Award-winning digital news platform UrbanGeekz has entered right into a first-of-its-kind partnership with ride-hailing app Moovn.

This wide-ranging distribution agreement gives riders all over the world direct access to UrbanGeekz’s offering of multicultural content right from the comfort of Moovn’s ridesharing vehicles. According to a Moovn press release enables its passengers to read, watch and have interaction with UrbanGeekz content that has been seamlessly integrated into the app’s interface. The collaboration marks the primary time a Black-owned news platform has entered right into a content partnership with a ride-sharing mobile app.

Seattle-based Moovn Founder and CEO Godwin Gabriel said, “I am very excited about this fantastic partnership…” We consider this agreement will add tremendous value to our Moovn riders and users, who can now directly access UrbanGeekz content raid- , and even not drive, thanks to our subscription campaigns and email marketing.”

The agreement expands UrbanGeekz’s reach, providing passengers all over the world with access to breaking news, articles, expert columns, analytical articles, product reviews and original video content. Gabriel added: “This will expand UrbanGeekz’s global reach to our international audience and subscriber base.”

Aligning with UrbanGeekz’s mission to function a trusted source for diverse audiences, this partnership expands viewership in major U.S. and African cities. How BLACK ENTERPRISES noted that in 2023, UrbanGeekz partnered with CultureBanx to highlight members of the Black Innovation Alliance.

Moovn’s partnership with UrbanGeekz marks the Black-owned tech company’s expansion into the ridesharing space. Gabriel, who faced investment challenges after starting his business in 2014, has grown his company to meet specific transportation needs all over the world, as previously reported TO BE. Currently operating in several cities all over the world, with plans to expand into Western and emerging markets, Moovn is offered in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Nairobi, Arusha, Lusaka and 4 cities in Tanzania, including Gabriel’s hometown of Dar- es-Salaam.

“Our Africa strategy has paid off greatly and we have increased our market presence on the continent. We are currently positioning ourselves to be the third ridesharing option in the United States,” Gabriel stated in a press release. “Part of our expansion strategy includes entering at least nine U.S. cities by the end of the year. We are currently piloting our services in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; and San Francisco, California.”

UrbanGeekz content is now available via the Moovn app.

Marketing is one of the vital essential elements of your company. If you do your marketing right, you’ll be able to increase sales, increase brand recognition and create the foundations for lasting success; get it fallacious and your company will likely be in trouble. The key to any business is to improve your marketing.

That’s why the effectiveness of your marketing team is incredibly essential. Companies that construct motivated, highly competent marketing teams can achieve significant benefits over their rivals, which can translate into greater sales and increased profitability.

However, good marketing teams, like the rest, require a big investment of effort and time. Here are some proven ways you’ll be able to improve your marketing staff and increase your company’s profits today.

Hire and retain the fitting people

One of the most effective ways to ensure an optimal marketing team is to hire the fitting people from the beginning and make sure that each team member adds value. You should look for knowledgeable sales representatives with a proven track record, preferably in your company’s industry.

While training and education are extremely essential (see below), your company will get a greater return on investment if the sales representatives you hire are already competent to begin with.

You must also search for individuals who have the abilities to effectively market in today’s business environment. With so many leads and sales now being generated through online marketing, for instance, knowing how to manage your social media presence, place online ads and search engine marketing (search engine optimisation) are essential skills for your sales staff.

So take the time to review resumes, ask the fitting questions, and be sure that potential employees have what it takes to make a difference on your sales team.

Additionally, managers or small business owners should all the time keep an in depth eye on the performance of marketing team members and be willing to make difficult decisions when it comes to staff who don’t. Recent research shows that managers spend far an excessive amount of time trying to outperform the 20% of their marketing workforce.

Invest in your marketing team

Hiring talented salespeople is crucial to constructing an efficient marketing team, however it’s not enough; you have to proceed to put money into each member of your marketing team and the team itself to gain and maintain a competitive advantage over your competitors.

Consider creating an orientation program for brand spanking new marketing employees in order that they understand all points of your company; this may make them far more effective when designing marketing content, corresponding to advertisements, or when interacting with potential customers.

Also consider inviting your marketing staff to attend training conferences, workshops, or classes in order that they can develop latest skills and be more practical. If your company has the resources, consider funding advanced education opportunities for your highest-potential marketing team members in order that they could make even greater contributions to your company as they earn advanced degrees and certifications.

Investing in your marketing staff is not going to only improve their skill levels, but may lead to increased worker motivation, productivity and loyalty.

Help improve collaboration between marketing teams

One of the most effective ways to make sure that your marketing team is as effective as possible is to be sure that they’re a team in the primary place. Help set the conditions so that everybody on your marketing team can collaborate, develop a shared vision, and ultimately be in the most effective position to achieve your company’s marketing goals.

The marketing team must have enough workspace to meet, collaborate on projects and share ideas; An open office environment generally is a particularly effective way to instill a shared mission and team spirit in marketing employees.

