1. OctoPerfOctoPerf offers an easy-to-use SaaS load-testing solution because of its drag-and-drop system. You can easily design virtual users and simulate the complete journey of users browsing your application without any code at all. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC

This tool is an excellent all-around solution for load testing any web-based application. You can easily set up tests to meet your requirements, but what sets this apart, in my opinion, are the analytics. WebLOAD gives you all the information you need, identifies pinch points and suggests solutions. – Ismael Wrixen, FE International

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What is your favorite appointment scheduling app, and what do you think sets it apart from the rest?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.

The post Booking a Meeting? Try One of These 13 Appointment Scheduling Apps appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s your favorite low-cost file–sharing service that can be used easily by an entire team, and why?

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)  is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs.

1. Google Drive

Google Drive is our favorite file–sharing service. It combines fast and trustworthy syncing for files of all types with powerful collaboration and communication tools like Google Docs and Sheets. Most of Google Drive’s competitors do one or the other well. Just as important for a business, Drive’s authentication management service gives us granular control over who can access what in our shared drives. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

10. Asana

11. Resilio Sync

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What’s one creative way to get rid of old (but still functioning) computer/ tech equipment when upgrading your office’s machines?

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)  is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.

1. Pass It On to a Startup

Find an early-stage company with limited capital, and pass it on to them. Give them a boost when they need it most, and hopefully, the karma will continue. – Ben Lang, IT Kit

The post Upgrading Your Tech Equipment? 9 Creative Ways to Repurpose Old Gear appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

With the internet of things rapidly on the rise, I think it’s important for businesses to turn to web application firewalls (WAFs) for safeguarding their websites, that’s why you should always hire  legal firm security. Fortunately, services such as Sucuri and Cloudflare provide the required protection against cross-site scripting (XXS) vulnerabilities, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and other online threats. according to great managed it services equally imperative is keeping real-time backups of all important information. – Derek Robinson, Top Notch Dezigns

3. Create Strict Password Protocols

Password protocols are an easy first step to improving an organization’s data security. These protocols encompass things like the frequency of password changes, the complexity requirements of the passwords, the number of password-protected programs, levels of access, etc. If you need to improve security, then the first step is to look at how your organization manages passwords. – Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

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What’s one innovative solution you use to check in with your remote team, and how is it effective?

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs.

1. Monday

Monday is an amazing project and team management tool we began using a few months back. It is extremely intuitive and visually appealing. Monday allows us to see what each team member is working on, communicate with one another, review deadlines and more. This tool has proven to be extremely effective in managing our team that is composed of both in-house and remote team members. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

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Every business owner should go into a vendor partnership with a clear understanding of the details. When considering a potential software as a service (SaaS) vendor, what’s one security question that should always be asked?

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year and have created tens of thousands of jobs.

1. Where Is Our Credit Card Data Stored?

Get a guarantee that your provider won’t store your credit card details on its own server. In a best-case scenario, a provider will use a payment gateway or vendor’s server for processing and maintaining all of your information. Though no measure is cyberattack proof, most of these third-party vendors have the appropriate security and infrastructure in place to handle your sensitive data. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

The post 13 Important Questions to Ask Before You Sign Up With a SaaS Provider appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

8. Leverage Technology to Automate Invoicing and Payments

The post 8 Ways to Streamline Your Monthly Billing Process appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

7. Change Passwords Frequently

9. Write a Simple Security Policy

10. Consider Hiring a Cybersecurity Consultant

The post 11 Ways to Beef Up Your Business’s Cybersecurity appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1.Get It on Video 

Video testimonials are powerful. Ask your client to create a short 45- to 120-second video about their experience.- Jean Ginzburg, JeanGinzburg.com

2. Brag About It 

When someone says something positive about your company, that’s cause for celebration. Spread the word. Post it, tweet it, Instagram it and frame it. Be proud, and make it known. – Colbey Pfund, LFNT Distribution

3. Encourage Sharing

I love asking my contacts to share testimonials on LinkedIn. Then my whole network sees them.- Jessica Gonzalez, InCharge

4. Create a Case Study

If your business receives a great testimonial, make the most of it by creating a case study page dedicated to that client’s project on your site. Showcase the client’s objective, your execution strategy and the project’s results that warranted the glowing review.  – Duran Inci, Optimum7

5. Share It Strategically 

When you receive a glowing review, the first thing you’ll want to do is share it everywhere, but don’t do that. That will immediately make the testimonial stale. Instead, use it strategically: Share it on one platform, and then later embed it in a press release. Use the testimonial as supporting evidence but not as the main attraction. This allows for multiple-use and won’t cause fatigue.  – Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving

6. Place the Testimonial Up Front

First impressions matter. If you run a website, add testimonials on your homepage where they’ll stand out. If you run a brick and mortar business, consider building a wall of testimonials with picture and frames. Whether you have a website, a shop or an office, you want your visitors to get that glowing first impression from all your recommendations. – Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net

7. Make It More Specific

Anyone can say something generic like “Your business is great.” But that doesn’t mean much. Tangible results are what’s really important. So whenever you’re working to get testimonials, do what you can to try and make them as specific as possible. Ask your customers to share the metrics or results that you helped them get, as this will resonate much more with potential customers or clients. – Sean Ogle, Location Rebel

8. Ask for More Referrals

A testimonial is great to publish on your site, but if someone really feels that strongly about your business, ask them for referrals, and give them a reward to make it worth their while. Testimonials are good for marketing, but referrals are real sales opportunities. Turn the enthusiasm of that testimonial into a real opportunity. – Dan Golden, BFO (Be Found Online)

9. Ask for Reviews

If a customer is willing to take the time to write a glowing testimonial of your product or service, they may also be willing to write a positive review on a site like Yelp. I recommend suggesting that these people share their thoughts on review aggregators to help increase your presence and average ratings on these sites and apps. – Bryce Welker, Crush The PM Exam

10. Ask for a Photo to Accompany It

Ask the person giving you a testimonial if you have permission to use a picture alongside their quote. Almost everyone has a LinkedIn photo, so this should be an easy request. A photo of a real person will give your quote a lot more reusability and serve as the true social proof people are looking for when it gets used in sales collateral, on landing pages, in brochures, etc.  – Roger Lee, Human Interest

11. Take It to Heart

A glowing testimonial is priceless. If you just slap it onto your site or testimonial page, you aren’t gaining all of its benefits. Read over all your testimonials and see if you find a common thread among the customers. If they say they really like a particular product, service or feature, that’s your gold. Whatever customers really like is where you need to focus your energy and invest. If they already like a feature, make it even better. Your customers will know you were paying attention, and they will appreciate that feature even more if it provides them with more value, convenience or greater opportunities. This helps you keep a loyal customer base, and it will encourage existing customers to refer others. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

12. Show Gratitude 

Show gratitude and be humble whenever sharing the testimonials on your website, social media or other advertising channels. This will help make your brand shine.- Liam Martin, Time Doctor

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These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs.

1. Two-Factor Authentication

Having people log in with their mobile phones is a great way to ensure that systems are well protected. It’s a key that most people will always have with them and not something easy to hack or duplicate. – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

2. Transparency

Make sure the communication with your online users is short and simple to understand. An overcomplicated message generates confusion and concern. Tell your customers in a clear way what the data is used for and how you are protecting it. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

3. Whitepapers

One way would be to create and publish a whitepaper on the topic. Make it complete and comprehensive, including how privacy is approached, what you’re specifically doing to protect consumer info, as well as how you’re complying with current regulations. – Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

4. Social Engineering Prevention

The most common cause of data breaches isn’t actually software exploits. More often than not, hackers use social engineering to trick unassuming supervisors to share information. In order to avoid this, and in order to indicate to your clients that you avoid this, it’s important to make sure access to login information is as limited as possible. If you can, try to keep everything in-house. – Bryce Welker, Crush The LSAT

5. Website and Data Security Communication

Your brand should be synonymous with privacy and security. One way to go about doing this is to encrypt your website with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. Browsers like Google Chrome will begin marking sites that have no SSL encryption as ‘not secure’ in the address bar of the browser. You do not want to be ‘that guy’ and lose business by telling visitors that their data isn’t secure. – Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.

6. Data Collection Assurance

As a rule, any time a company asks customers for their information online, that company should disclose how that information will be used and protected. Wherever data is retrieved via a website is an opportunity to assure customers their data is secure. – Sean Harper, Kin Insurance

7. Communication

Your businesses philosophy about data protection should be cohesive with your overall business ethos. This should be clearly communicated in easily understood language in your ‘about’ section. At a high level, it should be pretty clear to users if and why their information would be shared, how it’s being protected and whether this is a high priority for your organization. – Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

8. Proactive Messaging and Action

Announcing security concerns periodically, and taking proactive measures to communicate actual security investments and actions can go a long way to increase customer comfort. If your clients first hear of a vulnerability or breach from your company, and in the same message you indicate what steps you have taken, or they can take, to remedy the situation, it builds trust. – Joe Beccalori, Interact Marketing

9. GDPR Regulations

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recently went into effect, imposing strict new regulations on the use of sensitive customer data and the responsibilities of business in the event of a breach. Follow the lead of Microsoft: adopt these principles for customers worldwide. Share with customers how their information is being used and protected. Use compliance with GDPR to build trust with your customers. – Thomas Smale, FE International

The post Nine Better Ways to Communicate Your Commitment to Data Privacy appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs.

1. Google Alerts

Our social media team has certain keywords that they are sent alerts for. This keeps them up to date on any new rules, updates or news put out by different social platforms. – Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com

2. Podcasts

You can find a podcast about just about any topic these days, and they’re an easy way to keep up on new trends as you’re walking, driving or working out. I’m all about learning while I’m doing the things that I would be doing anyway. – Allie Siarto, Allie Siarto & Co. Photography

3. Compliance Officer

As a leading digital agency, it’s our job to be up on these things, so we have a compliance officer. Most sizeable companies should have one, and if it doesn’t quite make sense, then add that as a dual role for someone in your company. Have them update your marketing team and even execs via email, and if need be on a monthly in-person basis just to ensure they are on top of things. – Scott Levy, Fuel Online

4. The Platform’s Own Training Modules

Social media platforms have their own training outlets. For example, Facebook has a platform called ‘Facebook Blueprint’ that contains training modules. You can subscribe to the newsletter and receive monthly content consisting of highlights, updates and new courses. Twitter has a platform called ‘Twitter Flight School’ which has a resource library and online courses to keep you up to date. – Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk

5. RSS Feeds

It might seem old-fashioned to use RSS to follow social media news, but it is effective. Most of the big social networks have news blogs, like Facebook Business News. We subscribe via RSS to many of the most important social media news sources, which helps our team to keep on top of changing rules and updates. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

6. Log In and Check

The simplest way to stay abreast of any changes is to log in to your social media regularly. For most platforms, you will get a prompt the first time you log on after a change has been made. Also, it is not a bad idea to subscribe to some of the more popular platforms’ blogs, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter. They will have posts about site changes and updates. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

7. Social Media Publications

There are a few social media publications you can subscribe to that will keep you updated on all of the latest changes. One is called Social Media Today and another is Social Media Examiner. – Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

8. Paid Information

There are entire businesses built around educating entrepreneurs on platform changes and strategy. They typically have private Facebook groups where they post live videos, have paid for online courses and even coaching. They not only walk through changes, but also how to best implement them for your business. It’s been invaluable what my company has received from groups like this to stay competitive. – Bryan Citrin, Chiropractic Advertising

9. Tech Sites

When social media platforms make ad changes, it is almost always reported on by the major tech websites like Tech Crunch, Mashable, Recode, etc. Even if you aren’t in that industry, it’s important to stay current with the tech news that may affect your business. – Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

10. Updates

I always read everything that pops up or that comes as an update. Social media sites have had to be more transparent in their changes and policies, so when it pops up, I stop and read it or save the link if I can’t read it right then. – John Rampton, Calendar

11. Pay Attention

Don’t just click ‘OK.’ We can’t demand transparency if we then don’t take the time to ingest the information that is readily available to us. Many of these companies are constantly updating us, but we lack the patience to go through and understand the ‘why’ and ‘how.’ Keeping up with blogs, news and podcasts can also be a good way to stay informed on this quickly changing facet of social media. – Justin Lefkovitch, Mirrored Media

The post 11 Ways to Stay Up-to-Date on Social Media Platform Changes appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Guest Post for Others

One of the best ways to build your audience and increase engagement on Facebook is to partner with a complementary brand. Find a noncompeting brand that has an existing audience that overlaps with your ideal target demographic and vice versa. Both brands can mutually benefit from an occasional guest post on each other’s Facebook pages. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

The post 14 Cost-Effective Ways to Engage Facebook Followers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Productivity Roll-up

We use a simple, scrum-inspired email that rolls up through every level of the organization. This email should be the last thing done by team members at the end of their day and have three distinct parts: 1) what they accomplished, 2) any roadblocks they hit and 3) any questions they have. This should be sent to managers from all direct reports and then trickle up through the team. – Nick Eubanks, From The Future

The post 10 Ways to Effectively Track the Productivity of Remote Workers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Think Laterally

We think laterally by asking what skills are valuable to our clients. I don’t let myself become blinded by passionate people who want to make a splash and have the ideas to effect meaningful change by focusing only on impressive, yet safe, resumes. We hire, for example, dropouts who are Mensa members. One of my rock star employees has zero formal business education and was a theater major. – Robert J Choi, RJC & Company Transformation Engineers

2. Invest More Time Screening

Tech giants like Google regularly pass up amazing talent simply because they do not have the appropriate degree or work experience. Rather than looking at degrees, we choose to look at soft skills. We schedule interviews with the candidates that would normally be screened out by Google. We have found many hidden gems this way and can only hope these tech giants continue doing a poor job screening. – Mike A. Podesto, Find My Profession

3. Don’t Underestimate Room to Grow

Highlight the areas that your company outperforms larger corporations. Often, this is in the form of growth opportunities. At giant corporations, candidates get pigeonholed into specific roles without an opportunity to grow and learn like they would have at a smaller company. When candidates understand they should be thinking about their long-term career, tech giants often have very little to offer. – Arian Radmand, TurnGram

4. Hire Locally

We always focus on hiring fresh, college graduates from local universities and provide them with full training and the potential to grow. It is very easy to compete with Google; our process is simple, faster and focused on the growth. Students want to work in a local, small company rather than a Silicon Valley-based, large enterprise. – Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

5. Elucidate Vision and Expectations

I always focus on being able to give a candidate insight into the vision of my company and also give them expectations into growth opportunities at our organization. If it is a good match, I have found out that top talent appreciates that level of transparency. Obviously, working on a creative and scalable vision of your company, as well as a growth potential for your staff, is important if you want to attract this level of talent. – Michael Hsu, DeepSky

6. Get the Owners and Executives Involved

We hire people away from big agencies, often competing with bigger salaries, because of the personalized approach they get at our company. People get a chance to talk to and interact with the founders on a day-to-day basis. This personalized mentorship is often more valuable to an employee than a free lunch. – Dan Golden, BFO (Be Found Online)

7. Offer a Remote Schedule

Because we are a small team, I let my employees work remotely two days a week. This seems to be very attractive to candidates that I interview and hire which gives us a competitive edge. – Kristin Marquet, Creative Development Agency, LLC

8. Turn to Your Employee Network

Once you know a position might become available, spread word about it to your employees so they may tap into their networks of peers and friends. Professional networking has grown by leaps and bounds in recent times, which means your employees are connected to scores of potential candidates; especially those that use a custom executive level resume builder. Keep a reward system for referrals, as this gives your employees an incentive to go scouting. – Derek Robinson, Top Notch Dezigns

9. Find the Untapped Talent

When you go to gas station, restaurant, staff outing, golf, movie or any place, always be looking for top performers. I find it is better to bring new people in rather than find people with a ton of experience. Teach them the right way from the beginning. My top staff members came from outreach when I am out and about. – Tommy Mello, A1 Garage Door Repair

10. Try Low-Cost Perks

We’re able to hire top talent by giving employees the option to work from anywhere in the world. It’s no secret that Silicon Valley’s cost of living is extremely high, which is why many developers are choosing to live in less expensive places and work from home. Top talent will receive top pay anywhere and if you can get a Silicon Valley salary living in the midwest, you’ve hacked the system. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

The post ​10 Ideas for Small Businesses That Want to Attract Top Talent appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Performance Optimization

Although it’s often more of a development change, improving the load speed of your website or app can often have a tremendous impact on customer experience. Consumer attention is fickle, so anything you can do to grab it before it’s gone is essential to driving sales or conversion. Optimize your code to ensure you optimize your sales. – Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

2. Color Usage

Color is an important design tool that can increase customer engagement, as well as sales. When you use contrasting colors between the background, CTA buttons and text on your site, you are influencing the way a user moves around the page. When color is used appropriately, it can lead a user’s eye to the most important items, such as a click to buy option or a button that allows them to request more information. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

3. Call Scheduling

The ability to speak with someone over the phone or in person is highly important to most consumers. We added a giant ‘schedule a call’ button right in the middle of our homepage. This has led to hundreds of additional calls in the past couple months compared to when we only had this button on the contact us page of the website. – Mike A. Podesto, Find My Profession

4. Transaction Speed

We’ve changed how our transactions work on our website to speed up how customers experience them. There are fewer abandoned shopping carts and more completed sales due to changing how transactions work, including allowing customers to store their information. – Peter Daisyme, Calendar

5. Mobile Responsiveness

Well, our website is still very important, but our sales funnel is very broad and each level of communication funnels back to our website. For example, we leverage social media to gain new clients, directing them to the ‘link in bio.’ You better make sure your site is mobile friendly. You’re very late if it’s not. – Andrew Namminga, Andesign

