When users first load Slack after the redesign, they will be greeted by a new Home section that resembles the existing interface. This section displays channels, direct messages (DMs), and apps, providing users with a familiar starting point. However, the real changes begin with the introduction of a new sidebar on the left side of the screen.

One notable addition to the sidebar is the new DMs section, which resembles messaging and email apps. It consolidates all conversations, allowing users to manage their chats from various channels and workspaces in one place. This new feature simplifies communication and enhances productivity.

Further down the sidebar, Slack introduces an Activity window that acts as a “unified inbox.” This window displays all messages, mentions, and reactions across all of a user’s Slack workspaces. Similar to consolidating emails into a single timeline, this feature allows employees to catch up on important updates at the start of their day. With more context and focus, users can navigate through their work more efficiently.

Noah Weiss, Slack’s chief product officer, explains that the redesign aims to organize users’ different modes of work rather than types of objects. These modes include catching up on activity, responding to inbound messages, triaging and responding to various tasks, and following up on to-do lists. By categorizing work in this way, Slack provides users with a clearer and more intuitive workflow.

To accommodate the needs of users who prefer a more chaotic work style, Slack has also reworked its multi-windowing system. This system enables users to have multiple views open simultaneously, allowing for a more flexible and personalized workspace.

One of the main challenges Slack users face is keeping track of activity across multiple channels. To address this, Slack has introduced several tools and improvements.

Slack has improved its workflow for saving content, making it easier for users to find and use the “save for later” functionality. The redesigned app features a dedicated Later menu in the sidebar, where users can quickly save messages, files, or other important information. Users can then add reminders or check off items when they’re finished, ensuring that nothing important falls through the cracks.

Slack has made it easier for users to access the Huddles video chat feature by placing it in the top-right corner of every chat window. This convenient placement encourages more frequent use of video communication, improving collaboration among team members. Additionally, users can create new canvases directly from the left sidebar, providing a seamless experience for brainstorming and ideation.

With this redesign, Slack is redefining its purpose beyond being just a messaging app. Instead, it aims to become the operating system for users’ work, offering a cross-platform and all-encompassing space where all work-related activities occur. Chat is now just one tab among many, as Slack expands its capabilities to support a wide range of productivity features and integrations.

Noah Weiss emphasizes that Slack will continue to release new features and push the boundaries of what a messaging tool can offer. As Slack incorporates generative AI technology and introduces automation capabilities, it strives to future-proof its product and stay ahead of industry trends. The goal is to empower users with a comprehensive platform that streamlines their work processes and enhances productivity.

The redesigned Slack interface not only improves the user experience but also paves the way for future developments. As Slack continues to innovate, it envisions a product that goes beyond messaging, becoming an indispensable tool for businesses worldwide. With its global reach and commitment to diversity, Slack is poised to transform how teams collaborate and communicate in the digital age.

In conclusion, Slack’s biggest redesign to date aims to tame the chaos of the workday by providing users with a more intuitive and streamlined experience. With a new sidebar, enhanced organization features, and improved workflows, Slack empowers users to stay on top of their work and collaborate more effectively. By reimagining itself as an operating system for work, Slack sets the stage for future innovations and further solidifies its position as a leader in the industry.

See first source: The Verge

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What prompted Slack to embark on its biggest redesign?

Slack recognized that its expanded offerings were leading to a cluttered and difficult-to-navigate app. The redesign aimed to create a more user-friendly and efficient experience for heavy users.

2. What are the key changes introduced in Slack’s redesign?

The redesign introduces a new Home section, a consolidated DMs section, an Activity window for unified updates, improved multi-windowing, enhanced content saving, easy access to video chat, and more seamless brainstorming capabilities.

3. How does Slack’s redesign enhance communication and collaboration?

The redesign simplifies communication by consolidating conversations from various channels and workspaces in the DMs section. It also streamlines workflows, making it easier to catch up on updates, respond to messages, triage tasks, and follow up on to-do lists.

4. How does Slack aim to redefine its purpose with this redesign?

Slack aims to become more than just a messaging app. It seeks to be the operating system for users’ work, offering a comprehensive space where all work-related activities occur, including messaging, productivity features, and integrations.

5. How does the redesigned Slack interface benefit users?

The redesigned interface improves user experience, enhances organization, and supports future developments. It empowers users to stay on top of their work, collaborate effectively, and navigate through their tasks more efficiently.

6. How is Slack incorporating AI and automation into its platform?

Slack is incorporating generative AI technology and introducing automation capabilities to future-proof its product and stay ahead of industry trends. This enhances the platform’s ability to streamline work processes and boost productivity.

7. What is Slack’s vision for the future of work?

Slack envisions itself as an indispensable tool beyond messaging, transforming how teams collaborate and communicate in the digital age. It aims to continue innovating and providing a comprehensive platform for businesses worldwide.

8. How does Slack’s commitment to diversity play a role in its transformation?

Slack’s commitment to diversity reflects in its global reach and influences how it designs its platform to cater to a wide range of users and work styles.

9. What is the overarching goal of Slack’s redesign and future developments?

The overarching goal is to provide a more intuitive, streamlined, and powerful platform that helps users manage their work efficiently, collaborate seamlessly, and adapt to evolving work trends and technologies.

10. How does Slack’s redesign solidify its position in the industry?

Slack’s redesign demonstrates its dedication to improving user experience and adapting to the changing needs of its users. By staying at the forefront of innovation, Slack continues to be a leader in the team chat app space.

Featured Image Credit: Rubaitul Azad; Unsplash; Thank you!

The post Slack’s New Design Makes Work Less Chaotic appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Calculator

An old trusted stand-by. Whether it’s measuring the total boards you’ll need to offset every foot or 16” (given if it’s load bearing), or rather you are trying to calculate the dimensions for the countertop you’re putting in and want to calculate potential expenses for the slab by the square foot. You need a tool to run those numbers. It seems simple but it’s the most necessary. You’ve got one pre-installed on your phone. It lives in settings. Trust me, you will be using it.

2. Measure

Another free app just came knocking. However, this one is a little less well-known and that is a travesty. Measure, just like Calculator comes preinstalled on iPhones and has two key features. It will automatically measure based on points. It uses augmented reality (AR) to graph out and measure objects simply by dropping points. The app then spits out a calculation for you.

Also, it works as a level. Both side planes are like walls or boards or those pesky flat planes. While not necessarily as ideal as a traditional level or tape measure, it is ready to go and almost always on hand for a quick and sound measurement.

3. Hubstaff

Another best app for contractors is a GPS tracking app that lets everyone know what is happening during those work hours. In construction, managing a team is hard enough, especially when managers and team leads are often required to move between their own projects, different jobs, and workers.

Hubstaff keeps you informed on how construction teams use their time in an easy, automated fashion. With this application you can:

• When They’re Clocked In, You Know Where They Are
• Time Track and Attendance Schedule
• Set Geofenced “Job-Sites”
• Payroll and Invoice Tracking

4. PlanGrid Build App

Built for the mobile architect this connects design and construction on a free mobile hub in your palm. It allows for updates to be present in real-time as well as the seamless integration and syncing amongst software. You can build, alter and draw on plans or blueprints.

It is a highly regarded five-star application, that once again is completely free.

5. Solocator

In both construction and maintenance, it isn’t always so much “Houston, we have a problem.” But rather, “Houston, where is the problem?” Solocator can help with that. There have been plenty of times when you hear there is a particular problem, in a particular room but you can’t find exactly where or the directions are bad. Solocator stamps photos with dates, times, directions, GPS data – that’s right cardinal directions, and apparently even altitudes.

For those requests, it waves the need for a detailed description and instead places the information on the photograph itself.

6. Autodesk BIM 360

Another great app for contractors is this program keeping everything to a task. This is yet another cloud integration software that focuses most heavily on connecting all the different pieces and people working on the flow of a project. It is an open platform meant to be integrated with the construction software that is already being used by all the different individuals working on the project. This way there is no need to get anyone to transfer to new software and keeps parts connected saving time and money with its open efficiency.

