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Why Your Web Agency Should Be Committed to Creating Less E-Waste

Author: Eleanor Hecks

Old electronics — such as computers, televisions and cell phones — are considered e-waste. How you get rid of these items can impact the environment. Focusing on green production helps companies protect the environment for future generations, be good stewards of their local resources and reach like-minded consumers wanting to embrace an eco-cause.

Committing to reduced carbon output and preserving resources is easier than you might think. You will gain a lot of traction with those wanting to do business with eco-friendly companies. Here are some things you could do and why you should be doing them.

1. Recycle and Reuse

The Environmental Protection Agency mentions recycling electronics reduces pollution by lessening the amount of new materials necessary to produce new items. It also keeps old devices out of landfills. Some e-waste leaches into the soil and contaminates groundwater, impacting everything from local wildlife to human drinking water.

Upgrading a computer system rather than completely replacing it might also save your agency money. Electronics are a considerable expense, so stretching them further is sensible.

2. Sell Old Devices

Small businesses often need upgrades to keep software up to date or keep up with a growing enterprise. If you are scaling up by buying new electronics, consider how well the old ones work. Are they in a condition where you could reset them to factory settings, trade them in or sell them to make a few bucks?

You can even offset the cost of purchasing new electronics by selling your current equipment. You will reduce e-waste and get paid to do it.

3. Keep Devices Out of Landfills

It might be tempting to pitch that smartphone that no longer works and send it out with the trash. However, this is not the best way to dispose of electronic devices.

Experts estimate people around the globe contributed about 33.8 million metric tons of e-waste in 2010, but the number keeps rising as new phone models, computer hard drives and other modern electronics advance rapidly. Make it a policy to recycle responsibly if you must trade your old devices in for new ones.

4. Know the Laws in Your State

Regulations surrounding e-waste vary from state to state and even from one town to the next, so learn the rules where you run your business so you do not rack up any fines. Some laws are more stringent than others. If you are not sure you comply, talk with an expert on local regulations and ensure you change policies as necessary to meet expectations.

5. Pay Attention to Partnerships

Who does your web agency partner with and how do they handle e-waste? Look at all your service providers as well as suppliers. For example, if you work with a hosting company for your website, be aware of its ongoing impact on the environment and whether it throws old servers into landfills.

Web hosting is a $90.42 billion industry with steady growth. You can find an organization with similar policies to yours regarding reducing carbon footprint. Ask the tough questions to verify you are doing your part and any company you support is, too.

6. Be Aware of Toxic Substances

As electronic parts break down, they seep back into the environment, and can poison local land and water. Some items are worse than others. Do your due diligence and research how to reduce the toxic waste your enterprise produces. Also, take the time to look for ways to ensure your old electronics do not turn into a problem for future generations.

7. Fund Research

Taking items to dedicated recycling centers is sometimes the only option. However, scientists are researching how you can recycle different components and reuse them instead of just throwing them away.

For example, one European project called CROCODILE considers cobalt recycling and how old batteries can take on new life. Look for cutting-edge solutions to a growing problem and invest in them to improve the impact of e-waste in the future.

How Worried Should Your Brand Be About E-Waste?

It might seem like a small contribution to delay buying new machines or recycling responsibly. After all, giant corporations may not be overly concerned about doing the same and they have much more of an impact. It is crucial to remember that if smaller brands come together and do their part, they can set an example for the rest of the world and safeguard the environment.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.

Why Ongoing Learning Programs Should Be Offered at All Design Agencies

Author: Eleanor Hecks

Like every other business, design constantly evolves and most designers seek continuing education courses to remain sharp and competitive.

However, learning in design can have various meanings — from improving technical skills and grasping new concepts to staying on top of the industry’s directions.

Continued learning is crucial in the development of expertise. Therefore, all design agencies should offer ongoing learning opportunities to present outstanding work to their clients.

Here’s a closer look at why your design agency needs ongoing learning programs for success.

1. New Skills Can Enhance Your Business

One of the most promising benefits of ongoing learning is that your employees can learn and leverage new design skills.

It could be something that offers training in their current position or enhances a certain skill they already possess. Or, it could be cross-departmental that diversifies your employees’ skill set and breaks down knowledge silos.

