The preparation phase is crucial for a successful sale. It involves careful planning, goal-setting, and organization. The first step is to determine why you want to sell your business. This will help you set your goals, including financial outcomes, transition timelines, ideal buyer types, and more.

Once you’ve defined your goals, you need to organize your business for sale. This involves ensuring all financial statements, internal processes, employee contracts, and customer/vendor relationships are documented clearly for an outside party to interpret. Being “sale-ready” will make the process smoother and more efficient.

Valuation is the process of determining the value of your business. This information will provide you with a baseline understanding of what to expect on the market. While valuation does not determine the sale price, it can be a useful guide for negotiation purposes.

To get a valuation, you will need to compile supporting documents primarily centered around the income statement and balance sheet for the past three to five years. This will help you prove your company’s value drivers.

There are two primary methods for selling your business: through an intermediary or independently. An intermediary, such as a business broker, M&A advisor, or investment banker, can help sell your business. They have an established network of qualified buyers and possess negotiation experience. However, this service comes at a cost, and you need to understand the intermediary’s experience and processes before hiring them.

Launching independently is another option, but it is most applicable to much smaller businesses where transactions are generally less complex. Business owners can list their businesses for sale on various online marketplaces, connect with buyers, and manage the process digitally.

After interacting with buyers on the market and sharing preliminary information, an offer may be presented. While most terms in an offer are typically non-binding, it is crucial to carefully review an offer’s terms to gauge their equitability and alignment with your goals.

The buyer’s offer communicates their preliminary understanding of the value of your business and a proposed deal structure to match it, based on the facts they’ve analyzed up to this point. If an offer isn’t acceptable, now is the time to negotiate to see if there is a middle ground that satisfies both parties. This could be the overall price, deal structure, length of due diligence, seller involvement post-sale, and more.

Due diligence is the process where buyers investigate your business to verify any and all claims made about the business. Buyers may adjust their terms based on what is discovered. During this time, it is important for sellers to further investigate the buyer’s background and confirm whether they have the financial capacity to close the sale.

Being able to provide relevant documentation to objectively support your initial claims speaks volumes about you and the business you’ve built. Every business has its issues, so it’s best to be upfront and discuss them with the buyer. These issues will inevitably be uncovered, so it’s best to have control over how and when they are brought up.

When buyers are satisfied with their findings, they can conclude due diligence and move toward the closing. The purchase agreement is a formalization and expansion of the offer. It is a legally-binding contract that outlines the final sale terms. It is strongly recommended that sellers hire a qualified attorney to review it prior to signing.

Negotiations can continue at this point while all final details around the deal are being ironed out. One of the conditions to closing is the buyer’s ability to secure financing. Depending on the route they have taken to finance the transaction, this can add time to (or even derail) the process, even if the purchase agreement is signed. However, once both parties have signed the purchase agreement and the buyer has received confirmation from their lender, the deal is complete.

Selling a business can be a complex and challenging process, but with proper preparation and execution, it can be a rewarding experience. It’s important to understand the general stages of the sale and the key points at each phase. Becoming familiar with the stages will allow you, as a business owner, to make well-informed decisions that can lead to more efficient and desirable outcomes. Remember, every transaction is unique, and the timeline of the sale ultimately depends on how long you stay in each stage. So, plan ahead and take action with confidence.

First reported by Forbes.

The post Selling Your Business in 2023: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Early in 2022, Kaustav Das and Manish Arora established Efficient Capital Labs. Das worked for American Express for nearly 15 years as the non-card business lending division’s top credit officer. Additionally, he worked for Kabbage, Petal, and Quadpay as their chief risk officer. Das’s venture into revenue-based finance began in June 2020 when Capchase’s CEO and co-founder Miguel Fernandez asked him to be an advisor to the business. Das never officially joined Capchase as an advisor, but he was put in touch with Indian businesses looking for funding.

