7 Digital Marketing Strategies and How to Plan Your Own Campaign [Template]

There's no question that, in the modern landscape, a big part of your marketing strategy is digital. Consumers and businesses alike are almost always online -- and you want to be able to reach them and observe their behavior where they spend the most time.

But when you're growing a business, it seems like this ever-evolving landscape can quickly become overwhelming. There's already enough to do -- how are you also supposed to create, fine-tune, and maintain an agile digital marketing strategy?

We've compiled a list of seven digital marketing strategies that marketers can adapt to help their teams and businesses grow, as well as a crash course on the meaning of digital strategy and marketing campaigns. Then, grab your free collection of digital content marketing templates at the end of this post.

What is digital marketing strategy?

Your digital marketing strategy is the series of actions that help you achieve your company goals through carefully selected online marketing channels. These channels include paid, earned, and owned media, and can all support a common campaign around a particular line of business.

The term "strategy" might seem intimidating, but building an effective digital strategy doesn't need to be difficult.

In simple terms, a strategy is just a plan of action to achieve a desired goal, or multiple goals. For example, your overarching goal might be to generate 25% more leads via your website this year than you drove last year.

Depending on the scale of your business, your digital marketing strategy might involve multiple digital strategies -- each with different goals -- and a lot of moving parts. But coming back to this simple way of thinking about strategy can help you stay focused on meeting those objectives.

Despite our simplification of the term "strategy," there's no doubt it can be difficult to get started actually building one. Let's see what a digital marketing campaign looks like, and then, we'll jump into those seven building blocks to help you create an effective digital marketing strategy to set up your business for online success.

What Is a Digital Marketing Campaign?

It's easy to confuse your digital strategy with your digital marketing campaigns, but here's how to distinguish the two.

As we've already outlined, your digital strategy is the series of actions you take to help you achieve your overarching marketing goal. Your digital marketing campaigns are the building blocks or actions within your strategy that move you toward meeting that goal.

For example, you might decide to run a campaign sharing some of your best-performing gated content on Twitter, to generate more leads through that channel. That campaign is part of your strategy to generate more leads.

Here a few other well-known examples of digital marketing campaigns and the strategies they employ.

Digital Marketing Campaign Examples

1. GoPro
2. Delta Airlines
3. Geico
4. Wayfair
5. Mastercard
6. ETF Securities
7. Red Bull

1. GoPro

Digital strategy: Earned media, user-made video

GoPro is famous for its incredible point-of-view style action footage, all taken from the company's classic fisheye lens. What you might not know is that so much of the video content you see on its YouTube channel wasn't made by GoPro, but rather by its most loyal users.

By populating its YouTube channel with user-made video content, GoPro has encouraged an entire fanbase of outdoorspeople to take amazing footage of their adventures and post it online -- often with credit back to GoPro. This ongoing digital marketing campaign has championed the use of video to spread the word about the GoPro product line -- and a lot of the content is created by the customers themselves.

Check out the video below, which GoPro republished, awarding the video's original shooter with being one of the best videos in its category.

2. Delta Air lines

Digital strategy: Owned media, Twitter stories

You wouldn't think of an airline as a leader in creative digital marketing, but don't underestimate the stories they can tell on social media (emphasis on "stories").

Delta Air Lines is a prolific user of social media, specifically on its Twitter handle. The brand uses this account to engage potential passengers in a variety of ways that are both timely and emotionally stimulating. Last month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the company began sharing personal stories from Delta employees directly through the company's Twitter feed. Here's the beginning of one story's thread, below.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re sharing the stories of the survivors and fighters of our Delta family.

Amanda Ross, a Customer Care Supervisor, has been a Delta employee for 13 years and is actively fighting breast cancer. Read about her battle below. pic.twitter.com/WSp6ZyBw36

— Delta (@Delta) October 19, 2018

3. Geico

Digital strategy: Paid media, YouTube Preroll ads

All you need to hear is the word "Geico" to remember you can save 15% or more on your car insurance. But even a company with such a memorable tagline can risk annoying its buyers if its marketing campaign is too longwinded.

That's why Geico launched a series of preroll ads on YouTube that admit to the ad's brevity in the videos themselves.

Preroll ads are a form of paid content on YouTube wherein you pay YouTube to roll 15- to 20-second ads ahead of videos that have the same audience as the advertiser. While some companies try to squeeze as much messaging as they can into that short slot, Geico has taken the opportunity to make fun of itself for taking up your time in the first place. In this way, its YouTube preroll commercials are actually entertaining. Check out one of them below.

4. Wayfair

Digital strategy: Owned media, Instagram tags

Wayfair, a home furnishings and decor merchant, has a truly innovative Instagram strategy. Let's just say its photos aren't just photos.

Instagram gives companies an opportunity to show their followers a more intimate side of the brand, lifting the curtain on the business to show off the employees and events that make the organization what it is. For Wayfair, however, Instagram isn't just a culture play -- it's a purchase page.

Using Instagram's product tags, Wayfair has taken some of its prettiest home interior shots on Instagram, and tagged them with product and price labels. It's a digital marketing campaign that shows people exactly how much each item in the photo costs, helping Wayfair generate buyers right from its Instagram account. Check out an example, below.

5. Mastercard

Digital strategy: Owned media, Travel blog

Mastercard bases its brand on the stories and adventures that cardholders go on. But what good is a travel-based brand without a travel-based digital marketing campaign to go with it?

Priceless Cities, Mastercard's travel blog, gives readers a travel resource to go along with the credit cards that help pay for these readers' destinations. It's a pretty good idea, as it allows the company to better align itself not just with the things its customers buy, but with the places its customers go. Check out the blog here.

6. ETF Securities

Digital strategy: Paid media, LinkedIn Sponsored Content

ETF Securities is a small, asset management service based in Australia catering to wealth managers and investors in Europe. Because the service they provide is so complex, the company found where its customers hung out the most -- LinkedIn -- and sponsored paid content on this platform that drives more interest in investments and helps customers make smarter financial decisions.

With this digital campaign, ETF Securities saw 95% year-over-year growth in its LinkedIn followers.

7. Red Bull

Digital strategy: Owned media, Lifestyle news

Red Bull has become more well known for its sponsorship of extreme sports than the energy drink it sells. It's a natural fit for the types of people the drink appeals to. But instead of creating digital content on the energy drink industry, Red Bull captures its audience with articles and videos all about the latest happenings in the extreme sports community.

In this digital marketing campaign, Red Bull teaches us that what you sell isn't always the ideal content strategy. Rather, it's the lifestyle that your customers live. Check out the company's website here.

