintain clear communication and alignment. Over time, these practices could lead to increased freelance business referrals from your network. Just be sure to return the favor. Setting Up a Cross-Referral SystemA well-organized referral system can streamline collaboration between you and other freelancers and ensure clients receive high-quality service. To stay accountable, create a referral agreement with your partners. This agreement should outline expectations, such as how to make referrals, any fees or commissions involved, and the level of communication required. Then, develop standard communication templates for introducing clients to your referral partners to ensure professionalism and consistency. Include key details about the client’s needs and why your partner is a good fit. Make sure you fully understand your partners’ expertise and working style. Discuss client expectations in advance to avoid miscommunication. Sharing work samples or setting up a quick meeting to align your referral approaches can prevent surprises. Freelancing Success Through CollaborationBuilding partnerships with complementary freelancers can expand your services, improve client satisfaction, and open doors to new opportunities. Cross-referrals create a reliable network that benefits both you and your clients. Through genuine collaboration with the right freelancers, you can strengthen your freelance business and satisfy more clients. View the full article

You can sell your products online in many marketplaces, and all these platforms benefit from SEO. From improving your photos to writing better product descriptions, on-page SEO is key if you want your product listings to rank in search. Table of contents What is marketplace SEO? On-page SEO for marketplaces Optimizing images Create great titles and meta descriptions Writing great product descriptions Using product specifications properly Implementing Schema markup Use Yoast SEO for Shopify Conclusion to marketplace SEO What is marketplace SEO? Marketplace SEO is about making a platform with many sellers — like Airbnb, Etsy, or Amazon — easy to find on search engines. It means improving product details, organizing the site well, and using customer reviews and content. Optimizing the listings on these platforms helps more people find the products and increases sales for everyone involved. For instance, Etsy gives store owners plenty of options to improve their product listings by writing detailed product descriptions or adding great images. As a result, every well-optimized, handcrafted item ranks in the search results. Similarly, Airbnb allows property owners to update their listings with local keywords so that they appear when users search for accommodations in specific areas. Effective marketplace SEO means that when someone searches for “vintage leather bags,” Etsy listings are among the top results. Or when a traveler looks for “secluded cabin in Vermont,” Airbnb’s optimized listings pop up. The result, of course, is to quickly connect marketplace buyers and sellers. An Airbnb listing appearing in a Google search for a key term On-page SEO for marketplaces You can use on-page SEO as a tool for marketplace SEO. Doing so directly impacts how easily potential customers find your listings. Take the time to optimize elements like titles, descriptions, and images. Ultimately, you’ll find that your marketplace listings will be more visible in search results. This visibility, of course, should hopefully lead to more clicks and more sales. When each page is optimized correctly, search engines better understand your content, which improves your rankings. This means your marketplace appears in front of the right audience at the right time. Optimizing images For marketplace SEO, you need good images to capture attention and show the quality of your products. If possible, make sure that your images are high-resolution and professionally shot. All your images should be relevant and showcase the product from more than one angle to give buyers a good feel for it. Add clear alt text like “handmade ceramic mug” to make your images more accessible and to help search engines recognize what the image shows. This improves the SEO of your marketplace listings and makes them more appealing to users who use speech-based browsers. Don’t forget to optimize the image itself. Compress files to maintain quality while reducing load times, as slow-loading images can drive users away. Tools like Squoosh can help with compression without losing quality. Ensure file names are descriptive and include keywords where appropriate, such as “organic-cotton-shirt.jpg,” to boost search visibility further. Great photography and branding make your products stand out Create great titles and meta descriptions Titles and meta descriptions can draw users from search engine results. Crafting an engaging title means more than just adding keywords; it should capture what the page is about. Keep it short but descriptive, like “Elegant Summer Dresses – Affordable Fashion Online.” This approach catches users’ attention and clearly tells them what to expect. Ensure the titles aren’t too long so they appear fully in search results without getting cut off. Descriptions provide more details about your listing. A good meta description should highlight features and benefits. It should also mention why people should click on your listing instead of your competitors. Here’s a good example: “Discover our range of elegant summer dresses crafted from breathable fabrics for comfort and style. Perfect for any occasion, at prices you’ll love.” This has all the keywords, and it speaks to the customer. Keep it short, accurate and engaging. Writing great product descriptions Product descriptions sell your products. If you want to sell your products, you must invest plenty of time in writing great product descriptions. Start by understanding your target audience and use those insights to address their needs and concerns. Write naturally and incorporate all the keywords you want the product to rank for. Many sellers simply list features, but explaining these in context is better. Here’s an example: “This eco-friendly bamboo toothbrush is designed for comfort and sustainability, reducing your carbon footprint while providing a gentle clean.” By writing this way, you set your products apart from your competitors. Another way to make your products stand out is through storytelling or vivid language that paints a picture. Here’s one: “Imagine sipping your morning coffee from this handcrafted ceramic mug, its unique glaze reflecting the artisan’s touch.” Instead of simply listing details, you appeal to the buyer’s emotions. This also offers a way to make the shopping experience more personal. Whatever you do, try to avoid using the text provided by the manufacturer, as these will be used on thousands of sites. Try to make it unique for you and your customers. An example of a good product description for an Etsy item Using product specifications properly You must list specifications to help customers decide if they want to buy this specific product. It’s important to list these product specifications with care. Make sure to present details such as product identifiers, dimensions, materials, weight, and compatibility in a way that’s easy to scan. This makes it easy for customers to find the information they need quickly. It also helps search engines index your content more effectively. Including specifications can give customers more confidence in buying the product, as they know exactly what they are purchasing. Additionally, think about the unique features that specifications can highlight. For instance, computer shoppers would love to know what kind of processor a laptop has. Shoppers use these details to compare products based on specific technical attributes. Where applicable, use bullet points to present data clearly and concisely. Implementing Schema markup You can’t live without a schema markup if you want to improve your marketplace SEO. Schema markup adds structured data to your products, which helps search engines understand and interpret your products. If you do it well, your products might get rich results, like added star ratings, pricing, and availability. For instance, an item with a product and reviews markup might show a 4.8-star rating and price directly in Google. These listings appeal to customers and could lead to a better CTR. If you want to add schema to your products, you need to use specific types of markup relevant to your marketplace, such as Product, Review, and Offer schemas. Tools like Yoast SEO can implement schema code for you automatically. Whatever you do, don’t forget to test your structured data to make sure it’s correctly implemented and up-to-date. Properly set up products with structured data will get rich results in Google Use Yoast SEO for Shopify Working on your online store can be tiresome, but luckily, there are tools to help you. Yoast SEO for Shopify is a great app that makes managing it much easier. It has content optimization features, AI tools for creating awesome titles and meta descriptions, and many schema enhancements. Together, these features help your store’s visibility in search Conclusion to marketplace SEO For your marketplace to succeed, you need on-page SEO. Work on product visibility and engagement by improving images, creating clear meta tags, and refining product details. Tools like Yoast SEO for Shopify simplify this process. These methods can attract more visitors and improve your marketplace’s performance. The post Marketplace SEO tips to improve product listing visibility appeared first on Yoast. View the full article

