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Elizabeth published in Blog, How To

How can I Increase my Google AdSense Earnings in 2021

Are you a blogger looking for ways on how to increase your Google AdSense earnings?

Every blogger using AdSense as their major source of revenue want to how to increase their AdSense earnings and the good news is that there is a way to start gaining more money from Adsense almost instantly without breaking any of their set rules or guidelines.

Monetizing your website with AdSense is the easiest way to make money online. The biggest mistake I see with people using Adsense as their means of monetization, is they forget that Adsense is a CPC based network. You get paid per click (the number of times a visitor clicks on your ad) not by impression (the number of times a visitor sees your ad).

In this article, I will explain the ways on how to increase your Google AdSense earnings.

One factor to which you must give serious consideration involves the placement of your ads. Be careful to make sure you don’t violate AdSense policies by placing your ads in a way that forces users to click on them. Additionally, be sure never to ask someone to click on your ads.

With those important considerations out of the way, AdSense’s new interface has some easy-to-use features which will help you to boost your revenue.

How to Increase your Google AdSense Earnings

It is commonly said that traffic is directly proportional to making money in blogging, but this is not usually accurate in terms of AdSense as a means of monetization. The reason for this is that there are many factors which affect your AdSense earnings. These include:

  • Ad placement
  • Ad type
  • The source of traffic and most importantly
  • AdSense CPC.

If you are doing keyword research, keep an eye on the CPC column in your AdSense dashboard. The higher the CPC, the better it is for you as an Adsense publisher.

Also Read: AdSense ad serving limits: How to fix ad limits on AdSense

So what are the ways to increase my AdSense earnings?

1. Create high quality contents

The best way of getting more clicks and increasing your revenue is by creating high quality contents for your visitors. By generating traffic, you are increasing your chances of getting clicks. And by attracting people, your site becomes attractive for advertisers.

At this point, you may ask how can you create valuable content? A simple place to start is know the type of niche you want to write about and also look out for your competitors in that niche.

So what are the right content types for Adsense?

  1. In-depth and engaging articles with high-quality content
  2. List posts
  3. List posts formatted as slideshows
  4. Image heavy content
  5. Product reviews or technical content
  6. Content that shares tips
  7. Entertainment content

There are certain content types that don’t do too well with Adsense probably because of their niche and the general audience behavior and they are:

  • News content
  • Low quality and poorly written content

In general, Adsense works well for sites where the intent of the site visitors is to find solutions to their problems.

Sites that are based on hobbies or where the visitors are generally passing time generally don’t perform as well.

2. Improve the size and location of your Ads

This is one of the most common factors involved in getting low vs. high CTR.

You should try putting Adsense ads around the content and above the fold. (Above-the-fold ads perform far better than below-the-fold ads)

You can blend the ads with your site design as well.

However, make sure that your ads are not annoying your visitors and creating a negative perception anytime they visit your website.

If you’re running a WordPress blog, below are a few placements that are worth trying to maximize your earnings:

Homepage:

  • In order to increase the click-through rate (CTR), Google recommends you use 728×90 leaderboard image ad unit above the fold of your homepage and below the main navigation bar
  • Depending on the page length, you may also use a vertical ad unit with the same size (728×90) in the middle or at the end of the homepage
    Test different ad units– either 160×600 wide skyscraper or 300×250 medium rectangle in your sidebar

Blog page:

  • Place a 336×280 large rectangle ad unit at the top of your article
  • Use a similar ad unit at the end of your post before the comments section
  • Similar to the homepage, place a skyscraper or a medium rectangle ad unit in your sidebar

As you can see, in the Adsense world size matters.

When you design a website for Adsense income, you should keep the AdSense heatmap in your mind. This way you can easily create Adsense-optimized themes and designs for your new site.

3. Source of traffic and location

Adsense ads perform best when your traffic is from search engines like Google, Bing. Also, interest-based ads might not perform as well if you are getting more direct traffic. Many people complain about low CPC and low Adsense income despite leaving millions of impressions per month. This is mostly due to CPC and traffic sources. Start targeting traffic from countries like the U.S.A and the U.K, and you will end up getting high CPC.

4. Use Image or Text Ads

One of the myths of AdSense is that image ads work better.

With Adsense, you’re allowed to choose whether your ad unit is image based or text based (If it is available for you as an option but if it is not you can opt in for Matched contents). Unless you’re seriously in love with one type of ad, try using Text & Image based ads.

Using both text and image options allows more advertisers to bid on it (text ad bids and image ad bids) and increases your overall Cost Per Click.

Don’t expect to see an instant jump in CPC. From my experience, it’s not a huge increase, but over time, it does pay more per click than an only text or only image ad.

5. Place ads within the post content

I know, it’s ugly to have ads between your content, but it’s where your ads can get the most exposure. If you want to increase Adsense revenue, you can easily configure Adsense ads to match with your page background and colors, but also ensure to add enough space between ads and content, so that it doesn’t violate AdSense policies.

6. Adsense for Search

Adsense offers many ways to monetize your site, and you should try to take advantage of all ad types. Adsense for Search not only helps you monetize, but it also helps with user navigation within your site.

7. Use Ezoic

This one is applicable to you only if you are driving more than 20,000 page views a month.

We all know that ad placement and ad size are two crucial aspects of increasing AdSense revenue. However, the challenge is to manually test it all by yourself. This is where you should take advantage of Artificial intelligence tool like Ezoic.

This is a free tool and available for all bloggers who have more than 20,000 page views a month. This service once configured (your account manager will assist you with the configuration), will automatically start experimenting with Ads to optimize user experience. The reason why I like Ezoic and am suggesting you this as the first thing is that it focuses on user experience the most, which not only makes your readers happy but helps you to earn more money.

Also, the good user experience is a positive SEO signal which in turns improve your ranking.

8. AdSense for YouTube

If you are a video publisher or if you upload videos to your YouTube channel, you can monetize your copyrighted video using the YouTube publisher program. I have been using it for a long time, and it performs really well. Performance, of course, depends on the traffic your YouTube videos get.

9. Experiment and keep experimenting

If your only source of income is Google Adsense revenue, perhaps these tips will be helpful to you.

It is important to test various things and see what works the best for you. For example, you can play with link colors and see which link color combination is generating maximum CTR, etc.

Whatever I’ve shared in this article is based on my own experiments and testing that I’ve done on different sites in different niches.

Even if it works for you, you still need to experiment with other variations to determine whether it’s the best approach for your niche and audience.

You can create experiments and A/B tests from your Google Adsense dashboard in the “Experiment” section. Here are the step by step guidelines by Google to create successful experiments.

What should you test in Adsense ads?

  1. Test different ad positions or location
  2. Test different ad types and unit sizes
  3. Test different link CTA colors
  4. Test different background colors

That’s it!

Conclusively, if you use the tips we’ve listed in this post, you can easily increase your website traffic and skyrocket your Adsense earnings.

We hope you like our article on how to increase your Google AdSense earnings.

How can I Increase my Google AdSense Earnings

Also Read: Admob Ad Serving Limit: How to Fix Ad limits on Admob

FAQ

What is AdSense earning?

AdSense earning is the amount of money you’ve made in your selected time period (2 weeks for me).

What is Ads clicked?

Ads clicked, is the amount of ads clicked by your site visitors.

What is eCPM?

eCPM stands for effective Cost Per 1000 impressions (M being a roman numeral). It’s the total earnings per 1000 impressions.

What is AdSense Ads Viewed?

AdSense Ads Viewed is the total number of ads seen, from all multiple ads on all the pageviews.

What is AdSense Page Impressions or ad impression?