6. Simpler Websites

I tend to skew more toward a minimalist web design for both speed and ease of use. Eliminate long scrolls, display a clear CTA and make conversions as easy as one click. Testimonials, case studies and content do help nurture leads, but you don’t need to stuff these on your homepage or landing page. Minimalism appears more natural and professional. Offer clear benefits, but don’t oversell them. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

7. Fewer Steps

The two primary purposes for UX are to make it easy and clear to the user. Having fewer steps allows people to get what they want faster, and making that clear for the users allows them to do that. You should always ask yourself if your design flow and UI is easy and clear for the users to understand. Everything else is more specific and tactical. Your design will stem from that. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

8. Social Proof

We implemented a social proof application that pops up in the corner of the site. It will give the first name and city of someone that has recently purchased the product increasing social validation. You can use apps like Upfunnel or Uptible to implement it. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

9. Chat Options

Our chat receives more engagement than any form on our website. We started using the chat to understand our customer’s goals, but then as we started seeing the same questions over and over again. So we used the chat to have prospects answer questions for us. Once they answered ‘yes’ to three questions, we would have a phone call with them to discuss their goals and evaluate their fit. Use chat; it helps. – Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing

10. Exit-Intent Pop-Ups

We’ve implemented exit-intent pop-ups that have helped increase subscriber conversions right before the visitor leaves the site. One way we boosted subscription rates was to create lead magnets, basically a free resource in exchange for their email address. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

The post 10 Ways to Improve User Experience and Increase User Engagement appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Accessibility 

If your website provides a good experience for people with visual impairments and other disabilities, it will almost certainly provide a good experience for everyone else. A focus on accessible navigation, typography, color choices and screen-reader compatibility, will help you create a website that is intuitive and pleasant to use for everyone. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

2. A Clear, Guided Experience

Effective user experience needs to evoke a feeling; it needs to guide the user; it needs to communicate. UX/UI have become synonymous because brands need to move, communicate and adapt to the user at all times. Being able to understand what part of the customer journey they’re in and where they need to be guided will yield the best results. – Michael Cleary, Huemor

3. Fast Site Performance

Even the best designed and most visually appealing website will fail to engage visitors if it is slow. It should load fast, be responsive to input in fractions of a second, and not leave visitors twiddling their thumbs. With modern web technologies, there is no reason for even a complex site to be slow and unresponsive. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

4. Infinite Scrolling

Many websites have adopted this design strategy to great success by putting their own clever twist on it. Something that not everyone realizes with modern web pages is that you essentially have an unlimited amount of vertical space to work with. Using bucket brigades, interactive elements and other engagement strategies, you can keep your viewers scrolling or swiping down as far as you like. – Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy

5. Easy Navigation to Your Most Important Pages

Most websites have one or two main places that the majority of users are driven towards. That space could be the login or it could be the pricing information. Either way, focus on getting people to those places with the least amount of friction possible. – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

6. Good SEO

SEO is an overlooked aspect when it comes to UX, but it is the most effective way to engage visitors. While SEO isn’t what visitors engage with on your website, it is something that helps you match your visitor’s search intent to your website pages. A successful SEO strategy allows you to direct visitors to the relevant pages they wanted. By doing this, your visitors engage more. – Alexander Mistakidis, Gamelynx

7. An Immediate Understanding of Your Value Proposition

If I go to your page, within five seconds I should know exactly what you offer and why I should be here. If not, I’m going somewhere else. Immediately show your value and give visitors a reason to be engaged and interested. Think well-made explainer videos, visually entertaining GIFs or even good old-fashioned bold words. Intrusive popups can have the opposite effect. – Troy Osinoff, JUICE

8. A Clean and Simple Design

Less is more these days when it comes to UX/UI on websites. The smallest details usually make the biggest differences. In a world of instant gratification, people respond well to information that is familiar. A clean, simple, intuitive design is more likely to resonate with the audience of today. Adding something subtle, visually appealing and novel can also charm the toughest critics. – Steven Fleisher, Two Degrees

9. A Pop-Up Chat Box

A pop-up chat box floating on the page that allows customers to chat with you or call a customer service representative is a must. This gives them the instant satisfaction of resolving their problem in real time, which is somewhat expected by customers these days. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

10. A Great FAQ Page

This is UX/UI in its best form: self-serve, straightforward and expected. Make it easy for your website visitors to get their questions answered immediately without having to send an email or talk to a chatbot. Spend a little extra time testing and developing your FAQ page instead of treating it as a throwaway page and make sure it’s helpful, comprehensive and clear. – Roger Lee, Human Interest

11. Intuitive, Responsive Design

Companies must determine what device visitors are using and be able to deliver the website that works on that screen quickly so that the user can see everything they want rather than having to struggle. – Serenity Gibbons, Calendar

12. A Call to Action

Many websites miss this key element: a call to action. In today’s world where the average user has an attention span of less than five seconds, it’s important to tell users what to do when they are on your site. This is especially true if you plan on acquiring leads or actual business from your site. Displaying powerful calls to action on your site is the best way to engage your users. – Michael Hsu, DeepSky

13. Video Content

A picture is worth a thousand words. Furthermore, video is worth a thousand pictures. Hi-res photos are able to convey an idea much faster than words. String 30 pictures together every second, accompanied with immersive sound, and you’re on the fast track of information transfer. Put a video library in your website’s menu and add video wherever it’s relevant. Your message will be loud and clear. – Christopher Tedder, Clinger Holsters

The post 13 UX Elements Your Website Needs to Engage Visitors appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Direct Contact Search Tools 

The post Want to Reach New Customers? Try These Inexpensive Tech Hacks appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What time-saving technology would you recommend to any entrepreneur?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Zapier + IFTTT

With Zapier, I have moved my to-do list from my inbox. Email is meant for communication, but far too often it winds up as a to-do list. Every time I star an email, I have it run through Zapier and add to a to-do backlog. When I have a new meeting scheduled, Zapier adds it to my to-do list for tomorrow, 24 hours in advance. This helps me use one to-do list that is built from multiple technologies. – Michael Averto, ChannelApe

The post 14 Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite Time-Saving Tech Tools appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Cities

Major cities in the U.S., such as Boston, have already started planning for internet of things implementation. Everything ranging from street lights and parking meters, to sewage grates and sprinkler systems will be connected to the internet and interlinked. These will be huge breakthroughs in terms of saving energy and money. – Karl Kangur, MRR Media

2. Healthcare

Our healthcare system is slow, inefficient, and sometimes prone to error, yet it relies on many things that could be effectively automated and improved with technology. Telemedicine will be big, and so will additional technology to support operations such as record keeping, sharing reports across multiple locations, and dispensing antiviral medications. – Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

3. Smart Body Analyzers

I could see these making a much bigger impact in 2018. Advances in devices that monitor oxygen levels, blood pressure, EKG, and temperature and are connected directly with all of your doctors could alter how we approach wellness check-ups moving forward. – Adrien Schmidt, OpenBouquet

4. Home Appliances

I think the more people understand this, the more it will have an impact on their home life. From their heaters adapting to the external temperatures, to their lights reacting to them entering the room, to their alarm clocks syncing to traffic. The IoT is going to completely change how everyone lives at home. – Colbey Pfund, LFNT Distribution

5. Video Doorbells

In the age of getting almost anything delivered to your door in only two days, it gives consumers additional peace of mind knowing who is at the door before opening — even allowing you to speak to someone at your door remotely. Video evidence also goes a long way in helping police prosecute package thieves. Plus, they are much easier to install than home security cameras. – Shawn Schulze, Names.org

6. Data Centers

We run several data centers in the U.S. and Canada. One of the most interesting IoT developments from our perspective will be the intersection of smart devices and augmented reality. Integrating IoT monitoring devices throughout the data center will allow operations and support teams to visualize the status of servers, network devices, and other infrastructure using augmented reality interfaces. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

7. Schools

I think schools will work on ways to create a more connected network between students, teachers and parents. This would change the learning experience and how homework and research is conducted away from the classroom. It may even make learning and school more interesting and engaging. – Angela Ruth, Calendar

8. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain adds a layer of security to digital transactions. As our smart home devices become more integrated into our daily lives, privacy becomes a concern, and especially who owns our data. Blockchain will allow IoT device owners to be in charge of their data. They could monetize and sell it in exchange for digital currency or choose to keep it private. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

9. Large Retailers

I think large retailers may use IoT to create large digital shopping malls that completely replace brick-and-mortar ones, where people can shop virtually and use augmented reality and their personal data from their own devices to enjoy a personalized experience.- Zach Binder, Bell + Ivy

10. Security

With growing adoption of IoT devices and ability to use them to buy things, IoT security has to be one of the next big things in order to provide consumers the peace of mind they need so as to share their health or payment information.- Zohar Steinberg, token payments

The post What’s Next: 10 Potential Applications for IoT Technologies appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a web host for your company site?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Your Business’s Needs

Before you begin looking at options, consider the type of site you are building, whether you need any special features, as well as your anticipated site traffic volume. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into what your site should look like now. Think about what you want it to be next year. Starting with a good foundation makes it easier to update and expand later down the pike. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

The post 11 Important Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Web Host appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 

1. My Mobile Device

My mobile device is more than just a phone. Thanks to cloud-based services, much of your business can be conducted online. Important negotiations and transactions can be done through my mobile device. There are many business opportunities waiting, and my mobile device allows me the ease and convenience to make things happen!- Patrick Barnhill, Specialist ID, Inc. 

2. Self-Encrypting Drive

My self-encrypting drive is very important. Laptop thefts account for almost 70 percent of worldwide data breaches. Having a self-encrypting drive helps me feel confident that my business and personal information is being kept safe and secure.- Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

3. Phone Charging Case

It may be a bit more cumbersome than the phone itself, but the wireless charging vehicle dock has saved me on multiple occasions.With my phone battery not lasting through the day, I now don’t have to worry about carrying an external charger around with me.- Abhilash Patel, Abhilash.co

4. External Hard Drive

This device is not only great for making a smaller laptop suddenly bigger, it’s wonderful for backing up crucial information. As an entrepreneur, you‘re going to have a lot of important (and sensitive) documents on your computer. Why would you not make sure those are safe, even if your laptop is ruined?- Ginger Jones, Jones Therapy Services

5. Apple AirPods

I can‘t live without my Apple AirPods. I’m on the phone frequently and the AirPods are incredibly user-friendly. They’re small, can recharge in your pocket and operate seamlessly. For those worried about them falling out of your ear, it’s best to get comfortable with them in a contained environment, like your apartment, first before going out with them.- Douglas Baldasare, ChargeItSpot

6. Apple Watch

I just purchased an Apple Watch and it’s the best gadget for both business and life. For professional use, I like to use the watch for Slack and email, as well as to set reminders for calls, meetings, and work deadlines. For personal use, I use it to track my runs, monitor my heartbeat, and log all of my workouts.- Kristin Marquet, Creative Development Agency, LLC

7. Google Home Mini

Like all new technological advancements, not everyone is going to embrace it, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence. The fact of the matter is, the Google Home Mini is convenient, provided that you have a Google account — which most people do. This nifty little device cuts my everyday tasks down to a minimum, saving me time that I can spend elsewhere. – Codie Sanchez, CodieSanchez.com

8. Skybell Wi-Fi Doorbell

Since I work from home often or am traveling a lot, I’ve become dependent on my Skybell Wi-Fi doorbell to feel safer about my home. I can see who is at the door even when I’m not at home and I can interact with them. It gives me more peace of mind since I am so often away.- Angela Ruth, Calendar 

9. Nespresso Machine

Maybe a Nespresso Machine is a weird gadget but they are life-changing. When you need a pick-me-up or a good cup of espresso, it is so nice to have a mini espresso bar in your office.- Brandon Stapper, Crown Growth

10. Any Smart Home Device

I love having appliances that talk to each other and are linked together to help cover things like items I need to buy or take care of the home security and use of utilities. It saves me time and has taught me so much about living more environmentally responsible.- Cynthia Johnson, Bell + Ivy

11. Bluesmart Luggage

I travel often, so this has been a huge upgrade. This suitcase has GPS, so I won’t lose my luggage, and it has a built-in battery, so I can charge my devices while I go. For a traveler, this is a must. – Ben Landis, Fanbase

12. Noise-Canceling Headphones

Because of a lot of air travel and working in a variety of different contexts, from the office to airports to co-working spaces, noise-canceling headphones have become something that I love and can‘t imagine living without. In fact, I wish I got them sooner. I put off buying them and really wish I hadn’t now. – Eric Mathews, Start Co.

The post 12 Essential Gadgets You Can’t Live Without appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Use Online Incentives

If you’re operating an e-commerce business, this is the smartest way to bridge the gap. If brick-and-mortar shoppers know that they can get a bigger discount of some sort by purchasing your products or services online, they’ll do it!- Codie Sanchez, www.CodieSanchez.com

2. Look for Tactics That Work in Both Areas

Identify marketing tactics that involve both channels so you can create content that works in both places or that encourages your audience to visit the other channel. This could be adding social channels to your offline marketing information or hosting an event and asking visitors to share it or check in online.– Drew Hendricks, Buttercup

3. Make Sure Your Messaging Is in Alignment

Making sure your messaging is consistent across your offline and online marketing is extremely important. Your offline and online marketing should be closely aligned in language, target customer, and (as much as possible) call to action. Reaching different customers in different realms will lead to a confusing customer picture and a sales pipeline that is difficult to manage.- Kevin Bretthauer, FuelCloud. If you are looking for new marketing strategies, then consider using a Wide format signage. 

4. Use Ad Tracking Software

Aside from making sure you maintain brand continuity across your ads, you can also implement analytics tracking measures into your offline ads. Radio ads can have promo codes, brochures can have call tracking numbers on them and depending on your market, you can utilize QR codes, too.- Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

5. Let Customers Do the Work

One of the quickest and easiest ways to merge the offline with the online is to host a competition. A good example is to ask customers to take selfies that promote your brand by having them upload their images to your social media accounts using a particular phrase or a unique hashtag. The details about the competition should be outlined on your offline marketing materials, including any products you sell.- Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

6. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is important for both offline and online marketing strategies. Ask your offline customers for their email address in exchange for a coupon, and ask your online customers using opt-in forms on your website. Make sure to keep the email addresses on two separate lists, so you know where the lead came from.- Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

7. Make Your Brand Searchable

These days, new businesses focus too heavily on marketing edgy brand names that are hard to pronounce and spell. When you use a brand name or tagline that is memorable in your offline marketing campaigns, you’ll see a surge in organic search traffic for those terms as customers rediscover your business online.- Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

8. Use Branded Merchandise

Branded merchandise feels like a forgotten strategy of the marketing world. Whether it’s a customized water bottle or T-shirt, these items serve as a walking advertisement of your products, increasing brand recall and word-of-mouth advertising. Encourage people to show off their flair online through social media. You can even offer free merchandise in exchange for signing up for an email list.- Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

9. Connect Your Leads List

Although you found your lead while out on the street, you should still follow up digitally. And vice versa. Because you found your lead online, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a call. In any case, going old school and making a call is a great way to break the ice instantly.- Andrew Namminga, Andesign

10. Use Augmented Reality

One of the interesting features of augmented reality is the way it blurs the boundary between offline and online. AR inserts representations of digital entities into the world. Companies like Heineken, Ikea and Visa are using augmented reality to inject digital marketing experiences into the physical environment of users and attracting attention through the innovative use of a new technology.- Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

11. Get Microinfluencers Shopping Offline

One new advertising model we have is allowing microinfluencers within our community to take a $100-$500 coupon and go shop at the advertiser’s brick-and-mortar store. Microinfluencers interested in the vertical of that advertiser get to spend time at the store, take pictures while shopping and then write an online article about the product, the shopping experience, display and potentially other products.- Tolga Tanriseven, GirlsAskGuys

The post 11 Strategies to Combine Your Offline and Online Marketing Efforts appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s a basic tech skill that small business owners must have to oversee day-to-day operations?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Public Cloud Navigation

The on-demand servers available from public cloud platforms can host websites, business applications, collaboration and communication tools, analytics, data and a lot more. A basic understanding of what the cloud is and how to deploy and manage cloud servers can help small business owners access infrastructure that was once only available to much larger companies at an affordable price. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

The post 12 Basic Tech Skills You Need to Master to Run a Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s one thing to know when shifting your business to the cloud, and why is this important?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Test Your Custom Functionalities First 

All servers are different and can sometimes recognize custom code differently. If you have any custom functionalities on your current site, be sure to test them on the new server prior to making the transfer and going live. Testing is important, not only to ensure that the custom functionalities work but also to make sure nothing else broke along the way. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

The post 12 Things Every Business Owner Should Know Before Shifting to the Cloud appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Keep the Customer Front and Center

AI and chatbots can be used to improve service levels … or destroy them. So make sure you keep the customer front and center. Will your customer be delighted by this solution or enraged? Remember that if you give a customer a bad answer, you risk losing them forever. We recommend taking it slowly. If you deploy a chatbot, make sure it has the option to transfer the customer to a human agent. – Jonathan Steiman, Peak Support

2. Test Them Out Internally

Before making them available to the public, try using them on an internal basis to test how they work and better understand where they could provide a benefit to your operations. It’s important everyone get to use them first, so they feel comfortable with the idea. – Serenity Gibbons, Calendar.com

3. Have a Clear Objective

Make sure you have a clear objective in mind. AI and chatbots can be utilized in several ways, so understanding what you wish to get out of them plays a crucial role in their development. If you are using chatbots for lead generation, make sure it does just that. Your chatbot should engage users and ask the right questions to receive the crucial information you need to complete your objective. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

