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Bonus: No college degree required. You can acquire any of these in-demand skills through alternative means. Here’s a look at some of the most sought-after skills in today’s market. They don’t require a college degree and we’ll talk about how you can put them to use in your career as well.

5 In-Demand Skills

1. Digital Marketing: We’re at a point where, without an online presence, a business is gonna appear pretty suspect. You can learn the ropes of digital marketing, SEO, social media management, and email marketing through online courses, workshops, and self-study. This is a skill you can offer in tandem with other services when applicable to help companies expand their online reach, boost brand visibility, and drive sales.
2. Graphic Design: Graphic design is an essential skill in marketing, advertising, and the creative industries. Many aspiring designers learn through online courses, YouTube tutorials, and practice. With a good eye for design, you can create visually appealing content for websites, social media, advertisements, and even print media.
3. Data Analysis: Data is invaluable for businesses looking to make informed decisions. Learning data analysis tools such as Excel, SQL, or data visualization software can be done through online courses and resources. As a data analyst, you can work in various industries, helping organizations interpret data and make data-driven decisions.
4. Content Creation and Writing: If you have a flair for writing, content creation offers numerous opportunities. Start a blog, freelance as a content writer, or create engaging videos on platforms like YouTube. With quality content, you can build an audience, collaborate with brands, and even monetize your online presence.
5. Cybersecurity: With the rise of cyber threats, cybersecurity professionals are in high demand. You can acquire cybersecurity skills through online courses, certifications, and hands-on practice. As a cybersecurity specialist, you’ll protect organizations from cyberattacks and ensure the security of their digital assets.

The Bottom Line

Once you’ve acquired these in-demand skills, it’s essential to put them to use effectively in your career by creating an online portfolio ready to share, continue polishing up on your skills, and gaining certifications (if necessary). The modern job market democratizes many aspects of business and you can brush up on these in-demand skills without the need for a traditional college degree. You can leverage these skills to carve a successful and fulfilling career path in today’s dynamic workforce.

Most companies go to great lengths to set up ethical and legally sound practices for nearly every aspect of their business. They’ll have lawyers involved in their contracts and accountants monitoring every penny that passes through their channels. Still, there’s one area where we often see otherwise-diligent companies fall short because they mistakenly think it’s worth the risks: worker classification and compliance. We’ll talk about why it happens, why it could cost a business deals, and how to shore up this aspect of your business.

The Unjustifiable Cost of Inaction/Lax Compliance Policies

In short: because Business A was lax in its business practices, Large Company B was found guilty by association in the court of public opinion.

If you commit a compliance violation that lands your affiliates in hot water, it tarnishes all parties’ reputations and can deter top-tier clients and investors from doing business with you. Businesses that prioritize accurate worker classification and compliance practices demonstrate their commitment to ethical and legal practices, which can be a significant selling point. The big dogs don’t want to run with someone that could compromise their standing.

Engaging The Right Partners Protects You And Your Affiliates

For many companies, especially those that engage a contingent workforce, an Employer of Record (EOR) is a critical entity that helps manage employment-related responsibilities such as payroll, benefits, and tax withholding. An EOR takes on most of the risk of ensuring compliance with labor laws, tax regulations, and worker classification standards on their clients’ behalf. To secure top-tier clients and protect your reputation, your business should prioritize compliance and worker classification standards. Wouldn’t you rather know that your affiliates will be found “safe, sound and compliant by association” instead of guilty?

The Bottom Line

Taking care in how you approach hiring/paying workers and investing any necessary resources to make sure you’re compliant with applicable regulations protects all involved parties. Maintaining compliance and worker classification standards is not just a legal obligation, but a strategic advantage. As a fundamental element of long-term business success, accurate worker classification and compliant practices deserve every business’s attention. Have questions? We’re here for you!

When done well, hybrid events combine the best of both in-person and virtual experiences and can bridge geographical gaps, engage diverse audiences, and amplify your reach and impact. But of course we know they aren’t all done well. Have you ever attended a virtual event that was little more than a one-angle live stream? That’s just not effective. Orchestrating a successful hybrid event requires extra work up front because you are, in essence, planning two events. In order to make it worthwhile, you really do need to plan a custom experience to accommodate both virtual and in-person dynamics.