AdSense Page Impressions is the amount of pages viewed that have AdSense ads on them.

What Is Adsense Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

Google Adsense Click-through Rate (CTR) represents the number of clicks on your ads against the number of times they’ve been shown on your site visitors or is the percentage of clicks you get for each ad impression. For example, if your ads get 5 clicks out of 100 views (impressions); your Adsense CTR would be 5%.

Here’s the simple formula Google uses to calculate Adsense CTR

Total Number of Ad Clicks ÷ Total Number of Impressions = Click Through Rate (CTR)

Apart from traffic generation, CTR is the most important factor that impacts your Adsense earnings.

There’s no use of thousands of visitors if your CTR is awfully low.

A low CTR means you’re not fully utilizing the potential of your website traffic and making a lot less than what you can by generating more ad clicks.

How Is Adsense CTR Calculated?

Here’s the simple formula Google uses to calculate Adsense CTR

Total Number of Ad Clicks ÷ Total Number of Impressions = Click-Through Rate (CTR)

But what if you own multiple sites with the same Adsense code?

Listen carefully.

Adsense CTR is calculated for your Adsense account, not your individual sites separately.

This means that if you own four different sites and one of them has really poor CTR, it’ll impact your overall Adsense account CTR.

Why Is Adsense CTR Important?

Why does it matter if your Adsense CTR is low?

First of all, it means you’re not making as much money as you can from your ads. It’s either because people are not finding your content engaging and they don’t stick long enough to click on your ads.

Or you’ve simply not optimized your ads for conversions.

Secondly, Google uses your account CTR to determine the overall quality of your Adsense account which impacts the ads displayed on your site.

What Is A Good Adsense CTR?

There are lots of theories and myths about the perfect Adsense CTR but in reality, no one knows for sure.

In my experience, anything between 3%-5% is pretty good.

But if you’re in a high CPC niche, you can make the amount of money (or even more) with just 1% CTR as compared to a site in a low CPC niche.

 

 

 

 

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Kayode published in Blog, How To

Admob Ad Serving Limit: How to Fix Ad limits on Admob

Do you have Ads serving limits notification on your Admob Dashboard? Are you looking for ways to prevent or how to fix ad limits on Admob?

Majority of app owners use Admob to monetise their apps, while some you have to pay for the apps before you can make use of it. For many app publishers that owns an app, Admob is often the only ad network they prefer to use. Having ad limits notification at the top of your Admob dashboard is a nightmare for most publishers.

In this post, I will explain in details what Admob ad serving limits is, why Google Admob allows it, different types of ad serving limits, how to overcome ad limits in your admob account, and many more.

What is Admob ad serving limits

Admob Ad Limit: How to Prevent Ad limit on Admob

When you see Ad limits notification on your Admob dashboard, it means the number of ads displaying on your app has been reduced and this essentially means that your monetization efforts are limited, and you’re not able to reach your full ad revenue potential through Admob.

Different types of Admob ad serving limits

Have you ever wondered why Google Admob is limiting the number of ads that can display on your app?

Well, it is all about the integrity of their ad network. Google Admob want to protect their advertisers from fraud, users from bad user experiences, and maintain good publisher relationships.

Often, ad serving limits can be temporary until specific issues regarding the quality of traffic are sorted out.

Currently, there are two different types of ad serving limits:

1. Account being assessed

When this limit occurs, Google Admob is busy assessing your traffic quality. Often, there is no set time to wait for limits to be removed. They will automatically review and update the limit as they discover more information on your traffic quality. Once your traffic quality has been accessed and you are good to go, the notification showing ad limits will disappear from your Admob dashboard.

2. Invalid traffic concerns

Very similar to when your account is being accessed.

In this situation, your account is being limited because Google Admob have detected some invalid traffic concerns. Again, they will automatically review and update the limit as they find more information on your traffic quality.

Also Read: How To Verify Your AdSense Account With and Without PIN

What can you do to protect your Admob account from ad serving limits?

While your Admob account is being limited by Google, you still have access to it and can monitor the situation frequently. Google recommends that you continue creating content and marketing your app. However, with an emphasis on traffic quality and Admob policies.

Start by reading over the Admob program policies and make sure your app complies with all of them.

Also, read about invalid traffic concerns. This part is obvious if you received an “Invalid traffic concerns” limit. It’s also a good option for any publisher that wants to protect their Admob account from invalid traffic.

Admob accounts often get banned for invalid traffic, so it’s not something you want to mess around with. You want to distance your app from any form of invalid traffic and things that doesn’t comply to Admob program policies.

How to fix Ad limits on Admob

  1. Do not share too frequently on social media.
  2. Do not place too many ads on your admob account
  3. Don’t buy traffic.
  4. Do not click on your own ads.
  5. Follow the steps in the message Google Admob sent to you via your mail or policy center in your Admob account.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many ad units can be created on admob?

Two Ad Units.
If your app contains banner and interstitial ads, it can have two Ad Unit IDs. However, according to the official admob guide, YES! you can use one ID per activity: An Ad Unit ID is a unique identifier given to the places in your app where ads are displayed

How do I see Admob invalid clicks?

Google has stated that they do not share specific data on invalid activity or invalid traffic/clicks detected on a publisher’s app for Admob. They do this to protect the integrity of their detection systems. Google often removes revenue from a publisher’s Admob account either through real-time filtering, by removing earnings during the finalization process or through deductions within 60 days after payment.

What is invalid traffic activity?

Different types of invalid traffic exist, but generally, it is traffic that’s generated by bots and these same bots then click on your Admob ads. It can also include accidental clicks and clicks from click farms.

How do I stop Admob ads invalid clicks?

Google does not offer a way out for publishers to protect themselves from invalid clicks. Instead, they recommend avoiding low-quality traffic sources, which are typically filled with bot activity, not clicking on your own ads, and also not placing ads in locations where they are prone to accidental clicks. Those are great tips but won’t guarantee that you don’t receive invalid activity.

Which is better between unity ads or AdMob?

Both the platform give you an instant monetization. Unity ads works best for the apps that has gaming niche while Admob works best for any niche. The minimum payment for both the platforms is $100. If you want to get paid then you have to cross the threshold.

If you have an AdSense account, and you are experiencing ad limit on your website or blog, you can read our article on how to fix AdSense ad serving limits.

 

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Kayode published in Blog, How To

AdSense ad serving limits: How to fix ad limits on AdSense

Do you have Ads serving limits notification on your AdSense Dashboard? Are you looking for ways to prevent or how to fix ad limits on AdSense?

Majority of bloggers, Vloggers use AdSense to monetise their blogs and Youtube channels. For many publishers starting a blog or a youtube channel, AdSense is often the only ad network they prefer to use. Having ad limits notification at the top of your AdSense dashboard is a nightmare for most publishers.

In this post, I will explain in details what AdSense ad serving limits is, why Google AdSense allows it, different types of ad serving limits, how to overcome ad limits, and many more.

What is AdSense ad serving limits

AdSense ad serving limits: How to fix ad limits on AdSense

When you see Ad limits notification on your AdSense dashboard, it means the number of ads displaying on your blog or channel has been reduced and this essentially means that your monetization efforts are limited, and you’re not able to reach your full ad revenue potential through AdSense.

Different types of AdSense ad serving limits

Have you ever wondered why Google AdSense is limiting the number of ads that can display on your blog?

Well, it is all about the integrity of their ad network. Google AdSense want to protect their advertisers from fraud, users from bad user experiences, and maintain good publisher relationships.

Often, ad serving limits can be temporary until specific issues regarding the quality of traffic are sorted out.

