Benchmarks advanced in Paris, London, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. Oil prices rose while U.S. futures edged lower.
Friday will bring the core U.S. personal consumption expenditure, or PCE price index, which measures changes in prices of consumer goods and services, excluding food and energy. Forecasts are for moderate increases as steep inflation abates in response to easing supply chain issues and higher interest rates.
Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher to 15,488.24 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.2% to 7,331.57. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 7,928.14. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% while that for the S&P 500 was down 0.3%.
Japan reported its core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh foods, rose the most in 41 years in January. But the nominee to head its central bank, economist Kazuo Ueda, told lawmakers he favors keeping Japan’s benchmark interest rate near zero to ensure stable growth.
Ueda is expected to succeed BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda when he steps down in April after two 5-year terms marked by unprecedented easing. The change of leadership has prompted speculation about a possible change in the ultra-lax monetary stance, though Ueda sought to dispel such expectations.
“Time is needed before the effects of monetary policy kick in,” Ueda told Parliament, noting the price rises are peaking.
Related video: Wall Street Finishes Topsy-Turvy Day Higher, S&P Snaps Losing Run | Power Breakfast (CNBCTV18)
BloombergChina Stocks in ‘Consolidation Stage,’ BofA Securities Says
4:53
DNAIndian stock indices extend losses over weak global cues
1:20
Global stocks mixed
ReutersWall St. ends topsy-turvy day higher
1:50
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index added 1.3% to 27,453.48 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.3% to to 7,307.00.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 1.7% to 20,010.04 while the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.6% to 3,267.16. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.6% to 2,423.61.
India’s Sensex fell 0.4% and shares also fell in Taiwan and Bangkok.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% for its first gain in five days, while the Dow industrials advanced 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite surged 0.7%.
Tech and high-growth stocks have struggled recently because of worries about rising interest rates. They’re seen as some of the most vulnerable as the Federal Reserve jacks rates higher to try to curb inflation.
High rates hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the riskiest, the most expensive or those whose big growth is in the future. They also raise the risk of a recession because they slow the economy.
A lengthening list of reports have shown the U.S. economy is in stronger shape than expected, raising hopes a recession can be avoided. But that’s also forced Wall Street to raise its forecasts for how high the Fed will take interest rates and how long it will keep them there.
Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, the latest indication the job market remains resilient. A separate report said economic growth was likely a touch weaker in the last three months of 2022 than earlier estimated. But the U.S. economy still grew at a 2.7% annual rate.
Wall Street’s heightened expectations for rates and the Fed have been most evident in the bond market, where Treasury yields have shot higher this month. They eased a bit on Thursday, taking some of the pressure off stocks.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans, dipped to 3.86% early Friday from 3.93% late Wednesday. Earlier this week, it topped 3.95%, approaching its highest level since November.
In other trading Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 73 cents to $76.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, picked up 75 cents to $82.70 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 135.15 Japanese yen from 134.70 yen. The euro fell to $1.0589 from $1.0596.
#1 Amazon selling tip: understand the Amazon search algorithm
To increase your Amazon sales, you need to understand the Amazon search engine.
What is Amazon’s A9?
A9 is the name of the algorithm that Amazon uses for product search. In fall 2019, Amazon’s A9 algorithm was changed to A10. Regardless of the name, the core concept remains the same.
A9/A10 is a maturing algorithm. As Amazon constantly makes changes to test what makes shoppers buy more, frequent and unpredictable updates can be frustrating for many sellers.
The A9 Amazon algorithm factors in:
Keywords
Impressions
Internal sales, e.g. from “frequently bought with” items
Organic sales
Paid-per-click (PPC) sales
Click-through rate (CTR)
Conversion rate to sales
Product price
Product images and their quality
Seller authority
Sales history
Customer reviews
Off-site sales.
At its core, Amazon’s ranking algorithm is similar to Google’s search algorithm, e.g. they both rely on keywords for establishing relevance.
However, Amazon and Google users have different intentions. Google attracts mostly browsers and researchers in the discovery mode, Amazon attracts buyers in the shopping mode.
Thus, to decide the quality of a site, Google looks at loading speed, topical authority and user experience. Amazon looks at conversions and sales metrics.
Compared to Google, Amazon is a buying platform. We rarely go to Amazon for product research. We’re usually close to the point of purchase.