It's important to note that even if a campaign runs over the course of a couple of years, it doesn't make it a strategy -- it's a tactic that sits alongside other campaigns to support a larger marketing strategy. For example, ETF Securities (cited above) hosted a campaign to increase its followers on LinkedIn, using the digital strategy of sponsored content (a form of paid media). This one strategic campaign might be one small part of a larger digital marketing strategy that serves to generate more leads for one of its products or business lines.

Now that we've gotten to grips with the basics of digital strategy and digital marketing campaigns, let's dig into how to build your strategy.

How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy

1. Build your buyer personas.
2. Identify your goals and the digital marketing tools you'll need.
3. Evaluate your existing digital channels and assets.
4. Audit and plan your owned media campaigns.
5. Audit and plan your earned media campaigns.
6. Audit and plan your paid media campaigns.
7. Bring it all together.

1. Build your buyer personas.

For any marketing strategy -- offline or online -- you need to know who you're marketing to. The best digital marketing strategies are built upon detailed buyer personas, and your first step is to create them. (Need help? Start here with our free buyer persona kit.)

Buyer personas represent your ideal customer(s) and can be created by researching, surveying, and interviewing your business's target audience. It's important to note that this information should be based upon real data wherever possible, as making assumptions about your audience can cause your marketing strategy to take the wrong direction.

To get a rounded picture of your persona, your research pool should include a mixture of customers, prospects, and people outside your contacts database who align with your target audience.

But what kind of information should you gather for your own buyer persona(s) to inform your digital marketing strategy? That depends on your businesses, and is likely to vary depending on whether you're B2B or B2C, or whether your product is high cost or low cost. Here are some starting points, but you'll want to fine-tune them, depending on your particular business.

Quantitative (or Demographic) Information

• Location. You can use web analytics tools like Google Analytics to easily identify what location your website traffic is coming from.
• Age. Depending on your business, this may or may not be relevant. It's best to gather this data by identifying trends in your existing prospect and customer database.
• Income. It's best to gather sensitive information like personal income in persona research interviews, as people might be unwilling to share it via online forms.
• Job Title. This is something you can get a rough idea of from your existing customer base, and is most relevant for B2B companies.

Qualitative (or Psychographic) Information

• Goals. Depending on the need your product or service was created to serve, you might already have a good idea of what goals your persona is looking to achieve. However, it's best to cement your assumptions by speaking to customers, as well as internal sales and customer service representatives.
• Challenges. Again, speak to customers, sales and customer service representatives to get an idea of the common problems your audience faces.
• Hobbies and interests. Speak to customers and people who align with your target audience. If you're a fashion brand, for example, it's helpful to know if large segments of your audience are also interested in fitness and well-being, as that can help inform your future content creation and partnerships.
• Priorities. Speak to customers and people who align with your target audience to find out what's most important to them in relation to your business. For example, if you're a B2B software company, knowing that your audience values customer support over a competitive price point is very valuable information.

Take this information and create one or more rounded personas, like Marketing Molly below, and ensure they're at the core of your digital marketing strategy.

2. Identify your goals and the digital marketing tools you'll need.

Your marketing goals should always be tied back to the fundamental goals of the business. For example, if your business's goal is to increase online revenue by 20%, your goal as a marketer might be to generate 50% more leads via the website than you did last year to contribute towards that success.

Whatever your overarching goal is, you need to know how to measure it, and more important, actually be able to measure it (e.g., have the right digital marketing tools in place to do so). How you measure the effectiveness of your digital strategy will be different for each business and dependent on your goal(s), but it's vital to ensure you're able to do so, as it's these metrics which will help you adjust your strategy in the future.

If you're a HubSpot customer, the Reporting add-on in your HubSpot software brings all of your marketing and sales data into one place, so you can quickly determine what works and what doesn't.

3. Evaluate your existing digital channels and assets.

When considering your available digital marketing channels or assets to incorporate into your strategy, it's helpful to first consider the bigger picture to avoid getting overwhelmed. The owned, earned, and paid media framework helps to categorize the digital 'vehicles', assets, or channels that you're already using.

Owned Media

This refers to the digital assets that your brand or company owns -- whether that's your website, social media profiles, blog content, or imagery, owned channels are the things your business has complete control over. This can include some off-site content that you own, but isn't hosted on your website, like a blog that you publish on Medium, for example.

Earned Media

Quite simply, earned media refers to the exposure you've earned through word-of-mouth. Whether that's content you've distributed on other websites (e.g., guest posts), PR work you've been doing, or the customer experience you've delivered, earned media is the recognition you receive as a result. You can earn media by getting press mentions, positive reviews, and by other people sharing your content on social media, for instance.

Paid Media

Paid media is a bit self-explanatory in what its name suggests -- and refers to any vehicle or channel that you spend money on to catch the attention of your buyer personas. This includes things like Google AdWords, paid social media posts, native advertising (like sponsored posts on other websites), and any other medium for which you directly pay in exchange for visibility.

Gather what you have, and categorize each vehicle or asset in a spreadsheet, so you have a clear picture of your existing owned, earned, and paid media.

Your digital marketing strategy might incorporate elements of all three channels, all working together to help you reach your goal. For example, you might have an owned piece of content on a landing page on your website that's been created to help you generate leads. To amplify the number of leads that content generates, you might have made a real effort to make it shareable, meaning others are distributing it via their personal social media profiles, increasing traffic to the landing page. That's the earned media component. To support the content's success, you might have posted about the content to your Facebook page and have paid to have it seen by more people in your target audience.

That's exactly how the three can work together to help you meet your goal. Of course, it's not compulsory to use all three. If your owned and earned media are both successful, you might not need to invest in paid. It's all about evaluating the best solution to meet your goal, and then incorporating the channels that work best for your business into your digital marketing strategy.

Now you know what's already being used, you can start to think about what to keep and what to cut.

4. Audit and plan your owned media campaigns.

At the heart of digital marketing is your owned media, which pretty much always takes the form of content. Every message your brand broadcasts can generally be classified as content, whether it's your 'About Us' page, your product descriptions, blog posts, ebooks, infographics, or social media posts.

Content helps convert your website visitors into leads and customers, and helps to raise your brand's profile online -- and when it's optimized, it can also boost any efforts you have around search/organic traffic. Whatever your goal, you're going to need to use owned content to form your digital marketing strategy.