In September and October of 2021, Das traveled to India and discovered the “opportunity was massive.” SaaS is expanding by 6x to 7x, according to Das, but financing is still quite expensive, despite being more readily available in India. And I discovered that although the majority of SaaS companies had U.S. entities and bank accounts, they were unable to access the more affordable finance available there. To bridge the cost of capital gap between geographies, it became the most significant pillar of what we are constructing with Efficient Capital.

ECL was able to hire staff and expand his product after his company secured a $3.5 million funding round from 645 Ventures. Along with closing on a $15 million debt facility in November of last year, he also updated it in June to a $100 million special purpose entity. The Fund, Lorimer Ventures, Riverside Ventures, and Generalist are among additional institutional supporters.

According to Aaron Holiday, co-founder and managing Partner of 645 Ventures, given the “steady growth” of SaaS Fstartup formation and growth in India, his firm saw an opportunity for the total addressable market to reach $10 billion within 8 years.

Sandeep Patil, who heads the firm’s Asian investments at QED Investors, said, “Indian SaaS companies are known for innovative and specialist software solutions, and their growth in selling to the U.S. represents a new era of entrepreneurship and global collaboration. By providing non-dilutive capital to these companies, ECL empowers the founders to build for the long term and drive innovation and growth.”

Efficient Capital is a revenue-based financing company that focuses on South Asia and Southeast Asia, currently focused on US-India and US-Singapore. The U.S. component is important. There’s always going to be a dollar-denominated loan to a U.S. entity and a U.S. bank account.

The company offers upfront funding that is completely non-dilutive in nature equal to a portion of the annual recurring revenue (ARR) of B2B SaaS enterprises. ECL concentrates on pre-seed, seed, and Series A firms, and it charges a fixed fee that ranges from 9% to 12% of the cash it contributes up front. The majority of its loans have 12-month maturities. Anything higher gets risky because a longer time horizon makes it more difficult to predict.

Efficient Capital Labs counts 43 SaaS companies as customers and has originated more than $13 million in loans with zero defaults, according to Das. The company is only a year old but is already making a name for itself in the industry. Efficient Capital Labs is revolutionizing financing for SaaS companies in South Asia-US corridor.

Efficient Capital Labs is a company that is making waves in the financing industry. It is providing a much-needed service to B2B SaaS companies operating in the South Asia-US corridor. The company offers revenue-based financing that is 100% non-dilutive in nature, making it an attractive option for startups. With dual risk assessment in both geographies, Efficient Capital Labs provides transparency to its customers, which is crucial in building trust. As the SaaS industry continues to grow

First reported by TechCrunch.

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North Carolina’s success in the business realm is not a recent phenomenon. The state has been on an upward trajectory since the pandemic, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In 2023 alone, North Carolina has secured several major economic development wins, from significant investments by companies like Bosch and ProKidney to the establishment of new manufacturing and production facilities. These victories build upon the state’s successes from the previous year, including VinFast’s decision to build its first North American plant in North Carolina and Wolfspeed’s expansion of its semiconductor operations.

One of the key factors contributing to North Carolina’s top ranking is its exceptional workforce. The state excels in attracting and retaining talent across a wide range of industries, thanks in part to its renowned universities and competitive community college system. The Raleigh-Durham area, in particular, benefits from the presence of internationally recognized educational institutions that drive economic growth. Additionally, North Carolina’s commitment to career education and worker training programs has yielded impressive results, with over 89% of program participants finding employment within six months.

North Carolina’s robust workforce plays a significant role in fueling its economy, which ranks third in the CNBC study. With a gross domestic product (GDP) of $560 billion and a growth rate of 3.2% in the previous year, the state’s economy remains strong. Furthermore, North Carolina’s solid state finances, reflected by its top-notch debt rating from Moody’s, and its housing market’s ability to handle the influx of new residents contribute to its overall competitiveness.

North Carolina’s commitment to technology and innovation is another factor that sets it apart. The state ranks sixth in the Technology & Innovation category, demonstrating its dedication to fostering a dynamic business environment. Moreover, North Carolina’s ability to attract capital is noteworthy, earning it the sixth spot in the Access to Capital category. These strengths make it an attractive destination for businesses looking to leverage technology and secure funding for their ventures.