4. Be Conversational

Chatbots are the best of texting and email combined. If you want people to interact with your bot you need to be conversational, which means asking lots of questions, providing short answers that give value and most importantly, not spamming them. When planning out your chatbot experience, you want your bot to act more like a friend or family member, and not like a car salesman. – Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide

5. Have Chatbots Take the Lead

Instead of hiding your chatbot icon in the bottom right of your site, let visitors know it’s ready to help with a welcome message. Ask questions to your customers directly related to their visit. Design questions that offer support and lead customers to actions such as, “have you ever worked with an SEO company in the past?” or “what are you looking to improve on your website?” for an SEO site. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

6. Account for AI Learning Time

A major point to keep in mind when implementing AI or chatbots into your company is that AI takes time to learn speech patterns in order to respond accordingly. With so much AI tech now available, it seems building your own software may save money, but using an existing platform will save you the time it takes to get through the inevitable learning curve the software needs to work correctly. – Jason Criddle, Jason Criddle and Associates

7. Have a Good Script

You need to have a good script. Think of all possible questions and answers, and then flow chart the entire experience. There is no harm in trying this out, but you need to dedicate the time in setting up a good chat system with a lot of possible questions and answers. Then you need time to keep adding information. – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

8. Anticipate the Unanticipated

You are going to provide a lot of value for your customers, but it isn’t without additional employee cost. Ask yourself if you’re ready to handle the increased workload that will be generated by creating a new channel for customers to seek help and suggest feedback. Consider potential unintended consequences of any changes in how your app seeks to help its users. – Tim Chaves, ZipBooks Accounting Software

9. Link Them to Your Apps for Fast Assistance

I recently instituted chatbots, and I was able to link it to my company’s Slack so that messages to the bot show up where I’m reviewing all other notifications. Doing this for yourself can give you the freedom to see when customers are contacting you, and give you the freedom to hop in and replace the bot without a delay or confusing transition. – Adam Steele, Loganix

10. Understand Their Limitations

Even though AI is advancing quickly, it still doesn’t take the place of personalized customer service. Chatbots are good for certain tasks, such as helping website visitors find what they’re looking for. But don’t expect too much from them, and make sure you also give people an easy way to get more detailed help if they need it. – Shawn Porat, Scorely

The post 10 Things to Consider When Automating Your Customer Support Services appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Don’t Always Use Your Name

Did you know that you can change the “sent from” field in your emails? For example, if your audience loves Jim Carrey references, you could change your name in the “sent from” field to “ALLLLLL” and then the subject line to “Righty Then.” Then the first sentence of your email can be about your product closing down in four hours. This tactic has increased our open rates and click-through rates. – Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide

2. A/B Test Subject Lines

With a lot of the email marketing automation software out there, you are able to A/B test subject lines. When sending out an email, send half with one subject line and use a different subject line for the next. It could be as simple as including emojis in one, and not using emojis in the other. See which subject line had the higher open rate, and adjust your email marketing accordingly. – Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

3. Engage and Ask for Responses

Email marketing shouldn’t be a one-way, transactional interaction where the sender blindly emails thousands of people without the ability to hear from their audience. Make your emails engaging and ask your readers to reply to you. Give surveys and be friendly. Emails should be from the CEO and should build a relationship with readers. This helps build a community of people who open your email! – Matt Wilson, Under30Experiences

4. Use Questions in the Subject Line

Give them a question and they are more likely to open the email, as they realize you are asking because you want to share your answer with them. If it relates to an identified problem that target audience is having, they are even more likely to open it. – Serenity Gibbons, Calendar.com

5. Have a Catchy Headline

You need to have a catchy headline that engages your audience. Simply putting in information about your company, yourself and your services is not interesting. Figure out what your clients want to learn about, and write about that in an interesting way. – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

6. Remove Spammy Keywords

Since people’s inboxes can get flooded with emails everyday, it’s never easy filtering out the good and bad emails. Sometimes you’ll receive an email that gets pushed into the spam folder when it shouldn’t. To avoid this, try to remove specific keywords in the email content that are normally associated with spam. Phrases such as “act now,” “cash bonus” or “earn more money” should get removed. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

7. Optimize Subject Lines for Mobile

Most emails are now being opened on mobile devices so it’s important to optimize the subject line with that in mind. Keep your email subject lines brief. We’ve found that what works best for us is keeping our subject lines at six-ten words or 25 characters. You can also use free tools to see what your subject line will look like on mobile before you hit “send.” – Jared Atchison, WPForms

8. Be Less Formal

I’m seeing a trend of more emojis showing up in the subject line. Sometimes going less formal with your message is just the trick to get across the combination of urgency and personal touch needed to get the harried subscriber to open your email. – Tim Chaves, ZipBooks Accounting Software

9. Just Send It Again

After sending an email, wait a week, then resend it to the people who haven’t opened it. If you’re building your list the right way, a simple resend is a great way to make sure people aren’t just missing your email in their crowded inbox. Warning: You’ll probably get slightly more unsubscribers doing this, but the additional opens will outweigh the unsubscribes. – Francois de Lame, Policygenius Inc.

10. Don’t Overdo It

If you fill up a customer’s inbox with emails, you will soon find yourself in the spam folder. Save your emails for when it really matters. If your customer trusts that you aren’t going to waste their time with nonsense, they will be more prone to read what you have to say. – Adrien Schmidt, OpenBouquet

11. Consider the Time of Day

Take into consideration what time of day your audience is most likely to be looking through their email and be interested in a newsletter for reading. They just got to work? Probably not the best time. Waiting in line to pick up the kids from school? Prime time for opens. – Kevin Conner, BroadbandSearch

12. Be Authentic

I try to avoid hacky tricks but instead tailor my message to my recipient. If you do a little work up front and do some research on the prospect — or even just include one sentence specific to only them when using automated email software — you can see open rates north of 20% (check out LinkedIn for easy, yet specific, info on recipients). – Michael Averto, ChannelApe

13. Tell a Story

Out of all the spam that gets sent to my inbox, the messages that I am most likely to read are long-form anecdotes. These remind me of op-eds I would read on news sites. Writing something that looks like a decent amount of thought was put in it will add value in the eyes of recipients. This will increase the likelihood that they not only open your email, but read it too. – Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy

The post 13 Ways to Increase Your Email Open Rates — and Engagement appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Executive Branding

Executive branding is crucial. That means your personal image on social media as an executive or a professional. It becomes a currency anywhere you go. High-profile marketing accounts are more attractive to employers. It’s only going to become more important. – Derek Broman, Discount Enterprises LLC deguns.net

2. Partner Marketing

Many B2B marketers overlook the power of leveraging partners to drive new business. Partnerships can be forged with other businesses who sell to similar customer personas, and it is a great way to drive brand awareness and increase leads from a core customer demographic. – Jeff Epstein, Ambassador

3. Mobile Optimization

B2B marketers should abandon the idea that most business owners conduct research on desktop devices. Business owners are busy and use mobile devices to find solutions anywhere, anytime. To ensure customers have a streamlined process on any device they use, content must be mobile optimized. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

4. Structured Data

Google will be expanding its focus on structured data, featured snippets, the Knowledge Graph and answering voice searches. You should implement structured data wherever you can today so you’re prepared, but also listen closely for any new updates, so you can get there before your competitors. – Francois de Lame, Policygenius Inc.

5. Education Marketing

Use education marketing that positions your company as a helpful resource, especially if you’re in an industry (like the legal services industry) that is riddled with unscrupulous vendors. Creating great educational content and sharing it without pushing for the sell positions our company as a partner. – Todd Richheimer, Lawfty, LLC.

6. Social Network Adoption

Most B2B marketers are focusing on channels such as webinars and events, but the focus needs to be more toward the social networks, because they are equally as powerful when it comes to generating market-qualified leads. If more B2B focus on channels that humanize them, they will be able to win big. Plus social proof is going to be everything — if people don’t know about you online, your business is dead. – Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing

7. Micro to Macro

Micro moments, where customers turn to their devices to look for information, are set to reshape the online B2B marketplace. This is because an increasing number of people now make purchasing decisions after interacting with brands through multiple touch points. B2B marketers will need to anticipate probable points of contact and produce content accordingly. – Derek Robinson, Top Notch Dezigns

8. ABM Targeting

B2B marketers need to learn how to target their prospects on the same platforms as B2C marketers. B2B marketing is targeting humans, the key is to find those needles in the digital haystack. To get the targeting right and eliminate waste, they’ll need to leverage first- and third-party data to ensure their ads and content are hyper-targeted to B2B buyers. – Dan Golden, BFO (Be Found Online)

9. Artificial Intelligence

You’ve got to look at AI. Artificial intelligence is still infiltrating business, so it becomes critical to leverage it in your marketing. Understanding customer behavior, proclivities and what have you, allows marketers to streamline their efforts. Moreover, it allows decision makers to close the gap between insight and execution. – Philip Michael, New York Equity Group (NYEG)

10. 24/7 Live Chat

Live chat is no longer a nice-to-have for B2B businesses, it is a must-have. In this highly competitive world, you’ll stand out if you communicate with customers the way that they want to chat. It could be the difference between them purchasing your product or going with the competitor. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

11. Intelligent Analytics

It’s important to understand intelligent analytics and what it can do for the marketing campaigns that a B2B marketer may develop in 2018. It’s there to improve what analytics was trying to do. – Peter Daisyme, Calendar

12. Enhanced B2B Marketing Precision

The idea that marketing needs to be targeted and backed by solid data is already popular in B2B marketing, but this is also important. Rather than simply reaching out to businesses in your industry, it’s important to get more precise and seek out the companies (and specific individuals in each company) who are the best prospects for your message. – Shawn Porat, Scorely

13. Focus on a Single Vertical

When we started our B2B marketing, we were just reaching out to everyone in the local area, and we did not get very positive results. We realized that customers were looking for industry-specific capabilities, even though we were local. So we changed it this year based upon industry. Showing our customers that we have experience in their industry is providing better results. – Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

14. Amazon Entering Your Space

One of the top objectives Amazon had in 2017 was to begin expanding into the B2B space. In 2018 we will start seeing Amazon make some significant strides in reaching companies, and those of us who currently sell B2B should start taking notice. Amazon is not currently a threat to our businesses, but in 2018 they will begin to inch into our markets and we must choose to fight or join them. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

The post 14 Trends B2B Marketers Need to Become Familiar With in 2018 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What technology trend should small businesses watch for at the start of 2018?

The post 12 Tech Trends That Can Drive Small Business Success in 2018 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In what way is your business using technology to transform customer support? 

The post 12 Technology-Based Tips to Improve Your Business’s Customer Support appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEChas also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Find the Right Influencers 

Utilizing social influencers and bloggers can be a cost-effective PR solution. Influencers can be found for nearly any industry. The key is finding the right influencer with a following that aligns with your target market at the best price. Don’t forget to negotiate payment options. Some influencers will even work with you in exchange for some merchandise. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

2. Subscribe to HARO

Sign up for Help a Reporter (HARO), a free service where journalists and bloggers source ideas and quotes for upcoming stories. You can respond to inquiries relevant to your business, and it’s also a great way to get a handle on what themes and topics are interesting to the media. – Emily Bernard, PlacePass

3. Cultivate Thought Leadership Through Your Personal Brand

Small businesses live and die by their owners and their reputation. By amplifying the personal brand of the business owner, they can capture more valuable leads by higher-ranking people in the industry. This grants them opportunities for speaking engagements and draws eyeballs back to their business’s website. It’s an inexpensive strategy to augment other PR efforts. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

4. Create Engagement and Distribute Value at Events

Use events to engage with all audiences in your community: employees, recruits, clients, press etc. Creating an event that people want to attend, where they will organically learn about your business, is an authentic and fun way to bring in interest. Relationships progress from there, and getting PR is all about connecting with journalists and showing them that there is a story to share. – Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

5. Collaborate with Like-Minded Brands

Your business can partner with non-competing brands in your category to form an alliance in which you share PR contacts and resources. That way, you leverage the connections they’ve developed with journalists and bloggers for free. The only cost is reciprocation whenever you find media opportunities they can benefit from, too. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

6. Donate To or Volunteer In a Space Relevant to Your Market

Whether it’s pro-bono work, volunteering or donations, take a look at your target market and identify organizations or groups of people that could use a helping hand. You’ll already have some relevant knowledge and experience, so your contribution will go even further, and you’ll get some authentic exposure in a way that feels natural and is low-cost. – Roger Lee, Captain401

7. Focus on Campaigns That Generate an Emotional Response

When I look at how to create a PR campaign that has any chance of going viral, I make sure it creates a strong emotional response, even if that emotion is negative. Somebody hating your pitch distributes your message just as well as if they loved it. – Liam Martin, TimeDoctor.com

8. Become an Authority in Your Industry

Become the ultimate reference for your industry. Scour the industry statistics and trends specific to your business and publish those in a way that beats anything else available. Make the content useful to others in the industry and your customers. The cost is the time spent to research and put the content together, but in addition to building great references, you become more knowledgeable. – Shawn Schulze, AffAction

9. Pitch Freelance Writers Instead of Staff Journalists

Instead of pitching staff writers, try seeking out freelance writers. Often times, freelancers don’t have as many deadlines and stories to meet as staff writers, so it’s easier to get a story to run. You can find freelancers in your industry on LinkedIn or the contributor section of a website or magazine. – Kristin Marquet, Creative Development Agency, LLC

10. Take Advantage of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the hottest social media network right now, and for good reason. If you make a habit of pushing quality, mobile-optimized content on LinkedIn on a consistent basis, you can build a brand for yourself and your company that gets noticed. From that foundation, it’s easier to get press coverage because the outlets see you on LinkedIn, which makes them feel safe writing about you. – Ben Lee, Neon Roots

11. Write Guest Posts

Find other companies in your industry that compliment your business and guest post on each other’s blogs. You can also self-publish on platforms such as Medium and LinkedIn, and apply to contribute to others like HuffingtonPost and Entrepreneur. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

12. Promote Others First

It’s amazing how willing people and companies are to help you when you’re helping them. Rather than focusing on maximizing your own PR first, figure out ways that you can promote others that get them excited to promote you along the way. Reviewing other platforms, writing how-to articles of other tech products, and interviewing other founders are all great ways to create co-promotional content. – Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

13. Join Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are incredible resources to spread your message. Find ones that relate to your business and join them. Then become a regular contributor. Once you have gained credibility, you can start posting your business material, as long as it’s not a straight sales pitch. You will get more traffic from Facebook than any other platform out there, so start using it now. – Scott Kacmarski, Reps Direct

The post 13 Effective PR Exposure Strategies That Won’t Break the Bank appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEChas also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Send Personalized Gifts to Customers

We send personalized gifts that aren’t that expensive, but customers love them. An example would be sending a customized handwritten note. I suggest something like maillift.com. They have an API so you can do everything programmatically. – Liam Martin, TimeDoctor.com

2. Let Artificial Intelligence Handle Your Grunt Work

If you take time to develop a robust AI system to interact with clients at the prospecting stage and upkeep stage of your relationship, then you should be able to invest more of your time to really give personalized attention when it’s needed most. – Artem Maskov, DEVTRIBE INC

3. Survey Your Customers to Help Address Their Needs Better

I use quizzes to automate the personalization of our customer experience. Based on the responses to the quiz, we are able to send subscribers emails that specifically answer the issues they are experiencing. This makes it much easier to sell to them, build their trust and help them. – Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide

4. Commit to Personal Check-Ins

The most effective tactics are sometimes the most traditional. Although our accounts team is phenomenal, I still regularly dedicate time to personally connect with clients as much as possible. This opportunity to converse frankly with the top level of leadership, even if brief or intermittent, is clear evidence of our commitment to serving our clients well. – Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty

5. Follow Up After the Purchase

Every customer has a unique assortment of products in their shopping cart when they complete checkout. Use that information to customize their post-purchase emails. Send educational product information to help them maximize the utility of their purchase, and help them discover new use cases for the product. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

6. Make Thoughtful, Genuine Gestures That Put Your Product in Context

When people rent cellphone charging stations from us for events, we add hand wipes in case their hands get dirty during assembly. We also line the cases with dryer sheets so when they open the box they get a sense of calm in what is typically a hectic environment. In the past, we have included things like mints, energy candies and other little items that could be useful for surviving an event. – Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

7. Make Your System-Generated Emails Feel Personal

I am always amazed at how our customers will respond to a system-generated email, thinking that it was actually typed up by a human being. We find great success with our emails because we make them very personal. We avoid sending messages from a standardized email account but instead generate them as if they were coming from a team member. Emails coming from someone is the ultimate personalization. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

8. Segment Your Email Lists

Email marketing is most effective when you send targeted emails to your website visitors. You can segment lists based on previous behavior and create buyer personas for your visitors depending on their interaction with your site. This will make it easier for you to understand what your visitors are looking for and deliver emails that are more likely to convert. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

9. Serve Automated Recommendations 

Lead people with recommendations that are related to their purchase. Amazon utilizes this very well to boost its e-commerce sales. Recommendations could be based on similar products or what people searched for after they landed on that given landing page. This strategy could also be followed up in a personal email or invoice sent to the customer after a purchase or abandoning a purchase. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

10. Use the Data You Have

Use the valuable data you already have to learn from your business, consumers and competition. Data can help you learn what’s most effective for your business and how to utilize these insights to effectively customize the customer experience. Your insights provide you a picture of your consumer’s needs and expectations so you can update the areas that need an improved, relevant experience. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

11. Offer Personalized Deals Through a Loyalty Rewards Program

For digital commerce business that already have a loyalty rewards program, offer your customers a deal that your company has never offered before. Create 48-hour flash sales with incredible deals. Businesses that don’t have a rewards program need to implement one as soon as possible. At the very least, you’ll be able to grow your mailing list. – Patrick Barnhill, Specialist ID, Inc.

