Will Erlandson

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Putting yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer can be an effective way to ensure you remain focused on their needs and desires. A landing page is often the first interaction a potential customer has with your website and company. The wrong colors, not enough or too much information and a cluttered design can all be factors that turn potential customers away from a business. An appealing landing page, however, not only entices visitors to explore the website further but also can be essential in converting visitors to paying customers. Below, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members each share one way to ensure a landing page is appealing and optimized for conversions. From simplifying the design to reaching out to your target audience for feedback, making even small changes can lead to higher conversion rates.

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Given the fact that our attentions are shrinking, you may need to rethink your sales and marketing outreach strategy.

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Though an uncertain market can be challenging for entrepreneurs, it can also be an opportunity to grow. While market downturns can devastate companies across industries, they can also be full of potential. By leaning in on being agile and flexible, business leaders can effectively navigate uncertainty, find new opportunities and execute needed change.  As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum members have dealt with their own share of market challenges. Below, 15 of them each share one way companies can look for new business opportunities in a market downturn and secure a bright future.

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Here are a few tried-and-true tips that I’ve discovered along the way to help you do just that.

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Being in constant communication with customers can help businesses ensure they are following the right trends. Customer trends are constantly changing in response to societal, environmental and technological advancements. To continually meet and even surpass customer expectations, it’s critical that businesses keep up with and adapt to these emerging customer trends. However, with so many trends appearing regularly, it’s difficult for business leaders to know which trends are short-lived and which ones have the potential to disrupt the industry for good. This distinction is key, as the wrong investment in a particular trend can mean wasting limited time, effort and resources. To help, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members offer advice on how a business can stay on top of emerging customer trends and leverage them wisely.

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No one wants to inform a client that they fell short of expectations. But according to Newsweek Expert Forum member Will Erlandson, these uncomfortable conversations are key to a healthy working relationship.

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Feel awkward when you network? Try these tips to make it feel more organic and even fun. Many people network with the intention of trying to sell a business leader on their product or service, whether to get seed money or to try and create a partnership. Because of this, networking events may end up feeling awkward and uncomfortable when it's all about the hard sell. However, networking doesn't have to feel like you're "schmoozing." Business leaders can use these events to make real connections and build solid foundations for future business relations, all without pitching an idea. Below, a panel of Newsweek Expert Forum members offered their best advice for making networking more natural and fun to build long-lasting connections. 

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Consumers are increasingly discerning and skeptical about what they read online — and that has big implications for marketers. As a result, says Newsweek Expert Forum member Will Erlandson, relationships are more important than ever.

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When choosing a technology solution for your SME, it's important to understand the business value you'll be getting for your money. Technology can certainly be an investment, especially for small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many programs cost a lot of money upfront and may not end up serving the needs your business has. That's why it's so important to carefully choose which technologies your business invests in. This often entails doing some market research and understanding exactly how a tech tool might be able to solve your business needs. Below, 15 Newsweek Expert Forum members shared their insights to help SMEs optimize their technological investments. 

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Consumers are increasingly demonstrating a willingness to pay more for something if they have an established relationship with a reliable vendor. In short, buying your merch is an investment they are making in you.

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Time is the one resource business leaders can’t get more of, so it’s essential to make the most of the hours you have in your workweek.

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Actively meeting the needs of employees can inspire respect for leaders while also having a direct impact on the business's bottom line. Being a great leader requires more than delegating tasks to employees and meeting business goals. Each individual employee within an organization has different needs, and the role leadership plays in meeting those needs and empowering employees to contribute their expertise can have a direct impact on a business’s bottom line.  Though all leaders aspire to be someone worthy of guiding others, the challenge is ensuring each action taken signifies interest in and commitment to the well-being of employees. To help, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum offer recommendations for how those in power can earn the loyalty of those around them and become leaders people will want to follow.

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Relying more on the help of others can reduce the strain entrepreneurship places on leaders. Business leaders carry the weight of their organizations on their shoulders. In addition to ensuring ideas come to fruition and customers are satisfied, executives also have the added pressure of ensuring employee needs are being met. These priorities can place a considerable strain on a leader even in times when a business is fairing well. Rather than accepting that burnout may be an ever-present downside to entrepreneurship, leaders can begin shifting the operations of their businesses to move out of that mindset. Relying more on the people who help run the business can help, but executives have to be ready to make active changes in their lives. Below, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum offer expert advice on how executives can begin moving in the right direction again after feeling burned out.

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Leaders that are unable to keep up in a changing business world are at risk of falling behind. The business world moves fast, and companies that aren’t able to keep up run the risk of falling behind. Building a sustainably successful company requires that leaders understand just how much the business can and will change over time. While leaders are well aware that flexibility is a key part of doing business, it doesn't mean that they will be able to tap into that ability the moment they encounter a business challenge. To help, a panel of Newsweek Expert Forum members share strategies leaders can use to develop their ability to adapt quickly and ensure that flexibility is built into the foundation of their organizational culture.