While North Carolina’s achievements in business are impressive, the state faces certain challenges and tensions. In education, it ranks seventh, but a state of emergency has been declared due to concerns about the public education system. Political disagreements have emerged regarding expanding vouchers and charter schools, potentially diverting critical funding from public education. Additionally, recent legislative actions related to abortion and discrimination have negatively impacted the state’s ranking in the Life, Health & Inclusion category.

CNBC’s study evaluates all 50 states across ten categories, assigning weights based on the criteria states use to promote themselves to businesses. North Carolina earned a total of 1,628 points out of a possible 2,500, securing its position as the top state for business in 2023. The categories and point totals are as follows:

• Workforce: 400 points (16%)
• Infrastructure: 390 points (15.6%)
• Economy: 360 points (14.4%)
• Life, Health & Inclusion: 350 points (14%)
• Cost of Doing Business: 290 points (11.6%)
• Technology & Innovation: 270 points (10.8%)
• Business Friendliness: 215 points (8.6%)
• Education: 125 points (5%)
• Access to Capital: 50 points (2%)
• Cost of Living: 50 points (2%)

While North Carolina claimed the top spot, several other states showcased their strengths in the CNBC study. Virginia secured the runner-up position, excelling in education but facing challenges due to high costs. Tennessee ranked third, particularly strong in infrastructure but struggling in the Life, Health & Inclusion category. Georgia came in fourth, boasting excellent infrastructure but facing a tough legal climate for business. Minnesota rounded out the top five, leading in Life, Health & Inclusion but hindered by high taxes and low incentives for businesses.

On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska ranked last due to its struggling economy, poor infrastructure, education, and limited access to capital. Other states at the bottom of the list included Louisiana, Mississippi, Hawaii, and West Virginia, each facing specific challenges that impacted their business competitiveness.

North Carolina’s repeated recognition as America’s Top State for Business in 2023 is a testament to the state’s remarkable workforce, thriving economy, and commitment to technology and innovation. Despite challenges in education and political tensions, North Carolina remains an attractive destination for businesses seeking growth and success. With its world-class workforce and a business-friendly environment, North Carolina continues to pave the way for economic prosperity and innovation.

First reported by CNBC.

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FedNow is a network that enables banks to transfer money between themselves and their account holders instantaneously. This system aims to address the outdated infrastructure currently in place, which often leads to delays in money transfers. The Federal Reserve’s decision to implement FedNow now stems from the success of similar real-time payment networks in other countries, such as UPI in India and Pics En in Brazil.

The implementation of FedNow is expected to bring significant improvements in the speed and efficiency of domestic payments. Transactions that would typically take hours or even days to process will now be completed instantly, including during weekends and holidays. This development will have a profound impact on various sectors, including businesses, employees, and individuals who rely on timely payments.

Businesses stand to benefit greatly from the introduction of FedNow. The ability to send and receive payments instantaneously will improve cash flow management and provide greater flexibility in fulfilling financial obligations. Here are a few ways in which businesses can expect to be impacted:

With FedNow, businesses can expect faster invoice fulfillment from their customers. Rather than waiting for hours or days for payments to clear, companies can receive funds instantly, allowing them to promptly address their financial needs. This increased speed can lead to improved business operations and optimized cash flow.

Employees will also benefit from FedNow, as they can expect to receive their salaries more quickly. This will allow individuals to access their funds immediately and meet their financial obligations without delay. Ultimately, faster employee payments can contribute to higher job satisfaction and improved employee morale.

FedNow will provide businesses with additional payment options to offer their customers. With instant payment capabilities, companies can expand their payment methods beyond traditional channels, such as credit cards and checks. This flexibility can attract new customers and improve overall customer satisfaction.