Social listening is the art and science of monitoring what your buyers and potential customers are saying about: Your brandYour competitorsTopics related to your product or serviceStaying “in the know” about all these simultaneously is no easy feat. This is where social listening tools come in. They help you monitor brand mentions on major social media platforms, identify emerging trends in your niche, and package these online conversations into actionable insights for your social media strategy. In this article, I’ll share a list of six social listening tools (with alternatives) to help you choose the best software for your needs. Quick summary of the 6 best social listening toolsClick on one of the tools below to jump to a section, or scroll for a big-picture overview in the table. AnswerThePublicExploding TopicsSparkToroMentionBrand24Brandwatch Social listening tools Best for Price Top features Alternatives AnswerThePublic Affordable social listening Free for 3 searches/day. Paid plans from $5/month for 100 searches. Understand audience search behaviors. Supports platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more. Organize and present research using high-res images or export as CSV. Google Alerts Answer Socrates Exploding Topics Finding trending topics Free plan available. Paid plans start at $39/month (billed annually). Spot trends before they go mainstream. Discover niche markets for your products. Receive trend alerts for emerging topics. Trendwatching TrendZeer SparkToro Deep audience insights Free plan for 5 searches/month. Paid plans start at $50/month. Understand audience interests and search behavior. Discover influencers and content preferences. Identify popular social media channels for your audience. BuzzSumo Talkwalker Mention Advanced analytics Starts at $49/month for up to 5,000 mentions. Track online conversations across multiple channels. Analyze sentiment of brand mentions. Compare your brand’s analytics with competitors. Keyhole Mentionlytics Brand24 Monitoring millions of online sources Starts at $149/month. Monitor mentions and detect negative sentiments. AI assistant for trend identification and actionable insights. Track media coverage across social media, news, blogs, and podcasts. Meltwater SentiOne Brandwatch Comprehensive tool for social media management and listening Pricing not publicly available. AI assistant for actionable insights. Access 1.7 trillion historical data points dating back to 2010. Upload custom data for monitoring trends. Awario Quid 6 top social listening tools in 2025The perfect social listening tools will help you track brand mentions and online conversations about your brand, competitors, and industry in the most relevant channels. Social media listening tools monitor social media conversations in major social networks. Some social listening tools extend this to include news sites, blogs, and forums. Which social listening tool you need depends on the channels your audience is most active in. For instance, you don’t need to invest in a social listening tool monitoring that tracks news sites if most of your buyers express their sentiments on social media. A social media listening tool would suffice in this instance. After you know which channels are the most important to you, it’ll be easier to narrow down the best social listening tools for your needs. 1. AnswerThePublicBest social listening tool for practicing affordable social listeningFree plan/trial: Free for three searches every day. You can also take a free 7-day trial of the paid plans. Price: Pricing starts at $5/month for 100 searches. Top features: Gain valuable insights about your audience by understanding what they’re searching forAvailable for major social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), search engines (Google, Bing), and third-party websites (Amazon)Organize your research into folders and present them beautifully using high-resolution images, pruning search results that aren’t relevant conversations, and exporting results to CSVAnswerThePublic is a website where you can enter a topic, your brand name, your competitor’s name, or your product to get valuable insights about the questions people are asking on your query. Let’s say you sell skincare products that cure acne, now this is what your potential buyers are asking, according to AnswerThePublic: Now, you can create content around all of these questions to answer your audience’s pesky queries. AnswerThePublic isn’t a fancy tool with all the bells and whistles, but it’s the perfect choice for beginners and for those on a tight budget. It can help you add social listening into your social media plan without overwhelming you with tons of features. Alternatives: You can set up Google Alerts as your social media monitoring tool to track relevant online conversations and stay up-to-date with your brand reputation. It’s also the easiest way to find trending topics in your niche.Answer Socrates is also a great alternative for AnswerThePublic, but it only monitors online conversations on Google. It combines valuable consumer insights from Google Alerts, too.2. Exploding TopicsBest social listening tool for finding trending topicsFree plan/trial: Free plan available with limited functions. All paid plans have a 14-day free trial for $1. Price: Plans start at $39/month, billed annually. Top features: Find trending topics before they go mainstreamDiscover lesser known markets where your product can be valuableTrend tracking and alerts to know when a product or topic is about to become popularExploding Topics is a social listening tool dedicated to helping you find trending topics. You can use it to spot new competitors before they’ve become popular or the pain points of your customers before your rivals catch on. With the database of Exploding Topics, they also claim to discover emerging trends before anyone else. Alternatives: Trendwatching is another AI powered social listening tool that can help you uncover trends before they become common knowledge. Trendwatching leans more toward consumer trends, while Exploding Topics has social listening data in everything – including social media platforms, online conversations, etc.TrendZeer can be a good alternative if you need a social listening tool with a free plan. It does pretty much everything that Exploding Topics does, but the UI & UX is a bit outdated.3. SparkToroBest social listening tool for getting deep insights about your audienceFree plan/trial: Free plan available for five searches per month. Price: Paid plans begin at $50/month. Top features: Uncover insights about what your audience is searching for and what they’re interested inDiscover the key influencers your audience follows and the content they consumeLearn which social media channels are popular amongst your audienceSparkToro is one of the best social listening tools for conducting audience research on your ideal customer profile. It can help you understand the channels your target audience is most active in, which keywords they’re searching for, what podcasts they’re listening to, and which subreddits they’re browsing. All you have to do is enter a website your audience visits frequently or type in a keyword they search for. SparkToro’s benefits go beyond social listening. It can help you gain valuable insights about your audience that can aid in improving everything from your social media campaigns to your overall marketing strategy. Alternatives: BuzzSumo is one of the best replacement social media listening tools for SparkToro. Its focus isn’t on audience intelligence but more on helping you track mentions of your brand, identify the latest industry trends, and monitor competitor strategies.Talwalker is also a great alternative to SparkToro as a social listening tool. It can help you safeguard your brand reputation by conducting a sentiment analysis, finding trending topics in your niche, and monitoring customer sentiment in online conversations. It’s acquired by the social media management platform Hootsuite, so you can also combine those two tools to implement your marketing strategy with a single tool.4. MentionBest social listening tool for advanced analyticsFree plan/trial: No free plans. 14-day free trial available on paid plans. Price: Plans start at $49/month for tracking up to 5,000 mentions. Top features: Tracks online conversations in different social media channels — including Facebook, X, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTubeGet a sentiment analysis of the positive and negative mentions of your brand onlineObtain in-depth social media analytics of your own brand compared to a competitorLet’s get one thing out of the way right away: Mention isn’t one of the beginner-friendly social media listening tools. It’s designed for social media managers who have dedicated resources to invest in social listening. Mention can help you set up alerts for specific keywords and you can get historical data on those keywords for up to two years. You can monitor the mentions of these keywords in news sites, blogs, forums, Reddit, review sites, and even Radio & TV in the highest-tier plan. Lastly, you can also find key influencers and media mentions of your brand, identify emerging trends, and generate a comparative report against your competitors. Alternatives: Keyhole is one of the best social media listening tools for advanced analytics, just like Mention. You can set up alerts for social media posts with brand mentions & industry keywords to practice a proactive sentiment analysis. Keyhole also spots industry trends so you can take advantage of topics while they’re popular.Mentionlytics is another popular AI powered social listening tool that can be a great alternative to Keyhole. It also analyzes social media conversations, helps you identify trending topics, and scans review sites to pinpoint any negative sentiment.5. Brand24Best social listening tool for monitoring millions of online sourcesFree plan/trial: No free plan. 14-day free trial on all paid plans. Price: Plans start at $149/month. Top features: Monitor brand mentions and detect negative sentiments to protect brand reputationAI powered assistant to help you identify emerging trends, gather actionable insights, and moreTrack media coverage across a wide variety of channels, including social media, news sites, podcasts, blogs, etc.Brand24 is one of the most comprehensive social listening tools in the