7. FingerCad

FingerCad is essentially a Computer Assisted Design program aimed at the mobile-minded. It features all the standard CAD software elements, you can draw things, you can build blueprints – anything you could do on a computer. While this is more often for an architect than a contractor, it could be easily used by the small-time contractor just breaking into the game and doing a lot of the leg work solo.

8. Fieldwire

An integrated cloud-based up that has limitless data and does not require an internet connection for partial usage. It has messaging software, drawing editing, and overlays. You can sink things from DropBox to add new images. Everything can be done live. Additionally, files, photos, videos, and 360 images are open to being added to the plan. Meetings, sight observations, and meetings can also be added and touched on within the app.

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If you are considering replacing your desk phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is one of your best alternatives. All you need is to be connected to the internet to make and receive calls using a business VoIP system.

VoIP is the fastest-growing business communication solution around and for good reason.

It replaces the traditional landline telephone with an advanced and feature-rich phone that establishes calls over the internet. It also enables users to talk to anyone using a mobile phone, laptop, or desk phone. A classic example is “softphones” that enable conferencing over smartphones and conference phones.

Making the Switch 

VoIP vs PBX…which is better for your business? Should you really be replacing your desk phones? Let’s begin with the basics.

PBX

Long before modern chat and collaboration apps came on the scene, all business communication used to happen through a phone system in offices warehoused in a telco room. These rooms were called a private branch exchange (PBX) which were essentially little telephone companies. These used a complex structure of copper wires to transmit signals from the caller to the receiver.

PBX was the pioneer in business-grade, analog phone systems. This traditional telephony system enabled people to have a personal extension to answer phone calls at their desks, check voicemails, put a call on hold, transfer calls, and more.

Over time, the humble PBX evolved into IP-PBX by incorporating VoIP technology.

The IP-PBX could now deliver a broader range of services and more satellite locations — home users, branch offices — by leveraging data and bandwidth of the internet to connect users and offices together.

VoIP

VoIP works by transmitting voice data over the internet and also your office network. A step-by-step breakdown of how a VoIP system works looks like this.

• First, it transforms all analog phone calls into digital signals.
• These digital signals are then converted into IP (Internet Protocol) packets.
• The system then converts these IP packets back into phone signals, which are then received by the phone of the receiver.

VoIP is basically a set of rules and protocols that connects a device (phones) with an IP-PBX, over the LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. It uses two different kinds of data packets.

• SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): The point where the call is initiated.
• RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol): These are small data packets containing the audio files that phones use to make a sound.

Over time, “VoIP phone systems” evolved and added more functionality such as chats, messaging, voice calls, and video conferencing features in an attempt to provide more comprehensive business communication solutions.

They also eliminated the need for purchasing and maintaining an in-house PBX system. Today, VoIP technology-backed web phones have become the backbone of business phone systems that enables businesses with some of the most advanced features in calling, making it an apt alternative to the traditional PBX.

Web Phone vs. Desk Phone

• Call Delivery: The main difference between a desk phone (traditional PBX) and a web phone (VoIP enabled) is in the way they connect people on calls.
  • Web phones deliver calls via the internet, whereas desk phones (traditional PBX) deliver calls via physically connected circuits and phone lines.
• Features: Traditional desk phones and web phones really have no comparison when it comes to features.
  • VoIP-enabled web phones are equipped with the latest technology and multiple options for communicating, for both internal and external business communication needs.
  • Desk phones have a pretty limited feature set.
• Flexibility and Integration: Web phones can easily be integrated with other important systems a business is using whereas a desk phone can’t exactly do the same.
  • Besides, web phones do not require in-house IT support and maintenance.
  • This also gives employees the flexibility to work and make/receive calls from anywhere which is not the case with desk phones.

Why Replace Desk Phones with Web Phones?

Integration with Business Apps

In today’s digitized environment, different business systems cannot work in isolation.

VoIP-enabled web phones enable you to integrate your phone system with software that your business is already using. This is not possible in the case of desk phones.

When switching to a web phone, take a demo to see how these integrations work. You may already be using a CRM, calendaring tool, or other software which you may want to integrate with your phone system.

• Most web phones have salesforce integration features that enable agents to take calls from the sales dashboard itself.
• To efficiently handle heavy call volumes and conference calls (internal and external), integrating your phone system with Google or Outlook calendar can make scheduling meetings a breeze.
  • These smartphone solutions have the ability to automatically update an agent’s status by syncing with their work calendar.
  • This way, other teammates know when a particular team member is available and when busy.

The Rise of the Remote Workforce

Do you as an organization follow a hybrid or remote work culture? Does a sizable percentage of your staff work remotely? It is high time you make a switch to web phones.

The web phone or VoIP technology has been designed to make calls from anywhere making it an ideal fit for your remote team. It enables remote workers to use an office phone number from their laptop or personal smartphones, as long as they have strong and stable bandwidth and internet connection.

Scalability

For a company with a limited budget for technology, no expansion plans, and no hybrid/remote work strategy sticking to desk phones may still work.

However, the hassle of maintaining the PBX system and an in-house IT support team will still be there. What’s more, the lack of ability of traditional systems to integrate with your other technology stack can lead to a significant loss of business.

For a company with plans to grow the team in the near future, using a web phone will likely make more sense.

Web phones provide you with the flexibility to easily scale up or down in terms of phone lines and users as and when you expand your team or downsize it. Contact centers and call centers especially stand to benefit from VoIP technology. These advanced feature-rich phones can give a serious boost in handling high call volumes, identifying, and analyzing patterns in customer calls.

‘Web Phones’ to Consider to Replace ‘Desk Phones’

It’s clear that web phones are clearly a win-win to address modern business communication needs. Now, choosing the one that best fits your requirements is the next step. The market is flooded with various options when it comes to web phones. We have put together our top picks for you to consider.

1. Tragofone

Tragofone is essentially a VoIP softphone app that can be installed on a mobile phone, laptop/desktop, or basically any device your employee is comfortable with. This particular web phone tops our list because of the host of features it offers. It makes it an ideal match for any business that works in the hybrid or remote mode.

• It features a versatile dialer app that enables employees to use the business VoIP number on their personal devices.
• Backed by WebRTC technology it is fairly easy to use. Employees can open it in a web browser they are familiar with to make and receive calls.
• Tragofone is both iOS and Android friendly.
• The advanced feature set comprises call routing, call monitoring, call logging, chat/messaging, fax management, employee directory, and more.
• Other features such as auto-provisioning and white-labeling are an added bonus.

2. FireRTC

FireRTC is a free calling web phone that runs within a browser using  WebRTC technology. The technology eliminates the need to install or buy any add-ons.

FireRTC offers free calling to the PSTN in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also provides users with background information about the person or business they are speaking with.

With features like call recording, this is one of the best web phones available. The FireRTC app is available in the Chrome Webstore.

3. OnSIP Desktop App

The OnSIP Desktop App does not require any downloads or plug-ins. Likewise, it runs seamlessly on Windows and Mac operating systems on both Chrome and Firefox web browsers. Similarly, it also enables users to make voice or video calls at the click of a button. The desktop app is equipped to make calls to:

• PSTN;
• extension dial;
• SIP-to-SIP calls; and
• video calls with compatible devices.

The OnSIP desktop app has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of a call/contact center and is an ideal replacement for desk phones.

It enables both the sales and customer support teams to utilize calling and monitoring features. Additionally, it enables remote workers/mobile staff to log into the app and connect with the company’s phone system. The video call feature enables employees to better assist customers using visual cues.

4. Zoiper

The Zoiper web phone’s ability to integrate your website and web app make it a strong contender as one of the best in the category.

Zoiper web is compatible with all popular browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera on the Windows operating system. Zoiper has the unique ability to discover the browser and install the appropriate plugin.