When it comes to Amazon SEO, an important metric is sales velocity: the number of items sold within a determined amount of time. Sales velocity reflects how fast a product sells.
The number of sales influences Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank (BSR) in a given category. BSR, which is updated hourly, helps you figure out how well a product performs. The better the BSR, the more sales it has accumulated.
It’s important to aim for a better sales velocity and BSR than your competitors, i.e. sell more units per hour.
Consider this example. When a new book is released, it’ll rise to the top of the best-seller list. Its ranking will fluctuate each hour, not day. The longer a book has been out, the more it’ll descend the bestseller list.
You can boost your sales velocity with external traffic, e.g. combine your PPC spend with traffic sent from outside Amazon.
The 3 essential things you need to optimize are visibility, relevance and conversions. In short, make shoppers see, click and buy your product.
To do this, you need to take care of a few important elements in your listings, such as listing title, product description, bullet points or images. More on that later.
Amazon uses a method of Artificial Intelligence called Natural Language Processing (NLP, branch of AI) to combine relevant words into popular phrases. So, if, let’s say, you have “sweater” in your title, “for women” in your bullets and “pullover” in your backend keywords: you will index for “pullover sweater for women”, but also for “pullover sweater” and “sweaters for women”.
To research Amazon keywords, consider using:
Amazon Search Bar (type in the search term and see what suggestions or long-tail keywords come up)
Keyword Tool for Amazon
Keyword Inspector (an “Extensive Reverse ASIN” search on your top competitor)
Helium 10 Scribbles Tool
Jungle Scout
Magnet
Sellics.
Other sources of potential keywords include competitor pages, similar products section, data from Amazon PPC (which terms help listings convert) and popular keywords on Google.
Ecommerce tip
Pick a competitor in the top 3 spots with the most reviews. This is an indication they’ve been selling longer, which will provide you with more data.
In your seller’s dashboard (Reports → Advertising Reports → Search Term Report), you can access Amazon’s Automatic Campaigns tool to review your existing Amazon listings. You can also use a keyword report for additional research and search terms that your product already converts for.
#3 Amazon selling tip: optimize your Amazon product listings
In this section we’ll discuss how to optimize your Amazon product listings, including your product titles, descriptions, bullets, images and backend keywords.
Step 1: optimize your Amazon listing titles
Titles in your Amazon listings should include the product’s unique characteristics, benefits and your most relevant keywords. Amazon Seller Central uploaded Style Guides to help sellers structure their titles better.
Your Amazon product title:
Must be 80-250 characters (Amazon recommends 80 characters for optimal display)
Must use title case
Must use words (avoid symbols)
Should use numbers
Does not use punctuation.
Titles typically have:
In organic results between 115-144 characters depending on the product/category.
In right rail ads around 30-33 characters
In mobile listings between 55-63 characters.
Your title should contain the following elements (as per Amazon suggested best practices):
Brand
Product line
Material or key feature
Product type
Color
Size
Packaging / quantity.
A formula for the perfect Amazon title
Brand + Model + Product Type + Material, Purpose / Size / Quantity / Color, etc.
Each product type has a corresponding Amazon title formula. For instance, Amazon suggests the following templates for these popular product types:
Kitchenware: Brand + Model Name + Model Number + Size + Product Type
TV Sets: Brand + Model Name + Product Type + Color
DVD Players: Brand + Model Name + Size + Product Type + Screen Type
Jewelry: Brand + Product Category + Sex + Metal Variation + Shape + Material + Product Type
Video Games: Brand + Product Type + Type of Platform.
Ecommerce tip
Get the important keywords first. Keyword order and keyword choice in your title can dramatically influence Amazon product sales and rank.
Step 2: optimize your Amazon product descriptions
In your Amazon product description, tell buyers why they should finalize their purchase. Present a unique viewpoint on why people need the product and demonstrate how it will make their life better.Increase sales on Amazon
Write a concise, snappy description, including some key phrases you didn’t use in the title. However, remember to write your product description for sales rather than for the search algorithm.
If your title is your H1 text and bullet points H2, then you can think of your product description as H3. It may impact your ranking far less than your title and bullet points, but it’s important for conversions. So include a strong call-to-action, e.g. Buy Now, Order Today.