To build your digital marketing strategy, you need to decide what content is going to help you reach your goals. If your goal is to generate 50% more leads via the website than you did last year, it's unlikely that your 'About Us' page is going to be included in your strategy -- unless that page has somehow been a lead generation machine in the past.

It might more likely that an ebook gated by a form on your website drives far more leads, and as a result, that might be something you want to do more of. Here's a brief process to follow to work out what owned content you need to meet your digital marketing goals:

Audit your existing content.

Make a list of your existing owned content, and rank each item according to what has previously performed best in relation to your current goals. If your goal is lead generation, for example, rank them according to which generated the most leads in the last year. That might be a particular blog post, an ebook, or even a specific page on your website that's converting well.

The idea here is to figure out what's currently working, and what's not, so that you can set yourself up for success when planning future content.

Identify gaps in your existing content.

Based on your buyer personas, identify any gaps in the content you have. If you're a math tutoring company and have discovered in your audience research that one of your persona's biggest challenges is finding interesting ways to study, but you don't have any content that speaks to that concern, then you might look to create some.

By looking at your content audit, you might discover that ebooks hosted on a certain type of landing page convert really well for you (much better than webinars, for example). In the case of this math tutoring company, you might make the decision to add an ebook about 'how to make studying more interesting' to your content creation plans.

Create a content creation plan.

Based on your findings and the gaps you've identified, make a content creation plan outlining the content that's necessary to help you hit your goals. This should include:

• Title
• Format
• Goal
• Promotional channels
• Why you're creating it (e.g., "Marketing Molly struggles to find time to plan her blog content, so we're creating a template editorial calendar")
• Priority level (to help you decide what's going to give you the most "bang for your buck")

This can be a simple spreadsheet, and should also include budget information if you're planning to outsource the content creation, or a time estimate if you're producing it yourself.

5. Audit and plan your earned media campaigns.

Evaluating your previous earned media against your current goals can help you get an idea of where to focus your time. Look at where your traffic and leads are coming from (if that's your goal) and rank each earned media source from most effective to least effective.

You can get this information from tools like Google Analytics, or the Sources Reports in your HubSpot software.

You might find that a particular article you contributed to the industry press drove a lot of qualified traffic to your website, which in turn converted really well. Or, you might discover that LinkedIn is where you see most people sharing your content, which in turn drives a lot of traffic.

The idea here is to build up a picture of what earned media will help you reach your goals, and what won't, based on historical data. However, if there's something new you want to try, don't rule that out just because it's not yet tried and tested.

6. Audit and plan your paid media campaigns.

This process involves much of the same process: You need to evaluate your existing paid media across each platform (e.g., Google AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to figure out what's likely to help you meet your current goals.

If you've been spending a lot of money on AdWords and haven't seen the results you'd hoped for, maybe it's time to refine your approach, or scrap it altogether and focus on another platform that seems to be yielding better results. (Check out this free AdWords guide for more on how to leverage it for business.)

By the end of the process, you should have a clear idea of which paid media platforms you want to continue using, and which (if any) you'd like to remove from your strategy.

7. Bring it all together.

You've done the planning and the research, and you now have a solid vision of the elements that are going to make up your digital marketing strategy. Here's what you should have so far:

1. Clear profile(s) of your buyer persona(s)
2. One or more marketing-specific goals
3. An inventory of your existing owned, earned, and paid media
4. An audit of your existing owned, earned, and paid media
5. An owned content creation plan or wish list

Now, it's time to bring all of it together to form a cohesive strategy document. Let's revisit what digital strategy means: the series of actions that are going to help you achieve your goal(s) using online marketing.

By that definition, your strategy document should map out the series of actions you're going to take to achieve your goals, based on your research to this point. A spreadsheet is an efficient format -- and for the sake of consistency, you might find it easiest to map out according to the owned, earned, and paid media framework we've used so far.

You'll also need to plan your strategy for a longer-term period -- typically, something like 12 months is a good starting point, depending on how your business is set up. That way, you can overlay when you'll be executing each action. For example:

• In January, you might start a blog which will be continually updated once a week, for the entire year.
• In March, you might launch a new ebook, accompanied by paid promotion.
• In July, you might be preparing for your biggest business month -- what do you hope to have observed at this point that will influence the content you produce to support it?
• In September, you might plan to focus on earned media in the form of PR to drive additional traffic during the run-up.

By taking this approach, you're also creating a structured timeline for your activity, which will help communicate your plans to your colleagues -- not to mention, maybe even help keep you sane.

Your Path to Digital Marketing Strategy Success

Your strategy document will be very individual to your business, which is why it's almost impossible for us to create a one-size-fits-all digital marketing strategy template. Remember, the purpose of your strategy document is to map out the actions you're going to take to achieve your goal over a period of time -- as long as it communicates that, then you've nailed the basics of creating a digital strategy.

If you're eager to build a truly effective strategy to help grow your business, check out our free collection of content marketing templates below.

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Radio-Vérité: un roman inspiré des radio-poubelles

What You Missed Last Month in Google

Welcome one, welcome all to November 1st -- and to another recap of the month's top Google news items.

What You Missed Last Month in Google

1. New Measures for User Data Control

Until recently, Google users would have to visit a separate account settings page to clear their search history. Now, the company says, that data can be accessed directly from the search page, via a hamburger menu that appears above the query bar.

Source: Google

After tapping on this menu option, users can view recent search activity, and choose what to delete -- their searches over the past hour, or all search activity. On this same page, users can also access privacy settings for voice search, as well as those pertaining to ad personalization.

Next year, Google says, these easy-to-access data controls will roll out to Maps and other Google products. Read more >>

2. "No Robocalls, Please"

Google made waves in May when it announced Duplex: its new Assistant that's (artificially) intelligent enough to make phone calls on a user's behalf to book appointments, make reservations, and more.

After some controversy, Google could be adding an option for business owners to indicate that they do not want to receive phone calls from Assistant. The alleged option was discovered by a search strategist who saw the option while creating a Google business listing for a client. Read more >>

@GoogleMyBiz dashboard is now asking if your business is okay with accepting Google Assistant Calls @mblumenthal @localseoguide pic.twitter.com/H8RVcxDO7S

— Michael Wallace (@LocalGladiator) October 30, 2018

3. Search Console Stats Take Center Stage

Several users have reported seeing Search Console statistics displayed directly within Google's search engine results page (SERP), according to SEO Roundtable.