The web phone enables a user to do unlimited concurrent calls to an unlimited number of users. It boasts of features such as call hold and call transfer. Getting a  license for Zoiper may be a good idea if embedding a fully functional phone on your website or web app is your business requirement. This makes it easy for customers to reach you directly from your website or app.

5. FluentCloud Web Phone

The FluentCloud web phone is a Google Chrome add-on that is compatible with ChromeBook computers, laptops, and desktops.

This device enables users to make and receive calls, messages, chat, check voicemails, read online fax, and more all using a single interface.

FluentCloud web phone has a paid subscription plan which gives the users access to a cloud-based all-inclusive business phone system.

6. Twilio

Twilio web phone enables a user to use a web browser to make phone calls. However, like the other web phones listed here, Twilio’s browser phone is not an enterprise-grade solution and requires a user to install an add-on manually in a terminal window. Additionally, the phone has the capability to call PSTNs, extensions, and SIP endpoints.

Web phones clearly equip businesses with more features when compared to old-school desk phones. Likewise, their ability to work seamlessly across multiple devices and the capability to let employees work from anywhere is something surely to consider in today’s fast-changing remote work culture. The sky’s the limit with these new-age web phones.

The post 6 Web Phone Options That Can Replace a Desk Phone appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

to call your bank or talk to a finance specialist to get a better understanding of your finances. With the right money management app, you can quickly check your budget before deciding whether to make a purchase or not. Money management apps can help you to hold yourself more accountable for purchases and spending habits.

You Can Learn More About Your Finances and Credit With Money Management Apps

You may want to know the answers to frequently asked questions, like how can credit cards be more secure than cash or what’s the best way to pay off debt fast. Money management apps are designed to educate you along the way. You will learn special tips and tricks to raise your credit score and build positive financial history. It is never too late to start learning about your finances and credit. Take advantage of all the resources and tools at your disposal.

You Can Track Your Spending Habits

After downloading a money management app, you might decide to start tracking spending habits. Small purchases add up. You might be surprised by the monthly or yearly impact of habits like vaping or drinking. Money and personal finance apps often use graphs and other tools to help you visualize your current spending habits. From there, you can assess what you are doing well and what you might like to change. Once you set a goal to spend more responsibly, you can use money apps to keep track of your progress towards that goal. Watching your spending habits change for the better over time can be highly rewarding.

You Can Budget

A personal finance app can also help you to budget your money better. First, you can keep track of direct deposits and other payments that you have coming into your bank account. You can budget different amounts of money for savings accounts, rent, loan repayments, utility bills, car related expenses, grocery shopping, childcare, medical expenses, leisure, and other life expenses. Doing all of the math required to make a tight budget work can be difficult. Money management apps can help to take some of the guesswork out of this process. If you are spending too much money in one area, you might try to change your habits so that they are more cost effective in the future. For example, you may have a tight food and grocery budget. Instead of eating fast food every day, use store brand grocery items and coupons to save money.

You Can Save Up Money and Plan for the Future

Tracking and planning your spending habits can help you in a variety of different ways. Many people find that they are able to save more money when they track and plan their finances using a money management app. Saving money is important, even if you do not make a lot of money at work. You need to save money in case of emergencies, medical bills, moving expenses, job loss, and other potential situations that can arise in life. In general, it is smart to put at least 10 percent of your income into a savings account that you do not touch.

There May Even Be Bonuses for Sign Up or Referrals

Some money management apps even offer cool bonuses for users when they sign up or refer new users to their platforms. You might be able to take advantage of paid app features for free or for a discounted rate. You may even receive cash or prizes. Some money management apps host fun contests and giveaways that their users can take part in.

If you want more control over your money – especially if you’re working on a tight budget, using money management apps should be able to help you.  Between tracking your funds, scheduling payments and setting money goals for the future, these clever smartphone money apps can really save you in many ways.  Once you take the time to select the right money personal finance apps for you and your financial needs, you will be off and running towards a happier, healthier bank account.

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You can always get advice from other people on how they accomplish their tasks. However, tips that work for one individual may not be the best fit for your needs and your style of work.

The same goes for productivity tools. With so many applications and tools on the market, it’s important to know what you actually need.

Perhaps you’re a skilled note-taker but are having a difficult time staying focused on other responsibilities. Or you may have a great style for communicating with colleagues and clients, but don’t have an efficient method for making appointments.

Help is as near as your phone, computer, or tablet. The six apps listed below will help you improve efficiency so you can sit back and watch your business blossom.

Hive

Hive’s productivity platform is among the top tools available. When integrated with Hive’s desktop or web applications, the mobile application offers an additional way to improve efficiency all day long.

With Hive, team members are able to look over their lists of tasks as well as communicate with one another in real-time. They can work together on their schedules, share documents, and keep track of the status of their projects.

Alongside the mobile application, Hive’s desktop and web applications come with additional tools to increase productivity. Each project can be viewed in different ways, based on the individual’s style of work and preferences. These include a Gantt Diagram, Kanban Board, Calendar, and many more.

Changes are visible across all views of the project. Everyone is able to work as they’d like. Everyone is kept updated. Your tasks across all projects are also included on your personal to-do lists. This keeps you accountable and helps you when prioritizing your next tasks.

Todoist

Todoist is an easy application for managing tasks that allows you to track and group tasks according to projects. If you really want to improve your efficiency, think of Tdoist as an upgrade of your standard to-do list.

Apart from creating and organizing your own tasks, you can also use the app to work alongside other users. Todoist allows you to share tasks as well as assign work.

Google Docs

Google Docs is one of the most effective tools for sharing documents and working in real-time. The online word processor eliminates saving files and sending them back and forth during the editing and writing process.

Based on the settings you select, document files are shared internally as well as outside your company. It allows team members to collaborate from any location and reduces the number of redundant documents. This alone can greatly reduce communication issues.

Google Docs also has a comment feature. This allows you to highlight and take notes about the text in question. Comments targeted at particular users can be notified via email to keep everyone informed. To ensure your privacy as well as security, Google allows the owner of the documents to decide how to edit each person who is a part of the document.

Google Sheets has similar benefits including the capability of importing CSV files. This allows you to save all your documents together in one hub.

IFTTT (If This Then That)

If This Then That (IFTTT) is an automated tool that effortlessly connects various applications and experiences.

IFTTT allows you to set up automated processes that range from routine tasks to more unusual connections. It helps you automatize repetitive tasks. This, in turn, lets you concentrate on the other important aspects of your job.

Calendar

Calendar relieves you of the burden of going back and forth in email or on the phone just to set up a meeting. This feature alone is a huge time-saver, but that’s just one of its benefits.

When you create a Calendar account you can customize your preferences for availability. This includes offering timeslots of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and so forth according to when you’re available.

When you’re ready to set up an appointment, simply send an email with easy-to-use checkboxes. They get to choose the time slot most suitable for them. This eliminates confusion and makes it easy to schedule multiple meetings in a short amount of time.

Evernote

If you prefer taking notes on the computer, or have a mixture of digital and handwritten notes, Evernote is for you. Evernote is among the most effective tools available for storing your thoughts and ideas in one spot.

One of the cool features of the Evernote application is that it lets users capture pictures of handwritten notes and then upload them. Of course, this is in addition to making notes directly on your devices.

Search allows users to browse all their documents — either written or typed. This is made possible by the handwriting analysis built into the app. Once you have your notes uploaded, you can arrange your notebooks into systems and then filter them using tags.

There are so many efficiency apps on the market now that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Your best bet is to, first of all, identify where exactly you need help getting your act together. Odds are good millions of other people face the same struggle, so yes, you can bet that “there’s an app for that.”

The post 6 Apps to Improve Efficiency appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

However, let’s go back to that first number. Over one million apps. That represents some fierce competition! To get users to download and use your app, small business owners must work hard to stand out from the crowd. To do that, they have to work with their app developers to create something worth downloading. Start by working with one of the best PWA app builders and keeping in mind these six things as you are creating your next app.