market. It claims to monitor your brand mentions, industry keywords, etc., from over 25 million online sources — including social media, podcasts, newsletters, blogs, videos, and forums. The whole tool is AI powered, so you can get reliable and actionable insights in real time. You can even track the impact of your social media campaigns if you’ve used specific hashtags in them. Brand24 can also give Brandwatch a run for its money because it can help discover key influencers and assign them a score based on their impact. The biggest disadvantage of Brand24 is its price. To access the most prized features, you need to upgrade from the Individual plan to the Team or Pro plan. It mostly makes sense for agencies who can justify the cost of an investment of this range. Alternatives: Meltwater is the slightly more powerful (and costlier) alternative social listening tool for Brand24. Its online sources aren’t limited to social media channels and news sites. Like Brand24, it also includes podcasts and blogs. In fact, Meltwater also monitors brand mentions on TV and radio to help you get the full picture.SentiOne is a smaller version of Brand24 when it comes to social listening tools. SentiOne has over five million online sources and offers unlimited keyword monitoring.6. BrandwatchBest social listening tool for those who want social media management, influencer marketing, and social listening in one toolFree plan/trial: Not available. Price: Not publicly available. Top features: AI powered assistant — Iris — to turn the actionable insights you gather into an easy read1.7 trillion historical data — conversations that date back to 2010You can upload your own data to monitor trendsBrandwatch is a one-of-a-kind social media listening tool because it also offers a social media management software and an influencer marketing tool under its umbrella. So it should be no surprise that while its plans aren’t publicly available, it comes with a hefty price tag. Think of it as spending money on the convenience of combining three tools into one. Specific to its social listening tools, Brandwatch has a four-step process: Collect online conversations about your industry trends, keywords, and brand mentionsSegment it into categories like feedback, complaints, opinions, etc.Use Brandwatch’s AI powered abilities to conduct an overarching sentiment analysis of your categoriesEquip your marketing strategy with the insights you’ve gatheredBrandwatch’s UI can take a bit of a learning curve, but after that initial hump it’s all roses and data. Lots of data. Alternatives: Awario is one of the best social listening tools in the market and a good alternative to Brandwatch if you aren’t looking to combine social media management and influencer marketing features. Awario crawls 13 billion webpages daily (social and online data) to help you gain valuable insights about your potential customers.Quid also has a suite of AI powered products that make it one of the most powerful social listening tools. Quid Monitor can help you with social media monitoring, Quid Discover can help you uncover insights about your customers that are buried deep, and Quid Predict can help you spot trending topics.Your social listening strategy should include more than the top social listening toolsSocial listening appears simple on the surface: Find what customers are talking about. However, it takes more than a tool to keep up with the ever-changing expectations and pain points of your target audience. You have to use social listening tools in conjunction with real 1:1 customer conversations, staying part of relevant communities & forums, and having content sources to always have an ear to the ground. Looking to understand how you can add a social listening strategy to your overall marketing strategy? Read our guide on how to practice social listening. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. People are bouncing on yoga balls during Zoom calls I’m at an all-remote company. Zooms are our go-to. In the Zooms I organize, I prefer videos off and most people know that. (So I don’t have to do my hair or get distracted, and it just drains me so much!) Obviously I make exceptions where called for. But I’m at the mercy of others when I join their meetings, and a lot of them have videos on as a default. And a few of my coworkers have recently started bouncing on yoga balls and walking on walking pads throughout their meetings. This makes me feel ill/seasick! And, then I feel really irritated at them, unfairly, because they’re making the meeting more difficult for me. Will I seem overly nitpicky, grumpy, irritable if I ask them to just do videos off when they do this? I don’t have a medical condition like vertigo or anything. I’m one of the most senior execs in the company, FYI, and the people who do this are all my level or below. (None of them report to me directly.) As a senior exec, you absolutely have the standing to say, “Kudos to anyone choosing to exercise during this call, but please turn your camera off if that’s you. The movement is rough on the rest of us.” And if that doesn’t solve it, feel free to direct it to specific people — “Jane, can you turn your camera off, please? The activity is distracting.” Frankly, it’s obnoxious (and maybe a little performative?) that people aren’t figuring this out for themselves and need to be told, and I bet others on the call will be silently thanking you. You also probably won’t have to do this a ton; it’s the kind of message most people will retain after being told once. Related: is it unprofessional to take a Zoom call from a treadmill? 2. Employer wants to offer paid parental leave — but only for women My employer is thinking about joining the modern working era and offering paid parental leave. But … only to women. As you can imagine, the reception is mixed. On one hand, we’re excited to possibly finally have something. On the other, many staff feel like this devalues a) the role of fathers, b) the responsibility of men to care for their children and partners, and c) the role of women in the workplace generally (after all, why promote a woman who might need this leave when a man definitely won’t?). We’ve clarified that adoptive moms would qualify, so physical recovery is not the sole issue. The employer is hinting loudly that we should be grateful that he is doing “more than he legally has to” and that he might drop it entirely if we push too hard. Any thoughts on next steps? Well, it’s illegal. Offering different amounts of parental leave to male and female employees violates the federal law against sex discrimination (just like basing vacation leave or raises on sex would). It would be different if it were framed as “pregnancy leave” or otherwise linked to medical recovery, but it’s not. So: the strongest argument against this is that it’s illegal. Of course, if you point that out, your employer might drop the whole thing — so you should pair it with a strong lobbying effort by employees for a legal, gender-neutral parent leave policy. If you can show that your competitors offer that, that could help too. Related: my company is creating a paternity leave policy, but has no maternity leave 3. My company is ignoring my reimbursement form after laying me off I was laid off from a remote job in November 2024. I was told to ship my laptop back, given a paid shipping label and told to purchase packaging at the shipping store and submit a receipt for reimbursement. I submitted the form for reimbursement with a receipt the same day … then heard nothing. Every few weeks I would send an email asking about the reimbursement status and would hear nothing. On the emails I’ve included my manager, my manager’s manager, and the HR representative who handled my layoff. It’s been two months and no one replies to emails (which have all been cordial). The amount of money ($30) isn’t a big deal but I’m frustrated that I followed their directions and then they’re not honoring their commitment. Also them not reimbursing me after laying me off is just rude and petty! Any other ideas about what I can do? For context, I also signed an NDA so I probably can’t make a post on social media publicly calling anyone out. Stop emailing and call instead! Start with HR, and if that doesn’t work, call your manager, then your manager’s manager. If you get voicemail, leave a message explaining the situation; say that it’s been several months, and ask to get it handled ASAP. They should be replying to your emails and it’s rude that they haven’t, but one when method of communication isn’t working, moving to another will often solve it. (And who knows, it’s possible that emails from your personal email address are being filtered as spam or something. Probably not, but calling will solve it if that’s happening.) 