The tradeoff between work and life is a modern-day dilemma. If you’re a tech parent, you might be feeling this pressure even more intensely. The latest studies show that nearly one-third of parents are working more than one job to make ends meet. You have to find out how to set boundaries so you can get the most out of both time periods. Here are some tips for balancing your work and life as a tech parent:

Set Boundaries
Many parents find it challenging to balance work and life. For those who also have children, this can be even tougher as you’re trying to equalize your responsibilities as a parent with your responsibilities as a tech employee.

In order to create some boundaries around your work time, consider limiting the hours you spend on the computer each day. This type of self-regulation can help you stay on task and limit distractions from outside sources like social media or email that can keep you from getting things done.

When setting boundaries for personal time, try alternating days where you take care of business and days where you spend time with family and friends. This way, there won’t be any resentment created when it comes to taking care of business or spending quality time together. As tempting as it may be to always put business first (to increase efficiency), try balancing self-care with work responsibilities by alternating which one takes priority each day.

Another tip for balancing your work and life involves staying connected with your team members outside of the office. Technology has made this easy: just start a group chat on an app like Slack or join an online forum for people in similar fields. You might find that these connections help you feel less isolated when you’re at home—not just during office hours!

Finding the Right Balance
If you’re a tech parent, balancing your work and life can be difficult. Working in the tech industry for most of my life, I know how important it is to find balance. We all want to be able to give our kids the best we can while making sure we take care of ourselves and our families.

The tradeoff between work and life is a dilemma that many people deal with on a daily basis. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 32% of parents are working more than one job in order to make ends meet. Here are some tips for balancing your work and life as a tech dad:

Managing Technology to Make You More Productive
The first step in balancing work and life is to use the technology you have more efficiently. This doesn’t just mean using your computer or your phone more efficiently, but it also means using other technologies, like an automated home. Automating certain aspects of your home can help free up time so you can focus on other things. For example, if you had a dishwasher that automatically started when you left the house, then that would be freeing up some time for you to do something else.

Tips for Working From Home
The first thing you can do to balance work and life as a tech mom/dad is set boundaries. If you’re a parent, it’s important you find a schedule that works for your children and your family in general before you start working from home. Working from home can be a challenge if you don’t have a system that allows you to balance work and life. For example, if your child has an appointment at school one day, there are two options: either you go with them to the appointment or they go alone. If you decide to go with them, then someone needs to stay home with the other children while the appointment is going on which causes another set of problems. You can avoid these problems by being clear about how much time will be spent working from home each day and setting a schedule for who will care for the children when necessary.

How to Keep Your Home Downtime Productive
What are you supposed to do when you’re home?

– Do chores
– Take care of the kids
– Read a book
– Call your mom

The last one might sound fun, but it can be difficult to stay on the phone for hours. Instead, why not try an online chat? Skype is a great way to catch up with friends and family without having to talk on the phone for hours. You can have a video call or just have a simple text conversation. You’ll still get that personal connection without being tethered to a phone for a long period of time.

Find Your Ideal Schedule
The first step to finding a balance is to examine your schedule and find out what works best for you.
If you’re not sure where to start, try setting aside time for each side of your life. For example, if you work from home in the morning, set aside time for your family in the evening. If you work from home in the evening, make sure you take time off during the day. These little adjustments can help you find a balance.

Conclusion
Setting boundaries and finding the right work-life balance is a challenge for any parent and can be especially difficult for those who work from home. However, the benefits of working from home and staying connected to your family make balancing work and home life worth the effort.

The key to finding your ideal schedule is to determine what you need to do to be productive and then create a schedule that aligns with those needs. For example, if you need downtime in the evening after your kids go to bed, build that into your schedule. It may be difficult at first, but over time it will become second nature. And as your kids grow, so will your schedule.

Each day, it seems that we are hearing about a new form of technology. For example, NASA has recently sent a helicopter to Mars! Ten years ago, this technology wasn’t available to us. Since technology evolves so quickly, it can sometimes grow at a speed that makes it hard to understand. With every new wave of fantastic technological advancements, we open ourselves up to new concerns. Many Americans have expressed particular concerns about a growing lack of privacy that has come with increased internet usage. Studies have expressed that six out of ten Americans don’t believe that it is possible to go through daily life without having their data collected. 

Companies like Instagram, Google, and TikTok have been accused of overstepping privacy policies to gain more information and data on their customers, and some cases have even been sent to court. These court cases only shine a brighter light on the larger issue at hand: the lack of privacy when accompanied with extensive technology. 