6 Keys to Developing a Stand-Out App

1. Focus on a Problem

The most successful apps on the market focus on consumer needs and aim to solve their pain points. For example, the Domino’s Pizza app allows you to order from the convenience of your phone, and you will never have to call to ask where your pizza is again because their Tracker follows your order and updates you until it is delivered.

2. Make It Intuitive

Your customers should not need an instruction book to use your app! Make sure it is easy to navigate and provides a good user experience. For example, FastCoDesign named Airbnb’s app one of the most innovative apps of 2016 because of its new simplified interface and search filters that make it easy to find the right accommodations.

3. Don’t Forget Marketing

Make a plan to promote your app before and after launch to get new downloads and encourage usage. For example, Staples promotes its app (and new app features) through videos, press releases, and working with bloggers and reviewers who help spread the message.

4. Make the Most of Distribution

There are dozens of app stores available for distributing your app; choose the channels that will help you reach the right audience. For example, Facebook has certainly made the most of distribution. Their app is available globally except in the ten countries where it is banned.

5. Customer Service Is Important

Offering excellent customer service includes having a FAQ section in your app, and a way for users to contact you with feedback or questions. For example, it is no surprise that the king of customer service, Amazon, built these features into their app, with a Menu tab that includes help topics and a means for contacting the company.

6. Form a Retention Strategy

Once people download your app, you need to keep them coming back for more. Push notifications, regular updates, and offering perks are three things that work. For example, AppMakr named Starbucks’ marketing campaign one of the most successful app campaigns of all time because their clever use of promotions (digital coupons, personalized rewards, etc.) keep users coming back regularly.

Knowing how to create and market a successful app is a valuable skill. With over one million apps on the market, specialized knowledge is the key to creating an app that stands out. While app creation is the norm for big business, soon it will become commonplace for small businesses too.

The post How to Develop a Stand-out App for Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Against this backdrop, app developers are compelled to create a solution that will captivate the user’s attention and prove intuitive and relevant to the user. 

Today, mobile design is a way to meet user expectations and communicate brand messages to app users. Even the smallest UX or UI elements play a role in delivering certain meta-information to the app user. 

A visually appealing and user-centered mobile app design is the result of a well-grounded strategy that the design team adheres to. In this walk-through guide, we will outline the essential stages of mobile app design and explore the dos and don’ts of each.

Stage #1: Concept

In the beginning, the design team outlines the concept of the application and its core architecture, interface, and usability elements. For this, they carefully examine the project’s requirements, documentation, and business strategy, and, if possible, have a sit-down with the client or the project manager to discuss their expectations for the end-product’s UX and UI in greater detail. 

When brainstorming on the design concept, designers also need to take into account the mobile app’s target audience, the technologies it will use or get integrated with, and the intended operating platform. In the end, the team should have a good understanding of the mobile app’s color scheme, look and feel, and user flow, as well as the scope of work lying ahead of them.   

Stage #2: Market and User Research

Next, designers go on to explore what similar mobile apps the market has to offer, paying close attention to the most popular ones. This is done to identify the best and newest UX practices as well as the most common interface elements for the particular app type your design can benefit from.   

Because user research is a more in-depth study, it can be considered optional, especially if deadlines are pressing. However, when your team spares time for it, it will help to tap into the needs, behaviors, and motivations of the app’s target audience. Proceeding from these insights, the team can implement design solutions that will prove truly valuable, allowing the app to stand out due to its relevance.  

Stage #3: Sketches

After refining the initial app concept according to the market and user research results, designers can proceed with creating sketches. These are rough visual representations of the app’s layout and graphic user interfaces, meant to illustrate the initial app idea and drawn freehand on paper or with basic graphic software. 

On the face of it, sketches may seem unnecessary, yet they shape the design team’s vision and help to verify how well they understood the specifications obtained from developers and the product manager. After the app sketches are reviewed and necessary changes are made and approved, the design process becomes more intricate.

Stage #4: Wireframes

Next, the design team focuses on elaborating the functionality and user experience of the app’s layout. You supplement the screen sketches with various user interface elements, like input fields, icons, buttons, progress bars and such, and describe how they will work when users interact with them. If you favor two distinct elements and do not know which will suit your app best, run a quick A/B test on a control group and keep the option preferred by the majority of respondents. 

When working on wireframes, it is advisable to abide by the iOS or Android interface design guidelines: this way you make sure the end-product has the look and feel consistent with the intended operating system. As a rule, wireframes are static and low-fidelity, but with their level of detail and scope, it already requires a digital design tool to build them. 

Stage #5: Mockups

This is when you transform the plain schematic wireframes into a realistic semblance of your future mobile app. For this, the team introduces color, graphics, animation elements, and navigation visuals to the screens and aligns the spacing between screen components. Apart from this, designers standardize fonts and typography and insert labels and texts into the intended places. Nonetheless, mockups remain static and unclickable.  

With mockups, you can finally have a bird’s-eye view of your design and see whether all your decisions played well or if some aspects need improvement. They also allow front-end developers to fairly estimate how long the development will take.  

Stage #6: Prototype

During the final stage, your app design finally becomes an interactive prototype. For this, you need to make elements clickable and connect all the screens and modules together as they are intended to be. As a result, you get a high-fidelity manifestation of the app, which can simulate the user journey and experiences. 

Since the prototype is not tied together with the backend, it is not technically a finished product. Nevertheless, it more than qualifies to be demonstrated to the client or stakeholders. As the prototypes are reviewed, refined, and receive final approval, the design team can hand it over to developers to finalize the project.  

What’s next

Naturally, last-minute improvements and adjustments in the application’s UX or UI will, in all likelihood, be required before the release, but they will be minor if prototypes are detailed and thorough. All in all, the six steps outlined above make up a feasible roadmap to an appealing and user-friendly design for your new mobile app.     

The post Mobile App Design: From Idea to Product Development appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Below are hints to assist you in how much you’ll need to finance your app project.

Setting up a budget for specific costs

Unless you have a specific development team who has a chart breakdown, it’s best to create your own. App costs can range from $10,000 for offline standalone apps to $500,000 or more for enterprise apps. Hence, your budget should be flexible for the type of app you want. You might want to allocate about 60 percent for development and quality assurance (QA) and 15 percent for project management. Set aside about 15 percent for user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) and 10 percent for business analytics.

Allocating enough money for labor costs, coding and UI/UX

Your materials and labor costs are primary expenses with app development. Labor rates can vary depending on the development team you hire. If you can, find developers and designers under the same parent company to lower costs. Ensure they are familiar with the app preference you want and that they work on that type of UI/UX. Depending on your app features, your labor costs might be high and you might have a large team. You may need business analysts, backend developers and UI/UX engineers. You will also have a project manager, mobile developers and a QA engineer. Projected costs might range from $2,000 – $60,000. Once you have your app set up, you might want to use Apica Systems to make sure it is running smoothly.

Including project management and business analysis costs

To help with market analysis, research and documentation, you’ll need about $1,200 – $11,000. You also have to determine if your app will run on iOS, Android or both. Consider where your target audience is when making your choice. With your project management, set aside $1,200 – $12,000 depending on your app features. Your PM can help with account management, business analysis, QA and concepts. They’re also there to assist with digital project management and design.

Adding in expenses for maintenance and updates and specific app related costs

Another area to set aside money is for covering maintenance and updates. Depending on if you use iOS or Android, maintenance might run anywhere from $10,000 – $14,000 every year. There are additional costs you should factor in.

These might include:

• Server components that will work with your mobile app through APIs. These might cost between $6,500 – $30,000.

• Any features you offer with the app like navigation, OCR, QR codes or integrated payments. These can run about $3,000 for a single feature.

• Analytics that you include to gauge revenue, user payments, user characteristics or user actions. These can add on another $2,500.

• Adding in third-party chats from software development kits (SDKs). These can cost $2,500. If you use custom chat modules, these might run $15,000 or higher.

While app costs can vary, having a budget can help. Hire the best developers and designers and look for ways to calculate app design costs. That way you can allocate money where you need it to ensure the success of your app project.