When it comes to formatting, Amazon allows for basic HTML to make your description easier to read. This includes bold, italics, quotes, line breaks and page breaks.
Your Amazon product description should:
Have a character length of 2,000
Be easily scannable
Highlight the key product features and specs
Include care instructions and warranty information as necessary
Not include sale buzzwords like “free shipping” or “on sale now”
Not include any company contact information or links to your websites.
Ecommerce tip
Check out how your competitors write their descriptions. Learn from their listings: what works and what doesn’t.
Step 3: optimize your Amazon bullets
In Amazon bullets you can present the features and benefits of your product. For example, leather seats are a feature and the feeling of luxury is a benefit. Relevant keywords not used in the title can be worked into the bullets.
You have 5 bullet points. Use the first 3 bullet points to drive home your product’s most important features. Use the 4th and 5th bullets to answer common questions or overcome potential objections that might cause someone not to buy your product.
Bullets can influence your conversion rates and product relevance. It’s good to test the copy and order of the bullet points.
The guidelines for your Amazon product features (bullets) section:
Keep each bullet to 200–250 characters
Put your most important bullet at the top
Focus on one benefit per bullet for better readability, e.g. e.g. Bullet 1: “Easy to use”, bullet 2: “High-quality”
Be specific with features like size, dimensions, color
Use all caps for the beginning of your bullets to emphasize key points
Try to include many keyword variations in bullets, but keep it brief and readable
You don’t have to use complete sentences
Consider adding numbers
Don’t use punctuation at the end of your bullet point
Don’t mention sales, promotional pricing or shipping information
Stay clear, concise, punchy and balanced.
In bullet points you can add long-tail keywords, related to different use cases (e.g. “Running shoes for _____”) or synonyms for your main keyword (e.g. “backpack/bag”).
Point out products your listing may be compatible with, e.g. if you sell phone cases, you may point out several brands and models they’re compatible with.
Ecommerce tip
In the event of complaints in your reviews that come from a misinterpretation of the product, update your bullets (and maybe even your title) to account for that.
Step 4: optimize your Amazon images
Amazon requires that images be a minimum of 1,000 x 1,000 pixels. This way with its zoom feature, buyers can scroll over an image to enlarge it. Images that are 2,000 pixels x 2,000 pixels are recommended for added granularity.
The main image for your product should include only the product that you are selling (it should fill 85% of the space) against a white background.
Main images should not include:
Accessories not included in the purchase
Models or action shots of the image
Text or badges such as “Made in the USA”.
Amazon will allow you between 5-9 images for your listing, depending on your product type and category. Your photos should be high-quality, high-resolution and taken from multiple angles.
To attract clicks, choose an eye-catching lead image for each Amazon listing. Then, depending on the product, show close-ups, lifestyle images, etc.
Examples of secondary images:
Your product from different angles (side, top, close up)
Your product in action
The back of a product label
A list of your product’s features
Informational images with text/charts, etc.
Showing your product’s size as compared to a human holding it.
Test your image placement to see which images elicit the highest conversion rate for your product. Test only one element at a time so you know which change impacted your listing, however positive or negative the impact
Ecommerce tip
Change the order of your images and check your sales data. A certain image order may result in a much higher conversion rate than another.
FREE Download: International Ecommerce Shipping
Step 5: optimize your Amazon backend keywords
Backend keywords on Amazon are “hidden” key terms you weren’t able to incorporate on the customer-facing side. For example, if you sell dog accessories, you can include the top 50 or 100 dog breeds as most owners may search “dog collar for Labrador”, etc.
Backend keywords get indexed just like the terms in your bullets and description. This is a good place to type any terms that will compete, long-tail searches, misspellings and words commonly used in your niche.
Your Amazon backend keywords need to meet the following guidelines:
50 character length per keyword
Avoid punctuation where possible, except commas
Be inclusive of misspellings and variations
Include both singular and plural versions of important words, for example “dog” and “dogs”.’
Don’t include brand names or product names
Don’t repeat keywords or make sentences out of your keywords.
Ecommerce tip
Did you know that “best” isn’t a keyword? A9 ignores it. “Best winter sweater” may be well-searched, but using “best” in your backend keywords is a waste of space.