4. Can my company completely change my job? I am an executive assistant at a remote-first organization. There is currently no requirement to come into our office, with the exception of our front desk staff (who belong to a separate department). I have been told confidentially that due to financial constraints, a plan is in place to lay off our front desk staff and require myself and another executive assistant to perform the duties usually performed by our front desk staff (in addition to our current duties). This change would mean that I would have a completely different role than what I was hired to do, not to mention what I see as the extreme burden of being one of the only employees in a remote organization with an in-office requirement, and the significant extra work. Can they legally do this? What can I do to resist this change, other than simply walking away from a job that I really don’t want to quit? We have a union in place, which I have been told I am unable to join due to the confidential nature of my job. Would appealing to the union anyway have any influence? They can legally change the requirements of your job. You can push back on that, of course — but ultimately they can make the change. The union probably won’t help since you’re not a member (unless they see benefit to their membership in some way, which isn’t impossible — you can certainly ask them and see). How much standing do you have at your job? Are you a highly valued employee who they don’t want to lose? Or even a reasonably valued one who they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of replacing? If you have a decent amount of standing, your best bet is to talk to your manager and say exactly what you said here — the change would leave you with a completely different job than the one you were hired for and significant additional burden — and that you’re strongly opposed to doing it. The trick with this kind of conversation is to walk a fine enough line that you’re not outright refusing or openly saying “I will quit over this” but leaving the strong implication that you are indeed highly likely to leave over it (maybe not on the spot, but soon). On the other hand, if you’re willing to openly say you’ll quit over it and are comfortable with whatever that results in (including “okay, we’ll be sorry to see you go but let’s set your last day”), go for it. There’s a possibility they’ll see this as an opportunity to hire a replacement who’s willing to do the new job, so this is all very dependent on how much capital you have there, how willing you are to walk away over it, how quickly you’d be willing to do that, and how much they’d care. If the other assistant affected by this is willing to do the same, that can give you additional power, particularly if she has capital of her own to spend. 5. What is a “director of first impressions”? I’m on the job market. I’ve been in higher ed. administration for years (also a teacher), and I’m done with it. All I want to do is help people, help an organization function well, get paid / treated decently, and stay with a good job until I retire, if ever. I’ve been on the market for roughly four months with little luck. I had one interview, which I think went well, but I didn’t get the position. Part of it, I think, is that I’m “overqualified” for the kind of role I’m looking for. The thing is, I don’t want to be in charge. I hate being in charge. I make an excellent assistant. But then I see job adverts for things like a “director of first impressions”: “The director of first impressions will play an important role in setting the tone for the organization. As the first person and last person clients see when they are in the office, the director of first impressions is instrumental in making sure clients have a positive experience. Ability to work in a high capacity, high intensity position is a must, while maintaining a joyful and diplomatic spirit. Multitasking is necessary also, as this position is characterized by spontaneity and being ready for any phone call or visit. You will be the direct source of office support leadership, while maintaining office supplies and managing the calendar.” Good lord. I don’t even know how to respond seriously to this. Is this a receptionist role? Okay, I can work with that. Director of first impressions? I cannot. Yep, it’s a receptionist role, with what sounds like some additional admin support thrown in. It’s a silly title, but it’s usually the sign of an organization trying to put a high premium on you making visitors and callers feel warmly welcomed and taken care of. As in, they’re not looking for the vibe visitors get at the DMV. The best way to approach it is to ignore the title and focus on the job duties. View the full article

Struggling to keep workloads balanced and maintain a steady output of work? Kanban is the answer. Here's how to make use of Kanban practices like work-in-progress limits and workflow visualization to measure and adjust team member capacity, meet deadlines, and keep stakeholders happy. The post Kanban Capacity Planning: 8 Steps For Balanced Workloads appeared first on The Digital Project Manager. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: A few years ago, I got a promotion in a different country. The organization I had previously worked at went through a re-structure and my position was eliminated. My good friend Suzie was promoted into a position that was very similar to my former position, but higher on the org chart and with more responsibility. We stayed in touch, mostly as friends, but with cheerleading and mentoring from the sidelines too. This role was a big jump in responsibility for Suzie; she essentially leapfrogged quite a few positions. Complicating matters is the fact that the organization is an incredibly toxic work environment. Decades of very poor decisions and bullying behavior from senior management means there is a lot of distrust and a real us vs. them culture. It is really not possible for someone in Suzie’s position to do much about the culture; without meaningful change from the board and higher-ups, things will not change. For these reasons, I knew that Suzie would have challenges, but she had worked for the org for a long time, knew what she was in for, and has always been confident in her abilities as a manager. Over the years, Suzie will sometimes call to vent, and I’ve always supported her. When she brought in a new policy that was not well received, I empathized; that group of employees never reacts to change well. You do the best you can to make everyone feel their complaints are heard, and then you tell them that the decision is made and they need to move on. When she needed to take some time off and “have a break” and people were grumbling about her taking PTO, I told her she deserved her PTO and should model a good work-life balance for her team. When she started to feel like everyone hated her and was always criticizing her, I told her not to worry; she’s the face of a problem culture, and she needs to just do her best to be fair and a good leader, and try not to take it personally when people who are traumatized and miserable can’t see her efforts. I thought my advice was solid, based on my knowledge of Suzie and the company. But I’ve just moved back to the city, and realized I’m quite off-base. I’ve heard from many former colleagues, and seen evidence myself, that Suzie is, well, a bit of a mess. She has made some appalling decisions and displayed really questionable judgement. That policy she made? She didn’t get any feedback before she created it or rolled it out, and it’s caused huge problems and slowed down processes across the org. When people try to raise it with her, they’re told “the decision has been made and they just need to move on.” That PTO she took? It was in the middle of a huge and important project. Pipelines got stuck because she wasn’t there to approve and give feedback, and hadn’t set up a contingency approval structure. Then to add insult to injury, she posted photos all over social media of herself at what was basically a sex festival. (No judgment of what she does in her spare time, but it’s not really a restful weekend, and posting it was very tone-deaf. It’s also really not aligned with the values of the org.) People are demonstrably more unhappy now than they were when I was there, and they feel their complaints are never heard or taken seriously. Many people have left, so those who are still there are burnt out and feeling incredibly unsupported. I realize I’ve contributed to the problem indirectly, because I’ve been Suzie’s champion and encouraged her decisions. My question is two-fold. First, what can I do from my position of unofficial mentor to get Suzie to be more aware of her actions, especially when she’s used to hearing nothing but encouragement from me? And secondly, how can I avoid this in the future? I realize now that whenever I give advice to people, it’s always based on their perspective of the issue, and I don’t have the nuance to give informed advice or opinions. To some extent this is always an issue with advice-giving; you’re only hearing one side of the story and it may be biased or missing important details. You can try to dig by asking questions like, “What do you think Person X’s perspective is, and why do you think they think that?” But some people will always be unreliable narrators and you won’t always be able to spot them. (Sometimes that’s intentional on their side; they want sympathy and support and so shape the way they tell the story to get that. Other times, people just don’t realize what details would be important to mention; we see that all the time in letters here.) When you give advice, you can caveat it with “There may be internal politics in your company that would change this” or “Based just on what you’re saying and without knowing the perspectives of other people involved” … but it’s never going to be perfect, because people are imperfect narrators. However! I do think it’s worth asking whether you leaned into supporting Suzie unconditionally without questioning her version of things at all. It’s really easy to do that when you know someone’s employer sucks; when management is incompetent, it makes it easy to assume they’re always wrong and the person you like is always right. Plus, you wanted to be supportive of a friend. But since you’re reassessing it now, you could look at whether you overlooked facts that should have jumped out more or if you dismissed things that didn’t sound quite right. If you realize that you did, that’s useful info for next time (with anyone, not just with Suzie). There’s also a question of whether you were trying to be more mentor than friend. A mentor does have a responsibility to not only cheerlead, but also to point out blind spots and nudge when someone’s perspective might benefit from a shift. Personally, I believe good friends should do that too … but with a casual friend, I don’t think you’re as obligated to do what can be fairly heavy lifting. Still, though, you don’t want to feel like you’ve encouraged bad decisions, which it sounds like is ultimately what happened here. So the takeaway might be to remind yourself that you never have the full scope of a story you’re hearing secondhand, that there might be other perspectives