Here Are 8 Key Strategies For Producing an Effective Hybrid Event

Define Your Objective And Ask Yourself The Right Questions

Before you make any other decisions, you should clearly define your objectives and ask yourself the right questions. Your answers to these questions will guide the rest of your decision-making, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. Consider whether you are aiming to increase brand visibility, foster networking, or deliver educational content. From there, you can address how long your sessions will run, how many sessions you will host per day, and whether you will you have different sessions for virtual versus in-person attendees. For example, will you be hosting an in-person networking session that virtual attendees won’t experience? You can also consider whether you want to offer on-site perks like exclusive networking events, face-to-face interactions, and hands-on activities.

Choose Your Technology

It may seem overwhelming to essentially plan two events, but your technology partner can help immensely. Invest in virtual event software that offers live streaming, interactive Q&A sessions, virtual exhibitor booths, and networking lounges. Ensure that the technology seamlessly integrates the two experiences and provides a user-friendly interface for both in-person attendees and virtual participants. The tech has evolved to meet this demand, so you’re in luck!

Design Your Content

This may seem like the logical place to start, but having your above considerations in place allows you to create captivating content that meets your objectives and also works from a technology standpoint.  Craft a well-balanced agenda that includes keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and interactive sessions. Leverage technology to provide virtual participants access to real-time content, while also incorporating interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and live chats. Encourage both audiences to submit questions and answer poll topics and provide outlets for them to interact with one another. Create opportunities for both in-person and virtual breakout sessions, so both have an opportunity to build community.

Tailor The Experience

A successful hybrid event hinges on catering to both in-person and virtual attendees and also integrating the two components. Ensure that the transition between the two is smooth by synchronizing schedules, coordinating speakers, and managing technical aspects effectively. Test all technology in advance to avoid any glitches during the event.

Provide Networking Opportunities

One of the best part of conferences and events is the networking and providing networking opportunities between both groups will be a major perk to your attendees. Facilitate networking by providing tools such as virtual meet-and-greets, and networking lounges. Encourage interactions among both groups, fostering connections that transcend physical boundaries.

Engage Virtual Participants

Keeping virtual participants engaged requires extra effort. Chances are, you’ve already attended something online where it was clear that the virtual experience was an afterthought. You might get something out of it, but there’s no doubt you could’ve gotten more if the virtual experience received equal consideration. Use techniques like gamification, live polls, and social media interactions to maintain virtual attendees’ attention and give them a worthwhile experience.

Consider Post-Event Engagement

Extend the impact of your hybrid event by maintaining engagement after it concludes. Provide on-demand access to event recordings, presentation materials, and other relevant resources. Encourage attendees to continue conversations on online platforms, fostering a sense of community that lasts beyond the event itself.

Gather Feedback and Analyze Data

Collect feedback from both in-person and virtual attendees to gain insights into their experiences. Analyze data on attendance, engagement, and interaction patterns to measure the success of different elements of your event. This information will be invaluable for refining your strategy for future hybrid events.

The Bottom Line

Your next hybrid event is a great opportunity to embrace the fusion of physical and digital realms. It can be a powerful tool for engagement, connectivity, and knowledge sharing. By setting clear objectives, leveraging technology, tailoring experiences, and prioritizing engagement, you can produce a hybrid event that maximizes its impact on both in-person and virtual attendees. The effort is worth it and one thing is for sure: When you wrap on a well-constructed hybrid event, you’ll earn any celebration you see fit and a good night’s sleep.

I love a good deal as much as any other Goodr-clad, middle-aged mom out there, but there are some cheap things I just won’t fork over any amount of money for. They just end up being too expensive.

Three “Cheap” Things That End up Being Too Expensive

High-Stakes Repairs: We recently had a leaky faucet. Since we’ve had a few basic YouTube-assisted home repairs under our belt, I stuck my head in the cabinets, and looked back and forth between the plumbing fixtures and the video. After multiple rounds of pausing and backing that thing up, I put the tools away and called the pros. If I’d carried on with my DIY repair, I ran the risk of doing more damage and ending up in the same place, but with a more expensive job. If the repair were lower stakes (i.e. not involving something like water or electricity), I might’ve endured a little longer. I’m just not gonna mess around with a repair that could turn our kitchen into a swimming pool or our house into the clock tower from Back to The Future. 

Low-Quality Products: I am very familiar with the allure of a deal, but it can be deceptive sometimes. For example, there’s a whole industry around fast fashion that is built to wear for Instagram one week and replace the next. But a little experience has served me well in this way and I’m much quicker to spend a premium for a product that will remain in my wardrobe for a few years and be the first I reach for every time I do laundry. That goes for clothes, home appliances, cars, and more. You’re just not gonna find me hanging out at many clearance racks anymore. They’re just too expensive.