#4 Amazon selling tip: drive external traffic to your Amazon listings
Drive external traffic to boost your Amazon SEO. For example, instead of sending people directly to your product page, send them through a special keyword-optimized URL. The algorithm will give more ranking “juice” to this particular keyword.
Using keyword-optimized URLs will help you rank specific keywords faster. To target more keywords, you can send each subsequent customer to a separate page with a different keyword.
More examples of external traffic sources:
An email list
An external page with your Amazon product images, bullet points, product description and all relevant buying info Facebook Ads to provide a spike in traffic
Google Ads to drive a steady increase of sales (and rankings) over time (once you start ranking).
Run the ads to a landing page where shoppers can redeem the offer and check out your product. They can also add their email addresses so you start building your list, by requiring an email opt-in to get the offer.
#5 Amazon selling tip: promote with Amazon Advertising
Imagine this. A buyer lands on your product detail page ready to purchase your product. Suddenly they see a competitor’s Sponsored Product ad. You lose the sale at the point of conversion due to your competitor’s cheaper price.
To minimize the occurrence of such situations, sponsor your own products. Try to “brand lock” your Amazon product detail page with your own alternative and complementary products.
Additionally, Amazon Advertising is the quickest way to boost your product listings or establish new ones. Without customer reviews or past sales, it can be difficult to rank organically on Amazon.
Amazon ads can boost individual listings to the top of search results pages, boost traffic to stores or show listings to interested customers that have navigated away from Amazon.
People browsing Amazon are usually ready to buy so your investment should pay off pretty quickly.
A high number of customer reviews signals to Amazon that people enjoy your product and find it useful.
Thus, get honest and unbiased reviews as soon as possible. Honest reviews will tell you what your customers like and don’t like about your product so you can improve it.
To get customer reviews on Amazon, you can:
Use the buyer-seller messaging service in seller central
Use tools like Feedback Genius or Sales Backer to write custom email sequences to your buyers
Ask social media followers to share their experiences.Increase sales on Amazon
A word of caution.
Amazon’s algorithm tries to verify the authenticity of reviews and prevent false reviews with sophisticated detection methods. Amazon banned incentivised reviews and created strict rules around customer communications. Brands can ask for reviews, but they cannot ask for positive reviews.Increase sales on Amazon
So be careful when requesting customer reviews. Using Amazon’s tool and its ‘Request a Review’ button allows you to ask for reviews in a way that complies with Amazon’s policies.
Further, with the Amazon Vine program, you can give products away for free in exchange for unbiased reviews from verified users.
#7 Amazon selling tip: sell on international Amazon markets
On Amazon you can sell on international markets with more sales potential and less competition than your domestic one.
The possibility of satisfying unmet demand abroad is one of the biggest worldwide opportunities for marketplace sellers.
According to eMarketer, 70% of online buyers already purchase from foreign sites. Furthermore, 80% of retailers worldwide agree that cross-border trade has been profitable or that sellers have successfully increased sales by as much as 1,000% after expanding their marketplace presence.
Amazon sellers who focus their sales and advertising efforts on their domestic markets limit their sales potential and options considerably. After all, Amazon has huge markets in many countries, for example in the USA, the UK or Germany.
Selling internationally helps sellers unlock their true sales success and mitigate risks when the unexpected occurs.
This is extra important when events, such as the coronavirus pandemic or Brexit, affect the global ecommerce market.Increase sales on Amazon
#8 Amazon selling tip: win the Buy Box & other tips
Winning the buy box on Amazon pays off: 82% of Amazon sales go through the buy box.
Typical buy box winners on Amazon:
Price competitively
Sell new items
Are often Prime sellers
Have consistently positive feedback
Maintain consistent inventory levels.
7 extra selling tips to increase your Amazon sales:
#1. Maintain a consistent flow of sales over an extended period. It’s better to drive 30 sales a day for 7 days, than 100 sales in 1 day, completely stopping the next.
#2. Leverage Amazon’s tools (many are only available to members of Amazon’s Brand Registry), e.g. Amazon Analytics or A+ Content to enhance your product descriptions with cool layouts, images, graphics and videos.
#3. Earn special Amazon badges, such as Best Seller, Amazon’s Choice, New Release and Editorial Recommendations to improve your visibility in the search.
#4. Keep your inventory well-stocked at all times.
