Small Business News

Let’s be honest, you are probably not on TikTok because you think it’s just for the Gen Z users and cat videos. Nothing can be further from the truth. #ICYMI – TikTok app now has 1 billion active global users, and trends are its lifeline.

Similar to the fashion world, the best TikTok memes quickly come in and out of style. It is the circle of life.

Put simply, TikTok trends are a collection of short videos that are grouped using popular hashtags, songs, or sound effects. New trends keep popping up every day, and it is part of the reason why TikTok is one of the most creative and entertaining social media platforms.

TikTok users can find the biggest trends on the Discover page.

While it might not be feasible to be on all social media channels, leaving TikTok off your marketing strategy is a mistake. You need to create TikTok videos that will resonate with your audience.

There are tons of content ideas for TikTok that you should take advantage of. But first things first, here are four reasons why you need to pay attention to what’s trending on TikTok.

Top trends originate from a variety of features on the app. One of the easiest ways to identify TikTok trends is to browse the ‘Discover’ tab. There are also some popular hashtags such as the #trendalert that you can follow to identify emerging trends. You should also pay attention to your For You page. If you notice a certain sound is appearing on every TikTok video, it’s likely gaining traction.

TikTok trends move very fast. Today’s viral TikTok trends could be old news tomorrow. To help you out, here are some of the best TikTok trends.

Among the most popular TikTok trends of 2022 is the branded hashtag challenge. In this challenge, users create their hashtags and ask followers to create TikTok content based on the challenge.

This is a highly popular strategy as it can help you to attract a lot of attention and go viral. A popular example was the #ReadySETGo challenge.

First created by @cityboyj, this fun trend has been transformed by TikTokers into a runaway challenge. Users set their cameras between three to 10 seconds and everyone tries to run out of the frame before the clock hits zero.

The people caught within the picture fail. It’s the Millennials and Gen Z’s version of hide-and-seek.

This is one of the simple viral trends on TikTok where you put up pictures and ‘someone falls in love with you.’ Use high-resolution images to showcase yourself or your work.

It is one of the best trends for businesses to showcase their products and aesthetics.

The origins of #TellMeWithoutTellingMe trending videos can be traced back to 2019 on a completely different social media – Twitter.

In this trend, users reveal information about themselves without explicitly saying what they are revealing. For example, a TikTok user might respond to the phrase “tell me you are tall without telling me you are tall.” The user then shares video content that addresses the question without stating the censored word.

For something a little nostalgic, the #illneverforgetyou is the perfect trend. Use this trend to highlight someone that has had a huge impact on your life such as a mentor, friend, sibling, or parent. Businesses can use this trend to show appreciation to their customers.

This challenge started as a more serious commentary on racial justice and diversity with photographers and stylists posting pictures of those underrepresented in the fashion industry.

Today, businesses can use the #VogueChallenge to share photos of people using their products, showcase their best-selling products, or the latest campaign photos.

This is one of the best trends for fitness businesses such as gyms. This challenge starts with Paul Anka’s sound and slowly transitions into ‘Streets’ by Doja Cat. Many content creators use this trend to create viral dances.

Lip sync is a common theme in TikTok videos. It is a simple way to pass a message using an already popular song, movie clip, or television show. Gain a lot of followers by syncing your video to other creators’ audio.

As you guessed, this challenge borrows a lot from Netflix’s most successful TV Show. The show is about a brutal survival game that inspired tons of memes and trends.

Created by @jamiejukesuk, this TikTok trend borrows from the popular classical song. Many creators now use the song to creatively showcase various aspects of their work.

This meme pokes fun at the idea of being the ‘main character.’ It calls on people to appreciate every detail of their life and aims at making the ordinary mundane everyday life a little romantic.

To create a large new trend, it has to be relatable. If it makes your audience smile, the better. “Yo bro, who got you smilin’ like that” trend is an excellent example of this.

Follow any popular TikTok account and you will notice there’s an X-factor.

Many successful TikTok creators leverage surprise and emotion for a viral trend. Here are some amazing tips on how to go viral on TikTok and how to duet someone on TikTok.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Where to Find the Latest TikTok Trends" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/05/tiktok-trends.html

Labor shortages in Aviation and Aerospace aren’t limited to pilots. The industry needs more mechanics, flight line employees (gate to runway, and back), engineers and scientists. Engineers and scientists help develop technological advances and upgrades throughout the industry, from aircraft design and manufacturing to computer programming and communication systems.

The Aviation and Aerospace industry employs more than 2 million people, with small businesses employing 90% of those workers. The majority of the employees are in transportation, aviation manufacturing (parts) and air transport support (flight line employees).

The House Small Business Committee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development is proposing a solution. The fix the committee is proposing would be a focus on workforce initiatives such as training grants and paid apprenticeships.

Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said the industry will broaden its search for workforce talent. “We’ll be looking for nontraditional sources to increase the talent pool,” Fanning said. He added that the industry needs to “build the workforce at earlier stages” by finding young people to learn a role and choose a career path in the Aviation and Aerospace Industry.

The industry employs more than 2 million workers who have an average salary of $105,000 (2020). With a six-figure salary average, why is there a labor shortage?

Not yet. The House Small Business Committee on Aviation and Aerospace is calling for a need for those programs, but to date no programs have been launched.

Money is available from the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act and National Defense Authorization Act. The acts, launched in 2018, were originally scheduled to wind down in 2020 but have been extended through 2023.

When available, the Small Business Administration would administer a workforce initiative program through its Aerospace and Defense grant and funding department. You can learn more about that and sign up for email alerts.

The Small Business Committee on Aviation and Aerospace is calling for action. Committee Chairman Jason Crow (D-CO) said that the issue is affecting both the nation’s economy and its national security. Crow said that both the US Navy and Air Force are seeing a lack of pilots.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "House Addresses Labor Shortage in Aviation and Aerospace" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/05/labor-shortage-aviation-aerospace-small-business.html

On the small business scale or in the corporate world, launching a product or a service requires a campaign. Running a successful campaign can be the deciding factor that puts the product or the service in the leading position. Events play a big role in campaigns,  marketing and advertising. Possessing great skills in event planning directly impacts the performance of your campaign. There are several offerings online with event planning courses to help your business maximize the results of your campaigns.

Here is a list of the most popular online event planning courses to guide your business on your next event.

Event Planning: Learn how to Plan a Great Event entails every element and process needed to write an efficient event plan. With an introduction to the events industry, the course goes to show you how to properly research your event, marketing and social media, budgeting and sponsorship, permits and licenses, and choosing a venue and site survey.

Successful Events: Event Planning, Marketing & Management discusses how to manage a successful event from planning to execution. You will be taught to write sponsorship proposals, master communication channels, write a business plan for your event, contingency planning, volunteer retention, vendor management, brand your event, and event design.

How to Plan a Virtual Event & Reach your Audience Online teaches you how to plan, organize and execute your virtual event. The lessons include virtual event formats and business models you can use for your event. It also includes the schedule and content of the event, the virtual event technology to use, and the staffing required.

Event Planning Certified: Sponsors, Volunteers, 100k Events show you how to grow your local event into an international event. Free and paid events and how to make money from them, attracting brands to sponsor your event, infrastructure branding, sales and corporate sponsorship, HR and building teams, including insurance and liability protection, are some of the topics covered.

How to Throw Events and Attract Corporate Sponsors trains you with the 48 industry secrets to make you more money and get more people to your events. Starting with the mindset the lessons include event planning strategies, sponsorships and getting products for free such as venues, food, drinks, and explosive event marketing tactics.

Event Management for Beginners teaches you different aspects of event management from planning to execution and monitoring to reviewing your event. It will answer all the WH questions of the event. Starting with why the event is necessary, it will cover what the scopes are, when, where, and how it must be conducted together with who it is organized for.

This Event Planning: 1.5 Hour Crash Course and How-to-Guide is a step-by-step guide to holding your event starting with the initial planning including budgeting with excel. It goes into using the Gantt chart, scheduling, marketing, giving press releases, connecting with sponsors and cash flow, follow-up emails during the event, management, and post-event management.

This Event Decor Technology workshop is prepared for decorators and planners to inform you on the rules of decoration installation design. It covers platform frameworks, feet, and stability, stretching of canvas, films and knurling, plastic and other materials review, furniture in décor, electric and lighting, manufacturing of PVC structures, and more.

Strategic Event Planning Business shows you how to start an event planning business and equips you with the skills of outstanding planners and managers. You will learn to define your event, develop a business plan, develop necessary networks, and staffing, study traits and reasons for event failure, and develop a way to measure the success of your event.

This Ultimate Guide teaches the techniques and skills to turn into a great planner. Divided into 11 sections this 4-hour long course covers creating corporate events, wedding planning, conducting yourself with clients, location scouting, dealing with suppliers and building relationships, budgeting, branding and design, staffing, and using CANVA for designing.

An event can mean anything such as networking events, conferences, expos, concerts, corporate retreats, or wedding ceremonies. Mentioned above are self-paced courses containing progress tests. The courses award a certificate of completion and lifetime access to learning materials including videos. And for those with reservations, they also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Great Event Planning Courses for Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/05/event-planning-courses.html

Microsoft PowerPoint is a go-to tool for most of us to show presentation ideas to our audiences. But you can also use it to design poster presentations. Whether for advertising or promoting an event, PowerPoint lets you create a poster for any purpose. In this article, you will learn how to make a poster in PowerPoint step-by-step.