The post How Much Does it Cost to Create an App? 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.

Better Business Networking

Networking is a vital part of small business success because you never know where a new connection will lead you. As guest contributor, Jen Slaw, says, “Our connections will become our clients, team members, strategic partners, mentors, and advisors.” By networking, you can form relationships that will better your business. If networking isn’t your thing, take a look at this article. Jen Slaw is sharing five things you can do to immediately expand your business network.

Click to read 5 Steps to Form & Nurture Business Relationships

Relationships with Contractors

No matter how hard you try, you can’t do it all yourself, small business owner; you will occasionally come across tasks that are better handled by an expert rather than using a DIY approach. One such example is app development. More and more small businesses are understanding the benefits of creating their own app, but lacking knowledge of coding and design requires them to hire out. This article can help you form a better relationship with your app developer so you can clearly communicate your needs and help to create a stunning end product.

Click to read 5 Tips for Working with an App Developer as a Small Business Owner

Social Media Relationships

Social media is an ideal place to cultivate your relationships with your customers, and no one knows more about this subject than Ted Rubin, the Chief Marketing Officer of Brand Innovators and creator of the concept “return on relationships.” In this article, Ted offers tips to help you make better digital connections using social media.

Click to read Ted Rubin’s Advice on Building Personal Relationships through Social Media

Bonus Article: Workplace & Employee Relationships

Forming strong relationships with employees involves creating a culture within your small business where team members know they are valued and love to come to work. To create a better workplace environment, check out this article by guest author Randy Stocklin, the founder of One Click which was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 50 Places to work in 2016. Randy is sharing four tips that will help you build stronger relationships and culture in your business.

Click to read How to Build a Rock Solid Company Culture

So how are you doing on relationship management in your small business? Check out the articles above to get help in these specific areas! You can also get more advice at SmartHustle.com – or spark up new relationships with your business peers by joining the Smart Hustle Community.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Tips for Stronger Small Business Relationships appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The growth in omnichannel shopping is bringing out creative solutions from brands like Staples, which has recently launched an innovative feature for its iPhone app that merges your online and in-store shopping experience. I recently had the opportunity to review this app, so I’ll tell you all about it below, along with some more information about omnichannel shopping.

This article was written in partnership with Staples, an office supplies store that is committed to making it easier for businesses of all sizes to find the products and technology they need to succeed.

Below is a short demo video of how the app works:

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, omnichannel shopping refers to the growing number of consumers who shop both online and in physical stores, often using a hybrid method to browse and buy the products they need. For example, they may start out by researching products online, then go to a local physical store to make the purchase. Or they may see a product in a physical store but then make the purchase online. They may even choose in-store pickup when checking out online, which brings them back from the online realm to the physical store all over again.

Omni-channel shopping has retailers trying to figure out how they can create a seamless experience across all their platforms to make shopping both convenient and fun. Some examples of omnichannel retail strategies include:

• Apps that save a customer’s shopping cart so they can access the cart again if they switch devices (for example, if they add something to the cart using their smartphone, it will be there later when they come back to the site using their tablet).
• In-store associates armed with iPads, allowing them to give shoppers more information about products or to ring up customers on the spot.
• QR codes in print advertisements or on product packaging that allows a person to scan the code with their phone to visit a professional on business phone systems that  can give them more information.

Staples iPhone App – The Latest Omnichannel Retail Strategy

Staples’ iPhone app just got an amazing omnichannel upgrade in its 5.0 update. More specifically, 83 select stores in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Seattle have been mapped out so you can see a complete map of the inside, allowing you to know exactly where products are and plan your shopping trip accordingly.

This new feature allows you to:

• Search for products within the app to find out if they are available at your local store.
• Pinpoint the exact location of the products you need, so you know where to find them inside your local Staples store.
• Plan your route inside the store, so you can find the easiest and most efficient way to grab your items and check out.

The majority of Staples shoppers are omnichannel shoppers, which is why Staples created the new functionality. In fact, statistics show that 70 percent of Staples iPhone app users are omnichannel shoppers, making this the perfect update for those who want an easier shopping experience.

Staples iPhone App – My Review

Fortunately, I live in the New York/New Jersey area where the new functionality has been launched, so I was able to try out the in-store map function. As I mentioned, the function is currently being beta tested for 83 stores in select areas; if you don’t live nearby, hopefully, it will come to your area soon!

My opinion: the in-store map of the Staples iPhone app is a great feature for the busy business owner, if you ate not one of these you may want to sell your iPhone. Time is money! The app will ensure that you are not wasting any of your valuable time. For example:

• Check the app before you leave to make sure the product you are looking for is available at your local store. If it isn’t, then at least you haven’t wasted a trip! You can use the app to check availability at other stores nearby, or to make the purchase online instead.
• If you just walked into the store but aren’t sure where your product is located, just pull out your phone! You’ll avoid wandering around looking lost, and quickly discover where the product is hiding.

The in-store map isn’t the only feature of the app either. You can also use the Staples iPhone app to find store information (like address, phone number, and store hours), view the latest deals and coupons, search and research products, purchase online-only items, or purchase items online and then pick them up in your local store on the same day.

If you ever have to purchase items for your business, whether office supplies, coffee or technology, I recommend downloading the free Staples iPhone app today. Not only is it perfect for omnichannel shoppers, but it’s also great for any business owner who wants an easy, convenient and stress-free shopping experience.

Staples is an office supply chain with a 30 year history of helping businesses of all sizes. Staples promises: “We make it easy to make more happen” with more products, more ways to save, & more ways to shop. The Staples App demonstrates the commitment to making it easier to shop by unifying online & in-store shopping.

The post New Staples iPhone App Feature: Interactive Store Maps Makes OmniChannel Shopping a Breeze appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Why Is Invoicing a Challenge?

As Greg mentions in the interview, many small business owners are still using traditional methods of invoicing, like invoice books and computer files. Sure, these methods will get the job done, but small business owners often feel overwhelmed and disorganized.

It’s not just about the method of preparing an invoice either. The problem goes deeper, into how you accept payment on your invoices with this automatic invoice generator to get organized.  “People forget, small businesses in the U.S. are driving in their cars to pick up checks,” says Greg. “Something is wrong with that in 2016. You shouldn’t need to be driving to pick up a check.”

So why are so many small business owners using dated invoicing methods when invoicing technology is readily available? Greg says that it’s because small business owners are simply very busy people. They feel pressure to make improvements in so many areas of their business that it’s hard to choose what to start with, and even harder to get started TODAY.

Why You Should Switch to Invoicing Technology Today

“I wish I had done that sooner.”

That’s the feedback Greg gets from new small business owners who have made the switch to Invoice2Go. He says that it’s not hard to convince people that there are better invoicing solutions. Small business owners know there must be a better way of invoicing because they feel disorganized all the time and particularly stressed at tax time. Invoice2Go has made it their mission to make it easy to switch to invoicing technology TODAY.

Invoice2Go is an app that includes a free trial. Simply visit the app store on your phone to download the app. During the free trial, you can explore how Invoice2Go works. As Greg mentions, the system is so simple that you will be ready to send invoices in minutes. Small business owners also use their free trial to send test invoices to themselves and to set up invoices that will look similar to their current invoices.

Beyond the simplicity of Invoice2Go, there are several benefits of switching to invoicing technology:

• The ability to quickly send invoices, no matter where you are, right from your mobile device.
• The peace of mind knowing that the work is done, the invoice has been sent, and you are closer to getting paid.
• Not being held back because you don’t have access to physical or computer invoice files.
• The ability to accept credit card payments and electronic transfers.
• Better organization of invoices, which is particularly helpful at tax time.
• The ability to present a more professional appearance of your business.

There are many invoicing technology options on the market, but what makes Invoice2Go special is their dedication to small business owners. With it, you can create an invoice that gets you paid easily and seamlessly. The company has found its “sweet spot” working with small businesses and they have no plans to move out of the small business space. Invoice2Go’s niche is solving the invoicing problems of small business owners, so they have developed solutions specifically for you.