#6. Set yourself apart from your competitors by communicating your USPs: what pain points does your brand address that your competitors don’t?
#7. Check reports and improve your performance metrics by going to Seller Central’s Detail Sales Page and Traffic.
Conclusion: how can you get more sales on Amazon?
Amazon is a competitive marketplace. However, with its multi-million active user base and unlimited sales opportunities, it beats other online selling platforms.
So who stands a good chance of success on Amazon?
Sellers with healthy performance metrics, plenty of reviews, good ratings and actively looking for opportunities on international Amazon markets.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret enables Amazon and other marketplace sellers to sell more effectively in international markets through localized versions of their product listings. For more information, feel free to contact our cross border trade experts.
For ecommerce entrepreneurs who want to make the most of their online business, high-quality content full of marketing tips, success stories, lessons learned, and the latest ecommerce trends is essential.
If you’re new to the world of ecommerce, you’re likely hustling to learn about product sourcing, inventory management, marketing automation, running ads, and customer service optimization. Thankfully, the internet is full of wisdom from seasoned experts with proven success. Let’s look at 14 top ecommerce blogs to check out on your way to running a successful online store.
14 amazing ecommerce blogs to learn from in 2023
1. Beeketing blog: ecommerce marketing and selling
Beeketing’s ecommerce blog covers a variety of topics and is well-known for providing great marketing automation solutions.
The blog is full of practical ecommerce guides to email marketing, conversion optimization, customer success practices, and social marketing. Their Growth Stories are about big brands with proven success — a great resource for inspiration and tips to help you grow your business.
2. Yotpo blog: ecommerce marketing, growth, and engagement
Yotpo’s blog shares top-notch advice on building customer loyalty and engagement through user-generated content marketing — content created by customers, including testimonials, tweets, videos, etc.
They include guides to getting customer reviews and ratings, curating campaigns that increase brand engagement, and building lasting communities for brands. They also publish the latest
3. Nosto blog
Nosto is an AI-powered ecommerce intelligence engine that empowers sellers with their world-class personalization platform. Targeting large merchants focused on explosive growth, Nosto’s ecommerce blog specializes in customer segmentation, data insights, advanced trigger capabilities, ecommerce tips and many other topics that use personalization to enhance both customer experience and sales.
4. Oberlo blog: dropshipping tips and resources
For dropshippers, the Oberlo blog is one of the most credible and informative resources out there. Unlike other types of ecommerce businesses, dropshipping requires regularly updated insights on trending products, social media advertising, and conversion optimization.
Printful dominates the print-on-demand market with their first-class solution platform. Their blog on ecommerce marketing focuses on the custom-print fulfillment model. For those new to print-on-demand, Printful’s “Beginner’s handbook” is a great place to start.
6. Sumo blog
Founded by the famous web entrepreneur and storyteller Noah Kagan (read his amazing stories atOkDork.com), Sumo has evolved from a set of list-building tools for general sites to a comprehensive marketing platform for ecommerce sites. Sumo Stories is a top-notch ecommerce blog where the team shares growth stories, advanced marketing lessons, and tips for increasing conversion rates through email marketing.
The Sumo Growth Studies section of the blog features in-depth analyses of the world’s fastest-growing companies, like Amazon, Hubspot, and Mailchimp.
7. Smile.io blog: rewards, loyalty, psychology, referrals, and VIP insight
Their ecommerce marketing blog covers a wide range of topics on loyalty, referrals, rewards, and psychology. Their posts include information on reward program strategies and case studies that entrepreneurs can use to replicate the same success.
8. E-Commerce Nation blog
E-Commerce Nation is a collaborative community dedicated to helping ecommerce business owners on an international scale. They blog about almost everything related to ecommerce, including solutions and case studies to support in-store setup, logistics, online marketing, conversion, and internationalization.
The E-Commerce Nation blog collaborates with seasoned industry experts to include content like infographics, webinars, live interviews, and podcasts.
Earn cash for taking free paid surveys while influencing the next generation of products, services and much more.
The global commerce platform – Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.
The missing guide to the freelance designer’s life is here
Learn everything you need to know about making the leap to freelancing, from how to find clients to how to price your services.