One-Star Services: Have you ever hired the cheapest company and had to bring someone else in to redo the job when the work is subpar? I hear about it all the time. I don’t care how good the quality is of an iPhone camera, for example. If you don’t have a skilled operator behind it, you’re not going to get a professional-looking result. I promise you won’t be happy with the result if you hire an event videographer who has an expensive camera but puts as much care into their composition as your Aunt Janet puts into her Facebook posts. Sometimes, a premium service is worth setting aside the budget for. Counterintuitively, it could end up saving you money in the long run because you get it done right the first time.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that sometimes the “cheap” option turns out to be quite expensive after all. In what areas have you found this to be true? Do you agree with my top picks? What would you add to the list?

Early this week, a lightning storm caused a power outage in our area just as we were getting ready to eat dinner. We lit the candles, made a game of it with the kids, and tried to keep our refrigerator closed as much as possible. We endured a restless, sticky night without AC or fans and by morning, the novelty had worn off. We were just wishing hard for a hot cup of coffee and some refreshing air to flow through the vents. Our kids gave a big “Our lights can work!” celebration when we heard the devices ding and the HVAC system kick on around 8:15 AM.

It was a muggy morning from the nights’ storm and the temperatures were climbing. As I drove through my neighborhood shortly after, I was rerouted by the crew that had likely just fixed our power lines. They were working on the next downed line. They didn’t have the luxury of waiting for cooler temps. There were other families like ours, hoping the power would come back on before they were forced to make a random lunch of burgers, biscuits, and açaí bowls from their thawing freezers. I felt for them and it also made me hope the power company was taking its responsibility to protect them seriously.

Record-breaking heat waves are hitting Texas and beyond and there is just so much outdoor work that has to happen anyway. Unfortunately, heat-related illnesses are dangerous to all of us. It can land even the youngest and strongest members of that crew in the hospital with very little warning. If your company requires workers to be outdoors, you are responsible for providing adequate protections and preventing the conditions that cause heat stroke rather than only thinking about worker safety after something goes wrong.

As we head into the hottest months of summer, it’s a good time to talk about workplace safety. While your workers’ health is a good enough reason to take extra measures, addressing safety risks can also prevent fines and lawsuits.

Worker Safety in Extreme Heat

Protecting workers—especially those who spend extended time outdoors—requires a little extra forethought and attention. Staying compliant with OSHA’s guidelines on Occupational Heat Exposure prevents workers from getting preventable heat related illnesses. And of course that comes with a major bonus: keeping your workers from missing work and you from getting fined. Ensure worker safety so neither you nor your employees end up paying the price.

Proactive measures include getting all of your shade and hydration stations set up in the relative cool of the morning and instituting mandatory breaks with plenty of hydration. Stick to those breaks regardless of your schedule.

An on-site manager should be trained to monitor the heat index as well as the associated risks and to watch for and recognize symptoms of heat exhaustion. According to the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA), “Persons suffering from heat exhaustion might have cool, moist skin; sweat heavily; or complain of headache, nausea or lightheadedness.”

Bottom Line

I suspect the power company was getting a lot of calls and feeling the pressure of their consumers who’d endured a long night without power. Still, watching out for their workers’ safety has to be top priority. It’s not just about staying compliant with the letter of the law, but about truly doing right by the workers. Even if you can push them a little further to get the job done faster, it’s worth going above and beyond to provide a safe environment.

Jennifer Garner thought she was going to be a stage actor and only took her first TV role because she was flat broke. She also slept on a futon in some woman’s kitchen for 9 months while she was waiting (and working her tail off!) to hit her stride. She now has an IMDB page a mile long. You never know what will be your life’s best stepping stone. What you can do is be in position to take advantage of the breaks that come your way.

If you feel like you need a change or you’re looking for a career pivot, read on. Even if your current role isn’t everything you want it to be, it’s time to think differently about where you are now. It could be a stepping stone for where you want to be next. 

Three Ways to be in Position For Your Big Break:

1. See every role as a chance to sharpen your skills or try on different roles.

Jennifer Garner didn’t expect to become a screen actress, but taking a small TV role led her down the path that landed her in every American’s living room. Whether you’re just starting out and finding your way or you’re well established, but feeling a little stale, stay open minded.

Take each role you accept as a chance to get paid to figure out what you’re interested in and get some experience while you’re at it. As you go, you’ll find your lane. Then you can either keep running in that lane or take those finely-tuned skills to your next full-time job. Highly-skilled, well-rounded workers have a leg up on the competition.

2. Think of every role as a paid audition.