Instagram:

Instagram was accused of viewing users through their phone cameras without expressed consent; Facebook (the owners of Instagram) responded to the lawsuit by claiming the issue to be nothing more than a bug defect. Despite Facebook’s response, Mark Zuckerberg has used tape over his laptop’s camera in the past. Many interpreted this as Zuckerberg’s own distrust of technology. 

Google:

Google, a product which 90% of people in the world use as their primary search engine, has been sued for $5 billion for tracking users, even while in Incognito Mode. Google offers Incognito Mode as a private way to browse the Web. Chrome’s Help section assures users that “…[N]one of your browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered in forms are saved on your device”. A misleading concept is that Incognito Mode — or any other private browsing program — keeps you completely anonymous; however, this is not the case. Your data and personal information are not kept private during these Incognito sessions. Websites can find out where you are through your IP address, and figure out who you are from there.

TikTok:

TikTok, a rapidly growing social media platform, has recently edited their privacy policy to include the gathering of biometric data from US users. This includes faceprints, voiceprints, and whatever else can be used to identify an individual. Biometric data is used to uniquely identify someone; this technology has been helpful in forensic studies and maintaining high security. Educating yourself and others on the importance of your biometric data is the first step in bringing awareness to the dangers of data-leaks. Someone with ill intent might attempt to harm your image or use this data to impersonate you.

Why Data Collection Happens:

Why would enormous multi-billion corporations want your data, anyway? Well, if these companies can figure out what you, as a consumer, would be willing to spend your hard-earned money on, then they can place targeted advertisements in front of you, which could earn them money from advertisers. Your interests, buying behavior, and even your political affiliation can be gleaned from your consumer data. 

Precautions You Can Take:

Because the Internet is a relatively new frontier, very few laws surround your online privacy. So, what can you do as a precaution? It all starts with what you willingly post on your social media: sharing locations, names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, and even pictures of yourself could lead to identity theft or a breach of privacy. We recommend using a VPN (virtual private network) when browsing the ‘Net to maintain anonymity, and antivirus software if you’re concerned about hackers easily accessing your computer. 

As a new wave of technology is explored each day, the need for security and privacy becomes more apparent. If you’re concerned about your online privacy and security, give us a ring at (843) 324-5824; we would love to help you learn more!

ADVYON was built through lots of hard work and constant effort. We understand the time required to dedicate to a start-up business, so we have created a guide to help you with one of the most important aspects of keeping your business successful: a good social media marketing plan! Once you get a little recognition, the only way to go is up; that is, if you keep a consistent, organized, and simple plan.

Step One: Keep everything organized. 

When you’re starting a new business, it’s imperative that you keep yourself organized. Keeping a to-do list or using a task management system to organize your social media posts is highly recommended. Read this article by Niel Patel which describes why organization is so important, and what you can do to prioritize it. Don’t try to remember everything; write it down, set a reminder, add it to your calendar! Our team uses a spreadsheet to keep track of what we’re going to post, when we’re going to post it, and who will create the content. Use a system that works for you!

Step Two: Stay simple with graphics.

When you scroll through social media, do you focus on each individual aspect of someone’s post? Usually, the answer is no. As you’re posting for your business, keep things simple; think big picture! When using a graphic in your post, keep the colors simple and ensure that all of the information you wish to convey would be communicated thoroughly with a single glance. It’s scientifically proven time and again that the most successful posts are images. Use larger and easy to read fonts for the most important info; if you’re announcing an event, use eye-catching words like “Biggest Event,” “Cash Prizes,” or “Free Food” to get people interested (Check out this article to learn why). Once you have them reading your eye-catching title, you can throw some more information at them to get them convinced that they want to join this event.

When you post on social media, use the same color palette throughout your feed. Humans are visual learners, and there are many subliminal messages through color selection. For example, combining black and white can convey antiquity, wealth, and success (when done correctly)! Color-pick the main colors in your logo or website (if you don’t have either one already, give us a call), and add them to your graphic. There’s plenty of evidence that supports the idea that humans associate colors to different things. When you think of yellow and red together, there might be several different fast food restaurants that come to mind. Use this to your advantage for your business! Consistently use the same colors for all of your marketing.

Step Three: Be consistent. Success favors consistency!

Post on social media most days of the week. ADVYON has found that the best times to post on Facebook for an IT company are Wednesdays between 9 AM and 2 PM. Do your own research on the best times to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, or any other social media for your specific company. People are inundated with so many media posts within a day, so make sure that your post stands out from among the crowd!