Either way, you could offer various types of training that fall into a few main categories:

  • Design-specific skills: Subject areas are unique to your agency’s needs and the design industry. For example, a design agency could offer specialized training in branding or coding.
  • Tech skills: Every business requires some type of software or program. In the case of a design agency, you could consider creating a refresher course on best practices with your current programs like Adobe. Or, you could teach a new skill in web development and streamlined processes for web maintenance.
  • Soft skills: Some of the essential skills that designers need are creativity, communication, problem-solving, strategy and ideation. If you have a newer workforce in the design industry, they may benefit from learning these soft skills to gain more experience interacting with people.

Whether you’re filling in knowledge gaps or exposing them to a new topic, reskilling can positively impact your agency. Once they move past the initial learning curve, your team will be more prepared for their current roles.

2. Helps Stay Up to Date on Your Industry’s Trends

In the world of design and business, industry best practices are constantly changing because of new technology and innovations.

Therefore, the onboarding training you provided a few years ago could already be outdated, leaving you in the dust of your competition.

While it’s best not to jump on every trend, you also won’t want to have a reputation for being out of touch. That’s part of why your design agency should be helping all employees stay updated.

You might not be able to tell the future. However, you can still use education to predict industry trends and stay abreast.

A robust ongoing learning program enables your agency to do just that. You can identify innovations and learn to adapt them within your operations.

3. Increases Employee Engagement

Ongoing learning programs help your employees to stay connected to your agency and engaged with their work.

Once you prioritize education and development, your team becomes a workplace of focus. Essentially, you create this culture where everyone feels motivated to perform and keep improving. In turn, your agency opens itself up to greater opportunities for advancement for your employees.

Many say professional development is one of the most important aspects of their job. Creating a continuous learning program can be a great way to attract and retain top talented employees.

The job market is extremely competitive and not just for candidates. Companies are having a hard time finding skilled employees.

Therefore, offering learning programs and training resources can help your company stay on top of the employment market.

To engage your employees effectively, ensure you design a continuous learning program with employees’ needs and goals in mind. Use surveys and interviews to determine the most common objectives or needs among your team members. That way, the program’s content feels relevant, and the information is useful.

The First Steps to Developing an Ongoing Learning Agenda

Use these steps to design and execute an effective training program in your agency.

1. Conduct a Training Needs Assessment

Before designing your program, you’ll need to define a goal or multiple objectives supporting your team. Consider taking time to determine your business’s outcomes and how you’ll align your employee initiatives with your agency’s goals.

Designing your program around your employees’ needs allows them to stay proactive in achieving their aspirations. Additionally, it prepares your program for success and your employees for future promotion.

2. Create Learning Objectives

Once you conduct a needs assessment, it’s time to create a list of learning objectives. Learning objectives are a list of new skills you want your employees to accomplish after completing the training.

3. Design the Training Materials

Create content that helps your employees reach their learning objectives. The training materials could be case study reviews, quizzes, questionnaires or hands-on exercises.

Remember, it’s important to focus on the learning needs of your employees. You don’t want to make it too challenging for them that they won’t comprehend the material. However, materials that are too easy won’t be engaging enough.

4. Develop the Training Materials

Once you’ve designed your training materials, it’s time to create them using various tools. You could consider using an e-learning tool for building modules. Other ways include PowerPoint presentations, webinars and instructional videos.

While these are just some examples, you have various ways to create and implement the materials in the process.

5. Implement Training

Now it’s time to inform your staff about attending the training. Ensure you give them plenty of time in advance to prepare their schedules. They may also need time to complete any pre-training preparation before they begin.

Many businesses also use a learning management software to deliver, track and review training. If you use something like this, your employees will have a login and see the training materials you’ve assigned to them.

6. Evaluate the Training

How do you know if your program was successful? You’ll have to confirm it was effective by evaluating training at three different levels:

  • Did your employees like the training? Ask their opinions through a survey.
  • Did they learn anything? Use tests, job simulations and exercises to evaluate their learning of the objectives.
  • What is their behavior like post-training? Do they have new knowledge, skills and attitudes? Use their performance-based metrics and observe their behavior to determine this.

Invest in an Ongoing Learning Program Today

Investing in continuous learning is an investment in your design agency’s growth. Providing learning opportunities can offer exciting benefits for you and your employees. Plus, it fosters a stronger workplace culture and can enhance your business’s outcomes.

Follow these steps to ensure you implement a program successfully and be sure it involves the needs of your employees.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.