Additionally, it’s best to be sure that your marketing team has the fitting tools to collaborate effectively. Virtual meeting apps like Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams are crucial for your team to share information, even when team members aren’t in the identical location.

Software that permits marketing staff to share files and collaborate on projects, corresponding to Dropbox or Evernote, can be extremely essential. Mobile devices that help your employees use such collaboration tools are also investments value considering.

Finally, remember to consider low-tech collaboration tools when working to improve your marketing team; for instance, simply adding whiteboards in marketing staff offices can increase creativity and foster a shared sense of mission to solve problems.

Monitor, measure and posthumously all the pieces

As essential as hiring the fitting people and investing in them, it’s equally essential to monitor their performance. Your company needs to monitor the performance of your marketing team as an entire and as individuals. You must also closely track lead development, sales, and contributions to successful marketing campaigns.

This can allow you to make key decisions regarding your marketing staff and overall marketing strategy. Additionally, after any major marketing activity, corresponding to a sale, a brand new promoting campaign or an introduction to online content and social media, this event should absolutely be carried out.

A post-mortem is basically an after-action review to determine the general goal of the marketing activity, whether it achieved its goal, and what worked well and what didn’t. Post-mortems can allow you to make decisions about future events and may allow you to improve your marketing team, making it even more practical in your future endeavors.

Maintaining easily accessible files on sales activity, marketing results, and postmortems may help further educate latest team members during orientation and help with the general transparency of the corporate.

Final thoughts on effective marketing teams

A reliable, cohesive and highly expert marketing team is critical to developing the attributes your company needs to grow and thrive.

Managers, especially those in small corporations with limited resources, must devote effort and time to constructing marketing teams that may truly return the investment. Hire the fitting individuals with the fitting skills, put money into their training, and supply them with the tools to collaborate more effectively as a team. Monitor all the pieces your marketing team does and all the time strive to improve your team’s efficiency and effectiveness.

Your investment in a reliable marketing team today will translate into future sales and profits and make sure the success of your company in the long term.

This post was written by William Lipowski and originally appeared DUE.com.

BLACK ENTERPRISES consulted with certified financial planner Ivory Johnson, founding father of Delancey Wealth Management, to find out how pre-retirees can catch up on retirement.

Withdraw conservatively.

Make sure you do not overpay. “The rule of thumb is don’t take out greater than 4% of your retirement savings per yr. Retirees receiving a pension and no mortgage usually tend to follow the 4% rule (because they’ve extra money flow), says Johnson.

Evaluate your portfolio.

“The general rule is to own 60% to 65% of the shares. And the rationale is to maintain pace with inflation. The stocks you own should probably be in higher dividend paying corporations so you may reinvest them. So if I take an organization that pays a 2-3% dividend and the stock falls 3%, I’m even. You may also take a few of that income and use it as a paycheck, which relieves your portfolio of the necessity for appreciation. So you wish dividend-paying stocks and the remaining in short-term bonds. Or other alternative asset classes, akin to real estate mutual funds, which pay a pleasant dividend.

Take advantage of the chance to catch up.

The limit for workers participating in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the federal government’s Savings Plan is $17,500. The The annual IRA contribution limit is $6,500. If you are 50 or older, you may make additional contributions to a Traditional or Roth IRA up to $1,000. If you’ve got a 401(k) or 403(b), you may make catch-up contributions up to $6,500.

Think about ways to earn extra income.

Lifetime income could also be in the shape of real estate. If you rent a property and it doesn’t have a mortgage until you retire, that is a sort of retirement, Johnson says. “Rental properties can provide an inflation-adjusted income and are best for retirement in case your mortgage is low or has maxed out. Buying a rental property in the beginning of retirement still offers the tax advantage of depreciation, however the difference between mortgage and rent will not be attractive. Johnson also recommends taking on a side job.

Plan for catastrophic illness and other crises in retirement.

Get disability insurance. “It could be a car accident or a debilitating illness that forces you out of the workforce. People over 50 years of age should also consider purchasing long-term care insurance. The notion that they will never need a home visiting nurse or that they will be candidates for a nursing home is statistically untrue.”

If you have been hit hard by the recession, make changes.

“A revised plan may include working longer, reducing current lifestyles, working part-time in retirement or asking children to shoulder more of the tutorial burden. It all depends on what’s essential to you, Johnson says.

Don’t be a financial burden on your loved ones.

Johnson suggests considering purchasing long-term care insurance. “A sick parent without resources is a burden on children and can break up a family. In my experience, one child usually bears the burden of care and the costs fall on the child with the most resources. It’s not much fun on Thanksgiving when the child who made the most sacrifices to secure his career ends up paying the bills.”

Continue investing throughout retirement.

Johnson recommends exposure to stocks to maintain pace with inflation. “The best solution to achieve that is dollar-cost averaging, which involves investing the identical sum of money on a daily basis. By doing this, you purchase more shares when the market is low and develop the habit of saving. The right stock allocation might be a function of your age, risk tolerance, time horizon and the quantity you have to retire, Johnson says.