Step Four: Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Starting a business is difficult, especially if you’re doing it alone. Thankfully, you don’t have to be alone in this! We’re here to help you: from the small social media posts to completely branding your company, we do it all! We understand that entrepreneurs are always busy with meetings, appointments, financial discussions, and whatever else you’ve put on your to-do list. We know that you’re busy with the in’s-and-out’s of a business, so let us help you by taking care of your marketing needs. Give us a ring at (843) 324-5824 to discuss the future of your business!

Social media is a crucial part of an effective marketing strategy for most business owners these days. Consistent posting on social media can provide benefits like raising brand awareness, driving sales, and establishing your brand as an expert in your field. But how do you start using social media? We believe that like many things in life, success on social media starts by creating the perfect plan.

A social media plan can be as detailed as you want, but it starts with just three basic questions:

What will I post? Where will I post it? What will it look like?

Let’s work through some steps to find the answers each of these questions:

#1- What will you post?

The first step in figuring out what you will post is to find your brand voice. Try a chart like the chart below from the Content Marketing Institute to get a concrete idea of what tone your posts should use. First, use general terms to describe how your business sounds like “passionate” or “quirky.” Then you explain what each of those mean. Use a chart like this to determine the “do’s” and “dont’s” for your business’ communications.

Check out our Facebook page for some more ideas about how to find your brand voice: Finding Your Brand Voice

Your voice will determine whether you post about serious or lighthearted topics. If your brand is dealing with an inherently serious topic, you will probably not post memes or funny videos. You will probably stick to sharing news items and general tips for your business. But if your business can afford to be a little silly or wants to be seen as a “friend,” you may be very casual with your followers and use slang or popular viral images and videos on your pages.

#2-Where will I post?

Figuring out where to post also takes some research. You can start by performing an audience analysis. An audience analysis examines the demographics, location, and interests and other aspects of a group.

To figure out demographics and location, try using Facebook’s built in analytics tools. You can use the “page insights” feature to get an overview of the age and gender for your existing audience as well as the cities and countries your followers came from and the languages of their browsers. Simply navigate to the “people” tab under page insights to see an overview of your followers’ demographics like the one pictured below:

After looking at your demographics, you can research to see which platforms they are most interested in by doing a simple Google search. For example when we search this largest demographic, women ages 35-44, we can find statistics that tell us that most of these followers use Facebook and Instagram. From there, we can figure out when the best time to post will be by searching to see when most women ages 35-44 will be using Facebook.

After figuring out the best time to post and the best platform to use, create a social media calendar. This schedule should have what types of topics will be covered each day, the times they will be posted, and the platforms where they will be shared. Check out this example from Hootsuite which addresses the content that will be posted each day on four different platforms:

#3- What will it look like?

What your posts look like will be determined by your brand. No blanket look or feel will work for all businesses. 

If you want a concrete idea of what look to use for your posts, you can create branding standard. In this file, you can document the colors and fonts that your business will use and what situations you will use them in. Your brand standards should include:

• Clearly defined logo usage, spacing, and colors
• Specified colors & fonts
  • Make sure the colors and fonts are outlined for use in all instances. For example, for colors, you want to be sure to have CMYK for print usage and Hex for online graphics. For fonts, make sure weights and styles are specified as well as alternatives for both digital and print. You will likely have a greater variety of options to use for graphics.
• Rules for usage of stock photography, photos from clients, and photos of team members.
• An overall standard for how your brand’s message should be represented (Voice).

For more information about what should be included in your brand standard, read our blog about brand standards and why you need them: https://advyon.com/brand-standards/

Once you’ve set the colors and fonts you will use, you’re ready to start creating. To get ideas on what your posts might look like, check out the competition. Find social media accounts for similar businesses in your area and make notes on what kinds of graphics they’ve created. Your posts should not be a direct copy, but using similar ideas will help put you on an even playing field with your competitors. You can use design tools like Adobe Indesign or Illustrator or free tools like Canva to create appealing graphics with your colors and fonts.

Final Thoughts: 

Many businesses put off creating a social media plan because it seems time-consuming or intimidating. We think that answering by answering three questions: “What will I post? Where will I post it? What will it look like?,”you can create a solid social media plan that is easy and fun for your team.

Examining your brand voice, demographics, brand standards, and competition will provide you with valuable information on the best approach to social media for your specific business. If you’d like more help with social media planning, strategy, and scheduling, you can always ask an expert! We offer social media posting and plans as a part of our comprehensive marketing services, so please give us a call at (843) 324-5824, email marketing@advyon.com or visit our website, advyon.com for more information on our services or to schedule a consultation.