in play, and that most people can benefit from advice that encourages them to consider how someone else might tell the story. As for how to approach Suzie on all this now … one option is to start asking things like, “How do you think Person X would tell their side of it?” and “If you wanted to make your staff feel more heard, what would help?” and “What input are you getting internally on this?” And you can start saying things like, “I can’t say for sure that this is what’s going on, but it sounds to me like…” and “Hmmm, the other way to look at this is…” or “I was once struggling with this and it turned out I’d overlooked X.” Who knows, maybe she’ll find that helpful! But whether she does or doesn’t, I think you’ll feel like you’re engaging more responsibly with a situation that you now realize you don’t know as well as you thought! View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently had to fire a manager for a belligerent, profanity-laden outburst during a board meeting. He has not been doing his job and has been suspected to be drinking or have been drunk while working (although no proof). To further complicate things, his manager has not done his job by documenting the problems and is now pushing me to provide some sort of severance for good will. However, I feel we have a termination with cause for insubordination. What is your suggestion on whether we need to pay severance in this instance? He is talking to a lawyer regarding a possible hostile workplace or wrongful termination lawsuit. I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: My employee gave her puppy the same unusual name as a coworker’s new baby How can I see what I’ll have to sign as a new employee before I accept an offer? View the full article

Are there ways to add on other services? Of course. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Are there ways to add on other services? Of course. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Three ways to prepare. By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

Three ways to prepare. By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ There’s an increasing popularity in the freelance blogging profession these days. Many freelance bloggers earn an income by creating exemplary content or collaborating on social platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The thing is, success in the field needs technical knowledge, regular posting, ongoing activity, and effort. For this, the right inspiration, motivation, and tips are critical. So, how can you produce better content and blog posts nowadays? The answer is… just by using the right AI apps. 4 tips and AI apps for blogging and producing top content So, there are certain AI apps you can use as a freelance blogger to advance in your career and produce top content. No matter if you’re blogging on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube or need to handle blogging collaborations with ease, there are tips and apps you’ll be able to use. Handle blogging collaborations and meetingsIf you’re focusing on blogging collaborations (just as the well-known Earthrise and EarthPercent have successfully achieved with an Instagram collaboration post), you might need to take part in professional business meetings beforehand. Meetings can help you reach a more cogent outcome and stay on the same page. The blogging tip for this is to have access to information from your meetings. And Spellar AI can improve your productivity and access to information from meetings. I used this AI app and found it intuitive and simple to incorporate into my meeting process. It’s used to record your meetings and automatically summarize them into succinct passages of text. Beyond this, it also offers an Ask AI function that lets you ask specific questions about the meetings, such as “Was [TOPIC] mentioned?” This could help boost your freelance blogging results by getting accessible and succinct meeting notes from a client. Convert audio into reading materialA decision you might need to make when creating content for Instagram is whether to use Stories or a post. Now, Stories tend to last just one day, but posts will be around for much longer. This is why you might choose the latter: Create a post about the questions or points in an Instagram video by converting audio material into reading material. This is an easy process with the superwhisper AI app. You can use this for a meeting, but this could just have easily been thoughts transcribed into text for an Instagram post and would work well. Because as a Hubspot study found, 35% of users prefer Instagram Stories or posts with a mix of visuals and text. Send professional emailsProfessional collaboration is fundamental for any blogging career. One tip that can boost your blogging is that you might need to clarify briefs with a client, determine word counts with their support, and figure out content strategies with their help. This is going to require email collaboration in many cases and sounding professional with each email you send. But this doesn’t need to be difficult — you can do this with Ready to Send. It’s easy to send professional emails with this AI app because it generates them for you. This web app can integrate into your Gmail, so you’ll find it on the Gmail app. Make international connections by translating messagesNow, you might also want to complete your blogging projects and grow as a freelance blogger by considering international cooperation and posts. It takes blogging and your blogging career to a whole new level, extending your reach to new markets. In some cases, this will require communicating in a different language to set the goals for your collaborative blog posts. Fortunately, the MurmurType app makes this easy. This app will translate your messages into other languages, so you can record your message and convert it into text, then translate it. So, never again do you need to avoid an international blogging deal or skip conversations with international clients to clarify an international blog brief. Succeed in your freelance blogging career with AI appsThere’s a lot to focus on in your freelance blogging career: sending emails, producing posts, participating in meetings, sharing ideas, and more. That’s why you’ll want an efficient way to handle these challenges and succeed. AI apps are one answer to the question — “How to become a blogger?” and succeed in your career. It’s with apps for blogging that you can handle all the challenges, clarify briefs, attend meetings, and send messages to clients or collaborators. The best place to get these apps? Setapp has all of the ones listed in this article, and more. Take them for a test at no cost for seven days. Download these apps at Setapp and use our blogging tips to succeed in freelance blogging. View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ There’s an increasing popularity in the freelance blogging profession these days. Many freelance bloggers earn an income by creating exemplary content or collaborating on social platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The thing is, success in the field needs technical knowledge, regular posting, ongoing activity, and effort. For this, the right inspiration, motivation, and tips are critical. So, how can you produce better content and blog posts nowadays? The answer is… just by using the right AI apps. 4 tips and AI apps for blogging and producing top content So, there are certain AI apps you can use as a freelance blogger to advance in your career and produce top content. No matter if you’re blogging on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube or need to handle blogging collaborations with ease, there are tips and apps you’ll be able to use. Handle blogging collaborations and meetingsIf you’re focusing on blogging collaborations (just as the well-known Earthrise and EarthPercent have successfully achieved with an Instagram collaboration post), you might need to take part in professional business meetings beforehand. Meetings can help you reach a more cogent outcome and stay on the same page. The blogging tip for this is to have access to information from your meetings. And Spellar AI can improve your productivity and access to information from meetings. I used this AI app and found it intuitive and simple to incorporate into my meeting process. It’s used to record your meetings and automatically summarize them into succinct passages of text. Beyond this, it also offers an Ask AI function that lets you ask specific questions about the meetings, such as “Was [TOPIC] mentioned?” This could help boost your freelance blogging results by getting accessible and succinct meeting notes from a client. Convert audio into reading materialA decision you might need to make when creating content for Instagram is whether to use Stories or a post. Now, Stories tend to last just one day, but posts will be around for much longer. This is why you might choose the latter: Create a post about the questions or points in an Instagram video by converting audio material into reading material. This is an easy process with the superwhisper AI app. You can use this for a meeting, but this could just have easily been thoughts transcribed into text for an Instagram post and would work well. Because as a Hubspot study found, 35% of users prefer Instagram Stories or posts with a mix of visuals and text. Send professional emailsProfessional collaboration is fundamental for any blogging career. One tip that can boost your blogging is that you might need to clarify briefs with a client, determine word counts with their support, and figure out content strategies with their help. This is going to require email collaboration in many cases and sounding professional with each email you send. But this doesn’t need to be difficult — you can do this with Ready to Send. It’s easy to send professional emails with this AI app because it generates them for you. This web app can integrate into your Gmail, so you’ll find it on the Gmail app. Make international connections