Currently, there are two different types of ad serving limits:

1. Account being assessed

When this limit occurs, AdSense is busy assessing your traffic quality. Often, there is no set time to wait for limits to be removed. They will automatically review and update the limit as they discover more information on your traffic quality. Once your traffic quality has been accessed and you are good to go, the notification showing ad limits will disappear from your AdSense dashboard.

2. Invalid traffic concerns

Very similar to when your account is being accessed.

In this situation, your account is being limited because Google AdSense have detected some invalid traffic concerns. Again, they will automatically review and update the limit as they find more information on your traffic quality.

What can you do to protect your AdSense account from ad serving limits?

While your AdSense account is being limited by Google, you still have access to it and can monitor the situation frequently. Google recommends that you continue creating content and marketing your site. However, with an emphasis on traffic quality and AdSense policies.

Start by reading over the AdSense program policies and make sure your site complies with all of them.

Also, read about invalid traffic concerns. This part is obvious if you received an “Invalid traffic concerns” limit. It’s also a good option for any publisher that wants to protect their AdSense account from invalid traffic.

AdSense accounts often get banned for invalid traffic, so it’s not something you want to mess around with. You want to distance your website from any form of invalid traffic.

How to fix Ad limits on AdSense

  1. Do not share too frequently on social media.
  2. Limit social buttons on your website
  3. Focus on creating new quality post during this process.
  4. Don’t buy traffic.
  5. Do not click on your own ads.
  6. Follow the steps in the message Google AdSense sent to you via your mail or policy center in your AdSense account.

Also Read: How To Verify Your AdSense Account With and Without PIN

Frequently Asked Questions

How many AdSense ads can I show per page?

There is now no limit to the number of ads you can have per page. Keep in mind that showing too many ads might offer a bad user experience. As a result, users could end up leaving your website, not clicking on ads, and installing ad blockers. When displaying ads, it’s always best to show them with user experience in mind.

How do I see AdSense invalid clicks?

Google has stated that they do not share specific data on invalid activity or invalid traffic/clicks detected on a publisher’s site for AdSense. They do this to protect the integrity of their detection systems. Google often removes revenue from a publisher’s AdSense account either through real-time filtering, by removing earnings during the finalization process or through deductions within 60 days after payment.

What is invalid traffic AdSense for content?

There are many different types of invalid traffic, such as general and sophisticated invalid traffic. It usually relates to traffic generated by bots or non-human traffic, as well as accidental clicks. What this does is make advertisers pay for invalid clicks on ads not seen by real users. It is an enormous risk to publishers as well, as it can cause them to have a deduction in their revenue and even have their AdSense account banned if care is not taken.

How do I stop AdSense invalid clicks?

Google does not offer a way out for publishers to protect themselves from invalid clicks. Instead, they recommend avoiding low-quality traffic sources, which are typically filled with bot activity, not clicking on your own ads, and also not placing ads in locations where they are prone to accidental clicks. Those are great tips but won’t guarantee that you don’t receive invalid traffic.

What is invalid traffic activity?

Different types of invalid traffic exist, but generally, it is traffic that’s generated by bots and these same bots then click on your AdSense ads. It can also include accidental clicks and clicks from click farms.

If you have an admob account, and you are experiencing ad limit on your app, you can read our article on how to fix admob ad limits.

 

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Elizabeth published in Blog, Business, How To

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Start an Online Store Within Minutes on Your Own in 2021

Are you planning on starting an online store on your own?

Whether this is your first time setting up a small business online or you’ve been in the game for a while, this guide will teach you how to start an online store within a few minutes.

Also, if you’re looking to sell your products and services to anyone within and outside your location, state, country, one of the smartest ways to reach your target customers is to set up your own online store.

However, your store doesn’t have to be as big as the likes of Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, etc. You can set up a small online store that offers only one or a few products. Just so you know, there are many online stores that specialize only in products like shoes, perfumes, flowers, auto spare parts, phones, you name it. And despite the fact these stores aren’t popular, they’re making money — big time.

So are you ready to start your own online store?

If yes, let us get straight to the point.

How to Start an Online Store Within Minutes

Setting up an online store isn’t as difficult as most people think. As you read on, you’ll learn all the important steps involved and you will also know all the basic information needed to setting up your own online store within minutes.

Without wasting much time, let’s get started on how to start an online store within minutes…

1. Choose the type of product(s) you want to sell

Choosing the type of product you want to sell is one of the most difficult tasks and it is also an important step towards setting up a successful online store.

A product that is selling very well for Mr/Mrs A doesn’t mean it will sell very well for you. You can’t just go about choosing random product that comes to your mind.

What to lookout for before choosing a product for your online store

There are some conditions you need to look out for before choosing any product.

Let’s delve into some of these conditions;

a) Customer’s demand

Firstly, the product must be of high and non fluctuating demand. And if it’s a new product that isn’t popular yet, it must fill a need that is constantly felt by many people and for which there are very few or no reliable solutions yet. This is a no brainer. Don’t attempts to sell something that no one would be interested in purchasing.

The demand (or potential) for any product isn’t difficult to figure out. Just look around you and answer the following questions for every product idea that comes to your mind.

For already well-known products:

  • Are there many people buying this product?
  • Are there lots of online ads for this product?
  • Are there lots of sales for this product on Amazon, eBay and other popular online stores?

For products that are new to the Nigerian market:

  • Are there many people who would be interested in this product because it fills a significant need?

Your answers to these questions will help you figure out whether there is — or will be — enough demand for the product here in Nigeria. If you cannot get convincing answers in the affirmative, it’s better to find another idea.

b) Avoid picking a product that’s too unique

A common best practice in marketing is to differentiate yourself from others.  It makes you unique.

It’s also tricky to find a genuine way to differentiate yourself that the market is willing to pay for.

Instead of trying to differentiate yourself from every other product in your category, find a category with competitors that aren’t dominating their marketing channel.

c) Price of products

Choose a product that has a moderate price, what I mean is that the price isn’t too low and it is not too high.

As pricing changes, so does buying behavior. Prospects demand more proof. They may even demand a completely different buying process.

How many people buy cars without test driving them first? Not many. They want to see the car and talk to a real person before making a purchase that big. Cars require a lot of extra work and sales skills to sell effectively because of their higher price point.

We recommend finding a product that you can sell to your customers without them having problems with your price tag.

d) Comfortability of buying the products

Ensure that the products you are selling must be one that people are really comfortable buying them online. Certain products don’t sell online due to different reasons. For example, grocery will not sell well online because grocery stores are available everywhere, and most people would prefer to do their grocery shopping locally rather than online. Moreover, some grocery items are bought for immediate consumption, so it’s unrealistic to buy them online since they would take days to deliver.

Similarly, an online suits or wears store has relatively less chances of success because most people would prefer to visit local boutiques, where they can be sure that they are choosing the right size and quality. Buying such wears online would be a huge risk, as buyers are unable to physically check and confirm the size, colour, texture, quality, and other factors they consider when buying such items. the same goes as car selling as mentioned earlier on the post.

So, you must choose a product that people will be comfortable and be ready to buy no matter the situation or circumstances.

Avoid products that people are not likely to buy.

e) Consider the longevity of your customers.

This bit requires you to think a few steps ahead, but it’s important to have that foresight when you’re starting a business. This step all depends on the type of product(s) you are delivering and your relationship with your customer.

After you make your first sale of the day and you’ve got your operations running smoothly, the natural next step is to work on generating more revenue right?

How do you do that? A lot of entrepreneurs try to increase their Customer Lifetime Value or Lifetime Value, and they come up with strategies to re-target their existing customers and keep selling to them.

However, certain products are absolutely horrible for customer longevity.