These stats have appeared in a "brief dashboard" for certain users who are verified owners of a site that appears in the SERP. Read more >>

Not seen this before - Google displaying keyword performance data from Search Console (when logged in) directly in search results. @Marie_Haynes @rustybrick ? Only appears to invoke for queries relating to GSC properties verified under subdirectory, E.g. https://t.co/7qmeNkJo1a pic.twitter.com/LgqwKuhy3C

— Andrew Gloyns (@gloyns) October 4, 2018

4. The Google+ Data Breach

In October, a bug discovered in March may have granted access to the private data of nearly half a million users of Google+: the search engine giant Google's social network, which since its 2011 inception was often the butt of jokes for being a largely unused attempt to copy Facebook. Here's what happened. Read more >>

5. How Marketers Can Take Advantage of Google Assistant's New Tools

Last month, Google gave its Assistant a "makeover." But did you know that it came with new tools for marketers? Here's a rundown of what they are, and how to make the most of them. Read more >>

6. Google Wants to Take Over Your Home (And the Rest of Your Life)

Google is standing at your front door, asking, "Can I come in?" But that might not be a bad thing. Here's how that came up at October's Made By Google event. Read more >>

7. New Rules for Gmail App Developers

Google announced last week that Gmail app developers will have to abide by a strict set of new rules -- in the name of user privacy. What can marketers learn from these changes, and how should they prepare? Read more >>

Until Next Month

As always, we're watching all things Google. We'll continue to pick out top news items, algorithm updates, and trends.

See you next month.

Featured image credit: Google

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Prudence en cette journée d'Halloween!

Idée de business : 7 idées e-commerce que vous pouvez rentabiliser à mi-temps

Que vous cherchiez à devenir votre propre patron ou simplement à gagner un complément de revenu à mi-temps, il existe de nombreuses façons de convertir vos compétences et vos talents en revenu. 

Avoir un business en ligne rentable présente des avantages indéniables. Mais les défis sont également présents. On sait tous qu’il faut travailler dur pour monter sa propre entreprise, mais d’innombrables entrepreneurs ont déjà franchi le pas pour entamer leur parcours entrepreneurial. Avec les bonnes idées et une bonne dose d’efforts personnels, vous pouvez également faire de même.

La création de votre business en ligne n’est certainement pas une initiative d’un jour qui va instantanément améliorer votre style de vie. L’entrepreneuriat ne fonctionne pas ainsi. Pour mieux vous guider, nous vous présentons le parcours que vous pourriez suivre pour monter votre e-business, étape par étape. Nous partageons également des conseils et des ressources qui vous permettront de trouver une idée de produit ou un modèle d’entreprise qui correspond idéalement à votre style de vie.

7 idées pour lancer votre business en ligne

1. Lancez votre propre marque de vêtements
2. Ouvrez une boutique de dropshipping
3. Vendez vos œuvres artistiques et vos propres créations en ligne
4. Devenez un freelance spécialisé en rédaction, design, développement web ou codage
5. Enseignez une formation en ligne
6. Vendez des objets et des articles rares sur votre boutique en ligne
7. Publiez votre propre livre

1. Lancez votre propre marque de vêtements

Tant que vous avez quelques designs intéressants en tête et un peu de temps libre entre les mains, vous pouvez tout à fait faire décoller votre propre marque de vêtements.

Si vous possédez déjà une boutique en ligne Shopify, vous pouvez mettre en marche votre propre marque de vêtements en utilisant des applications comme Oberlo, Printify, Printful et Merchify. Ces applications associent votre boutique à des fabricants de vêtements et des services d’impression qui s’occupent à votre place de chaque étape du processus de vente et d’exécution — vous donnant ainsi la liberté de concevoir et d’expédier (à travers ces tiers) une grande sélection de modèles, dès votre lancement e-commerce.

Pourquoi créer sa marque de vêtements ?

• Il n’y a rien de plus gratifiant que de créer des produits que les gens vont utiliser quotidiennement.
• Dès que votre boutique en ligne sera conçue, vous allez pouvoir commencer à vendre en ligne instantanément. Grâce à des applications comme Printify et Printful, le processus de conception et d’expédition d’habits personnalisés s’est vu grandement simplifié et rationalisé.
• Donnez vie à votre créativité de façon tangible et rentable. Vous allez adorer voir vos designs en vrai.

Notre équipe de contenu a par ailleurs utilisé Printful pour créer THINK PUP, une boutique en ligne de vêtements pour les propriétaires de chiens. En 3 semaines, la boutique a généré l’équivalent de 1000 € de ventes. Avec un peu de temps et de recherche, vous pourriez vous aussi créer un business de vêtements en ligne florissant.

Pour vous immerger dès aujourd’hui dans le sujet, consultez notre ressource exhaustive, Comment ouvrir une boutique en ligne de tee-shirts : le guide ultime.

De l’élaboration d’une histoire de marque forte à la promotion de vos produits à travers le marketing d’influence, nous avons sélectionné pour vous plusieurs ressources pratiques qui vous aideront à développer votre marque de vêtements à chaque étape du processus :

• Comment créer une marque de vêtements : 14 secrets sur l’importance de l’image de marque
• 22 modèles et maquettes pour votre marque de vêtements
• Marketing d’influence sur Instagram : le guide du débutant en 5 étapes
• Marketing de niche : comment l’utiliser pour monter votre site e-commerce

2. Lancez une boutique de dropshipping

Vous pensez qu’il faut avoir un entrepôt plein à craquer pour lancer votre propre business ? Ce n’est pas toujours le cas ! Le dropshipping est un excellent modèle d’entreprise pour démarrer un business avec un budget réduit. Pour tout mettre en marche en un temps record, vous pourriez sourcer un produit déjà commercialisé (en marque blanche) par un fournisseur et laisser ce dernier s’occuper du packaging et du traitement des commandes.

Cette démarche vous permet d’éviter beaucoup d’obstacles qu’il aurait autrement fallu surmonter pour lancer votre propre entreprise en ligne. Plus important encore, vous éliminez le risque de découvrir qu’il n’y a pas de demande pour votre produit après avoir naïvement passé une très grosse commande auprès d’un fabricant ou d’un grossiste.

Pourquoi choisir le dropshipping ?

• Vous n’avez pas besoin de stocker les produits dans un espace d’entreposage physique. En d’autres termes, l’achat des stocks n’est pas nécessaire et vos flux de trésorerie sont préservés — ce qui signifie beaucoup moins d’investissement financier à risque, initialement.
• Chaque fois qu’une vente est réalisée, vous passez une commande auprès d’un partenaire tiers qui gère le reste du processus à votre place. Puisque vous n’avez pas à vous occuper de certaines opérations comme le suivi des stocks ou l’expédition des colis, le dropshipping élimine une tonne de tracas potentiels aux entrepreneurs en herbe.
• Vous pouvez gérer votre entreprise de n’importe où puisqu’il n’y a pas besoin de gérer de stocks physiques ni d’espace d’entreposage. Que ce soit depuis votre salon ou le coffee-shop du coin de la rue, vous choisissez l’endroit d’où vous souhaitez travailler.