In the end, Greg’s main piece of advice is to make the switch TODAY. “Just do it today. Don’t do it tomorrow or the next day. You’ll be really happy with how much more organized you feel. You will feel so much better about your business.”

The post Greg Waldorf of Invoice2Go on Why You Need to Switch to Invoicing Technology Today 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. Slack

We switched over from Skype to Slack, and it’s worked wonders for our team. You can divide the conversations into specific channels with their own members and use the “@” function to notify multiple members at once. It keeps our communication organized, and having the app on our phones makes it easy to communicate from wherever.

– Micah Johnson, GoFanbase, Inc.

2. iDoneThis

iDoneThis is a tool our team has used for years because of its simplicity and accountability. iDoneThis will send you and your team an evening email reminder to ask what you did that day. The team replies, and the next day everyone gets a digest with what everyone on the team got done. It’s very simple, and allows remote employees to celebrate and stay on top of team successes.

– Brett Farmiloe, Marketing Auditors

3. Sococo and Slack

Our team uses a combination of Slack for chat, and Sococo, which is a virtual office. It has offices, conference rooms, chat, video and screen sharing. The combination of these has drastically improved our remote team’s communication and productivity while supporting Revel’s culture. These encourage information sharing and keep everyone in the loop without too much noise.

– Kayla Wagner Faires, Revel Interactive

4. Wrike

Most of our team works remotely in various parts of the country or around the world. Wrike is awesome because it lets us collaborate on projects without having to email progress updates; it has real time notifications. It centralizes the information so employees can start working instead of trying to figure out what’s been done since they worked on the project. It has sped up our development process a lot. There are great business communications solutions offered in the industry.

– Peter Daisyme, Hosting

5. Trello

We have found Trello to be a helpful platform. We can communicate easily through the site in an organized fashion. It keeps track of what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process. It also allows for checklists that keep you updatedon how much work, percentage wise, you have done.

– Stanley Meytin, True Film Production

6. Screenhero

Screenhero is an incredible tool that promotes effective collaboration remotely. The technology enables you to hold conference calls and screen-shares, but also goes a step beyond by allowing team members to actually control one another’s screens as needed. It’s a very powerful piece of software, and we have started to use it daily to collaborate across multiple time zones.

– Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

7. Asana

We have all our projects organized in Asana, and use it to communicate on projects every day since we’re a virtual team. My team loves the massive checklists in Asana, and we use the thread for each task to chat and give feedback if we need to. We’ve tried a lot of systems, and this is the one that has worked best for us and allowed us to cancel three other tools. Asana does it all!

– Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World

8. Salesforce

Salesforce allows me to watch what each employee does on a daily basis. It tracks each representative’s activity, sales, steps, etc. I am always checking in on this to make sure I am up to speed on everyone’s progress.

– Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

9. Teamwork

In dealing with clients and team members remotely, using a cloud solution like Teamwork is essential. Owning a web development company, it’s important to have privacy with your team members with the versatility of including and excluding the client when necessary on communications, files, etc. In testing all of the solutions out there when trying to find the best software, we chose Teamwork.

– Vinny Galiano, Galiano Brands

10. DoneDone

Although DoneDone is the most effective for development and software teams, it really can be used for company-wide communication and collaboration through one central hub. This platform easily detects issues in process, no matter what department you are a part of, and helps teams come together to solve said problem. DoneDone is extremely easy to use and team members adapt to it quickly.

– Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

11. 15Five

The beauty of 15Five is its directness and simplicity. Employees answer questions ranging from what is and isn’t working to where they need help. The opportunity to answer specialized questions on a weekly basis keeps teams agile. You’ll find that sometimes you’ll receive a greater level of honesty or thought when your team is able to respond outside of the typical meeting or stand-up environments.

– Zach Robbins, Leadnomics

12. Projectplace

If you’ve used a platform like Trello and want to step it up a little, then you’ll like Projectplace. Just like Trello, it uses the Kanban method of project management (with Kanban boards). You get tools like Task Management, Project Overviews, Issue Management, etc., and it’s all visual so you won’t feel too overwhelmed.

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja

13. Confluence

There is no better way to collaborate with a remote team than with an internal wiki. With Confluence, you can upload files, document business processes, interlink pages, as well as tag specific team members to projects and comments where they need to address an issue. You can also set up email notifications for yourself and your team so that everyone is aware of new updates made to pages in the wiki.

– Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.

14. Whatsapp

Most of my team is spread out around the world. The best way to check up on them is through whatsapp. It’s really awesome to know when someone you contact has seen your messages. Whatsapp does just that, and with over a billion users, calls can be made instantly anywhere. Even Facebook’s messenger (acquirer of whatsapp) adopted the message received feature. Pro tip: When it’s urgent, I use both.

– Robert De Los Santos, Sky High Party Rentals

The post 14 New Ways to Check in With Your Remote Team 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. Box

Box is a UK-based file sharing service that has both personal and business options. It offers unlimited storage on business accounts and it integrates with Microsoft Office 365. It’s simple to use, secure and affordable.

– Jonathan Long, Market Domination Media

2. Google Drive

We use Google Drive for file sharing among our team and also clients. It is free till 15 GB for each user and get 100 GB is only $2 a month. We can share any type of file and also create Google office files and share. It comes with apps for desktops and smartphones that we can download and synch from there. It maintains the versions. Also, many people have Google accounts, so we can share easily.

– Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

3. BitTorrent Sync

BitTorrent Sync is the best file sharing solution we’ve used by a mile. For most use cases, it is completely free no matter how many users you have via a torrent. It has higher security because it never gets stored in the “cloud.” It’s also fast, especially within a local network, precisely because it goes directly between the users rather than uploading and then downloading on other cloud services.

– James Simpson, GoldFire Studios

4. Slack

People think of Slack as a chat, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a perfect solution for a remote-working and mobile-friendly team to search, share and store files that need to be ready at a moment’s notice.

– Brennan White, Cortex

5. Copy

Copy is a great service that I’ve used over the past couple of years. It works basically the same as Dropbox, but you get a few more bells and whistles while spending around half the yearly price as most other services like it.

– John Rampton, Due

6. A Shared Server

All of our computers are connected and have a shared folder via Wi-Fi. This method is very low-cost and secure.

– Andrew Namminga, Andesign

7. Hightail

We have a unique Hightail upload link that makes it easy for employees and clients to send bulk files all at once, without dealing with multiple emails. Since our business heavily relies on receiving photo and video content from clients, Hightail has made our lives much easier.

– Micah Johnson, GoFanbase, Inc.

8. Dropbox

I find Dropbox relatively inexpensive for what you get, and with the new functionality of being able to comment on files, it makes my life much easier. If I were to pick a negative, it would be purchasing more storage for your account, which can get pricey for multiple users.

– Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

9. WeTransfer

I love Google Drive for many things, but for sharing it doesn’t always work right. Wetransfer.com is my go-to solution for quick, free and painless sharing for anything up to 2 GB. You don’t even need an account to send anything, and I’ve used it at least 200 times over the years.

– Josh Sprague, Orange Mud

10. OwnCloud

The available SaaS file–sharing services aren’t always a great fit: they have limited features, aren’t easily customized and security is a coin toss. OwnCloud is a self-hosted file–sharing and collaboration solution with great encryption. It’s hosted on your own servers, in a data center or in the cloud. The major benefit is that your IT department has full control over where and how data is stored.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

11. Chatter

If you’re already a Salesforce customer then you may be familiar with Chatter, what we describe as our internal social network. We communicate in department groups and often share relevant information — such as training material or marketing collateral — by posting it directly to the group. Chatter shows a PDF preview of uploaded files and allows people to like, comment and download a copy.

– David Ciccarelli, Voices.com

12. MediaFire

If you have a lot of files to share but not a huge budget, MediaFire is a great choice for you and your company. There is no limit on storage space and the interface is extremely easy to work with and show to your teams. There is no limit on how many users can dial in to this tool, and it is a great space for team members to communicate, share files, bounce ideas back and forth and more.

– Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

13. Streamfile

With Streamfile, you can send and share files up to 300 MB for free. No registration is required, and your files are encrypted. You also get 1 GB of bandwidth each month, and premium accounts are available starting at only $79 per month.

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

14. Seafile and OwnCloud

Seafile and OwnCloud have seen some some good success, are actively supported and offer community editions that are free. They also have paid versions that are reasonable and low-cost compared to more mainstream big tech companies.

– Kevin Conner, Vast Bridges

The post 14 File Sharing Tools Perfect for Growing Teams 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. Calendly

We’ve had great success using Calendly. You include your link with available meeting times in an email, and the client schedules their own appointment from there. It eliminates the back and forth of trying to find a time that works for everyone and is super easy to use.

– Micah Johnson, GoFanbase, Inc.

2. ScheduleOnce

Since using ScheduleOnce’s MeetMe for scheduling meetings with clients, there’s been a vast improvement in organization and a reduction in the back-and-forth emails that normally ensue when trying to set up an appointment. It’s easy to use, reduces admin effort and removes headaches.

– Thomas Smale, FE International

3. x.ai

Amy, the virtual artificial assistant from x.ai, is really sophisticated and has handled a number of my complicated scheduling requests without fail. Most of the time, the other side has no idea that they are interacting with a computer-generated program.

– Reza Chowdhury, AlleyWatch

4. Google Apps

Google Calendars is tried and true for a reason. It syncs with nearly every phone, computer and email account, allowing me to have constant access to my calendar and add appointments wherever I am. While there are other options out there, this is easy to use and virtually everywhere.

– Matt Doyle, Excel Builders

5. Mixmax

Mixmax is a Gmail integration app that has a feature that really takes the hassle out of scheduling meetings. You just add calendar spots to your email and the person you send it to just clicks on the time that works for them and it’s booked. There is no back and forth. It easily saves me hours every week.

– Thomas Cullen, LaunchPad Lab

6. Pick.co

Scheduling should be an easy task but tends to have the most complicated solutions catering to it. Most of them often miss the point: getting the appointment set quickly. Pick.co makes it so easy to set your preferred times and connect with your existing calendar. Then you’re good to share your calendar link with the world.

– Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea LLC

7. Sunrise

Sunrise is a great calendar app. The way it handles invites and meeting dates/times is beyond what others do. It’s a fusion between Google Calendar and Doodle. In addition, the mobile app is wonderfully executed as well. It’s a real time-saver.

– George Morris, The FRAMEWORK

8. Front Desk

Front Desk is the most reliable, simple and flexible solution that I’ve used for scheduling within my team, company and clients. The software adapts to my company’s unique workflow and does not force us to schedule in ways that we are not used to. The entire team adapted to Front Desk immediately, and it makes communication flow easily and successfully.

– Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

9. Assistant.to

We all hate the back and forth that happens when trying to set up a meeting. Assistant.to is a lifesaver in that department, and its integration with Gmail is nothing short of beautiful. With just a couple clicks you can send your availability, which stays up-to-date in real time. Then, people can select their time and book. It’s automatically added to both calendars. Done!

– Christie Kerner, Launch MiE

10. Keeping It Old School

I prefer the old school method of having a secretary or personal assistant to take over once a connection has been made. This way makes us different compared to everyone else using online apps and provides a personal touch when scheduling that brings us back to the days when folks would connect much more in person.

– Engelo Rumora, Ohio Cashflow

The post 10 Apps That Take the Stress Out of Scheduling Appointments 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. Bees With Machine Guns

I use Bees With Machine Guns because it uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) to spin up servers immediately to make requests onto your site. It’s open source, and the only cost comes from the servers it spins up and tears down in a matter of seconds.

– Shalyn Dever, Chatter Buzz

2. Perfecto Mobile

We have used Perfecto Mobile for years. We can create any number of users to do load testing, and the best thing is that it does testing on real devices in a cloud environment rather than using simulator-based testing. Also, it allows us to test mobile apps on 100+ mobile devices of different make and model. We can test the UI/UX and do performance testing. It’s also subscription- and cloud-based, which saves money.

– Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

3. Blitz

Blitz.io has been a fantastic resource for us. It’s about as easy to set up as load testing can be, which is extremely helpful. It can handle up to 200,000 users from multiple regions, so there’s a lot of versatility there as well.

– Manick Bhan, Rukkus

4. GTmetrix

I like to cross-reference multiple tools, which is why I use GTmetrix. It pulls in data from Google’s PageSpeed as well as Yahoo’s YSlow. In addition, it lets you compare historic crawls, capture a video of the website loading, test from different geo locations on different internet speeds and browsers and prioritize high-value areas — all for free.

– Kevin Getch, Webfor

5. Google Insights

I use the tool Google offers because they are the search engine we are looking to rank for. If 85 percent of traffic comes from Google, then why not use the product they judge your site by? They give you the speeds as well as errors to fix.

– Raymond Kishk, Interstate Air Conditioning & Heating

6. Loader.io

You can’t go wrong with Loader.io. It has great documentation, lets you test via API or web interface and has amazing reports. You can test literally anything with this tool.

– Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

7. Pingdom

Pingdom‘s waterfall report gives an at-a-glance view of which elements on a page are large and slow. Sort the list of all your elements by size to quickly identify large files and consider removing them to improve load times. Then, sort the list by time to spot those slow-loading elements and, again, consider if you can compress the file or eliminate it altogether.

– David Ciccarelli, Voices.com

8. Skylight.io

While not specifically a load-testing tool, Skylight.io is an amazing smart profiler for learning where and why your Rails app is slow. It visualizes request performance across your app to help you figure out your true response times, where that time is being spent and what common mistakes are making yourapps slower. The best part is that it’s super efficient so your performance won’t suffer.

– Mattan Griffel, One Month

9. Gatling

We are big on stress testing. Slow page loads are death for us, being a platform that handles people’s financial info in environments they expect to load quickly. For an open source option, we like Gatling, with its record feature and colorful reports.

– Cooper Harris, Klickly

10. WebPageTest

WebPageTest is a great tool to test the performance of a website. You can run performance tests from multiple locations around the world with various browsers and even specify mobile connections (i.e. 3G, 2G).

– JoAnn Leonard, Juice Interactive

The post 10 Multi-Feature Tools for App or Website Testing 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. H&R Block Small Business

H&R Block Small Business‘ smartphone app makes bookkeeping fast, easy and accurate. By taking a photo of your receipt, the app reads the amount paid and the name of the vendor and then automatically generates an expense report. You can pay bills, monitor accounts receivable and manage payroll anytime and anywhere.

– Blake Miller, Think Big Partners

2. Expensify

We have done our share of “trial periods” with several business receipt management solutions. The core principle behind the tool usage and adoption is one: have a clear process with rules, timelines and expense limits that everyone understands. Once you have a great process in place, there are many tools tohelp you with it. In our case, Expensify does the trick and more!

– Darwin Romero, Applaudo Studios

3. Bench

Bench has been amazing with helping our business with bookkeeping, expense reporting, accounting and more. We have been very impressed with their customer service and continued product development over the last six months.

– Andrew Torba, Automate Ads

4. OneReciept

We use OneReciept and really like it. Open the app, take a picture of your receipt, and you are done. If you want to add a note or a tag, it just takes a second. It’s super easy and saves our accountant a lot of time.

– Thomas Cullen, LaunchPad Lab

5. Apple Preview

In an effort to run a paperless business, we have digitized our account’s payable process. Once receipts are scanned into a PDF, they are delivered in a batch to the signing authority. They use Apple Preview, a software that comes with every Mac, to place a digital signature on the top of the PDF receipt, authorizing it for reimbursement, or if it’s an invoice, it’ll be queued to be paid.