It pays to be aware of these upfront, so you don’t find yourself in a bind when you’re 6 months into your business and trying to figure out how to increase your Customer Lifetime Value.

For example, let’s talk about those who sells wedding stuffs.

People automatically assume that selling wedding attires or materials are highly profitable because, well, people are willing to spend extravagantly on their big day.

That’s true, but what they don’t realize is that the “lifespan” of each customer is rapidly short.

You might have 50 customers today, but these same 50 customers may disappear without leaving a footprint behind within 3 months, funny right, but that’s the fact and they’re never coming back except when they have someone who is looking for a wedding material or attire to buy, they may sharply remember you.

While other online stores will be able to work on customer retention and sell to their existing customers, but the story is a different one for you.

In order to scale your business, you’ll have to spend aggressively on ads and other forms of marketing.

You’d be stuck in an endless loop of customer acquisition. And once you stop, your sales drop too.

Now that you have known the type of products to choose, let’s move to the next point.

2. Decide how you will get the products

After you’ve decided on what type of  product you want to sell online and the price, your next important step is to figure out how you’ll get a constant supply of the products at wholesale or cheaper at  prices. It goes without saying that to make profits from your online store, you need to buy at lower prices and sell at higher prices. And the higher the margin, the more money you’ll make. So, your best bet is to find suppliers who will sell or supply to you at the lowest prices available without an alter to the quality.

Depending on the kind of products you intend on selling, you can either source locally or from foreign markets. For example, products like cell phone accessories can be ridiculously cheap when you buy them directly from platforms such as AliExpress. Products like hand-made shoes, on the other hand, tend to be cheaper when bought directly from the local makers.

Also Read: The Most Profitable Online Jobs in the World Without an Investment

3. Choose between dropshipping or holding your own products.

The next step in starting up an online business? Deciding whether you want to dropship or hold your own products!

According to Wikipedia, Dropshipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers its customer’s orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer. The retailer is responsible for marketing and selling a product, with little or no control over product quality, storage, or shipping. You can also read our article on how to start dropshipping business

How to Start an Online Store
Diagrammatic explanation of dropshipping

Dropshipping has become super popular, but as with anything else, it comes with its own set of challenges.

In this section, I’ll run you through the pros and cons of dropshipping versus holding your own products so you can make an informed consent on the best choice for you.

Let’s start off with dropshipping.

Pros of dropshipping

  1. With dropshipping, virtually anyone can start an online store.
  2. You don’t need capital to purchase your items. It is easy to get started with.
  3. You can list more items on your online store, at zero risk
  4. No warehousing costs
  5. No picking and packing activities required

Cons of dropshipping

  1. Delivery of product(s) may take time
  2. You have zero control over fulfillment of product(s).
  3. Return of product(s) may be problematic.
  4. There is lower profit margin
  5. Poor branding
  6. Customers may lack trust in you if you are just starting and you offer no return policy.

Now that we’ve covered all there is to know about dropshipping, so let’s move on to the pros and cons of holding your own products.

Pros of holding your own products

  1. Getting feedbacks from customers can help you to know what and what to improve in your online store. Because when you screw up, your customers tend to talk about it more.
  2. Delivery doesn’t take time unlike that of dropshipping
  3. You can easily fix problems or issues anytime it arises
  4. There is a better profit margin when you own your products. Because you’re buying in bulk, therefore, you’ll get a discounted rate.
  5. It helps you to form a brand.
  6. Products delivered in well-designed, branded packaging are perceived to be more desirable and attractive.
  7. Awesome branding and packaging also encourages consumers to share your product on social media.

Cons of holding your own products

  1. It is very expensive. You need capital to purchase your items.
  2. You need to pack and ship your products.

Keep in mind that you’ll want to consider branding and design every step of the way — these are important elements to the success of any online store.

4. Choose a business name

Your business name isn’t as make-it-or-break-it as the type of product you choose, but it’s still super important.

But, if you’re not careful, it could put a halt to starting your online store!

People obsess over picking a name, personally, I know I have. My advice is to give yourself a hard deadline of 1 to 2 weeks to choose the name for your online store. Otherwise you’ll spend months trying to figure it out and never pull the trigger on starting.

Now, onto some do’s and don’ts to help you pick a name:

✔ DO choose a name that’s easy to pronounce.

✔ Do choose a name with 1 to 3 words

✔ DO choose a name with some significance.

If it’s related to the products you’re selling, it makes it easier for people to “get” your business. If there’s a deeper, more personal meaning to it, it’ll make a great backstory for media pitching.

✔ DO be as original as possible.

✖ DON’T choose a name that’s too long.

Your business name should be 1-3 words, MAX! I would strongly advise sticking to one or two words. Again, the easier a name is to pronounce and type, the more people will remember it.

✖ DON’T choose a business name that’s a combination of words and numbers.

This is a no brainer, but I had to add it. That is, unless you’re trying to look dodgy and unprofessional.

✖ DON’T choose a name that references a specific product or product line.

You might be tempted to do this if you’re planning on focus your efforts on selling just one (awesome!) and highly innovative product. But what happens when you decide to branch out or sell more than one products in the future? You’ll be stuck to that one product since the name you chose is for a specific product. I hope you get me?

5. Register your domain name.

Your domain name is your online identity. So, be sure to choose a good one. Your ideal choice is one that is short, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember. If it reflects what your online store is all about, that’s a plus. But be careful though; some names can cause issues in the future if you decide to start selling additional products on your online store.

If you’re already running an offline store and would like to sell the same products online, you can go with the name of your offline store, if it’s still available. But in any case, pen down at least three names, so you can have alternatives if your main choice isn’t available.

In addition, Ensure the domain you are registering is also similar to the name of your online store.

It’s best to go with a .com domain name, since that’s what most people are familiar with. But if the .com extension is no longer available for your chosen domain name, you can consider other popular extensions. For a .com domain name, you can register with any hosting company such as Namecheap, domainking.

6. Set up your online store

Chances are high that you won’t be able to handle this step on your own, so you’ll need to hire a good website developer — unless you’re smart enough to figure things out yourself. There are lots of technical details about this step, but I’d rather keep everything simple and short.

While there are many options to choose from, the two best and most straightforward ones available to online store owners are Shopify and WordPress, you can also make use of Wix, Bigcommerce to build your online store.

While Shopify is an all-in-one solution for setting up online stores, WordPress is a versatile open-source software package that can be used to create different types of websites. Opting for Shopify means you won’t have to worry about domain name registration, hosting, and store set-up, as everything has been included in a single package. All you have to do is visit Shopify’s website and start setting up your online store right away.

On the other hand, opting for WordPress means you’ll have to register your domain name and purchase a hosting plan, design your store using a good template, and integrate product pages and payment system using a good e-commerce plugin such as WooCommerce. This option requires more technical know-how than Shopify but can be far cheaper. For Shopify, you pay more for the convenience of having everything in one place.

If you’re still lost as regards the differences, look at it this way. Assume you wish to take some fried plantain. You can either go to the nearest restaurant to buy already prepared fried plantain or go to the market to buy raw plantains and take them home to fry them on your own. Remember that the latter option would require some cooking oil, salt (optional), etc., and you have to source everything yourself. Shopify is like the restaurant option, while WordPress is like the second option, which is you frying the plantain at your home. Hope you understand?

Another important factor you need to consider while at this step is your choice of payment gateway service. You’ll need one to be able to receive payments from customers, who would order from your store using their ATM cards. You can make use of PayPal, Payoneer, Bank Wire, or anyother payment gateway option you wish to make use of.