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Top ecommerce blogs by ecommerce experts & influencers
Run by web design blogger Catalin Zorzini, the blog reviews ecommerce brands & tools to help you find the best solutions for your business. Catalin also regularly updates a list of his favorite resources and tools for ecommerce.
10. A Better Lemonade Stand blog
14 amazing ecommerce 2023
A Better Lemonade Stand is an online resource for the ecommerce community. It was created to inspire, educate, and support entrepreneurs through every step of the decision-making process in the early stages of business.
Their blog content covers a wide variety of topics, including dropshipping, selling on third-party marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and online marketing strategies. They also offer free video training webinars.
11. Ecommerce Fuel blog
The Ecommerce Fuel blog was founded by Andrew Youderian, a serial entrepreneur particularly experienced with business exits, SEO, and community building. He now consults with a group of resident experts on business optimization and scaling, branding, Facebook, SEO, influencer marketing, video, photography, and shipping.
With their collective experience, they cover just about every topic entrepreneurs need to understand to run successful online stores — from dealing with Shopify limitations to pricing your products.
Operated by digital marketing entrepreneur, founder, and AutoAnything CEO Drew Sanocki, the Nerd Marketing blog is a must-read ecommerce blog to help you grow your ecommerce stores. Here are 4 articles I highly recommend to entrepreneurs looking for advanced strategies:
The Ecommerce CEO blog walks merchants through every step of the process of creating an ecommerce business. They take the complexity and mystery out of ecommerce by simplifying complex concepts.
The blog focuses on 3 main areas:
Step-by-step guides to building online stores from scratch
Reviews of the best platforms and tools
Marketing strategies to boost conversions and sales for online stores
Run by ecommerce consultant John Larkin, the Ecommerce Lift blog is a must-read for small merchants just getting started and looking for ways to scale up their online stores. The blog focuses on helping beginners improve their business with Facebook advertising, cart-abandonment recovery, customer-support improvement, and marketing basics.
Keeping up with the fast-paced world of ecommerce
Blogs by industry experts are a great way to self-educate and keep pace with the latest news, trends, and tactics.
Hopefully you’ll find what you’re looking for from our list of the best ecommerce blogs. We’d also love to add any rising stars — comment below if you have any suggestions!
How To Start Freelancing – Every human being is vulnerable to experiencing anxiety, depression, OCD or any mental health issue and it is perfectly normal. The location-independent lifestyle has amazing perks, but it also comes with the huge responsibility to take care of yourself in a dynamic environment.
Pre-existing conditions.
Beginning a DN life may seem like the perfect solution for a fresh start – as if every issue would disappear -. However, working and traveling are no cure for loneliness, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
Having said that, let’s dive into one of the most common mental health issues faced by DNs and some hints to minimize the collateral impact of this amazing lifestyle when it comes to loneliness
Loneliness
Being surrounded by people is no guarantee that you will avoid loneliness, there are several factors that may contribute to feeling lonely: personality, language, culture, travel pace, timezones, type of work, and more.
On the other side, emotions are universal and create connections among human beings.
Find communities and spaces where DNs get together (even virtually). This way, you will find yourself among people that most likely have felt the way you do, and will empathize with the loneliness feeling you may be experiencing.
Stay close with your loved ones. Even if you are countries apart, being close has less to do with physical space and more with sharing.
Remain longer in each destiny – “Slowmading” -, this may help to generate deeper human connections with people you meet and immerse with local culture.
Try to meet people wherever you go and genuinely get interested in their lives, be curious to learn from their experiences, empathize with them and look up from your screen.
Adjust your work routine to leave space for habits that are good for you; exercise, eating healthy, enough quality sleep, meditation, socialization… Sometimes you may feel fed up by work and travel, but creating self care routines (even when traveling) is fundamental to the success of the lifestyle you’ve chosen.
In every case, be true with yourself and with your feelings, DNs tend to be VERY self-judgmental. Traveling while making a living doesn’t immunize anyone from loneliness, sadness, anxiety, or any other feeling. It may even exacerbate them, due to the dynamic environment.
Maintaining Well Being – When you read the word ‘self-care’, what comes to mind? Perhaps a luxurious soak in a bubble bath? Lighting candles and reading? The truth is, it’s this and also so much more. While the media has latched onto a certain aspect of self-care, it’s important for us to go back to basics and recognise what self-care really is, and how it can support personal growth.