12. Send Relevant, Timely Content Via Email

As long as you’re writing content and keeping a pulse on what is out there in your industry, you can create an email marketing campaign that is pretty cost-effective. Make sure you have a way to capture email addresses of site users and then put them into a drip campaign based on where they are in the buyer’s journey. This will help keep the experience personalized. – John Hall, Influence & Co.

13. Emphasize Customer Service

The importance of great customer service is sometimes not given adequate appreciation, although this can be a great channel through which to connect with users. Acknowledging that you understand their concerns and can find a creative solution to their problem, in addition to addressing them by name, can have ripple effects that improve someone’s overall experience and spread to other users. – Mark Krassner, Expectful

14. Incorporate Automation Into Your CRM System

Many automated programs are not expensive and do wonders in terms of personalization, especially when it comes through your CRM system. This can give you the ability to send out targeted messages that relate to a special time of year for the recipient, or that generate a personalized discount or promotion. – John Rampton, Calendar

The post 14 Easy (and Affordable) Ways to Personalize Your Customer Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Take Advantage of Free Trials

Whenever we consider using a new technology, we make sure to heavily test during the trial period among multiple employees from different functional areas. And, if at the end of the trial period, we still need more time to come to a confident conclusion, we will ask the sales rep to extend the trial. Most will be amenable to this, especially for high-cost products. – Diana Goodwin, AquaMobile

2. Focus on Your Actual Needs

There are many impressive technologies and devices out there, but you probably only need a small percentage of these. Resist the temptation to buy every new shiny object. Start by analyzing your needs and identifying what will really help you manage or grow your business. Then research specific companies and products. The best criteria are personal recommendations and trustworthy reviews.- Shawn Porat, Scorely

3. Keep It Simple

Everything on the market claiming to be the “latest and greatest” may not be the latter, but just the former. Make sure, before you decide to even look into implementing a new tech into your company, that it’s something truly crucial to your business. If it won’t make your life and the lives of your employees easier by streamlining your work and improving productivity, what’s the point?- Kevin Conner, BroadbandSearch

4. Seek Opinions of Mentors and Trusted Friends

Before making investments in technology, it’s usually a good idea to seek the advice of people who know more about technology than you do. Who are your go-to people in tech? Think of these people as your advisers whom you can ask for recommendations before making a big spend. We’ve learned the hard way and spent thousands of dollars just to scrap our new investment.- Matt Wilson, Under30Experiences

5. Opt for Flexibility

For small businesses, I’ve found that the ability to use fewer systems to do more is paramount. Technology stacks with too many components can be cumbersome, and, even if they are the best for one or two specific tasks, they end up requiring too much time for upkeep. Open-ended products that allow for customization tend to perform better than a jumbled mix of best performers that end up unused.- Benjamin Berman, Optimize For Growth

6. Do Not Rely on Perfection

Do not rely on perfection. Get your product or service up and going, and tweak it as necessary according to new tech trends. That’s the best way to succeed regarding business technology. – Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

7. Look for Platforms Over Multiple Technologies

Focus on a platform that can streamline the number of technologies you really have to use and determine which ones can integrate with even more tools and technologies should you really need to add them. This can ensure you have the basics and then, as you continue operating, you may realize what else is a must-have.- Peter Daisyme, Calendar

8. Network With People a Little Further Ahead

Trial and error is a luxury for established companies with some extra budgets. For the smaller fish, you need to try to latch on to someone that’s gotten a little further ahead and can provide some advice. Look for Facebook groups with a good community that relates to your niche and pay attention. There are a ton of good resources online to tap into. – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

9. Don’t Be an Early Adopter

In the tech space, there is a constant deluge of new technologies, products, services, frameworks, programming languages, development paradigms, and so on. But almost everything you might want to do can be done with standard, reliable, battle-tested technology that’s been around for years. Stick with what works and adopt new technology only after it’s had time to mature and prove its usefulness.- Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

10. Stay Up to Date With an RSS Feeder

Make learning a habit by reading up on the latest technology in your industry. You can do this by setting up an RSS feeder through Feedly or Digg Reader. This will help you stay current on the tools your competitors and industry leaders are using. When you find a tool that looks interesting, research it further. Plug the name of the tool into forums like Reddit to find out what people are saying.- Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

11. Follow Up on Endorsements

If a program is endorsed by businesses that you trust, try following up on it. Try contacting some of the people behind the endorsement to find out if it is genuine, and what they think of the features. You won’t always get replies, but when you’re considering thousands a month for a license or a major buy, this is always a worthwhile step.- Matt Doyle, Excel Builders

12. Use Zapier’s Zapbook

The most efficient way that I find new apps is through Zapier’s directory listing Zapbook. I like this avenue because the listed apps already have jumped a hurdle by having the API connected. Furthermore, you can sort by popularity, which shows what other users really like by category. Now, I rarely use an app if it is not listed on the service.- Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

13. Check Review Sites

Generally, most review sites like Capterra and G2Crowd are pretty difficult to game and real customers are giving their reviews. We have used review sites to get a short list and from there, run trials of each product. Within that group, we usually end up with a winner within a month. I’d check the low star reviews as well, as they will usually tell you the problems you’ll experience with the software- Liam Martin, Staff.com

14. Use Quora for Expert Opinions

Quora.com is an amazing question-and-answer site where entrepreneurs, investors and technology professionals share feedback to various questions. Anytime we’re considering using a new piece of software, we’ll first go to Quora and look up topics like “Review of software ABC,” “Should I use software ABC,” and “What are the best software products to solve issue X.”- Aaron Schwartz, Passport

15. Avoid Gimmicks

There’s a term in software development known as “feature creep,” which is when a project is derailed due to too many extraneous features being added on to development. Something similar can happen when adopting any new business technology. It can be tempting to adopt a radically new platform or service with interesting features, but the safer bet is to implement something with proven reliability.- Bryce Welker, Beat The CPA

The post 15 Top Tips to Choose the Best Technology for Your Business Needs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Email Outreach

Reaching out with positive messages and stories within an email or email newsletter still works exceptionally well and doesn’t cost much money. People are still shopping and seeking information, plus they like to hear festive and engaging stories, and they are sure to be checking their email in those long lines in shops. They can connect with you while they do.- Drew Hendricks, Buttercup

2. Targeted Text Messages

As long as you get customers’ permission to send them texts, this is one of the best ways to reach them. Studies reveal that people are more likely to open texts than emails, especially during a busy time like the holiday season. The key is to send them offers and content that match their interests. For example, you can text them special promotion codes that they can use to buy gifts.- Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

3. Direct Phone Calls

As the world and the world of business have become increasingly digitized, I have come to observe that fewer and fewer people in the workplace are comfortable speaking to people over the phone. Stand out from the crowd of email marketers and engage or re-engage your customers by picking up the phone and calling them. The connection will be more meaningful and impactful.gh- Adam Mendler, Beverly Hills Chairs

4. Making Customers Smile

Everyone appreciates a good laugh or a kind gesture. The holidays are the perfect time do that. Reach out to your customers in a different way than everyone else is. Don’t be boring and typical. Make them happy, make them laugh, make them remember you because you made them feel good.- Jeff Cayley, Worldwide Cyclery

5. Facebook Advertising

Create a Facebook ad, targeted against your customer list, and remind customers why they decided to use you in the first place. Talk about the changes/improvements that you’ve made, and how much you’d like to win their business back. It’s inexpensive to target your existing customers, especially on a channel like Facebook. Regardless if the clicks are low, you’ll get plenty of impressions.- Corey Eulas, Factorial Digital

6. Clever Remarketing

Facebook retargeting is a great way to re-engage customers without spending a lot of money. All you need to do is add a retargeting pixel to your website and Facebook will create the custom audience for you. You can even narrow your list of customers you would like to retarget with Facebook’s custom audience. Google also has Dynamic Remarketing, one of the best features in Google Adwords.- Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

7. Retargeting Those Who Purchased Last Season

Create a database of customers who have purchased from you in previous holiday seasons — these are customers who showed interest in your products previously and are quick, low-hanging targets for this year’s campaign. A customer who has already sought out your products during a previous holiday season would most likely be interested in doing so again. Create this segment and reach out to them now.- Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

8. Website Optimization

Optimizing your website is a good way to ensure a successful holiday sales season. Consumers don’t have the time or the desire to wait for a site that is difficult to navigate or slow. One of the main reasons people leave sites is due to slow site loading times. Many more shoppers are using smartphone and tablets to buy items, so this is also a great time to make your site mobile-friendly.- Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

9. Team Meeting

Depending on the size of your team, it’s really important to bring everyone back up to speed on what’s going on in the company and what the goals are. Be transparent, if things are not going so well, don’t hide it, invite people to rise to the occasion to pull through for the team.- Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

10. A Relaxed Event for Target Customers

Host a relaxed event at your business and invite the customers you’d like to re-engage to a special holiday treat. It can be as inexpensive as soup and grilled cheese or hot chocolate and cookies. However, the thought will go a long way with your customers, who will feel valued. Make the most of this time to get to know them better and understand their wants and needs from your business.- Jared Atchison, WPForms

11. Postcards Signed by Your Team

Every holiday, we gather the list of customers from the last 12 months, including those who bought during the previous holidays, and write handwritten “thank you” notes. It costs about $1/customer but has multiple benefits. First, it’s a WOW experience for them to receive an actual “thank you” in the mail. Second, it’s fun for our team to connect with old customers! – Aaron Schwartz, Passport

12. Personalized Gifts

A lot of your customers are going to have a table covered in gifts from vendors, so you want yours to stand out. Think about each client and the culture of their company, and come up with something that’s unique to them instead of sending out mass amounts of the same gift. You can tier your clients and decide which ones you’d like to single out, to make the work easier on yourself.- Kevin Conner, BroadbandSearch

13. Coupons

Give them coupons to come back in the near future so they know there are still deals and bargains to be had, even after the holiday sales are over. Be sure to include some information that goes with the coupon as a double value.- Murray Newlands, Sighted

14. Client Meetings

We like to meet with our clients at the end of the year to have a casual and candid conversation centered around our customer service and product quality. In this conversation, we ask three questions: What should we start doing that we aren’t currently, what should we stop doing that we are currently, and what should we continue doing that is adding value to their business.- Jarred King, Swagger Media

The post 14 Cost-Effective Strategies to Re-Engage Your Customers End of Season appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Have a Plan 

Data is only as good as the plan you have for it. Know what information you need and why you need it. Nothing is worse than spending countless hours setting systems only to realize it doesn’t answer the questions you need answers to.

– Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

2. Start Small When Studying Your Data Stream 

Look at the data you’re collecting through your CRM. As you begin your analysis, it’s wise to start small — perhaps with one data stream at a time. For example, you might initially look at the main products being purchased in a particular geographic area. You can then use this information to produce customized offerings to specific segments of your customer population.

– Alexandra Levit, PeopleResults 

3. Understand Your Competition 

Information on your competitors used to be difficult to come by, but now with big data, it is all right there for the taking. Knowing what other businesses are making and how they spend their capital can be a huge leg up for a small business.

– Abhilash Patel, Abhilash.co 

4. Identify Beneficial Supplier Relationships 

One of the easiest ways small businesses can use big data to improve production is through analysis of supplier data, such as pricing or material quality, to identify the most beneficial vendor relationships for their business. By doing so, companies can make sure they’re getting the best quality materials for the lowest price with every deal they make.

– Stan Garber, Scout RFP 

5. Align Yourself With the Most Data-Centric Vendors 

I wish we had the budget to hire analysts and a full complement of technical teams to slice-and-dice data. We don’t! However, we can find vendors and partners that are data savvy and align with them. Whether a fulfillment center, shipping company or even marketing firm, companies that can truly analyze data will win. We just need to find them, and our business will naturally improve.

– Aaron Schwartz, Passport 

6. Track Sales Activity and Customer Data 

In order to make the smartest decisions about your business, tracking sales and customer data is a must. Making sure your payment processing technology has a robust data analytics feature will ensure that all of your production decisions are based on the actual activity of your customers or clients. Connectivity is key.

– Suneera Madhani, Fattmerchant 

7. Analyze by Season 

Big data can be analyzed by seasons, which helps better understand when demand is greater or less than the average. This helps ensure the right level of production so that sales are not missed because not enough was produced. This also helps plan for cash flow and future marketing endeavors, in order to see how slower periods can be ramped up.

– John Rampton, Calendar 

8. Refine Your Data to Improve Effectiveness 

Data is often compared to oil in terms of how well it can fuel production. However, much like oil, it isn’t very effective in a crude state. Refining data in order to yield important information that can improve production will involve a great deal of testing. This can include A/B testing, with new variations on a product, or tracking interdependencies by tweaking individual aspects of a product.

– Bryce Welker, Beat The CPA 

9. Examine Turnaround Times 

Whether you’re generating graphics for your clients or assembling bottles, you can use big data to analyze the process and determine how long it takes to finish a project. This can help you find areas that can be streamlined in your production process, or just identify where the major slowdowns are.

– Karl Kangur, MRR Media 

The post 9 Ways Small Businesses Should Use Big Data to Improve Production appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Tell Your Story 

If you are just starting out, tell the story of how your company came to be and where it is headed next. Regular updates on your progress will cause customers to care more about you and check in more regularly. It gives a company a personality and makes it easy to connect with.

– Colbey Pfund, LFNT Distribution 

2. Leverage SaaS Tools 

These days, there are many tools in the price range of $10 to $20 a month, that can help you leverage digital media in a more optimal manner. For example, CrowdfireApp helps brands quickly engage on Twitter and manage the right mix of followers. You can also use design tools like Canva to design branded content. And Google Analytics is a free tool to understand the outcomes of your digital marketing.

– Shilpi Sharma, Kvantum Inc. 

3. Build an Email List 

An email list is a valuable resource that increases your brand’s value over time. Creating a large and responsive one isn’t necessarily easy, but you can do it without investing much. While paid ads help you build a list more quickly, you can also do it cheaply with SEO and social media marketing. Make sure you provide helpful content to your subscribers and your list will keep growing.

– Shawn Porat, Scorely 

4. Calculate SEO Value of Organic Keywords

Each organic keyword has SEO value. The SEO value is what you would expect to pay Google AdWords if you were paying for each click. By analyzing the collective SEO value of the clicks your website organically brings, you can establish an ROI to SEO efforts and bring a number to your digital brand value. Want to know what your SEO value is now? Check out Spyfu.

The post 13 Low-Cost Ways for Small Businesses to Increase Digital Brand Value appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Appear.in 

In our business, we’ve experimented with a number of video meeting services like Slack and Skype but have found that appear.in is the most dead-simple app on the market. It’s blazing fast, requires no login and even no registration for a truly one-click quick meeting setup. The best part? It’s free. – Corey Eulas, Factorial Digital 

2. Google Hangouts 

At Lawyaw, we use Google Hangouts whenever possible for our video meetings and initial employee interviews (if remote). We find that people are generally familiar with Google Hangouts and it has been very reliable for us, doesn’t require installing a lot of different software, and most importantly, it’s free. Using practical, easy-to-use tools helps us focus on building our own products. – Tucker Cottingham, Lawyaw

3. GoToMeeting 

Since our team is 100 percent remote, it is important for us to take full advantage of communication tools. GoToMeeting is a great option when it comes to video meetings. It features desktop or app sharing, advanced scheduling options, up to six high-definition video feeds and clear audio.

– Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com 

4. Meeting Owl

Owl Labs just launched Meeting Owl, and it has been a fantastic experience. No more tech issues and dropped calls. And all remote participants can collaborate interactively and feel like they are part of — as opposed to looking into — the meeting. Most importantly, it’s easy to set up, and just works. – Erik Bullen, MageMail 

5. Slack 

Slack has a fantastic built-in video chat functionality. They released it fairly recently. If your company uses Slack religiously, it’s very practical and painless. – Ben Lang, Spoke 

6. Skype 

My preference is Skype. Whether you are in town or working remotely, this user-friendly service is reliable, an easy download (if one does not already have it) and even easier to use. – Abhilash Patel, Abhilash.co 

7. WhatsApp 

By using WhatsApp as a suggested video conferencing tool, you are immediately creating an avenue for people to continue the conversation via instant message. If you are not previously connected to the person via WhatsApp, by hosting that first video meeting, you are opening an avenue to maintain an informal, instant communication with that person after the call is done. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors 

8. Zoom 

Zoom is my favorite video meeting platform. It’s easy for multiple people to join the video, allows you to create personalized links for your meeting space, and has great picture and sound quality. – Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR 

The post 8 User-Friendly Video Platforms Entrepreneurs Would Recommend for Meetings appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Software Developers 

Software developers can come at a high cost, especially if you’re building a team that can handle all areas of development, including UX, UI, databases, complex algorithms and design, for example. You also have to manage the people, and losing one can be a major setback. Skip all the hassle and cost: Hire a development company to manage the majority of the workload overseen by a technical lead on your team. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

2. Transcriptions 

If you have any transcription needs, you should outsource transcribing. This will be load off your back, and you can even get it done cheaply if you look in the right places. – Erik Bullen, MageMail

3. SEO 

SEO falls between the lines of tech and marketing. Unless you’re a large company, it makes more sense to hire an agency that is skilled and specialized in SEO. The rules for SEO constantly change, and you need someone managing this at all times. Longer term, you can hire someone in house or get the services from SEO Boise. – Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS 

4. Customer Communication 

Customer communication is a great element of tech to outsource. Manually sending out emails doesn’t make sense, even if you’re dealing with a small business customer list. Regular communication is something that you can make error-proof with a little up-front planning and implementation. – Tim Chaves, ZipBooks Online Bookkeeping Services

5. Content Marketing 

Many business owners understand the importance of content marketing to improve their SEO, but they don’t have the time to blog. Instead, you could hire freelance writers to consistently publish new blog posts targeting specific keywords. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster 

6. Data Entry 

Most people assume data entry is just part of a project, so team members should handle it. But data entry can be easily outsourced, freeing up team members to focus on strategy or other key implementation pieces. – Leah Neaderthal, Growthworks Solutions 

7. Graphic Design 

Graphic design is a huge part of presenting your business to the world, but it doesn’t always make sense to keep a designer employed. We have a main designer who we work with on a contract basis for larger projects. For smaller designs, like ads and social media graphics, we use a service called Design Pickle. Overall, we receive the same high quality designs without keeping someone full time. – Nathalie Lussier, AmbitionAlly

8. System Administrator 

Most small businesses do have a robust enough network to justify hiring your own sysadmin. If your company is web based, it is very important to have someone on call that can fix things quickly if things go down. Make sure to have an outsourced company or person that you can quickly turn to and count on, but there is no reason to have a full time person dedicated to the job. – Scott Kacmarski, Reps Direct

9. Website Design 

The design and creation of our new website was outsourced, and it was a good decision. When I started, the kind of simple website you could build with WordPress looked passable even without a lot of design experience. The expectations are too high for that today. The difference between a self-built and a professional site is huge. Even small startups need to pay for the design. – Matt Doyle, Excel Builders

10. Help Desk 

It can take time to systemize and document all your responses for common customer questions, but the effort is worth it. Use a ticketing system to handle all questions and have an outsourcer (or several outsourcers) look after your customers. – Karl Kangur, MRR Media

11. 24/7 Live Chat Support 

Research has shown that customers prefer live chat over email or phone support. Outsourcing this service is more cost effective, as individuals typically work from home, so you don’t have to pay for a building and overhead expenses. Live chat is a great way to separate yourself from the competition, enhance the CS experience, and boost your site’s SEO by decreasing bounce rate. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

12. CTO 

Most small businesses mistakenly assume they need an in-house full-time CTO. In actuality, most small businesses and many medium-sized businesses are better served bringing on an outsourced part-time CTO. Freelance or virtual CTOs can be far more effective, as companies can access significantly better technology leaders within their budget, better capable of setting strategy and driving execution. – Adam Mendler, Custom Tobacco

13. Audio or Visual Editing 

If you have a podcast, then outsourcing the audio editing is smart. If you’re creating video content, then you may want to outsource the editing. There are many tech elements that can be outsourced — I would look specifically for items that are repetitive and ongoing and outsource them.

– Thomas Smale, FE International

The post 13 Tech Elements That Are More Cost Effective for Small Businesses to Outsource appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Do an Annual Security Check

Work with a security advisor to do an annual check for vulnerabilities to determine the best place to make an investment in new technology. This can help small-business owners get the most for the money they invest in security and uncover areas they didn’t realize were vulnerable. – Murray Newlands, Sighted 

2. Implement Standards Early

Developing and implementing a strong password procedure for your company early will save you a very big headache down the road. From our experience, it’s worth the time and effort to find a password policy that works best for your team. Use an app (like 1Password) to make adoption universal and to assist in ensuring your policy is maintained consistently with each user. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

3. Talk to Your Employees About It

Cybersecurity is as strong as your weakest link. We had invested tons of money into designing solutions to keep our systems safe, until one day we learned that a team member had lost their phone. They did not have a code to unlock it. Invest your time in speaking to your employees about the importance of keeping their systems safe. They are the gatekeepers in safeguarding your data. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors 

From hardware and software set-up and optimization to system monitoring and performance assessments to 24/7 technical services and managed SOC, Computer Support Service provide all the services you need to maintain the security, health and efficiency of your network. You will get latest updates on pruittvillefarms .

4. Make Sure the Plan Is Being Followed

Establish password standards (or implement a password manager) and code development best practices (and ensure they are followed). Make sure everyone who has access to your company’s tech, data and infrastructure adheres to your standards. Proper planning only works if the plan is followed. – Shawn Schulze, CallerCenter.com 

5. Use Two-Factor Authentication

We require that everyone on our team has two-factor authentication enabled on all business-critical accounts, such as code repos and e-mail, etc. This isn’t a foolproof system, but it is a big step in the right direction to avoid falling into the trap of stolen passwords that have become far too common these days. – James Simpson, GoldFire Studios 

6. Look Into a Password Management Utility

Using a password management utility can substantially strengthen small-business owners in the face of cybersecurity threats. Password management apps can help the organization ensure passwords are both difficult to hack and easy to remember. By centralizing the password process, these apps ensure passwords, which are the first and most significant line of defense, are properly protected. – Robby Berthume, Bull & Beard

7. Stay Up to Date On Vulnerabilities and Security Issues

Knowledge about what type of security issues are happening, new compliance and regulations, and security solutions are the best weapons and they don’t necessarily cost money. It’s about due diligence, and well worth the effort to educate yourself through significant online content about cybersecurity on numerous sites like Medium, Business Insider, TechCrunch and more. – Andrew O’Connor, American Addiction Centers 

8. Update Systems Regularly

As a cloud hosting provider, we’re on the frontline of the fight against online crime, including the recent waves of ransomware. Almost every ransomware attack could have been avoided if the victims had updated their machines regularly. The same is true of many other types of attacks. Updates bring security patches and without those patches, servers and PCs are wide open to exploitation. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc. 

9. Have a Plan for Mobile-Device Issues

Mobile devices pose significant security risks, one that few employers are addressing. Require employees to encrypt their data and install security apps to protect from information theft on public networks. Set up protocols for lost or stolen devices, as personal phones increasingly contain critical business information. – Marcela De Vivo, Brilliance 

10. Secure Your Wi-Fi Network

Many small business do not pay attention to Wi-Fi network security. To hide your Wi-Fi network, set up your wireless access point or router so it does not broadcast the network name, known as the service set identifier. Password protect access to the router. – Piyush Jain, SIMpalm 

11. Install a Firewall

Installing a firewall will help you reduce, and potentially eliminate, takeover attempts by third parties. If you pair it up with the right anti-virus or malware software, you should experience very few problems.- Karl Kangur, MRR Media 

12. Always Have a Backup

As the saying goes, “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” One compromise and all of your precious data is gone. Having a backup will save you and your team time and money. Depending on what kind of business you’re operating, you should back up your data on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. – Patrick Barnhill, Specialist ID, Inc. 

13. Keep Asking ‘What Else Can We Do?’

I’ve heard many business owners say their business is compliant and their data is secured. At the same time, most of the security breaches happen to those compliant businesses that got too comfortable with their safety checks. Cybersecurity should be a part of every company DNA, not just tech and data startups. Change the mindset of “we need to do five things and we’re safe” to “what else can we do?” – Andrey Kudievskiy, Distillery 

The post 13 Steps Small Businesses Can Take to Improve Their Cybersecurity appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Ask Upfront 

I ask many of our customers during an initial conversation for a testimonial if we do a great job. Everyone will always say “yes,” so when the time comes you have a reference point of a soft commitment. Additionally, it reaffirms our commitment to put our customers first so they have a great experience. – Krish Chopra, Nurse Practitioner Clinical Rotations 

2. Be Concise 

When asking for a testimonial, no need to ramble on and on before getting to the point. Keep in mind that time is valuable, and you don’t want to annoy people with a drawn-out request. Keep things short and to the point, let them know that you value their opinion, and direct them to where they should go to write a short review, plain and simple. – Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent 

3. Come From a Place of Gratitude, Not Pressure 

When we ask clients for a testimonial, we let them know how much it means to us. Every review has the ability to really help our small business grow and is so impactful to the company. “Your review would really mean a lot to us, we are so thankful that you’re considering it” goes a long way. – Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg 

4. Find Your Quantifier 

Explain metrics. When it comes to testimonials, you need to find a way to quantify what you did for a business to justify their spending. We live in a world where people have more information at their fingertips more than ever, and finding ways to prove we do what we do will only help our cause. – Kenny Nguyen, Big Fish Presentations 

5. Show Your Appreciation 

Tell them “thank you” for taking the time to do the testimonial and give them something after they have done it, like a discount or other promotion. Wait until after so it doesn’t seem like you are buying that testimonial.- Cynthia Johnson, Ipseity Media 

6. Offer Past Testimonials to Motivate and Guide 

It’s not always easy to get a testimonial, even from a happy client. We show them our past testimonials to motivate, as well as to make it easier on how to word the testimonials. We show them both the video and text testimonials. A video testimonial is always better. Sometimes we have to follow up several times to get it, but the client will provide it as long as you pursue it. – Piyush Jain, SIMpalm 

7. Make It Easy for Yourself 

From my experience, I think the best way to ask for testimonials is to use what people are already saying, like when your team finishes a project and the client can’t stop raving about how wonderful your team and their work is. That’s the ideal time to ask, “Would you mind if we write this down?” Obtaining outstanding testimonials is only as tough as you make it.  – Zev Herman, Superior Lighting 

8. Request a Video Testimonial 

Not everyone is comfortable giving a video testimonial, but the immense value makes it worthwhile to ask. Let them know that it doesn’t have to be long: It usually only takes a couple of minutes to give a summary of their experience. When people can see a satisfied customer talking into the camera, it’s much more persuasive than text. Let them know a written testimonial is fine as well, of course.- Shawn Porat, Scorely 

9. Make the Request Personal 

When reaching out to users for testimonials, we’ve had big success when the request comes directly from me or from our community guide and has a personal touch. Perhaps you mention their state, number of logins or some unique piece of data they’ve shared when they signed up. Aside from being more likely to get a testimonial, your customer will feel more connected with your brand. – Mark Krassner, Expectful 

10. Look for Honesty 

Many times, business owners view testimonials as a free review of their product or service, and so they tend to approach negative testimonials as detractors. The reality is, the more honest the insight from your consumer, the more constructive and helpful the testimonial is for you and your company. Testimonials should be honest, candid and help your company learn and grow. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

11. Know When and Where to Ask 

Know when and where to ask for a testimonial. Use a data-driven method with a platform like CLIENTpulse to know where your best and happiest customers are. Asking for a testimonial at the wrong time could sound tone deaf and hurt your relationship. Then, once you receive a testimonial, send a thank you card or do something out of the ordinary to show your appreciation. – Dan Golden, BFO (Be Found Online)

12. Have the Right Group Make the Request 

Whoever communicated with the customer last or most frequently, such as an account manager or customer support employee, should be the one requesting the testimonial. When a CEO or marketing person emails out of the blue, it seems very one-sided: You’ve never talked to them before, and the first thing you ask for is a favor. There’s no need to dilute the goodwill they’ve already naturally built with someone else. – Roger Lee, Captain401 

13. Offer Incentives for Photos 

When a testimonial is accompanied by a photo of the person who sent it, the text will have a much higher conversion rate than one without a photo. Offer incentives to people to send in testimonials along with a photograph. We offer $20 gift cards to customers who include a photo along with their testimonial and make it easy asking if we can use their Facebook profile pic.- Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors 

14. Use One of Their Online Reviews 

Ask your customer if you could publish their online review of your product on your site. Paste the review in the email to make it easy for them to remember and mention their business in the signature of the testimonial. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

15. Offer Pre-Written Testimonials for Them to Edit or Approve 

The best way to get a few testimonials is to make it easy by offering to prepare them for your customers. Reach out to a few power users or loyal customers and ask if they would be willing to provide a testimonial or approve a pre-written one. If it’s easy, they will be more inclined to help. – Christopher Swenor, East Coast Product 

The post 15 Tips Small-Business Entrepreneurs Should Keep in Mind When Asking for Testimonials appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

People lose this part of themselves when livestreaming for the first time. If you are naturally energetic, be energetic! If you are naturally informative, share insightful information. There are many types of people doing livestreams and they all have their own style. Highlight your strengths from the start and then work on masking your weaknesses later on. 

– Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers 


2. Watch Other Livestreams 

Watch as many livestreams as possible first to see what you like and don’t like so that you can either incorporate them into what you do or avoid certain things. This benchmarking can vastly improve your delivery. 

– Angela Ruth, Due 


3. Consider the Impact of Background Noises 

Setting is huge. One thing I underestimated was the amount and intensity of the sounds you can tune out in a normal office that suddenly come through like wasps in a recording. Grinding road sounds and construction can ruin a whole take. You need to be somewhere as silent as possible when you begin. 

– Adam Steele, The Magistrate 


4. Script It and Practice It 

You don’t need a full Shakespearean monologue, but you should have a well-rehearsed outline of what you want to communicate. Practice a few times with your video camera in front of you to get a good feel for what you look like and how you are conveying your message. Remember, 80% is how you say something rather than what you are actually saying. 

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 


5. Create an Outline 

If you’re going to livestream for the first time, it’s very important that you’re fully prepared. Have a set outline with key talking points that you’d like to address to stay on topic. There’s a lot of things that could go wrong when livestreaming, but being prepared will likely lead to a successful stream and help prevent any potential issues. 

– Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS 


6. Don’t Skimp on Technology 

Just because livestreaming removes the need for post-production editing and inherently communicates a more immediate, laidback method of communicating to an audience, don’t try to cut costs by using low-cost equipment. Professional cameras and high-quality audio equipment will easily increase the professionalism of your livestream, check this speakers to have a good sound trough all the video. 

– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors 


7. Plan for a Longer Video 

We’ve learned that if you’re only livestreaming for five to 10 minutes, you are not likely to get a large chunk of your audience. We recommend doing content that spans from 20 to 30 minutes, as people regularly check streams in intervals and you’re more likely to catch someone in the middle of your stream (especially for those just checking their Facebook). If your content is good, they’ll rewatch it. 

– Kenny Nguyen, Big Fish Presentations 


8. Invest in a Camera or Phone Stand 

Invest in a stand for the camera or phone for a steady video recording. Second to bad audio quality is shaky, fuzzy video, which gives the viewer a headache. Also, know which format you’re streaming in and position your camera for horizontal or vertical streams appropriately. For example, Facebook Live videos are horizontal but Snap Stories and Facebook Stories tend to be vertical. 

– Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS 


9. Keep Practicing 

If you haven’t done it before, being on camera might feel awkward. It’s OK, you’ll figure it out. The more you do it, the easier it gets, and you’ll find out what works and what doesn’t. 

– Karl Kangur, MRR Media 


10. Go Through Some Basic Media Training 

Before livestreaming, invest some time and money into media training. Hire a professional or watch tutorials on YouTube. You want to have some idea of what you are doing before broadcasting yourself to the world! 

– Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR 


11. Make Sure Everything Is Working Beforehand 

Test your sound and your camera. Ensure you have a reliable internet connection. Avoid making last-minute adjustments, and set everything up how you want it in advance of starting. That will help you get down to business. 

– Erik Bullen, MageMail 


12. Use the Right Lighting 

A camera, any camera (not just an SRL or mirrorless camera) needs light in order to create vivid images. Just by playing around with lights, you can change the mood of a video, which is even more pertinent in a livestream. Most livestreams look dingy and miserable (with yellow undertones), and while I stick around because the content is interesting, it’s irritating. Invest in three-point lighting. 

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja 


13. Think of It As a Conversation 

Make it fun and throw yourself into it so you come across as natural as possible. It’s easy to get nervous, but you will appear so stiff. Go with it and remind yourself that you are just having a conversation with someone you know well. 

– Cynthia Johnson, Ipseity Media 


14. Have Fun 

No one likes watching someone who is rigid and clearly reading a message. Get on camera, have fun and be yourself. People like seeing real-life, authentic faces — it allows them to relate to you even more and can inspire them in their lives. 

– Abhilash Patel, Recovery Brands 

The post 14 Important Things to Remember Before Your First Livestream appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

7. Social Media 

Social media marketing is especially cost-effective as it really only involves an investment of your time. Plus, it’s a great way to engage millennials. Respond to each and every comment and run interactive contests and polls as well. 

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance 

8. Giveaways and Contests 

Giveaways and contests still work to engage an audience of all ages, including millennials. Offer experiences, rather than products, that millennials can take videos and photos of to share with friends over social media. They will also tag you and help generate awareness of your brand. 

– Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS 

9. Segmented Marketing Campaigns 

Millennials, like all generations, do not comprise a single demographic. It’s shortsighted to assume they share preferences and interests across the board. Look at the real characteristics of your actual customers instead of targeting according to age bracket. Run marketing campaigns that center on age, income level, gender and other potential variables. 

– Erik Huberman, Hawke Media 

10. Giving Back 

At our company, it’s the small, human touch points that really drive success within our client base, and most importantly our millennial staff (which represents 95% of the company). We do bi-weekly charitable “give back” sessions and volunteer with organizations like The Road Home, Ronald McDonald House, Rotary International, etc. 

– Kelly Ehlers, Ideas That Evoke 

11. Video Content 

Video is a great way to have a lot of content that is driven toward millennials. Once you become comfortable with the camera being on and your phone being at the ready to shoot some content, it can become part of a routine as normal as sending an email. To become more comfortable with this without hiring a coach, try mini-shoots daily. Editing becomes the biggest battle! 

– Matthew Capala, Search Decoder 

12. User-Generated Content 

We rely on user-generated content to reach millennials. This audience prefers to learn from their peers and doesn’t trust advertisements, so the best way to reach them is to let their peers do the talking. We do this by getting customers to create testimonials (written and video), as well as posting on social media and tagging us. This is an endorsement of our brand to all their friends. 