7. Upload your products

If you really want to attract attention to your products online, you need to display high-quality, clear, and beautiful pictures of them. Poor quality pictures will send the wrong signals about any product no matter how awesome that product might be. And good quality pictures, on the other hand, can help sell even the crappiest of products. (I’m not saying you should use quality pictures to deceive people into buying mediocre products; I’m only explaining the effectiveness of good quality pictures).

Therefore, when creating product images to upload to your online store, you shouldn’t use your mobile phone camera lens. I know there are smartphones with great camera lens, but what you’ll get from those can’t be compared to what you’ll get from a photographer who would use a hi-tech digital camera and photo editing tools. Alternatively, you can get some high-quality images of your product from the manufacturer’s website — if they have one.

Once you have the images, upload them to your store, so potential buyers can see what your product really looks like.

And one more thing, don’t forget to describe in details what the products is all about.

8. Fill in the necessary pages for your online store

As with any other type of website, your online store will need some contents for individual product pages as well as other pages such as the “Home”, “About us”, “Contact us”, “Refund policy”, “Terms & Conditions”, “Privacy policy”, “FAQ” pages, etc.

You can handle this aspect yourself if you’re a very good writer. But if you’re in doubt over the quality of your writing, hire a seasoned writer to craft all the content you need or use an online generator to do that. Poorly written content will create bad impressions about your online store. So, don’t ever compromise on the quality of your content.

However, if you decide to make use of shopify for you online store, you can auto-generate sample refund policies, privacy policies and even terms of service statements using Shopify.

Here’s how it’s done:

Click on “Settings” (all the way at the bottom of that left-hand panel), and click on “Checkout”.

Scroll down all the way… Then you will see something like this below;

Online Store

Your home page should display some basic information about your store, products, contact details, and links to other pages on your website. Your about page should tell a brief story of your business, and yourself — if you wish. And your FAQ page will answer questions that potential customers are likely to ask about your online store, such as your refund policy, how long it takes to deliver your products to buyers, and so on.

9. Plan how to deliver the products

Delivery is one of the most important aspects of your online store’s operations, so you need to plan it carefully. You can either create your own in-house delivery system or use a third-party delivery service.

If your store is targeted at customers within a small geographical location, such as within a state or city, you can have your own in-house delivery system. This would involve delivering orders with your own personal car, a newly bought vehicle dedicated to deliveries, or a hired vehicle.

But if you’re targeting a larger geographical location or cannot afford to set up an in-house system, you’d need to go with a reputable third-party delivery service. Examples of such services include Aliexpress delivery service, KOS (Konga Online Shipping), Courier Plus, and FedEx.

Some of these services accept pay-on-delivery payments on your behalf, while others do not. So, be sure to weigh your options and seek other people’s opinions before making a choice.

Also Read: How to create a clickbank affiliate account

10. Check for any errors on your website

It makes zero sense when customers have issues with one or more aspects of your website. It creates a negative first impression, which will make you lose some customers forever. To avoid this, you need to test your website several times before launching your online store. Check that all links redirect to the right pages. Check that all payments are perfectly processed. Check that your delivery system is ever-ready. And check that visitor flow and user experience on your website is flawlessly smooth.

Note that this step isn’t one you can cover on your own. You’ll have to involve a website developer. And you’ll have to ask as many people as possible to test out the store and give you feedback. Be sure to fix all glitches discovered during the testing phase. And once you’re sure there are no glitches or errors or issues, you can go ahead to launch your online store.

11. Launch and market your new online store

With everything all set, your website is ready to start getting orders from customers. But remember that no customer will come unless you actively promote your online store. So, you need to promote your store on online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc that are often used by your target customers.

While you can promote your store on some channels without paying a dime, you’ll need to do Facebook ads, Google ads, twitter ads, Instagram ads etc in order to cover a lot of audience and these will require some amounts of money.

In order to scale your business, you’ll have to spend aggressively on ads and other forms of marketing.

You’d be stuck in an endless loop of customer acquisition. And once you stop, your sales drop too.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you can now go ahead and start your online store within minutes.

Setting up an online store is one of the quickest ways to make money online because you can start making money as soon as you launch your website and after doing the necessary things.

Now, that you’ve learned the steps involved in setting up an online store, let me know if you have any questions, contributions, or other thoughts.

Thank you.

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Elizabeth published in Blog, Business, How To

Steps on how To Start POS Business In Nigeria

As Nigeria unemployment rate continue to increase, there are more concern on how to reduce it, create more job opportunity by the government so as to eradicate the poverty level in the country. In our today discussion, we are going to talk about steps on how to start POS Business in Nigeria.

POS business is another legitimate way to make money in Nigeria. It’s more profitable in communities with no easy access to banks and places where ATMs are not enough to serve the financial needs of the community.

POS business which is also known as agent banking business and it’s an extension of the services offered by financial institutions to enable easy service offering to a wide range of customers.

What is POS

POS is known as Point of Sale, it is also called Point of Purchase (POP), it is a device that allows local debit cardholders make payment for goods and services mostly in a retail location. POS machine is a very good automated product because it reduces the stress of carrying cash around, transacting directly with cash etc. It also gives instant notification/confirmation of goods and services payment. That is why you receive alert whenever you do cash withdrawal or transfer with POS agent. POS business has its many challenges and Problems which you must know before going into the business and you will get to know them as you read on.

POS accepts debit/credit cards the same way ATM does. Buyers of goods can pay directly to a sellers account without using cash.

What can you do with POS

POS (Point of Sale) business offers services like funds transfer and withdrawal, sales of airtime, bill payments like GOTV, DSTV, Startimes, PHCN, and other utility bills. It is used in several places where goods and services are sold/rendered; places like retail shops, offices, supermarkets, fuel/gas stations, pharmacies, eateries, etc.

Reasons for starting a POS business

  1. It is very lucrative
  2. It offers more flexible and convenient access to existing and new customers. It ensures the safety of customers and help reduce traveling long distances to have access to banking.
  3. It plays a role in boosting the financial status of people
  4. It provides job opportunities to individuals
  5. It is sustainable because the consumption of these services will always be needed

How do they make money through POS Business

POS business provides job opportunities and financial stability by helping the agent make money in the following ways;

  • Commission: Banks pay agents commission based on the volume of transactions carried out on their behalf.
  • Service Charges: By rendering service to customers, you can also charge them a particular amount especially on bills payments, taxes, and subscriptions.
  • Float: Depending on your cash management policy, you can also make use of cash deposits, net of withdrawal for your primary business.

By operating this business, you are not only increasing your stream of income, but you are also serving the needs of the people in your community.

See Also: Best Banks To Open A Domiciliary Account With In Nigeria

How To Start POS business in Nigeria

1. Have An Existing Business

The POS business has to do with finance and must, therefore, be approached carefully. Besides, the Central Bank of Nigeria is very particular about the business entities that qualify to be agents. So, extra care is taken by commercial banks before they authorise an agent for their retail banking.

To be eligible, you must have an existing business in operation at least for a period of 12 months. Also, you must have a shop or office from which you operate. Then, you must have been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as any of the following entities;

  • Limited Liability Company
  • Sole Proprietorship
  • Partnership
  • Cooperative Societies
  • Public Entities
  • Trusts or any other entity aside faith-based or NGOs.

As long as you have any of the above requirement, doing a POS business or serving as a bank agent is possible.

In case you don’t have an existing business, you can find a “host”

A host is a financial institution that is the source of the services you extend to your customers. Examples of good hosts include First Bank, Quickteller, Paga, FCMB, etc.