Here we’ll look at why self-care looks different to all of us, discuss some examples of self-care, explain how you can find your motivation to practice self-care and share some helpful resources.
Maintaining Well Being
What is self-care?
At its core, self-care is the way you look after yourself. A simple concept that has many branches including practices to support your physical self, your mental health and your emotional well-being.
Before we get into this, however, it’s important to note that self-care is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As humans, we are wonderfully unique and this means what works for one person may not work for another. What’s more important than jumping on the latest self-care trend is to start building up your self-awareness, checking in with yourself regularly and asking yourself one powerful question…
What do I need?
Try some different self-care practices, see which ones feel good to you. Remember, your circumstances are different from other people’s, so it’s OK if you try something and it doesn’t work for you. What makes self-care sustainable is fitting the right practices into your life and your schedule (need some inspiration? Try these daily self-care rituals).
Examples of self-care
Looking for some inspiration? Here we look at three types of self-care and some practices you may want to try.
Physical self-care
This is all about taking care of your physical body, giving it the time and attention it needs to thrive.
Finding an exercise or movement routine that helps you feel energised.
Looking after your personal hygiene with regular washing.
Visiting the doctor/dentist/optician when you need to.
Taking any prescribed medication.
Making space for personal grooming, from skincare and hair-cuts to trimming your nails and wearing clothes that feel good.
Maintaining Well Being
Mental self-care
Here are some self-care examples to help you focus on your mental health and ensure it’s as well as it can be.
Being more mindful or trying meditation to help ease stress, build awareness and boost mood.
Writing in a journal to help you be more self-aware and notice any patterns with your mental health.
Finding an exercise or movement routine that helps your mind as much as your body.
Talking about how you’re feeling, either with a friend, family member or professional.
Reading, watching TV/films or playing games to give you a moment of escapism and time to recharge.
Taking baths, getting massages and any other activity that encourages rest and relaxation.
Being creative, allowing ideas to flow and for you to feel inspired.
Emotional self-care
As well as our physical and mental health, we need to look after our emotional well-being.
Connecting with others as much as you need, staving off loneliness and feelings of isolation.
Setting boundaries in your life, relationships and work to ensure your needs are met.
Asking for what you need from yourself and others.
Saying no when you’re overstretched and prioritising your well-being.
Letting go of unhelpful beliefs/habits/relationships.
I recognise and embrace the impact that self-care has on my mental health. For me, it’s allowing myself to feel loved and cared for, especially as a single parent – I was missing that.
If you’re here, it’s likely that you’re interested in growth, whether that’s in your life, relationships or career. The journey of personal development is an ongoing one and while it can be incredibly fulfilling, it can be tough at times.
We often have to meet parts of ourselves we’ve ben ignoring or avoiding. We may have to confront difficult emotions or challenge beliefs we’ve long-held. This is all part of the work.
Whether you’re doing it alone or working with a coach, in order to keep going when things get difficult, we need to practice self-care. Looking after ourselves means we are in the best position to learn, grow and move forward.
The very act of carving out time for ourselves cements the fact that we are worthy of care and attention. This builds our sense of worth, belief in our abilities and confidence – key ingredients for success.
Maintaining Well Being
Finding your motivation for self-care
Logically, many of us know that self-care is important and yet we still struggle to prioritise it. If you’re nodding, here’s something that can help: finding your self-care motivators.
Knowing why you want to practice self-care on a deep and personal level is essential. If you’re doing it because you think you ‘should’, you’re unlikely to keep it up. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you find your self-care motivators:
What are some acts of self-care you want to bring into your life more?(perhaps something from the lists above or something unique to you)
How do you feel when you make time for them? (do you feel relaxed, energised, calm?)
What are your personal benefits? (how do these acts improve your life? Does taking time to de-stress improve your mental health?)
Who else benefits from your self-care? (note how your friends, family or co-workers reap the benefits when you look after yourself)
Then, looking back at your answers, ask yourself ‘what are my self-care motivators?’ Examples include:
“To be a role model for my child”
“To be a more supportive partner”
“To align with my belief that people should be kind to themselves”
“To take greater control of my health”
Write yours down and stick them somewhere you’ll see them every day. Remind yourself of these whenever you feel tempted to skip a self-care practice.
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