Several Benefits of Having a Top-Performance Web Application for Business

Author: Timothy Miller

Looking for ways to optimize your business in 2022? The best way to keep distinguished from your competitors is by integrating web products. What is that all about? Check further!

Web applications are considered programs enabling more effective communication between businesses and their clients as well as inside a business. With the significant growth of utilizing the Internet, gig enterprises, small businesses, and startups transform the approach they operate and adopt more web applications. Getting the idea of what a web application is can support you in understanding its value in your daily routine. In this article, we will provide you with the fullest guide on what a web application is, its numerous benefits, and how it runs.

What is a Web Application?

It is a computer program that implements a web browser to execute a certain function. They frequently call it a web app. Web apps are represented on a wide range of websites. The easiest sample is a contact form on a website.

A web application is a customer-server program. What does it mean? The app possesses a customer-part and a server-part. Here, the notion of “customer” relates to the program the user applies to run the app. It is a piece of the customer-server surrounding, where many computers exchange data. For instance, when it comes to a database, the customer is the program with the help of which the user introduces info. The server is the app that keeps the info.

Businesses and startups require sharing data and conducting transactions with their target clients. The Internet can be a perfect and relatively cheap channel for that goal, on the condition that there is a method to collect and preserve must-have data and reveal the outcome to users. With the help of web applications, clients can partner with the business by utilizing content management platforms or shopping carts.

Web applications can be designed for numerous reasons and applied by businesses or individuals. The last category requires it to simplify their interaction or perform online shopping. Additionally, employees can teamwork on solutions and perform the job on shared docs with web applications. They can generate files, presentations, reports, and share data with any device from anywhere.

Web apps have thrived since their discovery. Perl, one of the first apps, a world-known server-part scripting language, was designed in the 80s. That occurred before the Internet became widespread outside tech circles. Those web apps were easy and got more advanced in the late 90s. Nowadays, they are an integral part of the daily lives of humans around the globe.

Web App Categories: Native and Hybrid

Platform-specific apps are considered native ones. They are designed for a particular platform or device and apply device-specific hardware that involves a camera system or GPS.

A combo of both native and web applications are hybrid apps. The internal operation of hybrid apps is identical to that of web apps. However, their installation is performed like natives’. Being platform-specific, native apps are more effective and quicker compared to hybrid apps. What is the reason? Hybrid apps should receive access to APIs that then obtain admittance to device-peculiar resources. Well, the experience is longer and adds to hybrid apps to operate slower on the contrary to the native counterparts.

So, based on your business objectives and needs, you can decide on whichever kind fits best.

Greatest Examples of Web Apps

Samples of web applications involve word processors, spreadsheets, webmail, photo/video editing, and file scanning/conversion. Among popular email programs, users apply Gmail, Yahoo, and instant messaging services.

Web applications that enable employees to collaborate on the same doc involve Google Slides, Google Sheets, Google Docs, and cloud storage. Sharing calendars online is also a web app.

Web apps progress to respond to the growing requirement for mobile web utilization. Software engineers develop more and more mobile apps with access to the Internet. A wonderful sample of this progress is the Facebook app and Dropbox app users can download and utilize on their phones or iPads. Other samples are online retail sales, online banking, or wikis.

How a Web Application Operates

The access to Internet is everything you require to enter a web app. They utilize a web browser, such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox to connect to an app. There are 3 components the web app needs to operate: a web server to cope with customer requests, an app server to conduct the activities requested, and a database to keep the info.

Engineers use 2 kinds of languages to code web apps. An application traditionally utilizes a combo of server-part script and customer-part script to run. The server-part script handles preserving and receiving the data and needs languages, such as Java or Python. Engineers program server-part to design scripts the web application will utilize. The customer-part script demands languages, such as JavaScript or HTML5. Those languages depend upon the browser to conduct the program. They are defined as browser-assisted languages. The customer-part script is engaged in the data presented to the user.

The majority of web apps possess brief design cycles and can be developed by small teams. Several of the apps demand server-part processing. They are defined as “dynamic.” Some don’t require processing at the server-part and are defined as “static.”

Check the strategy a web app operates:

  • The user generates a kind of a query to the web server via the Internet through the app’s user interface;
  • The web server brings the query to the web app server;
  • The web app server implements the requested activity, then represents the outcome of the required info;
  • The web app server sends the outcome back to the web server (requested/processed data);
  • The web server delivers the requested data to the customer (smartphone, tablet, or desktop);
  • The requested data emerges on the customer’s display.