2. Start Up fund

You will need capital for office equipment, cash at hand for disbursement this help kick up operation. So at least you need 100,000 to 200,000 Naira

3. Meet a bank

Virtually all Nigerian banks allow agent banking services. So, as soon as you decide on the bank of your choice, the next thing is to approach the bank and get the details of their requirement. The CBN guide allows being an agent for as many banks as you can serve.

You will need to fill some documents/agreement forms on the transaction conditions. Then, the bank reviews the application in line with CBN, internal criteria, and enters into an agreement with you, if you meet all criteria.

Also, you must have an account for a direct deposit for the purpose of the business and provide some documents as part of the requirements for the proposal.

4. Choose a location

The location of your POS business is very important to your success. For you to thrive in the business, it’s advisable to choose a location with limited banks or places with few ATMs. Also, choose strategic locations like the bus stop, public market, event centers, etc. All of these factors will have much effect on your daily profit.

5. Get a shop

Once you have a good location, either construct a shed or shop but create enough spaces for swift movement for you and the customers. Have a banner displayed at the entrance to show the retail banking services you offer.

Then, for security measures, you can have a special purse/pouch around your neck or a safe with a strong lock to prevent theft and burglary.

Also Read: The Most Profitable Online Jobs in the World Without an Investment

6. Get a POS machine

Most of your customers will come to make withdrawals, so you will need to have a POS machine. The cost of a new POS machine varies. It is between N85,000 and N100,000 only, The difference here is just like having 2G, 3G and 4G so the higher the money, the better the service. Some banks like First Bank offers free POS machines but you need to meet their requirements.

You must have an account with the host bank. Most of these banks require you to maintain a current account while you are okay with a savings account for others. Contact your bank’s customer support or account officer

You will also need to collect the POS document from your account officer or the nearest branch of the bank. Some banks allow you to download the document online. Then fill in the required details, append the necessary signatures and submit with your bank.

Aside from the mobile phone, the following materials are usually supplied by the bank:

  • Point of Sale Terminal; a portable device that facilitates payments of goods and services at bank agent locations using payment cards.
  • Card reader
  • Barcode scanner to scan bills for bill payment transactions
  • Personal identification number (PIN) e.t.c

Typically, it takes several days or a couple of days to get the device delivered to you. Generally, POS terminals and support are free but you will have to pay a certain fee per transaction (typically, 0.25% with a cap or N1200).

7. Advertise your business

You should print banners and display them at your business location in order to attract customers. You don’t have to spend so much on your adverts.

Also, if you notice that an ATM is not dispensing cash, you can go there to advertise your service. Some people there in need of cash might subscribe to your service.

Designing and printing your banners shouldn’t cost more than N5000.

See Also: How To Compress Images In Microsoft PowerPoint

Services rendered in a POS business

POS business is rendered through the use of POS terminals, card readers, mobile phones, and bank linked mobile wallets for real-time transaction processing.

As soon as you have these, the next step is to start providing the following services;

  1. Cash deposit and withdrawal
  2. Balance inquiry
  3. Funds transfer services (local money value transfer)
  4. Bill payment (taxes, utilities, tenement rates, subscriptions, e.t.c)
  5. Generation and issuance of mini statement
  6. Cash disbursement and cash repayment of loans
  7. Agent mobile payments/banking services

How does a POS business works

In a POS business, the client first request transaction like withdrawal, transfer, or bill payment and presents the debit card. Next, the agent selects the type of transaction on the POS terminal device and enters the amounts, then, insert the debit card into the device and ask the client to secretly enter the four-digit pin. Using the network, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) connects with the bank’s server to authorize the transaction. When successful, it immediately prints out the receipt.

This process can be repeated for as many customers as you can, as long as you abide by the transaction rules of your host (bank).

Criteria for obtaining a POS machine

Some of the required documents needed to get POS machine from banks include;

  1. Valid means of identification e.g Driver’s license, National ID card, International passport or voter’s card.
  2. BVN (Bank Verification Number)
  3. 2 passport photographs
  4. 2 current account references
  5. Evidence of business registration (CAC Certificate)
  6. Tax Identification Number (TIN)
  7. Memorandum and Article of Association.
  8. Credit Bureau Report
  9. A minimum working capital of N50,000

Also Read: Ways on How to Lock Your Windows 10 PC

The difference between getting free POS machine and buying your own

It is more ideal for you to buy your own POS machine than get the free version. When they say free it is not completely free because you will still part with some money to get the POS. A free POS machine is also called MPOS, so it is not a machine per say but something you can sync into your phone

Free MPOS

To get free POS machine there are many conditions that follows.

  1. You must prove that your business can do a #100,000 transaction every day. It is mostly given to people who are already into or have done agency banking before and live in a high brow traffic areas.
  2. The money you pay for registration #15,000 or more is enough to add more money and buy for yourself. They call it agent registration and it is compulsory.
  3. You are the one to pay transportation fare for physical visitation of your location or the address where terminal will be used. And also for branding materials, courier for the POS delivery. Let’s assume the whole of these cost #20,000. Add this to the registration fee what does that tell you?
  4. It takes 30 days before you get the free mobile POS and you have to sync it into your smart phone before you can transact with it.
  5. As an agent you will not charge extra for utility bill, airtime recharge but only from the commission you charge user

Regular POS (only for purchase)

  1. It works independently without smart phone. You get instant value of amount transacted into your wallet. From your wallet you make transfer to your bank.
  2. You get your POS machine within 3 working days after payment.
  3. No target
  4. You earn extra commission on cable TV, utility bills, airtime recharge. Also you earn from the commission you charge users.

How to succeed in POS business

  1. Do not collect high charges. You can put #300 for a ten thousand Naira transaction that is 3% on every monetary transaction.
  2. Always be available at all cost in your location because if you keep absenting yourself clients will think that you are not a serious person.
  3. Since it involves money you have to be in a safe and secure position or place in order to prevent robbery of any form.
  4. Don’t accept large amounts for security reasons except you are well secured to prevent robbery attacks.
  5. Don’t arrive at your workplace late.

Challenges of POS business

  1. Power or source of light. Some rural communities don’t have steady light while others don’t have it at all. So you will have to spend more on fuel to power your generator after purchasing one in order to keep your business running and your customers smiling. The business involves the use of a machine and has to be powered with an electricity source every time.
  2. Network issues: Some people say phone transfer is better than POS but big Companies with many staff needs POS. Phone transfer is risky and very frustrating. Network is the major challenge. Some alerts take hours to come and sometimes you get a reversal of the money a customer has already confirmed you posted.
  3. Theft/robbery: POS business involves money-making, there is the fear of possible attack because you are exposed to it. To keep security means spending money.
  4. Inability to control the crowd that surrounds you.

How profitable is POS business in Nigeria

There is good profit in POS business because it involves rendering many services. With POS you can print and sell recharge cards. Only this one alone provides heavy gain not to talk of when you calculate other services rendered in a day.

The money you make from commissions; banks and cable is enough to make you financially free. The bank charges you receive is not directly from you but your customers. So you have nothing to lose but much to gain. But you have to charge according to bank commission or it should guide your charges.

Assuming you transacted with 40 people a day and your commission is #150 each that will give you #6,000. In a month you would have made #150,000 it could be more. Remember there are other services like recharge card sales, cable and Education voucher sales to make money from.

Conclusion

A POS business is an additional way of getting income. Aside from your existing business, it is a way to expand service offerings and one of the best methods to cross-sell your products/services to walk-in customers.

The business needs to situated in places where there are no bank branches or busy environments with enough security measures in place. You are sure to increase your daily revenue if you get everything right.

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Elizabeth published in Blog, How To

16 Ways On How to Keep Your Room and Yourself Cool Without AC (Air Conditioning)

There might be many reasons why their is no AC in your room. Perhaps, probably the device stopped working or is malfunctioning. But right now, you need to cool your room down because of the unbearable heat. Without an Air Conditioner (AC), you’re left with tried and tested means to cool your room down and also yourself.