– Brooke Peterson, Causely 

13. Partnering With Niche Influencers 

Influencers are a great way expand your reach and connect with millennials, but many people make the mistake of trying to find influencers with a wide reach rather than a deep one. Focus on influencers in a relevant niche and prioritize high-quality content. Get specific and focused in order to stretch your dollars and efforts further. Nurture those influencer relationships and you’ll see great results. 

– Kyle Goguen, Pawstruck 

The post Want to Reach Millennials? Try These 13 Marketing Tactics appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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The additive manufacturing hype has died down a bit recently, but I think it’s one of the most exciting new technologies. Tools like the Voltera, which can print rigid flex printed circuit boards and the MakerGear M2 are great additions to the consumer market. The industrial applications are even more exciting, promising advancements in fields from manufacturing to smart medicines.

The post 11 New Tech Gadgets to Watch appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Think About How You Can Pull People In 

If you’re wanting to connect with your customers, then I would stay away from anything that is one directional. Instead of thinking about what messages to push out, think about how you can pull people in. Be vulnerable. Take on a listening posture. Show that you care about them and that you want to help them succeed. You can also try to outsource this task to some good social media agency, who can plan a proper strategy to engage with your target audience. Social media after all is a great way to get your name out there and known. You can even get likes on instagram free this Christmas, which will give you a boost to your visibility; a great way to get started.

– David Jay, Agree.com 

2. Ask Relevant and Engaging Questions 

One of the most efficient ways to engage a live audience is to ask relevant and thoughtful questions, and online social audiences are not much different. By asking a question, taking a poll or inviting folks to share experiences, we can promote bi-directional conversations of significantly more depth. The increased engagement will also keep the post higher in news feeds, thus fueling more attention.

– Joe Beccalori, Interact Marketing 

3. Hold a Giveaway With Sharing Incentives 

This method combines two of my favorite cost-saving measures: First, in giving something away, you are capitalizing on the perceived value of your product versus its actual cost. Second, you utilize the exponential power of making mini-evangelists, who will share with their networks to reap the reward. Together, there is a double layer of cost-effectiveness and, when done right, exceptional results.

– Benjamin Berman, Optimize For Growth 

4. Always Ask for Follows, ‘Likes’ and Reviews 

Small businesses should make asking for engagement a priority in interactions with customers. The restaurant that promotes servers asking for reviews and follows, the chiropractor that passes out reminder cards and encourages reviews, the local shop that includes the request in their email signatures — low-cost actions that, if performed consistently over time, grow social engagement.

– Shawn Schulze, AllAreaCodes.com 

5. Use Video Content

Tape yourself as much as possible. Thirty-second videos that go over various elements of your product or service and related subject matter gain followers and sustain exposure. Keep the content and location varied, however, and make sure that your branding is never lost in the production. Invest in having a certain element of the video displaying your branding, such as a logo on the bottom right or left.

– Matthew Capala, Search Decoder 

6. Encourage Social Media Engagement When Customers Visit a Physical Location 

For small businesses with a physical location: When customers visit you, encourage them to post to your social media hashtags. Rather than relying on your employees or printed collateral to encourage social media posting, add a TV screen that displays real-time posts to your hashtags. People love seeing themselves on the big screen!

– Nanxi Liu, Enplug 

7. Take the Time to Nurture People

One of Facebook’s biggest goals and one Mark Zuckerberg is continually reminding us about, is that Facebook seeks to enable the growth of communities. The majority of their updates, products and offerings to businesses, both big and small, are centered around community. Follow the standards of what it takes to grow a community. Take the time to nurture people and their comments.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 

8. Remember That Different Audiences Require Different Approaches

Giveaways are like Groupons: They only really work once to attract deal hunters. For B2C, use Facebook and Instagram. Visual engagement and customer experience are key here. For example, Seven Lions, a restaurant in Chicago, created a $15 dessert designed for Instagram, with great results. For B2B, LinkedIn and Twitter are best. Focus on content, preferably blog posts written from your domain knowledge in the space.

– Steve Blentlinger, Payline Data Services, LLC 

9. Tap Into Facebook Advertising 

Boosting your Facebook content on your company page is very affordable and can provide your brand a wide reach when targeting your demographic. Engagement activities, such as a ‘like’ or a share, can cost as low as $0.01 each. The targeting capabilities of Facebook allow for a very flexible and highly targeted marketing strategy.

– Fares Elsabbagh, Ottawa General Contractors

10. Outsource Communications 

Being an insider who is entrenched in every aspect of your business may deter you from communicating your ideas to your audience in a way that they understand and appreciate fully. By hiring a social media freelancer who is experienced in this field, you are ensuring better quality content for your social feeds. This, in turn, encourages higher engagement rates from your community.

– Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com 

11. Ask Yourself, ‘Would You Read You?’ 

If you want your audience to engage with your content, your content must engage with your audience. There’s a reason funny memes go viral so often: They’re engaging and they aren’t difficult to create. First, work hard to understand your audience. Really put yourself in their shoes. Now take a look at your social media posts. Are they laughing? Are they interested enough to stop scrolling?

– Scott Baxter, PlayYourCourt

A message from our partner, BuyerZone

The post 11 Cost-Effective Ways to Increase Engagement on Social Media appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Asana 

We use the platform Asana to track employee productivity. We have a system of projects and tasks set up and, if needed, we can check in on any given day what tasks and projects have been completed, what is being worked on, upcoming to-dos and outstanding work to be done.

– Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR 

2. Company Wiki 

We use a company wiki to document all of our ideas, processes and product specs. It’s great because it keeps everyone up-to-date on what needs to be done. You can tag team members on projects they are needed on and you can get email notifications of changes made in the wiki. This allows you to passively stay up-to-date on the team’s progress on the tasks at hand.

– Brian David Crane, CallerSmart Inc. 

3. Compass 

Compass is an incredible app for regular check-ins with remote team members and ensuring they are working toward their larger goals. It walks your team through a daily check-in that gives complete visibility into what they are working on and accomplishing and helps you keep them accountable.

– Zach Obront, Book in a Box

4. Dapulse 

The Dapulse app allows everyone on the team to see what is happening and who is in charge of which projects, as well as the status of these projects. Once a task is assigned to an individual, a due date is set. This helps me track an employee’s productivity, especially remote team members, because I can track each stage they are working on in each of their projects without having to check in with them.

– Stanley Meytin, True Film Production 

5. Due 

I use Due’s time tracker software that tracks my own time and reports everyone else’s down to the minute, so I know how long is being spent on each project in order to see where improvements can be made.

– Drew Hendricks, Buttercup

6. JIRA 

Being in a software development business, it’s mostly a given that you’re working with teammates spread across the globe. We measure velocity using JIRA and agile process by assigning points to different tasks. At the end of a two-week sprint, you can tell which engineers performed better or worse in a simple report. You can also see which agile team is more productive and which one needs some TLC.

– Andrey Kudievskiy, Distillery

7. Podio 

We use a project management service called Podio. Everyone from our team has their own tasks on there every single day, so it’s pretty easy to monitor reports and the progress of the team. We also do weekly one-on-one calls to discuss issues, come up with new ideas and improve workflows.

– Evan Varsamis, Gadget Flow

8. Teamwork, Slack and Trello 

We use Teamwork to track our remote workers. They’re able to log their work hours and check off task completion. It’s a great tool for our project managers, as well, so they can keep a close eye on things. We also invite all new remote workers to our Slack channels. Trello is good for setting clear deadlines, project milestones and tracking.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

9. Upwork’s Time Tracker 

Upwork has some great built-in features. You can even monitor what a remote worker’s screen looks like when they’re working on a project for you, so you can assess whether they’re spending too much or too little time on certain steps. The milestone setup also allows you to compensate based on delivered results, which aligns incentives and sets clear expectations upfront.

– Roger Lee, Captain401

10. Wrike and HubStaff 

Tools such as Wrike or Hubstaff are great for keeping track of time and productivity for remote employees. For example, Hubstaff tracks activity levels based on the user’s cursor movement and keyboard strokes. It even takes screenshots of their screen! With these tools, you’re able to get productivity reports on tasks and projects without having to spend a lot of time monitoring them yourself.

– Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS 

11. Time Doctor 

Time Doctor is a great technology for tracking remote worker productivity. It’s simple and easy to use and is designed rather specifically for tracking remote workers.

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance 

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The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Establish your unique value proposition.

Determine the best way to explain or express your unique value proposition to your visitors. What problem or pain point are you solving for and how is your unique offering different or better than anyone else’s? This is the hook. Everything else on your site should ladder back to it in a supporting role.  – Chris Van Dusen, Parcon Media

2. Design for mobile devices.

Mobile-first is a heavy topic nowadays and for good reason. Nearly 60% of search queries for your business are now coming from mobile devices, and 75% of online consumption will be mobile at the end of 2017. If you are not making your website mobile friendly, you won’t have a company in 2018.  – Bryanne Lawless, BLND Public Relations 

3. Give them the information they’re seeking.

The top design priority should always be smart, effective copy displayed as prominently as possible. Site visitors seek some form of information — give it to them. If there were ever a time to dazzle your way into a client’s heart with a fancy website, it’s long over. Design trends change, but action-based language that resonates with your target audience will always be critical to success.  – Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty

4. Offer videos to visitors.

Having a video on your homepage that highlights the main benefits you offer is a powerful way to introduce your business. Your video should be short and not on autoplay. Videos that start playing automatically annoy many visitors. Give people a choice and let them click on your video. Many will do so and get a helpful intro to your services.  – Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

5. Put a face to a name.

For small businesses, high-quality photography can forge a connection with site visitors. This is especially true of brick-and-mortar businesses that rely on customer service to win customers. On-location photos are “establishing shots” that solidify a local feel; employee photos offer a human element that typically resonates. This authenticity shows a business’s personality and enhances trust.  – Jacob Goldman, 10up Inc.

6. Put your call to action in the right spot.

While it sounds basic, I would say having the right information before your calls to action is paramount. Placing a CTA too early is the equivalent of a car salesperson asking you to buy before you’ve seen the car. However, putting too much information before the CTA will overwhelm the user and hurt conversions. A/B testing goes a long way toward optimizing your website flow.  – Ajay Gupta, Stirista

7. Utilize an email capture pop-up.

Utilize an email capture pop-up to engage with your visitors and gather leads. Think outside the box and create an offer that your customers value and won’t be able to resist. Building a targeted email database allows you to re-engage and nurture leads at a later date, leading to long-term engagement and ultimately a higher number of conversions.  – Kyle Goguen, Pawstruck

8. Create a logical page hierarchy.

Confusing sites kill engagement. If information is hard to find, visitors head back to Google and try again. If a site is hard to navigate, testimonials, videos and social sharing widgets aren’t effective. Create a logical page hierarchy with accessible navigation, easily understood and clutter-free page layouts, and useable search. Make the site a pleasure to use and people will use it.  – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

9. Make sure the typography is readable.

Despite the rise of video and audio, the web is, at heart, a textual medium. Text with poor legibility can hit engagement and conversions hard. Choose readable fonts, display them at an appropriate size and make sure the contrast between the background and text is sufficient. Readable typography is an essential foundation for all other design optimizations. Get the typography right first.  – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

10. Have a consistent style across your website.

Consistency is key, especially when it comes to design. The closer your design comes to feeling like a brand, the higher your credibility and trust will be when conveyed to your buyer. Small businesses can struggle with maintaining a competitively professional appearance. Being consistent across your website will allow you to build this essential trust.  – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

11. Offer live chat.

Twenty to 30% of our daily interactions with customers are over chat. Chat provides a channel for customers who cannot engage over the phone for privacy reasons or simply prefer to multitask while interacting with our company. Customer engagement via chat increases as additional support such as links or attachments make chatting a more complete communication channel.  – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

12. Provide social proof.

By putting social proof on your page, you will find your visitors stay longer and have more trust in whatever your page is saying or selling. Examples of these could be reviews on your product or brand in the form of video or text from user submission, or positive reviews on social media, Amazon or eBay.  – Jason Applebaum, Egear Media

13. Ensure the fundamentals are easily accessible.

What’s the name of the parent company? Where’s your postal address? What hours are you open? If you are secretive about the fundamentals of your business, I’m unlikely to trust you with my credit card details.  – Richard Kershaw, WhoIsHostingThis.com

14. Make your point above the fold.

A clear and easy-to-understand value proposition, with appropriate imagery, is the No. 1 design element any small business should have on their website. You can write hundreds of words of copy, but if you don’t include what value you bring to the consumer above the fold, no one is going to stay longer than three seconds! – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

The post 14 Ways to Increase Visitor Engagement on Your Website appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can small businesses capitalize on drone delivery technology?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 

1. Start Small

If you’re keen on integrating this relatively niche technology into your business’ logistics strategy, my recommendation is to start small. Test the product on short distances (and low premium products) first and get educated about regulations in your area to avoid any potential legal action taken against you for utilizing the technology in would-be protected “no-fly” zones.

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja

2. Ask Yourself If You Really Need It

Certainly, it is cool. But you need to be thinking about how it makes a difference in your specific business. Product delivery might be one area. Delivering relevant and targeted ads might be another. But if you have no use for it, it’s just an unnecessary expense.

– Ismael Wrixen, FE International

3. Tout Fast Deliveries

Now local businesses can compete with the logistics abilities of large corporations. Customers can, and will, order local because they will get the products they desire more quickly. Drones could allow you the opportunity to market this capability as a unique value proposition, allowing customers to get products faster, rather than waiting for a product to arrive from somewhere further away.

– Andy Karuza, FenSens

4. Put Your Warehouse Near a Hub

Drone deliveries as we imagine it today are far from becoming a reality. Instead, a first approach to drone delivery will be large shipments to a central hub and smaller, local deliveries made by drones. By setting up near freight hubs, you will be the first to benefit from faster, same-day drone deliveries, both procuring items from suppliers such as Amazon as well as shipping to customers.

– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

5. Outsource Drone Management

Drone delivery sounds really sexy, but you have to be cautious – there are real logistical risks that can ruin your investment. Drone delivery is a major waste of money if you buy a drone only to have it knocked out of the sky by a red-tailed hawk (which does happen, especially in California). It’s a better idea to outsource to a company like Flirtey, so they’re handling the inherent risks. 

– Ben Lee, Neon Roots

6. Set Up in Underserved Areas

Techy metropolises will see drone delivery quickly, but this will be less so for smaller cities and residential areas. By serving these areas first, you could open yourself up for healthy business, and to the possibility of being bought if a national partner does show up in the area. 

– Adam Steele, The Magistrate

7. Partner with Other Companies to Share the Technology

While it may be too expensive to adopt as a small business, more local businesses can consider a cooperative model where they share the delivery technology, investing together to build a local delivery service for those within their cooperative.

– Angela Ruth, Due

8. Hold Off, but Be Ready to Be First

A small business shouldn’t be spending hours of their time or money right now thinking about drone delivery. That tech is years away and will be great when it lands. Stay up-to-date on developments, but don’t waste too much time on it. Be ready to invest your time and money early, when possible, to offer a competitive edge.

– Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

The post 8 Ways Small Businesses Can Tap Into the Power of Drone Deliveries appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can a small business use inexpensive technology to expand its reach and attract new customers?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Embrace Automation

I automate as much as I can so that I can focus my time where it really matters – attracting leads and converting them to clients. I use a mixture of automation technologies, like marketing automation, Zapier and Keyboard Maestro to reduce the amount of repetitive low-value work I do and increase the time I have to spend on customer service and lead development.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

2. Go Offline

One of the most effective ways to build a customer base early on is by getting in front of them, face-to-face. With an effort to do this with some sort of “scale” in mind, consider using tools like Eventbrite to help run event series related to your product or service offering that could attract, educate or entertain potential customers.

– Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

3. Look to Retargeting

Retargeting is not an expensive marketing technology, but it can make a tremendous difference in convincing new customers that what you have to offer is right for them. By following them from website to social media platform to search engines and back again, you are kept top of mind. This continual reminder with targeted messaging has been proven to win customers.

– John Rampton, Due

4. Use Free Public Relations Tools

Businesses can use free public relations tools such as HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, to respond to relevant press inquiries. This allows businesses to demonstrate their expertise in a field. The PR also helps a company reach new audiences and improve their SEO through additional backlinks.

– Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS

5. Take Advantage of Your Smartphone

Use your smartphone to create content. Phones these days come equipped with quality cameras and a plethora of apps, so don’t be afraid to use them for photo shoots, live streaming or creating artwork. Virtually everyone already has a smart phone, so figure out where it makes sense to use it in place of professional services.

– Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

6. Plan and Publicize Your Live Video

Live streaming is very hot right now, and it’s a great way to get in touch with customers in a deeply engaging way. Schedule a time to do a live stream either as a demo, a tutorial or just a Q&A and publicize it. Not only is it engaging, but live videos can often show up quite high in Google SERPs.

– Ben Lee, Neon Roots

7. Post on Social Media

Social media sites are free. There is no advertising or media spend that you need to invest on. Ideally, managing and increasing your reach in social media just takes time. Use your own network to spread the news about your business or what you offer. As a small business owner, this is a must.

– Shalyn Dever, Chatter Buzz

8. Leverage the Reach of Influencers

A great way to expand your audience quickly is to get mentions and links from influencers in your industry. Use something like BuzzSumo and SimilarWeb to gather the best blogs and websites based on audience and size. You can use Pitchbox to setup automated emails for smaller ones. For more prominent influencers, write them directly and offer unique value.