Additionally, you will know proven tips to design your poster to make it more appealing.

Let’s dive in:

There is no fixed PowerPoint poster design. Business owners incorporate different design elements in their posters, depending on their needs. We’ll explore key design elements you can use to make a poster.

To make the process of PowerPoint poster creation easy to understand, we have divided it into the following small steps:

Click on the New tab and select blank presentation to open a blank slide.

Click on the View menu and activate Ruler, Gridlines, and Guides. Doing so will help you align images, texts, or other poster content in the slide.

Go to the Design Tab and click on the Slide Size menu. You will see three options: Standard (4:3), Widescreen (16:9), and Custom Slide Size.

If you don’t want to use any of the typical sizes (standard or widescreen), Click on the Custome Slide Size tab to make a poster of a custom size.

For this poster presentation, we are going to make a poster of 24 inches x 36 inches. You can use this size of poster for multiple purposes.

After you set the PowerPoint poster size, PowerPoint will ask you whether you want to maximize the size of your content or you want to scale down to ensure fit. Choose Maximize.

To create a beautiful PowerPoint poster, you have to add creatives to your slide. Click on the Insert tab and select the picture menu.

You will have three options to insert pictures from – This Device, Stock Images, and Online Pictures. For this poster, we have used a stock image. So we have selected the Stock Images option.

Once your chosen image is uploaded to the slide. Click on the Text Box tab from the Insert menu to add a text box.

You can add as many text boxes as your poster demands. Once text boxes are added to the poster, you can change font sizes, colors, and types of fonts.

Click on the Insert menu and select the desired shape you want to add to your poster.

You can write desired text into shape elements. Also, you will have options to choose Shape Fill, Shape Outline, or Shape effects. Based on the layout of your poster, you should pick shape elements and colors to personalize those elements.

We have also added one icon from the Insert menu to give our poster a good look, we have added an icon from the Insert menu at the footer of the poster. You can also add your logo instead of this icon.

And finally, we have added one more shape and a text box at the footer. Your poster design will look like the below:

Once your poster is ready, you should save the file. You have multiple options to save it.

But make sure you save the file in PowerPoint. If you save the file in PowerPoint, you can easily edit it in the future.

To print the file, you can save it in a Pdf or JPEG file.

As you have observed, there are multiple options to add images, icons, and shapes to your poster.

So your PowerPoint poster design can be as creative as you want.

When it comes to creating an eye-catchy poster for your business, formatting plays a significant role.

PowerPoint poster dimensions vary according to the purposes for which the posters are being created.

Therefore, you should understand your requirement first before diving into designing a poster in PowerPoint.

Here are a few formatting tips:

Creating a poster in PowerPoint from scratch can sometimes take time, especially when you’re using the software first time. In such a case, using PowerPoint poster templates can save time and energy.

Here are five beautiful PowerPoint templates to create posters:

This template is well-suited for creating research posters. Newfield template comes in many sizes, including 36×48, 36×56, 36×60, and more.

If you want to design and print a poster for a pool party or any other party, the Pool Party template can help you do the job easily. It is a 100% customizable template.

This template is perfect for designing a poster to present your business at trade events. You can fully customize the Multipurpose Corporate Flyer Design template to meet your objectives.

Microsoft has a collection of community posters that you can easily customize. These templates are good to create posters for fundraisers, festivals, or other community events.

You can use the Product Flyer Template to design creative sale posters easily. You can use it to create fashion flyers, tech store flyers, car for sale flyers, and more.

Here are five top tips on how to make a poster in PowerPoint:

Your poster represents your brand irrespective of its purpose. So you should keep your brand in mind while creating a poster.

Colors, fonts, and creatives should be in line with your brand theme.

You should use all the design elements in harmony. Images, texts, shapes, and graphics should be used in a way that one element doesn’t overpower the other.

Using excessive color variations can create a distraction and make the message delivery poor. So, while creating a poster, you should strategically use colors that are in alignment with your brand philosophy.

Make sure your poster doesn’t look like a long thread. Instead, break it into sections to make your message delivery powerful.

When it comes to adding creativity to your PowerPoint poster design, you have multiple options.

You can use beautifully created images, write smart copy, and experiment with graphics to create a poster that catches the attention of your audience.

Now that you know how to make a poster in PowerPoint. It is time to put a thinking cap on and create a powerful poster, avoiding common PowerPoint mistakes.

PowerPoint is an excellent software tool for preparing presentation slides. But to fully harness the power of this software tool, you should also know how to do a voiceover in PowerPoint, how to create a roadmap in PowerPoint, and how to make a Venn Diagram in PowerPoint.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "How to Make a Poster in PowerPoint" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/05/how-to-make-a-poster-in-powerpoint.html