– David Ciccarelli, Voices.com

6. Intuit QuickBooks

The key to streamlining the management of receipts is to use a turnkey software like Intuit QuickBooks. I’ve been using Quickbooks for over a decade toeasily track receipts and also produce important financial documents, including balance sheets, profit/loss reports and cash flow statements. In short, Quickbooks saves time and money and minimizes errors by integrating financial management.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

7. NeatReceipts

NeatReceipts can be used on both a mobile device and a PC. It’s simple to use and transforms receipts into documents which you can search, making it convenient as well. Even though it’s not free, it’s worth the investment.

– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

8. Evernote

Evernote is the absolute best app for managing anything that can be photographed on the spot with your cell phone. I use Evernote for recording businessreceipts when I’m out of the office, and I’m able to organize them into a central folder that can be forwarded to my certified public accountant. Evernote has many great uses, but organizing receipts is at the top of the list. And, it’s free.

– Chris Smith, Smith Simmons, PLLC

9. Shoeboxed

Shoeboxed has been fantastic for us. For paper receipts, take an image with their app to send to them directly. I forward anything digital in an email or, in most cases, auto-archive and auto-forward through a Gmail filter. After, I like to dump business cards in the giant envelope they provide for them to do data entry and then import to my Google Contacts.

– Corey Northcutt, Northcutt Inbound Marketing

10. American Express ReceiptMatch

We swear by our relationship with AmEx. With ReceiptMatch, you can take photos of your receipts (before you lose them in your pocket or the bottom of your purse) which auto-save to your account. There, you can view your receipts and match with your statements. This is especially helpful when a vendor name does not match what shows up on your statement. You have all the information in front of you!

– Andrew Kucheriavy, Intechnic

The post 10 Apps That Manage Pesky Business Receipts (And Will Save Your Sanity) appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is KPI?

As we mentioned above, KPI stands for key performance indicators. These are quantitative statistics that help you gauge how your business is performing and whether you are meeting your goals.

There are a variety of KPIs depending on what you want to measure and analyze. This includes:

• Sales KPIs – Numbers that measure how well your sales are doing, including revenue growth, how specific products are performing, average purchase amount, and the performance of each of your sales reps.
• Marketing KPIs – Numbers that measure the effectiveness of your marketing, including website visitors, how many people are clicking through on your emails, and the cost per lead & ROI on your paid marketing campaigns.
• Financial KPIs – Numbers that measure the overall profitability and fiscal health of your business including income, expenses, profit & loss, and debt to equity ratio.
• Social Media KPIs – Numbers that show how well your social pages are doing, including followers, engagement and interactions.

The list could go on, because there are KPIs for any important aspect of your business that you want to analyze – KPIs that measure employees, customers, finances, sales, business processes, and more.

Why Are KPIs Important?

KPI metrics are important because they help you objectively view how your business is doing and whether you are reaching your business goals.

• Is my business profitable?
• Are my products and services doing well?
• Are customers satisfied?
• Are my marketing efforts paying off?
• Are my employees productive?
• Is my business on the right track?

KPIs can answer all of these questions, including identifying areas where you need to make improvements or can seize new opportunities. KPI metrics can help you define what success looks like, hold everyone accountable in achieving success, and take pleasure in small victories on the way to reaching larger goals.

Tracking and Analyzing KPI Metrics

If you look at the listing of KPIs in the “What is a KPI?” section, you may have recognized the various ways that you can track and analyze your KPIs. For example, you can look at QuickBooks spreadsheets to analyze finances, turn to Google Analytics to learn about your website visitors, and view your business’s Facebook page to learn how you’re doing on social media.

But that is exactly the problem. KPIs are tracked in so many different places that it can be hard to get an overall idea of how your business is performing. The Staples survey we mentioned above also found that 62 percent of small business owners would find it helpful to have a single dashboard for all their core business metrics.

Staples Quick Wins KPI App

Like many Staples surveys in the past, if small business owners are all asking for a solution to a problem, Staples will follow up and find a way to deliver that solution.

This time, the answer comes in a new Staples business dashboard KPI app called Staples Quick Wins. The app is completely free and has downloads for Apple and Android. With the Quick Wins KPI app you can gather together some of your most important KPI metrics into one place – with the ability to access the information anywhere via your smartphone.

Staples Quick Wins KPI app can help you track business metrics on:

• QuickBooks
• Google Analytics
• Shopify
• Facebook
• Twitter

They’re also expanding to Instagram and MailChimp at a later date.

The KPI app allows you to link up each of your accounts, then the business metrics from each account are compiled together in the app dashboard. This allows you to manage and track your metrics easily every day. The app also gives you access to a small business community, where small business owners can ask questions, share ideas and get feedback.

Keeping track of KPI metrics is important for meeting your business goals and pushing your company forward. The new Staples Quick Wins KPI app puts the power of KPIs literally right into the hands of small business owners.

The post Are You Tracking Your KPI Metrics? New Staples Quick Wins KPI App Can Help appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

As more and more individuals find themselves living remotely and traveling across the United States and abroad, we wanted to take the opportunity to point out some of the best tools, tips and services for living a life on the road. By employing these tips and services, you’ll have better peace of mind whether you are traveling to the Californian beaches, Rocky Mountains or across the pond to the United Kingdom.

Internet

It’s impossible to think of our life without the internet or complete connectivity to the big world that it has made so small? It’s become an essential in just about every individual’s life, but it is the life-blood of a business traveler. Luckily there are a number of solutions to keep us connected!

If you are traveling within the United States and carry a smartphone, most devices today allow you to use them as a Wi-Fi ‘hot spot’ to connect to the internet. As long as you have service, you have the internet. If you want something more dedicated, then and you can look at getting a MiFi wireless router from your carrier or try a mobile WiFi service.

Meetings and Presentation

Another essential for most business travelers and remote workers is the ability to take part in virtual meetings and presentations. While Skype for Business is a favorite application that allows you to see colleagues’ presence, start IM, have voice or video conversations, present documents and share desktops, there are a few other applications tailored to professionals and their work objectives that deserve taking a look at.

File Storage and Sharing

Another critical part of remote working and collaboration is the ability to access and share files. Thanks to cloud technology, this has gotten much easier. Just keep in mind, putting items in the cloud does require you to carefully think about what types of information you are saving and who you allow to access it to ensure the security of your information, and that of your company, clients and customers.

Staying Productive

Just because you are on the road, you shouldn’t lose any of your productivity. Thankfully tools like the new Microsoft Office, help people and businesses of all sizes work better – and easier – together. For example, if your team were to use the new version of Office (Word, PowerPoint or OneNote) to make revisions to a presentation or project, everyone would have the ability to edit the same draft at the same time. The best way to start taking advantage of the new Office is via an Office 365 subscription.

Staying Juiced

One thing that can quickly stop you in your tracks working remotely is a dead battery. Whether it’s your laptop, smartphone or mobile device, having juice is essential and you need to be prepared for those moments you aren’t near an outlet.

There are many lightweight external battery chargers designed specifically for travelers to help in these situations.

Keeping up with business while working remotely doesn’t have to be stressful or a chore. Employing these great tools and tips will help you find peace of mind and possibly some extra time to enjoy your new surroundings.

The post Living Remotely – Best Tools, Tips and Services for a Life on the Road appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

However, one thing is missing – an app.

Why should my local Honda dealer have an app? I’ll tell you and maybe you can learn from them.

The buy here pay here near me Dealer has a repeat business – customers come to the dealer to get their cars fixed – on a regular basis. I recommended that they have an app which reminds customers to come in and get their cars checked – oil, tire rotations and etc.

This is one big reason I recommended that they have an app. One that reminds customers to come in and get their cars checked – oil, tire rotations and etc.The best feature of the app is that, they provide the service of collision repair at anywhere anytime. This app will further impress on customers that their local Honda dealer is there for them.

What about your business? Should you have an app?

I don’t think every business needs an app – but every business should evaluate if they need one for sure.

An app is a way to “reach out and touch” your customers, to serve them better and serve as a reminder of the services you can provide to them.

The post My Honda Dealer Is Losing Money By Not Having An App. Are you? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.