– Travis Nagle, Stem

9. Hold Contests and Giveaways

One of the easiest and fastest ways to generate instant traffic is to do some type of creative giveaway that people can share organically. There are several new pieces of software that take out much of the heavy lifting and automate much of the process, so all you need to do is promote the offer and get prospects into the funnel.

– Phil Laboon, WUDN

10. Create an Email Marketing Program

Email is still king for many businesses, driving more clicks and conversations over search and social. Sign up for an email marketing platform like MailChimp to easily setup and deploy emails to prospects. Sending drip campaigns to potential customers will help keep you top of mind and the effort and costs for you are relatively low, with some email platforms even offering free plans.

– Vincent Wong, mHelpDesk

11. Buy Facebook Ads

Acquiring new customers on Facebook is extremely cheap. The majority of your customers are on Facebook in some capacity and just need to be targeted. Start with simple ads to get more likes to your page and then enhance or optimize from there. There is a ton of value in simple Facebook ads and they’re easy to execute well.

– Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

12. Seek Reviews on Yelp and Google Business

Establishing a presence on Yelp and Google with great reviews can do wonders for your business. Just make sure you deliver exceptional service and simply ask for reviews from your customers to build up your brand. It’s a fantastic way to attract new customers!

– Terry Kim, NexGenT

13. Use Tools Like Google Analytics

Tools like Google Analytics are inexpensive and very helpful. Regularly evaluate the data regarding where traffic comes from, where it’s not, and what opportunities are ripe for the taking. For example, if a disproportionate amount of your traffic comes from social media, invest in growing your prominence there. Knowledge is power, and performance data reveals surprising ways to expand reach.

– Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty

The post 13 Inexpensive Ways to Draw in New Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How do you recommend busy small business owners leverage technology to better manage their time?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Use ‘Do Not Disturb’ Mode 

Try this: Between 9 a.m. and noon, put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” and don’t respond to any notifications. I tackle all my high-level tasks in the morning, and then my day-to-day tasks in the afternoon. The minute I start taking calls or answering emails, I get stuck being reactive all day long. This process helps me be in control of what I need to do for the day.

– Krish Chopra, United Medical Rotations 

2. Use Digital Task Management Systems 

Digital task management systems are a lifesaver when it comes to saving time as a manager. Rather than needing to be in the office all the time, I’m able to seamlessly check in on my employees’ progress on the go. Creating a system where you can immediately view project steps and direction allows you to see where your input is needed, rather than being in “manager mode” constantly.

– Elle Kaplan, LexION Capital 

3. Plan Ahead and Organize Everything 

Use a project management system like Asana or Basecamp to plan ahead (ideally per quarter). Sync your project management system with a time tracking software like TimeDoctor to critically evaluate your performance. Combine the two with the Pomodoro Method to organize your day. By doing these things, you’ll significantly improve your productivity.

The post 12 Smart Ways Small Business Owners Can Manage Their Time With Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can I choose which web host is best for my business?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

The post 11 Tips for Picking the Best Web Host for Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Providing Answers at All Hours

Machine learning allows us to provide higher quality customer service at a lower cost. In the past, we had to direct customer questions to a static FAQ during off-business hours. Now we can use bots to help provide “live” answers to customers 24/7. We route questions we cannot address easily with machine learning to our human customer service team for the best experience.

– Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS 

2. Anticipating Needs

This will enable huge amounts of data to be examined rapidly, with the aim to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends, customer preferences and other useful business info. Ultimately, this could lead to providing better financial services for our clients by anticipating their needs and wants, as well as identifying and mitigating problems before they arise.

– Luigi Wewege, Vivier Group 

3. Better Targeted Marketing
Machine learning will provide computers with the ability to learn more about a target audience and change the conversation when exposed to new data. This will help marketing efforts by offering highly customized information based on what the computer has learned about prospects and customers, and their desires, needs, fears and wants.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 

4. Shifting Staff to Answer Complex Questions

By automating part of the customer service process, like using a help desk to cover easy questions, there’s more time to proactively contact customers and ask them if they need anything. It’s also a way to free up time to handle more complex customer problems and put in face time that could save relationships.

– Murray Newlands, Sighted 

5. Applying Results of Research

Machine learning will take a lot of the grunt work out of auditing and research so that we can get to answers and high-level thought much more quickly. Without having to dive into the data ourselves, we’ll be free to use our brains for higher-capacity learning and apply whatever the results teach us.

– Erik Huberman, Hawke Media 

6. Tailoring Campaigns via Clustering Techniques

One of the hottest research areas in machine learning is clustering customer data. This kind of approach automatically groups related customers according to the way they interact with your business. Clustering techniques extract information to tailor campaigns and promotions to each target audience with fewer costs involved.

– Humberto Farias, Concepta 

7. Giving Specific Answers to Clients

Machine learning will allow us to process bulk quantities of data from different sources, and will allow us to make decisions more quickly that will directly impact how we communicate and interact with our customers day to day. For example, instead of giving subjective answers and estimates, we’ll be able to say things with greater certainty and predict performance with better accuracy.

– Duran Inci, Optimum7 

8. Generating User-Specific Search Results

For e-commerce businesses, search is one of the most important technologies affecting how customers will interact with you. As machine learning becomes more sophisticated, advances will be made to display results that are more relevant to the individual user. Giving the customer the power to find what they are looking for will reduce the need for direct customer interactions.

– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors 

9. Discovering Need, Then Providing Better Products

The age-old problem for businesses is figuring out exactly what customers want and then either delivering it to them or building great products. Data allow businesses to find out exactly what customers are using, and what they want so that they can build those products.

– Eden Chen, Fishermen Labs 

The post 9 Ways Machine Learning Will Affect Customer Interactions appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What AR or VR innovation are you most excited to see in 2017, and how can this be used to help your business?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Better User Experience for Prospects

Google Cardboard and some of the other VR platforms are ripe to use in businesses to help create a better user experience for your prospects and customers. Imagine how VR could be used to show customers and prospects an in-depth look at your business’s products or services. It is immersion at its best, and it will create an amazing user experience that won’t be easily forgotten.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 

2. Changing Training Methods

The first generation of productivity-oriented virtual reality headsets is here, such as Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap, which seek to increase work productivity by offering interactive, mixed-reality environments for getting work done. This type of technology may allow us to host virtual training sessions remotely that are more interactive and engaging than traditional on-site training sessions.

– Russell Kommer, eSoftware Associates Inc 

3. New Narrative Opportunities

Beyond entertainment applications, VR has incredible potential for education and as a storytelling tool. As the technology to capture stories becomes more accessible, it will be exciting to see how it’s used to create new types of narratives. From a business perspective, using VR to encourage exploration of new places can be useful to reframe design and tech problems.

– Marcelino Alvarez, Uncorked Studios 

4. Immersive Experiences

2017 will see increased adoption of augmented reality devices among the masses. This will even trump VR adoption, since AR will be accessible through mobile devices and won’t need any additional hardware. This will give businesses a chance to better engage consumers through immersive experiences that are not limited to games, all they need to do is get assistance from an augmented reality app development company. 

– Pratham Mittal, Outgrow 

5. Improved Medical Care and Training

Despite the declining popularity of Pokemon Go, AR has proven that it has real world applications outside of simple entertainment. Already AR has entered the medical space as a tool to teach and prepare young med students for surgery. As AR becomes more and more advanced and accessible, it is exciting to see the impact it will have on various industries.

– Kevin Yamazaki, Sidebench 

6. Virtual Shopping Options

As a retailer, we’re actively preparing for AR and VR. We are not far from putting on headsets in our home or office and “walking” into a store, trying on clothes and seeing what they look like in person. Through our connected devices, we will know what fits us from each store. Get ready for one-blink checkout.

– Fan Bi, Blank Label 

7. Remote Collaboration

There are lots of AR and VR innovations I’m excited about, but the ones most relevant to the workplace are those around remote collaboration. Being able to sit in the same virtual room as your employees around the globe and work together in real time will revolutionize business.

– Simon Berg, Ceros 

8. Actionable Insights

Our brains process huge amounts of data and condense it to actionable insights. When a ball is pitched, we know when and where to swing the bat. I’d love to see AR tools leverage smart devices and cloud computing to do the same thing for a wider range of data than our senses provide. For our businesses, that might mean overlaying performance and maintenance data over servers in our data center.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc. 

9. Convenient Venue Selection

Integrating VR into our daily business world is a very exciting prospect. As it stands, we can sometimes do 10-20 venue walk-throughs per event before choosing one. Doing detailed VR walk-throughs from the comfort of our office would increase efficiency exponentially. By conducting these crucial site visits remotely, we would save time and money while still gaining the same valuable information.

– Justin Lefkovitch, Mirrored Media 

10. Memory Assistance 

As someone who meets hundreds or thousands of people each year, I am looking forward to a practical AR solution that helps me remember important details about the people I meet and the things we talk about.

– Jacob Chapman, Gelt Venture Capital 

The post Looking Ahead: 10 Ways AR and VR Innovations Can Help Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is the biggest benefit of shifting your business to the cloud, and why?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Daily Maintenance 

When you shift your IT infrastructure to the cloud, you offload the daily maintenance and administration of your systems to the cloud provider. This leaves your IT staff available to focus on strategic initiatives and other technologies that will have a positive effect on your bottom line, but if you still want to make sure it is running smoothly then you should check out pcie techniques.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

2. Data Preservation 

It’s easy to create layers and layers of backups on different networks with everything in the cloud. Server failures and natural disasters have happened, but we’ve built so many redundancies that they’re no longer that big of a threat. This was possible before everything was in the cloud, but now it’s no longer a big hassle or expense.

– Adam Steele, The Magistrate

3. Freedom and Flexibility 

For millennials in particular, flexibility is key. Having the freedom to work from virtually any location while still being able to access all company files and information allows employees to work in a way that fosters a productive environment.

– Richard Lorenzen, Fifth Avenue Brands

4. Assured Continuity and Security 

Data safety, security and continuity. Shifting to the cloud means data is safe in highly secure data centers where physical access is limited and enterprise-level security protocols are standard. The data is also be decentralized and distributed, meaning that there would be no single point of failure in the case of some catastrophic event.

– Russell Kommer, eSoftware Associates Inc

5. Lower Infrastructure Costs 

The cloud provides significantly lower IT infrastructure costs. You likely wouldn’t build your own furniture unless you needed it custom designed for you, so why build your own servers or email systems? Additionally, cloud providers typically improve their products every year, leveraging their customers’ economy of scale.

– Hongwei Liu, mappedin

6. Ability to Share with Others 

It makes sharing work and collaborating so much easier, including the ability to work on the same draft at the same time and see real-time updates and revisions. This also saves time and confusion in terms of what draft we are on and who has received it.

– Murray Newlands, Sighted

7. Credibility and Peace of Mind 

Particularly for companies working in regulated or security-sensitive industries such as healthcare or finance, closing enterprise-level agreements involves extensive review and intense scrutiny. Using secure hosting services like Armor means questions about HITRUST, PCI and HIPAA are easier to answer, and your stack will be simpler to manage as well.

– Blake Marggraff, Epharmix, Inc.

8. Constant Updates 

With cloud-based software you are always operating off of the latest version. Application updates are made frequently to increase functionality and solve pain points, and they are immediately available to users. Traditional software may roll out a new version once a year and oftentimes it’s offered at a cost to the consumer.

– Hillary Hobson, Highest Cash Offer

9. Freedom to Experiment 

Cloud infrastructure can be deployed immediately with no risk. Unlike the old days, server and network infrastructure doesn’t require a huge capital investment. Startups can throw up servers and pull them down just as quickly, making it easy to scale, experiment, and move quickly from development to production. The cloud brings enterprise-class infrastructure to everyone with a business idea.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

10. No Single Point of Failure 

By running our business on the cloud we remove the risk of downtime should something happen at our office. Burglary, theft, power outages, lost laptops and internet failures can cause downtime. By running all of our tools on the cloud, we are always running no matter what happens at our location.

– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors

The post 10 Advantages You’ll See When You Shift Your Business to the Cloud appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What basic tech skill should all small business owners have to manage day-to-day operations?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Basic Search Commands 

It seems simple enough, but a simple task like finding the appropriate answer to your question can take valuable time from your day. Using search operators or filters can really optimize your results and save you lots of time. This is especially useful when starting a business. So take some time and learn a few search commands from your go-to search engine. After all, time is money!

– Billy Ono, Kami Speed

2. Data Mining 

Being able to pull data from your systems to evaluate how your operations are functioning is the most important skill. If you don’t track and measure your daily operations, you won’t know until it’s too late that you have a problem. There are ways to automate data mining so that you have a report or summary at the end of the day covering the specific performance measures you want to track.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

3. Spreadsheet Software 

As a small business owner, knowing how to use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets is invaluable. With Microsoft’s VBA, you can customize Excel to your needs and use it to automate otherwise time-consuming tasks. It’s also a simple tool to track budgets, expenses and other financial data. It may not be the most impressive skill, but it helps manage day-to-day operations.

– Kevin Yamazaki, Sidebench

4. Instant Messaging 

Not only is instant messaging fast, it’s effective. Effective communication is crucial for any business, and instant messaging is a great way to communicate with employees without your messages getting lost in a sea of emails. Now that more millennials are entering the workforce, IMing is often their preferred method of communication, another reason why it’s important to be familiar with it.

– Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent

5. Your Smartphone 

Almost everyone in the world has a smartphone. That is why all of the data collected lately has been showing a shift toward a mobile-dominant society. Keeping up with business operations, industry news and employee communications on the go is vital to your success. Can you imagine not being able to connect to the internet because you don’t remember where the wifi setting is on your phone?

– Humberto Farias, Concepta

6. Bookkeeping 

I think the most important tool in every small business owner’s toolkit is their day-to-day bookkeeping tool. For me, it’s Quickbooks. This is extremely helpful to manage and monitor day-to-day expenses, profit margins, weekly spends and cash flow. Quickbooks Online is now cheap, user friendly and offers tutorials and personal help for those who are less tech-savvy than others.

– Justin Lefkovitch, Mirrored Media

7. Google Analytics 

Analyze and make decisions based off of web analytics like Google Analytics and pay-per-click platforms such as AdWords. Understanding web analytics and PPC reporting is critical to having the right knowledge in order to control the direction your business is headed in. It allows you to make critical business decisions based on hard data.

– Zev Herman, Superior Lighting

8. Google Drive 

It’s important to utilize and understand Google Drive in order to work on projects as a team. Excel and Word docs are important when working alone. However, when working on team projects it’s important that the entire team knows how to utilize Google Docs in order to collaborate and remain on the same page.

– Stanley Meytin, True Film Production

9. Basic Coding 

Knowing how to code, even if it’s just the basics, can make a big difference to your productivity. Every operating system — even iOS — has automation tools. If you can throw together a quick script, much of the day-to-day grind can be automated, freeing you to focus attention where it’s really needed. If you find yourself doing the same simple task repeatedly, it can probably be automated.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

10. Social Media 

Marketing through social media works for us. It’s important that all small businesses know how to maximize social media platforms and their marketing advantages. Always be knowledgeable on platform updates and check the trends (hashtags, innovations and new apps) every now and then.

– Daisy Jing, Banish

The post 10 Tech Platforms Small Business Owners Should Master appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What new tech (whether hardware, SaaS, etc.) do you plan on investing in in 2017 that will help your workflow?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Asana 

How can you keep track of all the different requests that come in to optimize your products and services? It’s not easy and I’m tired of using Google Docs and email threads. That’s why we signed up for Asana and intend to make further investments with Asana to optimize workflow in 2017. Asana makes it foolproof to track workflow.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

2. Mobile Backend as a Service 

MBAAS (mobile backend as a service) can provide significant leverage and efficiencies, allowing developers to launch apps in a fraction of the time. I’m interested to see them integrate deeper with data sources. Just think: processing orders via Stripe, sending shipping notifications via Twilio, viewing analytics via MixPanel and sending behavior-targeted push notifications using Kahuna. That’s magic.

– Gideon Kimbrell, InList Inc

3. Drift 

The key to improving workflows is to get rid of bottlenecks. A common bottleneck in most workflows is the feedback cycle between the product/work and the customers. We’ll be implementing Drift, an all-in-one customer messaging app, to cut that feedback cycle. Not only will it help us keep customers front and center (so we can adjust and iterate faster), it’ll simplify our toolset.

– Ruben Gamez, Bidsketch

4. Wrike 

With Wrike, you can create custom workflows and manage projects at both the macro and micro levels. We will be using an integration between Wrike and Slack to handle project management and communications. It’s essential for scalable growth and to accommodate for the speed of our projects.

– Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin

5. Machine Learning 

I’d like to invest in machine learning to see how much it can do for us in terms of taking over repetitive tasks so that we can increase our workflow and focus more on key areas where the human factor is most important, like customer service experience.

– Murray Newlands, Sighted

6. SaaS and HR Tracking Software 

We are definitely going to look at and invest in SaaS software that integrates timesheets and project management, so we can be more efficient in terms of how we operate and how we track what we’re doing. We will likely also invest in some sort of new HR tracking software. A lot of our HR work is done by hand, and we want to create a seamless and integrated HR software situation.

– Cassandra Bailey, Slice Communications

7. A Robust CRM System 

As we get more online sales volume, we’re really looking into browser-based CRM software to integrate with our e-commerce platform. We want to make sure we’re handling sales and customer service requests as efficiently as possible. CRM software allows us much greater control over the sales process with large, high-value wholesale purchasers. Right now we’re looking at Zoho, Salesforce and Agile CRM.