Benefits of Web Applications for Business

Now, it’s time to check all the tremendous benefits of having a top-performance web application for business.

Enjoying Great User Experience among Employees

In case you have ever applied unique login accounting data to obtain admittance to info or services on the Internet, you have utilized a web app. Many employees frequently use web applications, such as:

  • Google Docs;
  • PayPal/eBay;
  • Salesforce.com;
  • Online banking platform.

However, what else can be performed with the help of a web app? With the introduction of client verification and encrypted connections, complex apps can be supervised entirely online, leading to more simplified user experiences as well as strongly minimized downtime due to failover measures and system redundancy. A couple of activities currently being handled by web apps are as follows:

  • Client relationship control;
  • Project supervision;
  • Workflow control;
  • Client portals;
  • Loyalty initiatives;
  • E-commerce.

Now, discover a nice sample of a startup that could take advantage of a web application (customized) designed to satisfy a certain need.

Imagine that you control a design startup with 3 graphic designers who all work from various parts of the world. Most probably, all of them possess unique expertise as well as portfolios. Let’s suggest their involvement in solutions for your clients varies. It would significantly economize your budget and time if you implemented a safe, web-enabled method to interact with your staff, keep key client solution info and guarantee daily operational control of your business. You want to observe progress on solutions in real time, and for this, you need a central web app that is reliable, scalable, and effective.

Hire a web app engineer. With perfect communication regarding app specifications and efficiency expectations, a cost-saving web app solution can be developed and introduced in fewer periods than you might expect. Every requirement is unique, so a talented web developer will want to negotiate your specific needs to get the most precise design deadline and budget. Have no ideas where to find such a developer? Check Engre.

The benefit is to utilize web apps to ensure businesses and startups operate and collaborate with their contractors in a way that averts the tech constraints of the previous decade. As far as outdated apps are costly to run and get serviced, a web app can frequently pay for itself within a year of its launch and even faster!

Resolving More Challenges with More Apps

What other challenges could using a web app resolve? The most obvious advantage would be that you don’t need hardware to handle it. Web apps are commonly located on redundant servers that do not need get serviced by the client. Additionally, user access gets less artificial.

Moreover, there is no need for memory-hungry or cumbersome software that requires being installed, as well as regularly updated. As far as size is taken into account in every solution, modifying the ways the app operates is a simple procedure that can be performed with little to zero downtime. As your startup or business increases and adjusts, your web app acts the same, too.

Think about how much simpler it is to apply Quickbooks Online rather than a locally-installed type of software. With the web app, users remove the requirement to unpack software, install it, introduce hotfixes, supervise its solution keys, and care for it as they would do for any other local app.

Experiencing Access 24/7

Taking into account that business platforms generated by web apps are web-oriented, users can enjoy access 24/7 on the condition of they possess an Internet connection. Moreover, they are entirely flexible, delivering access from nearly any browser or equipment.

When desktop-oriented software requires updating, every other device on which the app is installed requires individual upgrading. This responsibility often falls to employees and may be disregarded in case they have no time, leading to your business or startup being vulnerable to safety violations.

Parallel that with a web app, where a functionality or safety upgrade can be realized for every version of the web app without downtime, providing employees with permanent access to the renewed app version.

Getting More Powerful Safety Level

Applying desktop-oriented software, a damaged/stolen computer usually becomes a very expensive and time-consuming case; risking your data and requesting you to address your software supplier and ask for the software to be re-installed on a novel desktop.

Using a web app (considering info preserved in the cloud), you can keep calm as in case your computer is damaged/stolen, it will very promptly be back to the “operate as usual” regime.

The benefit is that web apps keep data on a remote server and if you remember your web address, user name, and password, you can enter any computer or smartphone safely and your startup or business can be revitalized in the shortest period.

In case of data loss due to human/program error, it can be speedily recovered from the cloud. A perfect situation, agree?

Spending Less Budget for Design

A web app commonly operates in a web browser. Where does this lead? That implies that a single, adaptive web app can be utilized across various types of devices. Though web apps will require to be examined on several browsers, the advantage is that you shouldn’t test them on various operating platforms. This organizes development and testing simpler. This reduces the design budget and minimizes design time.