by translating messagesNow, you might also want to complete your blogging projects and grow as a freelance blogger by considering international cooperation and posts. It takes blogging and your blogging career to a whole new level, extending your reach to new markets. In some cases, this will require communicating in a different language to set the goals for your collaborative blog posts. Fortunately, the MurmurType app makes this easy. This app will translate your messages into other languages, so you can record your message and convert it into text, then translate it. So, never again do you need to avoid an international blogging deal or skip conversations with international clients to clarify an international blog brief. Succeed in your freelance blogging career with AI appsThere’s a lot to focus on in your freelance blogging career: sending emails, producing posts, participating in meetings, sharing ideas, and more. That’s why you’ll want an efficient way to handle these challenges and succeed. AI apps are one answer to the question — “How to become a blogger?” and succeed in your career. It’s with apps for blogging that you can handle all the challenges, clarify briefs, attend meetings, and send messages to clients or collaborators. The best place to get these apps? Setapp has all of the ones listed in this article, and more. Take them for a test at no cost for seven days. Download these apps at Setapp and use our blogging tips to succeed in freelance blogging. View the full article

A State-by-State Guide to Careers in Project Management The post The Best and Worst States for Project Management Jobs in 2025 appeared first on The Digital Project Manager. View the full article

Have questions about Aflac? Attend our informational session on 2/11/25 to learn more! RSVP HERE Life is unpredictable, and unexpected health events can put a strain on even the most carefully managed budgets. As part of our commitment to supporting independent workers, we’ve partnered with Aflac to create a group plan to provide you access to their supplemental insurance plans at a lower cost. These plans provide an added layer of financial protection, helping you and your family navigate challenging times without added stress. Aflac is not health insurance, but supplemental benefits that offer you financial assistance for medical situations. Based on the plan you choose, Aflac will directly provide you with cash benefits for events like annual health screenings ($50 under the Critical Illness plan) or visiting an Urgent Care Facility without X-ray ($150 under the Accident plan). By joining the Freelancers Union group plan, our members are able to access lower monthly rates than other individual plans currently available. Accident Insurance:Accidents can happen anywhere, from a slip on the stairs to an unexpected injury. Aflac’s group accident insurance offers financial support for out-of-pocket expenses like emergency room visits, X-rays, and follow-up care. Benefits are paid directly to you, so you can focus on healing without worrying about the bills. Some of the accident plan benefits include $300 for Ground Ambulance transportation (within 90 days after the accident) and $150 for a CT/CAT Scan (1 per accident, within 6 months after the accident). Hospitalization Insurance:Hospital stays often bring unexpected costs, even with health insurance. Aflac’s hospitalization plan helps cover expenses such as deductibles, co-pays, and other gaps in coverage. Whether it’s for planned surgery or an unforeseen illness, this plan provides financial stability while you prioritize your health. Critical Illness Insurance:A diagnosis of cancer, heart disease, or another serious condition can be overwhelming—both emotionally and financially. Aflac’s critical illness plan offers a lump-sum payment to help cover medical and non-medical costs, including treatment, household expenses, and even travel for specialized care. The critical illness plan offers a $50 benefit for an annual health screening performed as the result of preventative care (for member & spouse only) in addition to 100% of benefits (up to $30,000) for specified diseases like (internal or invasive) cancer, heart attack, stroke, & more. These plans are designed to complement your health insurance by offering direct financial benefits when you need them most. At Freelancers Union, we’re proud to provide access to these resources so you can focus on what matters most, your health and well-being. Learn more about these plans and how to enroll at: https://freelancersunion.org/aflac/ View the full article

Have questions about Aflac? Attend our informational session on 2/11/25 to learn more! RSVP HERE Life is unpredictable, and unexpected health events can put a strain on even the most carefully managed budgets. As part of our commitment to supporting independent workers, we’ve partnered with Aflac to create a group plan to provide you access to their supplemental insurance plans at a lower cost. These plans provide an added layer of financial protection, helping you and your family navigate challenging times without added stress. Aflac is not health insurance, but supplemental benefits that offer you financial assistance for medical situations. Based on the plan you choose, Aflac will directly provide you with cash benefits for events like annual health screenings ($50 under the Critical Illness plan) or visiting an Urgent Care Facility without X-ray ($150 under the Accident plan). By joining the Freelancers Union group plan, our members are able to access lower monthly rates than other individual plans currently available. Accident Insurance:Accidents can happen anywhere, from a slip on the stairs to an unexpected injury. Aflac’s group accident insurance offers financial support for out-of-pocket expenses like emergency room visits, X-rays, and follow-up care. Benefits are paid directly to you, so you can focus on healing without worrying about the bills. Some of the accident plan benefits include $300 for Ground Ambulance transportation (within 90 days after the accident) and $150 for a CT/CAT Scan (1 per accident, within 6 months after the accident). Hospitalization Insurance:Hospital stays often bring unexpected costs, even with health insurance. Aflac’s hospitalization plan helps cover expenses such as deductibles, co-pays, and other gaps in coverage. Whether it’s for planned surgery or an unforeseen illness, this plan provides financial stability while you prioritize your health. Critical Illness Insurance:A diagnosis of cancer, heart disease, or another serious condition can be overwhelming—both emotionally and financially. Aflac’s critical illness plan offers a lump-sum payment to help cover medical and non-medical costs, including treatment, household expenses, and even travel for specialized care. The critical illness plan offers a $50 benefit for an annual health screening performed as the result of preventative care (for member & spouse only) in addition to 100% of benefits (up to $30,000) for specified diseases like (internal or invasive) cancer, heart attack, stroke, & more. These plans are designed to complement your health insurance by offering direct financial benefits when you need them most. At Freelancers Union, we’re proud to provide access to these resources so you can focus on what matters most, your health and well-being. Learn more about these plans and how to enroll at: https://freelancersunion.org/aflac/ View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: In 2020, due to the pandemic, my entire company started to work from home. I enjoyed a much better work-life balance and know many others did too, especially because so many people moved further away for more space. Sadly, we’ve been asked to come back into the office. At first it was a loose mandate, so people did it sparsely. I co-lead our department of 13 people with my boss, and at first we were pretty chill about it. Then the CEO started wanting people in three days a week, minimum. This caused backlash among the departments. We decided to try two days to try to be in the middle. We thought it was working well and had it going for a year, but with other departments doing their own thing too it became a problem. Some did the three days, while some did just one day. Recently, the CEO — upon hearing Amazon mandated everyone back in-office — sent an email: “Come in Tuesday – Thursday.” So we’ve told everyone the time has come to really stick to it. And it’s been … not great. We had a meeting to say we understand this isn’t what people want, so in an attempt to be flexible — because some people have meetings with international regions, which make some days really bad to come in when they’re on calls from 8 am until noon — we’ll let people come in other days, as long as it’s three days. Well, that hasn’t really happened. Local staff are rarely doing three days. Some reasons are understandable: they’re sick and don’t want others to get sick, children-related, pet emergencies, etc. But it’s getting to a point where the CEO is going to feel we’re disrespecting his mandate, and boom it’ll be a mandate for five days. Our HR head is checking our key entries. We got a list last week. This is a constant hot topic in senior leadership. The old-school people think if we did five days a week in the office before, we should be able to do it again. Others, like me, feel it’s a step backwards to not see the benefits of flexibility or permanent WFH. Our jobs are very hard. I’ve never worked as hard as I’ve had to this past year, due to layoffs and terrible clients. It’s so demoralizing working until 11 pm sometimes and still be expected to be cheery the next morning in-office for the benefit of an out-of-touch CEO. He’s one of those “if I don’t see you working, are you working?” people. Plus, when we’re in the office, we all seclude to rooms for non-stop meetings. However, if I’m being honest, I do think some of our staff are too comfortable. Some don’t even show up in the office or give a reason. We feel a bit