Si le dropshipping vous intéresse, installez Oberlo et explorez les différents produits de la place de marché de l’application. Puis lisez nos guides sur le sujet qui vous familiariseront avec ce modèle d’entreprise.

Si vous n’avez encore aucune idée d’e-business, voici certaines ressources qui vous aideront à trouver un produit prometteur à vendre en ligne :

• Lisez notre guide : Comment trouver le produit idéal à vendre en ligne.
• Explorez les 10 endroits où vont les entrepreneurs pour trouver des idées de produits.
• Découvrez comment nous avons ouvert une boutique en ligne et généré des ventes en 3 jours.

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Créez une boutique en ligne dès aujourd'hui !

Bénéficiez d'un essai gratuit de 14 jours, sans engagement.

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3. Vendez vos œuvres artistiques et vos propres créations en ligne

Vendre votre art et vos créations est une autre idée de business en ligne. Que vous soyez peintre, artisan, photographe, ou musicien, vous avez à votre disposition de nombreuses façons de lancer votre activité et de convertir à travers un site e-commerce attrayant vos créations ou vos œuvres d’art en source de revenus.

Si vous excellez dans la peinture ou la photographie, vous pourriez par exemple vendre votre travail sous forme de tirages, de toiles, ou de posters encadrés en utilisant Printify ou Printful. C’est une excellente façon de transformer votre art en créations tangibles que les gens peuvent emporter chez eux et intégrer dans leur espace. C’est la musique qui vous passionne ? Vous pourriez vendre vos chansons, vos mélodies, vos effets sonores, et plus encore en tant que téléchargements digitaux.

Pour une bonne dose d’inspiration, jetez un œil à l’une des plus grandes e-plateformes de mélodies de hip-hop au monde, The Drum Broker, qui a été créée par un artiste indépendant. Ce dernier est parvenu à créer un modèle d’entreprise efficace et durable grâce à des applications Shopify comme FetchApp et ShipStation.

Pourquoi vendre vos œuvres artistiques ?

• Faites partie de la vie des gens. Faites atterrir vos créations dans les maisons des clients ou les casques des passionnés de musique.
• Vous pouvez créer une plateforme qui met en avant votre travail en mettant en place votre boutique et votre portfolio en ligne.
• En tant qu’artiste, créer n’est pas un simple passetemps — c’est votre style de vie. C’est l’occasion ou jamais de convertir votre talent en source de revenus et de vivre enfin de votre passion.

Vous êtes prêt à donner vie à vos idées ? Voici quelques études de cas pour vous mettre dans le bain :

• Comment développer sa marque artisanale
• Comment un couple a transformé une idée de produit en une marque de maroquinerie à succès

4. Devenez un freelance spécialisé en rédaction, design, développement web ou codage

Les rédacteurs, les développeurs, les codeurs et les graphistes peuvent lancer leur propre activité en ligne en monétisant leurs compétences. En tant que freelance, vous allez pouvoir mettre vos compétences à profit en assistant les gens du monde entier dans leurs projets tout en gagnant de l’argent, bien sûr.

Travailler en freelance ne signifie pas s’engager dans des projets de plusieurs mois qui grignotent tout votre temps libre. Vous pouvez très bien choisir des missions qui s’adaptent à votre emploi du temps.

Pour trouver des clients qui ont besoin de vos services, rejoignez des plateformes de freelancing comme Upwork et Fiverr.

Il est important de noter que Fiverr est une plateforme différente des plateformes de freelancing habituelles. Tous les gigs publiés ont un budget initialement fixé à 5 $. La clé pour réussir sur Fiverr consiste à élaborer astucieusement vos offres pour pouvoir proposer au client des services supplémentaires qui coutent davantage.

Par exemple, en tant que service initial à 5 $, vous pourriez proposer de rédiger une introduction de 150 mots pour un article de blog. En tant que service complémentaire, vous pourriez facturer 5 $ supplémentaires pour tous les 150 mots rédigés en plus. Vous devriez tester différentes stratégies jusqu’à trouver la combinaison de services la plus rentable.

Mais pour avoir un contrôle complet sur vos tarifs, créez votre boutique Shopify. Il vous suffira de lister vos services en tant que produits et de désactiver l’expédition puisque vous n’allez rien vendre de physique aux consommateurs. Vous pourriez même utiliser des applications comme BookThatApp et Events Calendar pour permettre aux clients de planifier des rendez-vous.

Pourquoi le freelancing ?

• Quand vous êtes en freelance, vous choisissez les projets sur lesquels vous souhaitez travailler, et vous organisez à votre guise votre emploi du temps et votre espace de travail.
• Que vous souhaitiez devenir totalement indépendant ou simplement gagner un complément de revenu les weekends, il est souvent très gratifiant d’être payé pour travailler dans un domaine dans lequel on excelle.
• Si vous êtes novice dans le domaine de la rédaction, du graphisme, ou du développement web, le freelancing constitue un excellent point de départ pour construire votre portfolio et acquérir une expérience sur le terrain dans une multitude de niches. Vous pourriez découvrir à votre grande surprise que vous avez un talent ou une passion dont vous n’étiez même pas conscient.

Si le freelancing vous semble une excellente façon de combiner travail rémunéré et style de vie attrayant, nous vous présentons des articles intéressants pour maximiser votre productivité :

• Travail à domicile : 7 façons d’améliorer votre productivité
• 13 outils gratuits et applications pour le travail à distance et les nomades digitaux
• 9 applications de gestion du temps pour gagner en productivité et en efficacité

5. Enseignez une formation en ligne

Vendre une formation en ligne peut être une façon intéressante de générer un revenu passif. Tout ce que vous avez à faire est de créer une série de vidéos ou de tutoriels vidéos qui enseignent une compétence donnée ou qui expliquent un sujet que vous maitrisez parfaitement. Ces vidéos constitueront votre formation que vous allez héberger sur votre propre site Shopify.

Même si la création de votre formation va surement nécessiter du temps et des efforts, en élaborant une série de tutoriels vidéos à forte valeur, vous parviendrez à générer un revenu régulier tant que les gens continueront de s’inscrire.