I was thinking, how did people once live without an air conditioner? But also, how did they keep their homes cool without this device. So that made me to write this article.

Without wasting any further time, let us get straight to the points.

16 Ways On How to Cool Your Room Without AC (Air Conditioning)

Here are a few tips to help you beat the unbearable heat that you are feeling and also keep your home cooler when the air conditioning is not working perfectly enough or has gone out completely:

1. Switch Off the TV (Television), Games Console, and PC.

The first thing you should do is switch off anything that generates heat.

Your TV generates heat as well as your PC. Even your laptop is likely to generate more heat that you want on a hot day. As for your games console… yeah, turn that off too.

The reason why you need to switch them off is because the fans in those devices will already be working overtime, pushing hot air from inside the devices  out, into your room. These devices also need cooling as much as you do, well in some cases, more than you can think of. Switching them off will prevent system faults caused by overheating.

You’ll probably notice a difference within 10 minutes of shutting down your laptop or PC. Switching off a TV might take a bit longer to make an impact. Games consoles run with quite a bit of heat output, meanwhile, so the impact of switching off your Xbox or PlayStation could be almost immediate.

That doesn’t mean you should stop reading, because there are still more tips on how to cool your room down in case there is no air conditioner installed.

2. You Should Know When to Open and Close the Windows In Your Room

Obviously, you know how to open and close a window. But do you know when to open and close the window to make a room cooler?

In hot weather, the rule is simple. When it’s cool early in the day (usually around sunrise), open the doors and windows to let your house cool down. Later in the day when things get hotter, close curtains and shut outer doors to trap the cooler air inside.

If you have a standing or ceiling fan, switch this on to aid the airflow. This should be a larger static or oscillating fan, however, rather than a battery powered handheld fan.

3. Use Cotton Bedding

Hot nights are unbearable. How can you keep your bedroom cool when the lights go out, everything is switched off, but you’re still sweating?

You already know when to open windows. You should already use a mosquito net for your windows and bed to avoid insect bites on hot nights. Mosquito nets allow airflow, preventing you from getting too hot, as does cotton bedding.

Thin cotton sheets are perfect for hot weather. They keep you covered, provide enough warmth to counter a cool breeze, and let you regulate your temperature.

When the heatwave strikes, put lightweight cotton sheets on your bed.

4. Make Use Of Energy Efficient Bulbs

Regular light bulbs are not energy efficient (especially the yellow bulbs), but they produce another problem as well. They radiate a lot of excess heat when they are producing energy.

Which obviously causes a problem if you have no air conditioner because it is just compounding the problem of heat.

Old style light-bulbs would keep many rooms warm. The incandescent quality meant that heat was radiated as well as light. In hot weather, this is counterproductive.

Fortunately, these bulbs are mostly no longer used except in some areas. While incandescent bulbs appear to be making a comeback, energy efficient bulbs that radiate far less heat are a smarter option. And if you have app controlled smart bulbs then you can easily switch then on or off using a phone.

So switch to energy efficient bulbs. They don’t produce as much heat.

5. Switch on Extractor or Exhaust Fans in Kitchen and Bathroom

We’ve explained earlier that certain appliances should be switched off. However, there are things you can switch on to help cool your home which are the exhaust or extractor fans.

Most people have exhaust fans in both their bathrooms and their kitchen and some people, is just in one of them.

This exhaust or extractor fan is used for air circulation purposes. Switching these on can help considerably.

Basically, the way they can pull steam out of your home when cooking, they can pull heat out of your home too.

Better still, if there is a line of sight between the two rooms, using one for air in and the other to pull the air out, can improve airflow. This will contribute to improved airflow.

A standing fan can also help here. Oscillating fans are particularly useful for controlling airflow.

6. Cook Your Meals Strategically

It’s tempting to stand in front of an open fridge door in hot weather, because of the cooling effects. But what happens when you are hungry?

The best option is to simply eat cool food. Salads, cold meats or equivalents, yoghurts or anything to keep you cool. Cooking is certainly not a good idea when the weather is hot.

If you must cook, cook when the weather is cool, perhaps early morning and late evening, and minimize what is cooked or the hours of cooking should not be of long duration. So, if you’re making pasta with a sauce, microwave the sauce to cook it through. Similarly, boil a kettle for water rather than having a stove radiating heat to get the water to temperature. Then add the water to the pan with the pasta and cook as normal.

Cooking can impact the air quality in your home.

7. Ice and a Fan

This is an old school trick that people once used years ago when most people did not have an air conditioner.

They would put ice in a large bowl, then they’d place that bowl in a location where the fan would blow across it. This creates a cool, misty breeze that will make you feel great on hot days.

8. Use Ceiling Fans Instead of Standing Fans

Ceiling fans are a tremendous help in keeping your home cool enough.

Ceiling fans are better than standing fans because they keep the air moving constantly than the standing fans and in turn they obviously cool your house down.

But be sure that the fans are rotating counter-clockwise during warm weather. This helps your house cool better.

9. Add Some Permanent Shade

If your home has no protection from the sun, then it will continue to beat directly down on top of it. This is a problem because it means your house will be extremely hot.

But you can fix this by adding awnings (a roof-like cover extending over or in front of a place (as over the deck or in front of a door or window) as a shelter)  to your windows, covered porches which will help provide some shade, and even adding shade trees. The less the sun can directly hit your windows, the better off you will be, and the cooler you’ll stay.

10. Freeze Your Sheets and Pajamas

I read an article once that told all about how people once stayed cool before air conditioning. They did a lot of interesting things, like actually building their homes in a way that helped them stay cool.

But they also did basic things that we can do today regardless of how our homes are built. They would freeze their sheets and pajamas. It may sound crazy, but they knew the cooler their body temperatures stayed, the more comfortable they would be.

11. Sleep with a Wet Sheet

This may sound odd or should I say ridiculous, but you can make a sheet or towel damp with cold water. You’ll then place it over you to keep you cool at night when you sleep.

But be sure to put a towel under you so it doesn’t cause your mattress to be damaged in the process. Remember, the cooler you stay, most likely the better sleep you’ll get.

12. Use Your Pulse Areas

If you can apply something cool to your pulse areas or pulse points your body temperature will drop much faster. Your pulse points are the areas where you can locate your pulse, they are located on your wrists, neck, elbows, ankles, behind the knees, feet, and groin area.

So place an ice pack or damp cloth on any of those areas to help lower your body temperature and keep yourself cooler.

13. Sleep Solo or Alone

This may not work for everyone, but if you can stand to be apart from your loved one, then this will definitely help you to keep cooler.

Basically, body heat creates more warmth, which creates for a higher temperature. If you can sleep sprawled out and by yourself, then you’ll stay cooler.

14. Stay Hydrated

If you notice, a lot of these tips are to help you while you are sleeping because that is a really difficult time to stay cool and our bodies sweat so much trying to keep our body temperatures lower.

So it is important to drink plenty of cold water before bed so you don’t become dehydrated by all of the sweating.

15. Suspend Your Bed

If you are able to sleep in a bed that is above the ground, then you can have air flow all the way around you.

So if you have a cot or a hammock that you can sleep comfortably in or on, then this might be a good option while your air conditioning is out.

16. Sleep on a Mat

If you don’t have a way to sleep suspended to create air flow, then try subbing out your mattress for a bamboo mat.