Reducing Hardware Budget

Web-oriented platforms can help avert the requirement for strong customer PCs because processing is executed on the host server, which can be designed to effectively handle peak simultaneous demand. So, they can minimize the preserving, memory, and processor needs for customer PCs. Considering the whole business or startup, this can result in a powerful budget economy.

To finalize, when it comes to revenue-generating, in the contemporary digital surrounding, web apps are getting more and more vital on the contrary to official businesses/startups’ websites. At a time when a website demonstrates only the data regarding a certain business or startup, a web app delivers more scalable client coverage due to its benefits that are more effective and exciting for clients. After all, web apps can be effortlessly accessed and utilized on various devices as they grasp lesser bytes when used or loaded.

How to Choose a Digital Agency in 2021 for Your Online Business

Author: Arslan Haider

Have you ever thought about how an online business would be without marketing? Well, it would be nothing without marketing. You would have zero reach, and it would be like showing your products to yourself and having no customer other than yourself. But this never really happens. Because any business, whether it is online or offline, is surviving because of customers. But from where to get customers is the point to ponder.

In offline business, you can say that by putting flexes and banners, you can attract people. However, what to do for an online business because it is not technically possible to add flexes on your website. And this is not a cool idea to implement for an online business. There are many other ways to market your online page, and hiring a digital agency is one of them.

What are Digital Marketing Agencies?

You can think of digital marketing agencies, as people having cameras and mikes telling people about your company. It sounds cliché but in real digital marketing agencies market your business on social media without having a mike or camera in hand. They use social media, email marketing, and SEO in marketing your online business. And they allow you to expand your business in the best possible ways.

Social media is one of the biggest platforms, and according to research, it is having the highest number of users. And it is the main target of digital agencies for marketing and branding purposes. But the issue arises when you have to choose a digital agency for your online business. Though, it is not a piece of cake, but why not try to look for the best digital agency?

There are tens of thousands of digital agencies working at this time, and selecting the best owner among them is a difficult job in 2021. Due to pandemic, many digital agencies have jumped into the market, so to make it easy for you, here is a guide by which you make the right choice for your online business. So, let gets straight into it!

  • Understand your needs and budget

Your understanding of needs and your budget helps you in moving forward. If you are looking for a digital agency without creating a map of your goals, what you are looking for? A digital agency is supposed to help you in achieving your goals. If you are not clear about your targets, why waste your time on selecting a digital agency for no purpose?

Before selecting a digital agency, define your goals. And then look for agencies who have the capability of helping you in achieving them. Also, keep an eye on your budget. If it is low, then hire a low-budget digital agency and keep your goals limited at the start. And once you progress, dream big but within the limit of your budget.

  • Look for expert Staff

It is good to try newbies and test the talents of fresher, but it is risky. Trying a newly developed digital agency is like putting your business at stake. It is quite evident that new people are in the learning process. So, you cannot rely on them for your online business. If you want to progress like a pro, look for people who are pro in their work. And they are none other than people who have years of experience in the digital field.

Your team members either make or break your online business, and it is up to you to choose your team. If you are looking for a digital agency, then go for professionals who have some previous experience.

They know how to tackle different situations as they numerous experiences of handling complicated situations. So, the first step in digital agency selection is to look for experienced and old digital agencies. They are trustworthy, and they can give you the surety to provide extraordinary services with their professional and expert tone.

  • Take a test of your selected list

When you choose your legitimate contenders, ask yourself if they are best for you, you can do it by checking the compatibility of the agency with your business. For this purpose, you can go for a little test. It is not wrong, because everybody has the sheer right to choose the best for themselves. Marketing is the basis of online business, and you can trust anybody blindly for it.

Work the digital agency a little bit, assign them minor marketing tasks, and then access their progress through them. It will help you in getting clarity from their side and surety for yourself. The medical billing companies in Les Vagas don’t trust anybody unless they carry out a beer test with the digital agency. And is something smart to do when selecting a digital agency?

  • Look at the technical side

Most people only talk about agency and clients, and they forget to check the technical issue that comes with digital agency selection. It is essential, and you need to consider the technical problems while selecting the digital agency for your online business.

Author Bio:

Arslan Haider is author of the above blog. He has done his Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Wah. He is a professional Guest Blogger at Mediahicon and loves to write blogs on valuable topics.