Pour commencer à créer votre première formation en ligne, réfléchissez à un sujet ou une compétence que vous maitrisez suffisamment pour pouvoir transmettre vos connaissances de façon professionnelle et structurée. Ce ne sont pas les choix qui manquent — formation de bricolage, de marketing sur les réseaux sociaux, de photographie, de programmation web, etc.

Ensuite, vous allez devoir utiliser un outil de capture d’écran, comme Snagit ou Camtasia, pour enregistrer votre écran et votre voix à mesure que vous guidez vos étudiants à travers votre tutoriel. 

Pourquoi vendre une formation en ligne ?

• En vendant une formation en ligne, vous pouvez littéralement pousser l’automatisation à l’extrême. Consacrez quelques semaines ou quelques mois à la création de votre formation, en fonction du degré de spécialisation que vous visez. Vous pourriez commencer à récolter les fruits de vos efforts après seulement quelques semaines.
• Vous possédez déjà les connaissances. Vous n’avez qu’à les partager maintenant. Choisissez un sujet dans lequel vous êtes expert et le reste viendra naturellement — qu’il s’agisse de développer des applications pour iOS, de mieux gérer ses finances professionnelles, ou de diffuser des campagnes publicitaires rentables sur Facebook.
• Enseigner une nouvelle compétence à quelqu’un est en soi un acte gratifiant. Bien qu’il y ait beaucoup d’argent à gagner dans la niche des formations en ligne, aider autrui reste toujours une expérience noble.

Vous envisagez peut-être maintenant de partager vos compétences avec le monde ? Voici certaines conférences TED qui devraient vous intéresser (vous les trouverez facilement sous-titrées en français) : 12 conférences TED à ne manquer sous aucun prétexte.

6. Vendez des articles rares sur votre site

Si vous êtes un chercheur confirmé de bonnes affaires et que vous aimez explorer les magasins pour collectionneurs, vous pourriez tout à fait ouvrir votre propre boutique en ligne d’objets et d’articles rares.

Vos clients cibles sont à la recherche d’articles originaux, mais ils ne souhaitent pas perdre leur temps à passer au peigne fin des sites d’articles vintages qui proposent tout et n’importe quoi. Profitez de ce manque de spécialisation en vous positionnant comme un expert en curation capable de trouver les bons articles vintages pour ses clients.

Pourquoi vendre des objets et des articles rares ?

• Rentabilisez votre passion pour le shopping. Admettons-le, vous passez déjà du temps à explorer les magasins vintages, alors pourquoi ne pas gagner de l’argent par la même occasion ?
• Les marges peuvent être énormes. Si vous êtes un connaisseur et que vous avez du flair, vous pourriez facilement acheter à un prix sacrifié des articles qui semblent anodins pour la plupart des gens, mais qui pourraient être revendus à un prix beaucoup plus élevé.
• Vous vendez quelque chose d’unique. Personne ne pourra trouver sur le Web les collections vintages que vous proposez.

Parfois, une passion pour les articles vintages est tout ce qu’il faut pour lancer un business rentable. Windy Gaming, une boutique en ligne de jeux vidéos vintages, fut démarrée par un entrepreneur qui a souhaité vendre en ligne des jeux vidéos japonais qui lui ont été offerts par un ami. Maintenant, Windy Gaming génère 1000 dollars par semaine en vendant des jeux rétro à travers le monde.

Pour percer dans la niche du vintage, il faut maitriser la photographie de produits pour mettre en valeur vos offres. Voici certains guides à passer en revue :

• Comment photographier des bijoux : 10 erreurs à éviter
• Comment photographier des objets réfléchissants : 3 configurations d’éclairage à maîtriser
• Comment photographier des chaussures : bonnes pratiques et erreurs à éviter
• Comment photographier des vêtements : le guide en 7 étapes
• Le guide complet pour apprendre la photo de produits

7. Publiez votre propre livre

Vous pouvez l’admettre : l’idée de publier votre propre livre vous a déjà traversé l’esprit. Bien que l’idée de voir votre nom dans une liste d’auteurs à succès puisse vous sembler fantaisiste, l’objectif n’est en fait pas inatteignable.

Peu importe le type de niche que vous allez cibler avec votre matériel écrit — p. ex. roman de science-fiction, guide de marketing, guide illustré pour enfants —, il existe aujourd’hui de nombreux services qui vous permettent d’autopublier efficacement votre travail.

De la publication de votre livre sous forme d’e-book, à son impression sur demande grâce à des services comme Lulu, Blurb et CreateSpace, vous avez à votre disposition plusieurs façons de devenir un auteur publié et de vendre votre livre en ligne.

Pour vendre des e-books dans votre boutique en ligne Shopify, vous pouvez grâce à l’application Digital Downloads immédiatement ajouter des fichiers digitaux en tant que produits à vendre. Une fois qu’un client réalise un achat, l’e-book ou un lien de téléchargement lui est automatiquement envoyé par e-mail.

Si vous choisissez de vendre des copies physiques de votre livre, des services comme Lulu prennent en charge l’impression sur demande. Ils se chargeront à votre place d’imprimer votre livre et de l’expédier au client qui l’a commandé.

Pourquoi publier un livre ?

• L’impression, l’entreposage et l’expédition sont pris en charge par des services comme Lulu et CreateSpace.
• L’autopublication et la vente en ligne augmentent grandement votre portée en tant qu’auteur indépendant. Cette combinaison est l’une des façons les plus rapides de faire atterrir votre livre entre les mains de lecteurs potentiels.
• Si écrire est votre passion, vous méritez de pouvoir gagner votre vie en faisant ce que vous aimez.

Voici certains liens connexes à consulter :

• Lulu
• Create Space
• Blurb

Partie 2 : Mettre en place votre business en ligne

Une fois que vous aurez choisi votre idée d’e-business en ligne, vous allez devoir effectuer vos recherches pour finalement lui donner vie. Voici comment démarrer, étape par étape :

1. Validez votre idée en étudiant le marché
2. Développez votre produit ou service
3. Maîtrisez vos finances professionnelles
4. Trouvez des vendeurs et des fournisseurs
5. Créez votre boutique en ligne

1. Validez votre idée en étudiant le marché

Ce n’est pas parce que vous pensez avoir une excellente idée que la demande pour votre produit ou service sera là. Cela pourrait sembler décourageant, mais c’est totalement vrai. Avant d’investir du temps et de l’énergie dans la création de votre entreprise, vous devriez étudier la faisabilité de votre idée et évaluer sa rentabilité en vous fondant sur l’intention d’achat des clients potentiels.