Now, I know a bamboo mat is less comfortable than your mattress. But you also have to remember that it won’t hold heat like a thick cotton mattress will

How to Cool Yourself Down Without AC

Sometimes when you can’t get the room temperature down, you can still get your body temperature down.

Finding ways to keep yourself cool is also a great solution when you need to cool yourself down without an AC unit.

Why? Well, perhaps you may be the reason the room is hot. After all, your body temperature is around 36 degrees Celsius. A lot of heat is lost from your head, arms, and hands to maintain that level.

So, what can you do about it?

Start by taking a cold shower. Not only will this cool you down, it will make you feel better. Dress in light cotton or linen clothing to improve airflow around your person.

Drinking cold beverages from the fridge can also help. Plunging your feet into a bucket or tray of iced water is also a good idea. Apply a cool cloth to your neck or wrist area.

Meanwhile, moving generates heat. We’re told to stay active when it’s cold in order to warm up. So, find a cool spot to enjoy your cold drink. And stay entertained by reading a book.

Well, you now have over 16 different options to keep yourself and your home cool during the summer when you have no air conditioning.

As mentioned, some of these ideas can even be used to help you lower your cooling bill this summer. If you can keep your home naturally cool, then your air conditioner won’t have to work as much.

In Summary

So how can I keep my room cool without AC?

  1.  Stay hydrated
  2.  Make Use Of Energy Efficient Bulbs
  3.  Cook Your Meals Strategically
  4.  Use Ceiling Fans if you have
  5.  Switch Off the TV (Television), Games Console, and PC.
  6.  Use Cotton Bedding
  7.  You Should Know When to Open and Close the Windows In Your Room
  8.  Switch on Extractor or Exhaust Fans in Kitchen and Bathroom
  9.  Switch on Extractor or Exhaust Fans in Kitchen and Bathroom
  10.  Freeze Your Sheets and Pajamas
  11. Have a shower
  12. Take cold beverages
  13.  Sleep on a mat

But I’d like to know how you keep your home and family cool during the summer. Please share your tips with us because I’m sure there are a lot of people that will utilize them in the future.
Just leave us your comments in the space provided below.

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Elizabeth published in Blog, How To, Technology

Steps on How to Crop a Picture or an Image in Microsoft PowerPoint

Introduction

According to Wikipedia, cropping a picture is the removal of unwanted outer areas from a photographic or illustrated image. The process usually consists of the removal of some of the peripheral areas of an image to remove extraneous trash from the picture, to improve its framing, to change the aspect ratio, or to accentuate or isolate the subject matter from its background.

Cropping a picture or an image removes the outer edges of the image. You do so to remove both empty and busy areas as both can distract from the graphic’s focus. Either way, you can use PowerPoint’s Crop tool to fine-tune what viewers see.

Yes it’s not easy to think of Microsoft PowerPoint as an image editor, but as presentation software, it needs to also be a design tool in order to help you create said presentations. This is why you need to learn how to manipulate images and create interesting effects with your images in PowerPoint.

You can also crop an image to fit a specific shape.

Let’s learn how to crop your photos or images in Microsoft PowerPoint using the cropping and the shape tools in Microsoft.

Steps how to crop a picture or an image in Microsoft PowerPoint.

I will be showing you two different methods on how to crop a picture or an image using Microsoft PowerPoint.

Method 1

1. To crop a picture in PowerPoint, open the presentation,

2. Add the picture by clicking on Insert then Picture, then select the photo in order to add an image to the slide.

How to Crop a Picture in Microsoft PowerPoint

How to Crop a Picture or an Image in Microsoft PowerPoint

3. Once selected, the “Picture Format” tab will appear. Select it, then click the “Crop” button found in the “Size” group.

How to Crop an Image in Microsoft PowerPoint

4. A drop-down menu will appear. Here, select “Crop.”

How to Crop a Picture or an Image in Microsoft PowerPoint

5. Cropping handles will now appear around the frame of the image. To crop out certain areas, click and drag the handles to capture only the content you want to keep.

6. After setting the areas of the frame, select the icon in the upper half of the “Crop” option in the “Size” group of the “Picture Format” tab.

7. Your image will now be cropped.

Moving to the second method on how to crop a picture or an image in Microsoft PowerPoint

Also Read: Steps on How to Compress Images in Microsoft PowerPoint

Method 2

1. To crop a picture in PowerPoint, open the presentation,

2. Add the picture by clicking on Insert then Picture, then select the photo in order to add an image to the slide.

3. Right-click on the image and click on the Crop button that appears on top. Black crop handles on the edges and corners allow you to re-size the image.

4. Drag one of the handles inward or outwards to crop the image. You can also crop equally on four sides (Press Ctrl + drag corner handle) or crop equally on two parallel sides (Press Ctrl + drag the crop handle on the sides). If you want you can drag the picture to re-focus the area you want to keep.

5. To crop to precise dimensions, use the Height and Width boxes next to the Crop button.

6. Press Esc to finish or click anywhere outside the picture.

Steps on How to Crop an Image to Aspect Ratio in Microsoft PowerPoint

Let’s say you have a photo and you want to crop it into a square or any of the common aspect ratios. PowerPoint allows one-click cropping for several standard aspect ratios.

1. Click and select the image in the slide.

2. Go to Picture Tools > Format. In the Size group, click the dropdown arrow under the Crop button.

How to Crop an Image to Aspect Ratio

3. Select the Aspect Ratio you want from the dropdown and apply it to the image.

4. Use the Crop rectangle to adjust the crop area. You can also use the crop handles to adjust the final view.

Steps on How to Crop an Image or a Picture to Any Shape using Microsoft PowerPoint

A Shape Fill can be manipulated with the Crop tool and used for interesting effects.

I will teach you 2 methods on how to crop an image or a picture to any shape using Microsoft PowerPoint

Method 1

1. To crop a picture to any shape in PowerPoint, open the presentation,

2. Add the picture by clicking on Insert then Picture, then select the photo in order to add an image to the slide.

3. In the “Picture Format” tab, click the “Crop” button found in the “Size” group. In the drop-down menu that appears, select “Crop To Shape.”

4. Another menu displaying a large library of shapes will appear. Select the shape you’d like to crop the image to. We’ll use a basic oval in this example.

How to Crop an Image to Any Shape

5. Once selected, the oval shape will appear over your image, as well as cropping handles to set the area to be cropped. Set them as desired.

How to Crop an Image to Any Shape

6. When you’re ready, select the icon above “Crop” in the “Size” group of the “Picture Format” tab.

7. Your image is now cropped.

How to crop a picture in Microsoft PowerPoint

The second method on how to crop an image or a picture to any shape using Microsoft PowerPoint

Method 2

1. To crop a picture to any shape in PowerPoint, open the presentation,

2. Go to Insert > Shapes and select a shape from the options available. Select the drawn shape.

3. Click Drawing Tools > Format. In the Shape Styles group, click Shape Fill > Picture.

4. Browse to the picture you want and insert it into the shape as a shape fill.

5. Click to select the new shape picture fill.

6. Go to Picture Tools > Format. In the Size group, click the arrow under Crop to show the two cropping options.

7. Choose from Fill or Fit.

Fill matches the picture with the shape’s height or width, whichever is greatest. Fit sets the picture size so that the picture’s height and width both match the shape’s boundaries.

Like any other crop, you can use the cropping handles to fine-tune the position of the shape fill within the cropped shape.

In Conclusion

Instead of you going through the stress of using the crop tools in your PC for cropping your pictures before inserting them in your  Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. Microsoft PowerPoint has made it easy for you. All you have to do is to follow the steps on how to crop a picture or an Image in Microsoft PowerPoint, you can also go ahead to compress these images in Microsoft PowerPoint in order to reduce the file size.

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