stuck. If we bring it up again, people will again spit out the reasons for opposing it. I do think some of those reasons are reasonable! And I also think some people are taking some advantage. I don’t want to care about this. Our team is built of highly functional workers. Many live so far that the commute is really bad (we do let people leave when they want so they can beat traffic). It’s really about tapping that key card for optics. And unfortunately there’s no “can you talk to people above again?” It’s been a discussion for three years now and in the end, what the CEO says goes. The answer is in your last sentence: in the end, this is the CEO’s call. As part of the senior management team, you can try to convince him that it’s in the company’s best interest to allow more work from home, but ultimately it’s his call — and it’s your job to be forthright with your team about that reality. I do think it’s worth coming to terms with what sound like some previous missteps. If the CEO wanted people in the office three days and your team compromised on two but even that wasn’t enforced and you’ve had employees not showing up at all and you thought some people were being too lax but you didn’t address it … well, it’s not surprising that your CEO is now responding with a firmer mandate. That’s not to say the CEO is right. For all I know, he might be; I don’t know your business or how hybrid work has played out there. And it’s possible it’s working for your team but affecting other employees in ways you don’t see (in particular, junior employees who are missing out on the learning by osmosis that happens when they share space with more experienced employees). But he certainly wouldn’t be the first CEO to cling to an old way of operating because that’s what he’s comfortable with, without recognizing that the workforce has changed, or that what technology makes possible has changed, or that what top talent in your field will demand has changed. And it makes sense to lay out for him your understanding of how a return-to-office mandate will affect the company’s operations. If you believe you’ll lose good people, struggle to hire the candidates you want, and generally be less effective as a result, you absolutely should present that case. But it sounds like you’ve done that, he’s heard you, and he’s still making a different call. Which he gets to do. If that’s the point you’re at, all you can do is to be very transparent with your team about the situation — about what’s being required, how much flexibility there is and isn’t, and the consequences if they flout that — and that it’s not about whether they’re right or not, but about what your company will and won’t allow. However, in order to do that, you need management above you to be clear about what consequences they’re truly prepared to enforce. If that conversation hasn’t been had yet, it needs to happen soon, so that you’re not managing blind. And who knows, maybe it’ll turn out that the CEO isn’t prepared to fire people who won’t comply, in which case you can decide whether you’re willing to just keep existing in a state of tension with him over it indefinitely and what that would mean for you/your team. But it sounds like it’s time to call the question: he wants everyone back in the office, people aren’t willing to do it … so now what? He needs to make that call, and then the answers for how you proceed will stem from that. View the full article

Your due diligence must meet the challenge. Quick Tax Tip With Art Werner CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Art Werner. View the full article

Your due diligence must meet the challenge. Quick Tax Tip With Art Werner CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Art Werner. View the full article

There’s no two ways about it: video is the way people prefer to consume content in 2025. Buffer’s data shows that when it comes to social media platforms video outperforms every other type of content by a landslide — and that’s on all platforms. Whether you’re a social media marketer, content creator, or influencer, video content should be a key part of your growth and marketing strategy. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Video creation requires a lot more input (though the proof really is in the pudding). Often, the biggest hurdle to overcome is video editing — but in 2025, there’s really no reason to let this block you. Thanks to the incredible variety of free video editing software options on the market, editing your videos is now easier than ever. Thanks to templates, transcript editing, AI, and a host of other nifty features, editing your videos can now be — dare I say it? — fun! With all that in mind, here’s a guide to the best video editing software for creators, marketers, and small business owners. I've curated separate lists of paid and free video editors, though, in many cases, the tools offer both limited free versions and more feature-rich paid versions. Only the tools with substantial free offerings are included in the free video editing software list. Many of these tools also come with advanced features that cater to both beginners and professionals, so there's a suitable option here no matter your skill level. Let's dig in. 🚀Give your videos the best possible chance of success — schedule them videos across multiple platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, in one go with Buffer. Here's how →Best free video editing softwareMost of the video editors in this list do have paid plans that come with additional benefits, but they made this list because their free plans are comprehensive and powerful — so you don’t need to spend a cent to use them. Some of these tools are completely free, offering a full suite of features without any restrictions or watermarks. 1. CapCutIt still breaks my brain a little that most of CapCut’s best features are 100 percent free. With both a powerful app, browser, and desktop version that it’s relatively easy to toggle between, CapCut is a no-brainer if you’re creating videos for social media. In my experience, it’s the best video editing software for beginner to intermediate editors. The mostly free video editor is especially handy for TikTok. The two apps pair beautifully, thanks to the fact that they’re both owned by ByteDance. You can even add some trending TikTok sounds right in CapCut before exporting or sharing directly to TikTok (you’ll just need to save the audio in TikTok and log into CapCut with your TikTok account). As far as I know, it's the only free video editor that allows this. When it comes to editing itself, CapCut is intuitive and easy to learn. It offers an eye-popping variety of fonts, effects, stickers, and transitions to choose from, along with a superb caption auto generator. More advanced users will love CapCut, too, thanks to some really in-depth editing options like voice isolation and enhancements, color adjustments, and more. Note that some of these features are only available on the paid plan, but at $7.99 per month, it’s still one of the more affordable options out there. Pro tip: I find video editing a little easier to do on my computer than on my phone, but if you go that route, do go the extra mile and download the desktop version of CapCut to access all the best features. CapCut’s online video editor isn’t quite as powerful and user-friendly. Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $9.99 per month 2. Clipchamp CreateClipchamp Create, which replaced Windows Movie Maker, is one of the most generous free online video editing tools I’ve found in my research. If you have a Windows PC, you’ll find the free video editing software pre-downloaded on your computer. If you’re a Mac user, fear not — you can use it in your browser. The free plan lets you create unlimited video projects, gives you access to all basic editing tools, and allows you to export your videos in 480p output resolution without a watermark. (A watermark will be present if you use stock footage, though.) You could upgrade to Premium or higher to gain access to its stock library and download your videos at better resolutions. If you’re recording voiceovers or filming yourself, Clipchamp’s Speaker Coach is a unique plus. It’ll help you track your pace, pitch, and filler words and offer tips and tricks to improve your presentation skills. Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $9 per month. 3. CanvaFor simple edits, Canva is one of the best free video editing software options out there. What the video editor lacks in editing capabilities, it makes up for in beautiful, ready-made video templates. The clip editing itself in Canva is basic — you can trip, cut, and rearrange videos, but not layer things over each other (if, say, you wanted to split the audio from your video track and use it as a voiceover). Still, there’s probably a template ready and waiting in their vast template library that will be a good fit for your project. Adding your own photos or clips is as simple as dragging and dropping them into the editor. This tool is great, a fuss-free option for beginner video editors, and is particularly handy if you’re looking to turn some photos into a video. Price: Free plan, with paid options starting at $15 per user per month. 4. DaVinci ResolveIf you’re looking for a tool to create great TikToks, Shorts, or Reels, DaVinci Resolve is probably not for you. But if you’re looking to create super slick, high-production videos for YouTube or even create your own documentary (why not?), DaVinci Resolve is tough to beat. There’s a reason this free video editor is a favorite of both professional YouTubers and Hollywood producers — or rather, many reasons: it combines editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics, and audio post-production in a single tool. While this particular free video editing software is not as easy to learn as, say, Canva, DaVinci Resolve is relatively user-friendly. If you’re a marketer or creator looking to add ‘professional video editing’ to your skillset, a couple of hours playing around with Resolve will be time well spent. And yes, I did say free. Some DaVinci Resolve features are exclusive to their paid ‘Studio’ plan, though most will only be necessary for entire production teams. Also, you’ll only be able to export videos in Ultra HD for free. Still, that means a whopping 3840 x 2610 — much higher than most of the free video editors on this list. That said, DaVinci Resolve is a hefty program and will require a decent computer to run. For Windows, that means at least Windows 10, 16GB of memory, and an integrated GPU. On Mac, that’s MacOS 11 or higher, 8GB system memory, and an integrated GPU. Price: Free. The more advanced paid version, Davinci Resolve Studio, costs $295. 