Vous pourriez engager une agence pour se charger de l’étude de marché à votre place. Mais si votre budget est réduit, vous pourriez également vous y prendre seul :

• Faire une étude de marché de niche : conseils et ressources
• « Correspondance produit-marché » : comment trouver des produits et un marché de niche rentables
• Comment faire une étude de marché et une étude de faisabilité en ligne pour évaluer votre idée de produit

2. Développez votre produit ou votre service

Vous avez validé votre idée, il est maintenant temps de lui donner vie. Vous allez devoir créer le produit ou le service que vous comptez vendre. Trouvez un fournisseur pour externaliser la fabrication de votre produit physique ; organisez vos services sous forme de packages ; ou rédigez votre livre et commencez à l’imprimer sur demande à travers un service d’autoédition.

Si vous empruntez la voie du dropshipping, le produit aura déjà été développé pour vous. Votre tâche consistera donc à choisir les produits qui vous passionnent ou qui affichent un marché prometteur.

3. Maîtrisez vos finances professionnelles

« Dois-je ouvrir un compte bancaire d’entreprise ? » C’est une question courante parmi les nouveaux entrepreneurs. Après avoir enregistré votre activité, vous allez devoir obtenir tous les documents professionnels qui sont nécessaires à l’ouverture d’un compte bancaire d’entreprise.

À mesure que votre activité se développe, vous pourriez avoir besoin de financer de nouveaux projets — que ceux-ci soient liés à un nouveau lancement de produit, ou à une augmentation de votre budget marketing. L’ouverture d’un compte bancaire professionnel facilite la gestion des liquidités de l’entreprise, ainsi que le suivi des revenus et des dépenses.

En outre, c’est en ouvrant un compte bancaire d’entreprise que vous allez pouvoir facilement gérer la comptabilité de votre entreprise — puisque vos transactions professionnelles apparaitront sur un seul et même relevé. Cela dit, à mesure que vos finances professionnelles deviennent de plus en plus compliquées, vous devriez envisager d’engager un comptable ou un expert fiscal.

Lecture complémentaire : 10 étapes pour la comptabilité de votre startup ou nouvelle petite entreprise

4. Trouvez des vendeurs et des fournisseurs

Les e-commerçants qui vendent des produits physiques doivent nouer des partenariats professionnels pour gérer efficacement leur activité. Avant de choisir un quelconque partenaire — un dropshipper ou un service tiers de gestion logistique, par exemple —, il faut s’assurer d’effectuer toutes les recherches nécessaires pour trouver l’option qui répond le mieux à vos besoins.

D’autres types d’activités e-commerce pourraient nécessiter des relations ou des partenariats différents. Si vous comptez rédiger un livre, par exemple, vous devriez envisager d’engager un relecteur professionnel et un graphiste confirmé.

Lecture complémentaire : Comment trouver un grossiste, un fabricant ou un fournisseur pour votre idée de produit

5. Créez votre boutique en ligne

Si vous envisagez de créer un business en ligne, vous devez posséder un site web professionnel. Et pour générer des ventes en ligne, vous devez intégrer une solution de panier d’achat sur votre site. D’abord, choisissez un nom de domaine et vérifiez sa disponibilité. L’achat d’un nom de domaine reste très peu couteux, aux alentours de 10 € par an. À partir de là, vous pouvez construire votre propre boutique sur une plateforme comme Shopify et immédiatement commencer à accepter les paiements des clients.

Voici quelques autres ressources qui vous aideront à mettre en place votre site e-commerce :

• Le guide complet pour vous lancer dans l’e-commerce : comment créer, lancer et promouvoir sa boutique en ligne
• Entrepreneuriat en France : 12 superbes boutiques en ligne créées avec Shopify
• Comment créer un site e-commerce professionnel : 15 experts en design partagent leurs secrets

Il est temps de lancer votre business en ligne

Si l’idée de lancer votre business sur Internet vous a déjà traversé l’esprit, il est temps que vous franchissiez le pas en commençant à monter votre e-business durant votre temps libre. Et assurez-vous de suivre notre guide pour réaliser votre première vente e-commerce : Comment vendre en ligne : le guide marketing pour réaliser votre première vente en 30 jours.

Vous avez des questions sur le lancement d’un business e-commerce à mi-temps ? Partagez-les ci-dessous.

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Article publié par Aleks Ignjatovic

Aleks est la rédactrice en chef du blog de Shopify en français. Elle est responsable du marketing de contenu et de la localisation pour les marchés francophones chez Shopify.

Article original : Kevin Donnelly
Traduction : Mehdi Chakir

Vous souhaitez contribuer au blog de Shopify en français ? Lisez nos conseils !

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Reportage photos: des maisons macabres

The Ultimate List of HR Interview Questions

As a job seeker, you can often expect to speak with an HR professional before moving onto interviews with employees within the department for which you're applying.

It's critical you prepare well for your HR interview. Oftentimes, a company uses their HR department to screen candidates and decide which candidates are most qualified to move forward in the interview process.

But an HR professional has different goals when interviewing than your direct hiring manager does. While your hiring manager will ask questions specific to the role, the HR professional is interested in gaining broader insights regarding culture fit and whether you demonstrate the company's values.I spoke with Alexa Matthews, a recruiter here at HubSpot, who pointed out some additional benefits to the screening process -- "It's an opportunity for a great first impression. In the first call, a candidate can often convey things that are not written on their resume. We take that information so that we can be their advocate and make recommendations to hiring managers throughout the process."

Additionally, Alexa mentioned initial interview screens help candidates learn more about the role and evaluate their interest in the company. At the same time, these initial interviews help HR professionals set a candidate up for success, by learning what is required of the role, and providing the candidate with feedback throughout all stages of the interview process.

To help you prepare for any questions you might receiving from an HR professional, we've cultivated a list of nine, along with the best sample answers.

HR Interview Questions and Answers

1. Tell me about yourself.

One of the more traditional questions in this list, "Tell me about yourself" is nonetheless a helpful question for HR professionals to get a sense for how this conversation will go, and in which direction they should steer future questions.

Ultimately, you'll want to be prepared to describe past roles, how those roles demonstrate your strengths, and what you want in a company and role moving forward. Additionally, make sure to include why you believe this role is a good match for your talents.