– Zev Herman, Superior Lighting

8. Mixpanel 

Mixpanel is a SaaS analytics solution that we are going to start using in 2017. It provides all the analytics and reporting that we will need for our web and mobile app usage in a much more queriable way than most of its competitors, and its pricing structure makes adoption for early-stage startups very approachable.

– Tim Chaves, ZipBooks

9. Zapier 

Zapier is a great tool for connecting apps in order to automate work flow. If you are in a specialized industry, it is a great out-of-the-box way to customize your workflow to fit your specific needs without having to pay for pricy development.

– Hillary Hobson, Highest Cash Offer

The post 9 Tech Tools to Invest in to Improve Your Workflow appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What precautions should all business owners be taking to keep their devices secure, particularly given the recent DDoS attack?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Hire an Outside Consultant to Review Your Current Security Strategy 

An outside security consultant brings a fresh pair of eyes and will look at the problem from a unique and unbiased perspective. You or your IT staff may be accustomed to your current strategy and may not be able to see the holes in it. It’s like having a small piece of food on your cheek. You won’t notice it, but somebody else will.

– Andy Karuza, FenSens

2. Use Touch ID Security 

Passwords are hard to remember, can be easy to guess and put your devices at risk for a DDoS attack. That’s why you should use touch ID security whenever and wherever available. For instance, you have two options if you own an iPhone 6 or higher. You can select a password and risk getting hacked by an intruder or you can use touch ID (fingerprint) security to eliminate vulnerabilities.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

3. Keep Sensitive Information Off of Your Devices 

First of all, utilize hard-to-guess passwords and back up your important documents and info on a separate device. If possible, keep confidential information off of your devices entirely. Install top-rated security software and utilize an app that lets you control your devices remotely.

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

4. Hire an IT Security Expert 

Whether you have an IT department or just a few IT folks managing your systems, you should consider hiring an IT security expert who can put in place the policies and procedures to protect all of your devices and equipment. Whether you use a contractor or hire internally, choose someone who knows best practices and is up to date on IT security efforts, including DDoS.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

5. Regularly Update Firmware 

It’s easy to get caught up with the day-to-day and completely forget about updates. It’s crucial that you keep your devices updated with the latest firmware as most of them contain security fixes and enhancements.

– Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

6. Implement Two-Factor Authentication 

Criminals are constantly looking for new devices to compromise. There’s no surefire way to secure devices but, for the average user, two strategies massively decrease the risk: Keep devices and software up-to-date and use two-factor authentication. Both make it difficult for an attacker to compromise a device, and they’ll more than likely look for an easier target.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

7. Have an Accountability Policy in Place 

Every business needs a security policy detailed in writing to which all employees are held accountable. This is the best way to both prevent basic problems and identify where your weaknesses are in the event of a more elaborate attack. Password rotations should be a part of any basic policy, and so should division of information so that it’s not all accessible to any one employee.

– Matt Doyle, Excel Builders

8. Create Longer Passwords 

Apple offers several options for making your device more secure, including four-character, six-character and eight-character authentication. Even though a longer password may be harder to remember, it is typically more secure, which is why I recommend all business owners use them. Do not use easy to guess passwords and always use a combination of capital and lowercase letters along with numbers.

– Obinna Ekezie, Wakanow.com

9. Don’t Forget Proper Disposal 

Being a company that specializes in IT asset disposition and data destruction services, we often consult clients about the importance of having a diligent end-of-life process. Most people don’t realize that the biggest data and security breach risks often come when organizations do not properly dispose of their devices once the organization is done using them.

– Mikhail Zabezhinsky, OceanTech

10. Remember One Password With Password Management Tools 

Our teams has found 1Password to be an invaluable tool to create all our passwords. With 1Password, you can store all of your important passwords in one place and you are only required to memorize one password in order to unlock all of them. This makes it extremely easy to change any password with its password generator and then store it in the vault.

– Bryce Welker, Crush Reviews

11. Use Multiple Vendors 

When setting up your technology stack, involve multiple vendors so you won’t become vulnerable when your single technology source becomes affected. Use multiple services within your business to avoid a single point of failure. Avoiding DDoS attacks altogether will be nearly impossible for a small business; the best strategy is to focus on reducing the risk of your technology stack.

– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors, LLC

12. Use Simple Mental Recipes 

Skip passwords and build a simple password recipe for better security. Use an app like PasswordChef.co to generate easy to remember recipes that keep you safe by ensuring each site uses different but easily recalled passwords. Here’s a simple recipe, for example: [first-3-vowels-capitalized-and-reversed] + [secret-code] + [#-of-consonants] + [first-consonant]. Google becomes EOOS3cr3t-C0d33g.

– Ryan MacCarthy, KickFactory

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What is one thing (bookkeeping, digital marketing, etc.) that small business owners should consider automating and why?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. SEO 

There are a lot of tools available to small businesses to help automate the SEO process. WordPress plugins like the Yoast SEO plugin make it really easy to automate basic SEO tasks, such as title tags and meta descriptions, while tools like Yext and Moz Local help businesses automate the process of managing directory listings. SEO can be a monotonous process, but automated tools save time.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

2. Contract Signing 

You work hard to get a deal, so don’t let it fall apart in the logistics of getting the contract signed. Use tools like DocuSign to automate signature request reminders and streamline the process for your customers. If a few clicks get the contract signed, it’s far more likely to get done than having to print it out, sign it, scan it and email it back to you.

– Andrew Hoeft, Pinpoint Software, Inc.

3. Social Media Tracking 

Going through Google Analytics or any other tracking tool can be quite time-consuming. However, most software titles have an automated reporting function that you can implement to have only the information you need emailed to you on a scheduled basis. This strategy saves valuable time.

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

4. Lead Generation 

Lead generation can be a challenging task until a small business discovers their growth channel. Once the right channel is identified that brings the maximum ROI on leads and conversions, automate the lead generation process to free up time with lead nurtures and closing sales.

– Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea

5. Digital Marketing 

With the advancements made in marketing automation today that allow you to personalize your messages and send them out without human intervention, companies should take advantage and upgrade their marketing efforts. My company can be marketing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year without one of my employees or me needing to be present. That’s powerful.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

6. Email Marketing and Product Education 

We use Klaviyo, an email automation tool, to greet and educate our customers. You’ll get an email from me saying thanks the day after purchase, which personalizes our brand and serves as a mechanism for feedback. On day three, there’s an email that explains how to use the purchased product in video and text content. These two methods alone have had a major impact on our customer satisfaction.

– Josh Sprague, Orange Mud

7. Social Media 

Social media automating systems have helped my business a lot because it gives you the flexibility to curate content and plan it out in advance. Take a few hours each week to schedule all of your upcoming posts. This will ensure you’re posting consistently (which is the No. 1 issue small businesses have) and free up time during your day to engage with other users.

– Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

8. Website Traffic Reports 

Understanding data and website traffic is paramount in today’s world; however, sorting through mountains of data on a weekly basis can be extremely time-consuming. With that said, it’s extremely efficient if you’re able to set up automated reports with key performance indicators that are automatically emailed to you once a week. By setting up automated reports, you can save your company a great deal of time.

– Anthony Pezzotti, Knowzo.com

9. 401(k) Services 

Unless you’re interested in becoming an investment and compliance expert, setting up and maintaining a 401(k) is really not a great use of a small business owner’s time. Automated 401(k) solutions will now take care of everything from employee notices to payroll sync, so there’s no need to deal with the ins and outs of deductions by yourself every month.

– Roger Lee, Captain401

10. Infrastructure Management 

Web and application hosting management is a significant cost center for many small businesses. Modern cloud platforms allow businesses to automate a lot of the day-to-day hassles of managing servers and networks. With infrastructure automation, businesses can increase infrastructure utilization, minimize spending and optimize for efficient scaling.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

11. Scheduling 

Scheduling and bookings are a core part of small business service providers and are very time-consuming. The back and forth between bookings, cancellations, rescheduling, and dealing with no-shows really hurts your bottom line. Online booking not only removes these headaches but also provides a better customer experience where scheduling, appointment confirmations, changes and reminders are all automated.

– Arash Asli, Yocale

The post 11 Routine Processes That Small Business Owners Can Automate appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can IoT companies capitalize on the unique marketing opportunities presented by wearables and other smart devices?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

Marketing strategies are very hard to come up with nowadays, every business has their own unique way of promoting themselves, this doesn´t mean that every strategy will work. If you need a new way to get your business out into the world then consider contacting seo saas for assistance.

1. Predict Customer Needs 

We are quickly approaching the day when IoT, wearables, smart home and smart cars converge into one general “smart life.” When that happens, IoT companies will have the ability to assess data from multiple sources to accurately predict customer needs. For example, Amazon could determine that you need new running shoes because your Fitbit provides the mileage you run every day.

– Andrew Thomas, SkyBell Doorbell

2. Use Analytics to Track Behavior 

IoT companies can better target their marketing messages by analyzing the data offered by wearables and other smart devices. You can use the data collected to customize your marketing messages and take customer relationships to the next level. The key is to track the right metrics and use that information to form your marketing strategy.

– Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

3. Seamlessly Integrate Platforms and Other Devices 

By connecting with platforms, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, IoT devices can be easily turned on through a simple verbal phrase. IoT companies can integrate data from multiple devices to deliver a more compelling user experience. For example, a smart scale can pull data from Fitbit and Noom Coach to put your weight in context with your exercise and diet.

– Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS

4. Establish Credibility in the Healthcare Industry 

The healthcare industry will be a major outlet for IoT companies to capitalize on unique marketing opportunities. Wearables will be able to keep track of vitals and even brainwaves, changing the game of clinical trials. Strict monitoring and reporting will increase credibility for emerging drug and technology marketing.

– Hillary Hobson, Highest Cash Offer

5. Use Partnerships to Penetrate New Markets 

Apple’s recent event is a perfect example of how brand partnerships can help IoT companies penetrate new markets. The Apple Watch is available in Nike and Hermes versions, each of which is essentially the same hardware with a unique design and, in Nike’s case, an app tailored to Nike’s market. The partnerships magnify Hermes, Nike and Apple’s abilities to reach out to divergent markets.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

6. Use GPS Technology for Special Offers 

We’ve seen it through the success of Groupon — people are always looking for a better deal. Marketers can capitalize on the location of their customers by partnering with specific retailers to receive data about when customers are in a particular area and whether their partners are having a clearance sale or special. It would be a unique experience for customers.

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja

7. Tread Carefully With Privacy Concerns 

IoT companies will have to tread carefully in terms of using wearable and smart device data for marketing purposes. There are many privacy and security concerns that would have to be addressed using a very clear opt-in feature that is required in order to use wearable/smart device data for marketing purposes. Once this has been addressed, the unique marketing opportunities presented are limitless and very personal.

– Duran Inci, Optimum7

8. Focus on the Future 

When I was at Google New York, their wearable technology wasn’t the most astounding thing. What struck me most was the video that told the story of a future that looked — like the Jetsons — where life was better because of tech. Wearables and smart devices open up a world of possibilities for consumers around the world, and companies who own the vision of the future will also own the most valuable brand.

– Peter Kozodoy, GEM Advertising

9. Be Everywhere 

It’s time for IoT companies to focus on partnerships, sponsorships and syndication so that they can keep up with new marketing opportunities within smart devices and appear in every space possible. By partnering with other companies and syndicating content on multiple platforms, your name and brand will be visible across all channels and will be interacted with more than ever before.

– Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

10. Highlight Sustainability 

Technology goes out-of-date much too quickly, and people are starting to realize that our technological waste takes a toll on the environment and our wallets. To get more people interested in wearables and smart devices, market a product that can grow and change with the user. There’s a phone that has removable and replaceable parts, but another example is wearable technology that features changing colors.

– Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent

The post 10 Marketing Tips for Taking Advantage of the Smart Device Trend appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can a small business use open source software to stay ahead of their competition?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Customize It to Your Needs 

Proprietary software can be restrictive in evolving industries. Open source software gives small businesses access to affordable software that can grow with their company and can be customized to their specific needs. Because the money made off of open source software is support driven, the programmers are unbiased, less expensive, and easier to work with.

– Hillary Hobson, Highest Cash Offer

2. Get Products on the Market Faster 

Cloud infrastructure and open source software give businesses a head start, allowing them to prototype, test, and get products to market faster and with less expense. Of course, their competitors have access to the same tools, so it’s the quality of the ideas and their execution that really matters — cloud and open source facilitate the journey from idea to product.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

3. Give Developers Specific Feedback 

If you embrace the culture of “make it work while you work,” which is essentially what makes open source so beneficial, providing developers with feedback and suggestions allows you to almost design the software specifically for your business. It means that with a few tweaks, an unpopular piece of software can become the next Google Docs.

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja

4. Enhance Deliverables to Clients 

One of the best uses of open source software when it comes to enhancing client deliverables is Google Charts. Providing robust visuals, like graphs and bar charts, will not only maximize the value of your services but will also help you stay ahead of the competition. Whenever possible, you should use open source software to take your product or service to the next level of quality.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

5. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel 

We’re focused on delivering a great product, and open source software lets us focus on solving the problems that matter to us rather than reinventing the wheel in every aspect of our software. Using open source software also allows us to tap into a huge community of developers that are advancing the software we use every day, which ensures we stay on top of the curve.

– Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

6. Leverage Existing APIs 

There are some incredible open source platforms out there that developers can customize to speed up development time and tailor existing workflows. Don’t just rely on open source software; build on it using the APIs of other apps or tools that you use. There’s no limit to what you can create to automate workflows and improve processes by leveraging and streamlining what’s already available.

– Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin

7. Build Customized Solutions on the Cheap 

Open source software means a lot of things, and one of these things is a mass amount of freelance services. Instead of going directly to expensive providers, coders and designers, there is always going to be a better and cheaper option. A perfect example of this is WordPress. Take the time to explore your options when using open source solutions and put your money to its best use.

– Zac Johnson, Blogger

8. Leverage It as a Marketing Tool 

Many companies release some of their in-house code to the community. Becoming an active open source contributor can be a powerful promotional tool. It helps promote the company among technical users, shows a willingness to contribute to the community, and showcases the company’s technical prowess. You can think of it as a form of content marketing that uses code rather than text or video.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

9. Empower Your Users 

Not everyone understands the beauty of open source software. Instead, our SaaS business gets a lot of feature requests, integration questions and frustrated “Why can’t your software do this?” questions. Empower your users to create what they need and they’ll feel like partners in your product.

– Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent

The post 9 Smart Ways for Small Businesses to Use Open Source Software appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s one tip for making the most of your freelance tech talent?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

The post 13 Ways to Make the Most of Your Freelancers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is your favorite tool for user testing your company website and why?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

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What digital form of communication (email, Slack, Gchat, etc.) does your company most rely on and why?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Skype 

We like to say we’re a “Skype-first” company. With most of our workforce remote, we replace phone calls with Skype video calls to keep our employees connected. Different teams also use other forms of communication for quick messages -– both Gchat and Slack -– but everyone is given a Skype username when they start.

– Chuck Cohn, Varsity Tutors

2. iDoneThis 

Every evening at 4:45 p.m., everyone on our team receives a simple email asking, “What did you get done today?” Our team replies to the email, and iDoneThis groups all the replies into one summary email and sends it out to the team the next morning at 8:00 a.m. iDoneThis has been an incredible tool for keeping everyone on the same page about our accomplishments and helping our team stay focused.

– Brett Farmiloe, Markitors

3. Salesforce Chatter 

Our entire company is run on Salesforce systems, so it only makes sense that our internal communications would take place on the Chatter option in Salesforce. It’s like a Facebook feed, but professional. Teams can collaborate on projects in one place, share company-wide announcements, tag each other in tasks and post about after-work opportunities, like our company’s running club.

– David Ciccarelli, Voices.com

4. Email 

We primarily use email because it’s universally recognized and everybody has one and knows how to use it. It’s also the medium of communication that the vast majority of our clients use. That’s why we use email for most communication, whether internal or external.

– Travis Smith, V.I.P. Waste Services, LLC

5. Slack 

Our small in-person team certainly collaborates face-to-face, but Slack is an enhancement to that communication. For work, Slack channels create an agile way to work out challenges, ask questions and just stay informed. In terms of culture, Slack allows staff to joke and have fun together. We have plenty of custom emojis and the /giphy feature is well-loved.

– Zach Robbins, Margo

6. Confluence Wiki 

Our team is spread across four continents in five time zones. To keep everyone on the same page, we use a Confluence wiki. It’s like Wikipedia for our company. Meeting notes, project specs, brainstorming sessions and ongoing processes are all held there in different interlinking areas. Maintaining one wiki also allows us to bring on new talent faster (and it reduces the need for email).

– Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.

7. Gchat 

Gchat is the quickest way to get answers in our office. Our inboxes are constantly getting flooded, but the ping is a quick notification that lets us know there’s a time-sensitive response needed and we should answer.

– Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

8. Jira 

We use Jira for project management, which is very efficient and helps everyone communicate on project timelines, bugs, deliverables and updates.

– Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

9. Google Hangouts 

Our company runs a virtual team scattered across the nation, and we are often on the road or away from our desks. Google Hangouts is perfect because it’s a multi-platform tool. When we’re on the road, we can still communicate via our smartphone app, yet when we’re in the office we can use a full keyboard on our desktops. You can chat, call, screenshare or facetime, all in one tool.

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What’s one thing every non-technical company leader should know about technology?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. The Future of Tech 

I’m not the most tech-savvy guy, but I try to stay current on popular tech trends. Knowing what’s coming and what kind of technologies may be used by my competitors in the next five-to-10 years gives me perspective when I try to plan the next steps for my business and customers. Every non-tech leader should at least know what’s out there.