5. Adobe Creative Cloud ExpressPhoto: Adobe.comAdobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) provides multiple storyboards, layouts, and themes to help you create amazing videos. The largely free video editor is a powerful Canva alternative (and it pairs well with one of my favorite free AI image generators, Adobe Firefly, which is a point in its favor). Like Canva, templates are the name of the game here, and video layering options are limited. However, the template options are varied and unique and won’t have that tell-tale “I made this in Canva” feel some folks will know all too well. Some premium templates, stock photos, and videos will only be available on the paid plan (though you can use them if you don’t mind exporting with a watermark). Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $11.99 monthly. 6. Descript Descript is the video editing tool that works like a text editor (seriously, if you hate editing videos, give this one a bash.) Descript was one of the first video editing software options to market with transcript-based editing. In a nutshell, this means Descript auto-generates a transcript for your video, which you can then edit as if you were working on a text document. Whatever text you delete, trim, or move around reflects in the video file, too. Neat, right? It can take a bit of practice to get right, but it’s great when it comes to editing chatter-heavy videos and audio files, this can be a huge time-saver. In my opinion, Descript is one of the best video editing software for podcasts. Technically, you can use some of Descript’s best features for free. With its $0 per month starter plan, you can edit up to 60 minutes of content and remove filler words, but you’ll only be able to export one video without a watermark per month. Price: Limited free plan, with paid options starting at $19 per month. 7. iMovieiMovie is Apple’s native video editor, available for free on Macs, iPhones, and iPads. It’s a great entry-level option, and what it lacks in advanced editing capabilities, it makes up for with pure ease of use. ‘Storyboards’ mode offers a selection of templates with styles based on your use case — think things like “Gaming,” Makeover,” or “Q&A” — and even a Magic Movie mode, which will automatically turn your photos into a movie in seconds. If you’re a complete beginner and a bit intimidated by video editing tools, it might be worthwhile to play around with iMovie before moving on to one of the more robust options on this list. Price: Free on Mac and iOS. ⚡On the hunt for more AI features? Check out our list of the best AI video editors.Best paid video editing softwareOnce again, you'll find some options on this list that do have free plans, though I found their paid options worth paying for. 1. CapCut ProCapcut again? Sorry, I just had to. Capcut's Pro plan makes it one of the best video editing software options. The paid version of the video editor grants users access to an expanded library of fonts, animations, and other effects, plus handy features like retouching effects (helpful if you don’t fancy applying a full face of makeup to look put-together in your videos), enhanced background removal tools, and vocal enhancements. Price: Paid plans start at $9.99 per month. 2. Veed.ioVeed is a fast and easy online video editor that boasts the power of templates and some robust video editing tools. It’s also brilliant for auto-generating captions and has a handy library of sound effects and music to help you add a little extra pizazz to your work. Veed's features set it apart from other similar video editors on this list, including in-app screen and webcam recording and (rather terrifyingly) realistic AI avatars that will read your script for you. There is a free plan available, but once again you’ll only be able to export videos with a Veed watermark. Price: Paid plans start at $19 per month. 3. CapsuleCapsule is one of the newer video editors on the block, and offers similar tools to the likes of Veed and Kapwing. Its USP, however, is making it easy for marketing teams — even those without pro video editing skills — to collaborate and stick to brand guidelines. The online video editor features all the bells and whistles of other popular tools, with things like transcript-based editing, auto-resizing, and lightweight animations. There’s also an AI co-producer that will create auto-jump cuts, clean up dialogue, and more. That said, it’s on the pricier end at $99 per month. There is a free plan you can use to put it to the test, which will allow you to use pretty much all the tools in their professional plan, though you’re limited to three videos (in total, not per month). Price: You'll need to speak to a sales consultant for pricing, though there is a limited free plan. 4. InShotInShot is an app that allows you to trim, speed up, or add music, filters, and fun effects to video. The mobile app is pretty simple and features are limited, but seriously easy to use. It also allows users to edit videos, photos, and create image collages. If you’re creating videos exclusively for social and mostly just want to string clips together and make them look fun and interesting, InShot is a solid option. You can do neat things like create video collages, remove backgrounds, add doodles, and loads more. One could technically count InShot among the free video editing apps, as you can download and use it to edit videos without paying. However, your videos will be exported with a watermark. Perhaps more frustrating in the free version, though, is the unskippable ads. Price: Limited free plan with paid plans starting at $3.99 per month. 5. KapwingKapwing is another simple drag-and-drop video editor that offers much of the same thing already mentioned above — templates, transcript editing, filler word remover, AI, more. It’s perhaps best described as a leveled-up version of Canva or a slicker version of CapCut. One notable feature is a content repurposing tool that automatically finds key moments in long-form videos and repurposes them into highlight clips. There’s also the ability to work together on a project with your teammates in real-time, a bit like you can in design tool Figma. Almost all of Kapwing’s best features are available for free, but you can only export watermarked videos. Pricing: Free with watermarks, with plans starting at $24 per month. 6. Adobe Premiere ProAdobe Premier Pro is one of the video editor heavyweights, boasting the kind of feature set that will help you edit everything from TV series to documentaries (should you feel so inclined). Available for Windows and Mac users, Premier Pro comes with a steep learning curve and is not for the casual creator. It’s more regularly updated and integration-friendly than its Mac-only counterpart, FinalCut Pro (below). Price: $22.99 per month, though there are bundle options available with other Adobe products that may give you more bang for your buck. FinalCut ProFinalCut Pro is another professional tool, once lauded as the gold standard of video editors. It’s likely the tool used to edit your favorite blockbuster movies, thanks to its special effects features and faster rendering times. It comes with a caveat, though — it’s exclusive Mac video editing software, and only available to users in the Apple ecosystem. Price: $299.99 to own. 8. FilmoraGoWondershare FilmoraGo is one of the OG simple video editing tools. It’s been around for years, but has kept pace with new tech and trends to make it a strong contender on this list. Besides the usual features such as themes, text, and transitions, it also offers a range of video editing features — trim/split, ratio/crop, speed control, reverse, voice-over, audio mixer, and picture-in-picture. The AI tools are fun to play around with, too — there’s an AI image generator, AI text-based editing, and an AI Copilot to guide you as you edit video, among others. Another handy point in Filmora’s favor is that it’s easy to work on projects both on your computer and phone — the online video editor, app, and desktop versions make it easy to toggle between the two. You can use some of the video editor features for free, but you can only export videos with a watermark. Price: Starts at $29.99 quarterly, though there is a limited free version. Maximize your video reachNo matter how simple the video editor is, creating and editing social media videos takes a lot of time and effort — which is why it makes sense to ensure they have the highest impact possible. Buffer makes it easy to work smarter, not harder with your videos, helping you easily cross-post them to TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and more. Here's how → If we missed your favorite free video editor, let us know on all major social platforms @buffer! View the full article

OOKLA says both Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile have been highly succesful in using Wi-Fi to boost mobile speeds. The post New data: Spectrum Mobile & Xfinity Mobile boost service speeds with Wi-Fi appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article

OOKLA says both Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile have been highly succesful in using Wi-Fi to boost mobile speeds. The post New data: Spectrum Mobile & Xfinity Mobile boost service speeds with Wi-Fi appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article