You might say something like, "Well, I graduated from ABC University in 2015. Since then, I've worked my way up at Company X, from an intern blogging on the content team to an Associate SEO Strategist. Along the way, I've learned I work best in collaboration with a team, as opposed to more solitary roles. As an SEO strategist, I've discovered I enjoy the analytical side of marketing, and possess strengths that allow me to excel in those types of roles -- in fact, as a result of my SEO efforts, traffic to our site has increased 13% over the past two years. I'm now looking for new challenges and believe your company, and this role, is a fantastic next step."

2. Why are you interested in this position?

This question is a critical indicator as to whether you're interested in this company and role in particular, or whether you're simply applying to any role in the field. For instance, it's not a good sign if you say, "Well, I'm interested in social media, so this role seemed like a good fit." Instead, you want to mention specific qualifications of the role itself, and demonstrate how those qualifications align with your personal strengths. Additionally, it's important you mention how you can help drive results for the team.

For instance, you might say, "Through my last role I've learned I'm passionate about creating content for social media. I've managed to grow our Instagram audience by 7%, and with my team I created a successful Facebook campaign that cultivated an increase in sales by 12%. I've followed your business on Instagram and Facebook for a few years and appreciate your brand -- more importantly, I see this role as one in which I'd truly be challenged and able to use my strengths. In particular, I believe I'd excel in the client-facing aspect of the role. Meeting with clients to collaborate on social media marketing objectives and goals is something I believe I'd find exciting and purposeful."

3. Why are you leaving your current job?

This is an opportunity to outline positive benefits you hope to gain by transitioning into a new role. However, one of the biggest mistakes you can make when answering this question is focusing on negative aspects of your current employer, rather than discussing positive aspects of the new company.

An HR professional will mark it as a red flag if you talk poorly about your current employer or company. It illustrates someone who isn't very professional, has a negative attitude, and could bring toxic energy into their new work environment.

To avoid those traps, say something like this -- "I appreciate everything my current employer has done to help me grow, and I believe working for a small start-up over the past year has helped me develop leadership skills earlier than I could've at a larger corporation. However, I am now interested in transferring the skills I've acquired here to a larger organization, where I believe I'll find more growth opportunities in the future."

4. Can you describe a work or school instance in which you messed up?

This is an intentionally tricky question. It's meant to glean insight into whether you can learn from past mistakes. If you can't think of any past errors, it could be an indicator you aren't capable of accepting responsibility for your own mistakes. However, creating a long list of past mishaps could make you look unqualified for the role.

You'll want to answer this question succinctly, and point out an error that doesn't represent a lack of character. Consider one, well-intentioned error you've had in the past, mention it, and then talk about how you grew from that experience.

For instance, you might say, "In my prior role when I first became manager, I took on too many tasks myself and quickly became both overwhelmed, and less efficient in my role. Additionally, my team members were frustrated because they felt there was a lack of collaboration on our team. I quickly recognized I needed to learn to delegate tasks and collaborate on projects with teammates, and became a more successful manager as a result."

5. Tell me about a time when you experienced conflict with a co-worker and how you dealt with it.

The HR professional isn't interested in hearing about that time your co-worker said something snide about you in the kitchen, or when your manager overheard you gossiping about a client to a friend.

Instead, this question is asked to gain insight into how you handle professional conflict. At the office, conflict is bound to arise, particularly when you're working closely with many different people. It's critical you know how to handle conflict without pointing fingers. Your answer should primarily focus on the solution, and should show a level of empathy towards your colleagues, rather than focusing on the problem.

You might say something like, "I had a deadline I needed to meet, and I was working with a designer who promised me her designs in time. When the deadline approached, my designer wasn't ready. It made us both look poorly in front of our clients. To resolve the issue, I discussed the problem privately with my designer. She told me she was stressed out and overwhelmed, and simply needed another week on the project. I told her that was fine with me, but in the future, we needed to be transparent and honest with each other. Moving forward, we established guidelines and became more efficient teammates."

6. What do you know about our company?

This is a fantastic opportunity to impress the interviewer. Ultimately, this question aims to gauge your level of interest in the company. The more you've researched prior accomplishments, company values, and basic information regarding the product or service, the more you can demonstrate a genuine desire to work there.

For instance, you might say, "I know your company is ranked the number one web design firm in Massachusetts. Your mission statement in particular appeals to me. I also know your company emphasizes continual learning and growth, two aspects I find incredibly exciting. I've spoken to Jen and Mark, two marketers at your company, and they've described the work environment as one full of passion and innovation -- which is something I hope to find in my next role."

7. How would you improve our current product or service?

An HR professional wants to know whether you're innovative, a quick-thinker, and if you'll bring new ideas to the role. There isn't necessarily a wrong answer, here -- you just need to show some creativity, and planning in advance will help. Consider potential problems they might be experiencing with their product or service, and how your unique skill set can fill that void.

For instance, you might say, "I've noticed your product is in English, without current translation options. I believe your product could benefit from multilingual translations, which would help you appeal to a wider demographic. This could help you become more of a global leader. As someone who is fluent in French and Spanish, I'd like to potentially help spearhead a project that moves the product in that direction."

8. How would your current manager describe you?

It can be awkward to brag about yourself, so while this question may seem weird, it's really the HR professional's tactic for hearing how your current boss views you in a work environment. To feel less uncomfortable answering this question, thoughtfully consider your last performance review, and use direct quotes from your boss in your answer.

For instance, you might say, "Well, during my last performance review, my current manager told me she appreciates how quickly I take constructive feedback and use it to improve in my role. She's grateful that she never needs to repeat areas of improvement to me -- once she gives me feedback, I take it seriously and make sure she never needs to bring it up again. She has also described me as diligent and trustworthy, two aspects I believe are critical for excelling in any role."

9. What questions do you have for me?

When an HR professional asks you this question, you might be eager to end the call and say, "Nope, no questions." This would be a mistake. Having thoughtful, smart, strategic questions demonstrates your interest in the role, as well as your potential value as a future employee. They want to hire candidates who will ask questions and move the company forward, and this can't happen if you accept everything as-is.

At this stage, you should consider what your genuine concerns are regarding the role. You might ask the interviewer, "What are the company’s values? What characteristics do you look for in candidates in order to represent those values?" Or, perhaps you'll say, "What do you enjoy most about working at Company A?"

Additionally, you might ask questions regarding the role specifically, like "What do you see as the most challenging aspect of the role?" or "Are there opportunities for professional development within the role and department as a whole?"

Ultimately, an interview isn't just about allowing an HR professional to form an opinion of you -- it's also a chance for you to get a strong sense for whether you even want to work for the company. So use this last question to your advantage. 

 

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