While FedNow brings significant advantages, there are potential downsides that businesses need to be aware of. Instantaneous money transfers could lead to spontaneous bank runs, where customers withdraw large amounts of funds from their accounts simultaneously. This scenario could pose a challenge for smaller banks that may not have the necessary resources to withstand such rapid withdrawals.

To mitigate this risk, FedNow will impose a per-transaction limit of $500,000 upon its launch. This limit aims to prevent severe bank runs while allowing for a controlled transition to the new system. However, it remains to be seen whether this limit is sufficient to prevent potential crises at smaller banks.

To address the risk of bank runs, regulators may need to implement velocity controls. Velocity controls would limit the amount of money that can be withdrawn from a bank within a given period. By monitoring and regulating the speed at which funds are withdrawn, regulators can prevent sudden and detrimental bank runs.

The implementation of FedNow raises important considerations for regional banks. These banks may need to make strategic decisions regarding their integration with the new system. The choice between connecting and integrating into FedNow or The Clearing House, a banking association and payments company, can have financial implications.

Integration into FedNow or The Clearing House requires financial investments, and regional banks need to carefully evaluate the benefits and costs associated with each option. Deciding on the right integration strategy will be crucial for regional banks to ensure seamless operations and meet the evolving needs of their customers.

Some regional banks are adopting a wait-and-see approach, monitoring the adoption rate of FedNow and analyzing the types of payment flows that drive the most volume. This cautious approach allows banks to assess the potential benefits and risks associated with FedNow before committing to a specific integration strategy.

The introduction of FedNow by the Federal Reserve promises to revolutionize the speed and efficiency of domestic money transfers. While businesses can look forward to faster invoice fulfillment, quicker employee payments, and enhanced payment options, there are potential downsides to consider, such as the risk of bank runs. Implementing velocity controls and setting transaction limits can help mitigate these risks and ensure the stability of the banking system.

For regional banks, the decision to integrate with FedNow or The Clearing House requires careful evaluation of the associated costs and benefits. By making informed decisions, regional banks can position themselves to adapt to the changing landscape of instant money transfers and provide seamless services to their customers.

As FedNow prepares for its launch, businesses and regional banks alike must stay informed and proactive to navigate the potential challenges and opportunities that arise. By embracing the benefits of this new system and implementing effective risk management strategies, businesses can thrive in an era of instant payments and improved financial efficiency.

First reported by CNN.

The post How the Fed’s New Instant Money Program Could Impact Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Over the past few decades, the middle class in the U.S. and the U.K. has faced numerous setbacks. Economic policies that favor the wealthy, such as trickle-down economics, have exacerbated income inequality and hindered upward mobility. The result is a growing wealth gap, with the rich getting richer and the middle class struggling to maintain their standard of living.

Trickle-down economics, a theory that advocates for tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, promised benefits for the less well-off. However, it has failed to deliver on its promises. Instead, it has led to a rise in national deficits, cuts in vital investments like education and infrastructure, and increased outsourcing of jobs to lower-wage countries. The U.S. and the U.K. have witnessed the negative effects of this approach.

In the U.K., privatization under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has affected essential services like water utilities. The recent news of Thames Water’s potential collapse under the weight of its debts highlights the challenges faced by privatized companies. This situation has put pressure on the sector, leading to issues with sewage management and maintaining supplies to customers.

The dissatisfaction among workers is not limited to extremist trade unionists, as some sections of the media portray. Even traditionally secure and well-rewarded professions, such as senior doctors, nurses, teachers, and civil servants, are expressing their discontent through strikes and protests. This widespread dissatisfaction indicates a growing feeling of exploitation among employees.

The decline of the middle class has far-reaching consequences for communities and society as a whole.

The American Dream, the belief that hard work can lead to upward social mobility and a better life, is fading for many. Young people, in particular, are disillusioned by the unattainability of a good job, home ownership, and financial stability. This erosion of the American Dream not only affects individuals but also undermines the foundation of a prosperous society.

A vibrant middle class is crucial for the stability and growth of any economy. Policymakers often view the development of a strong middle class as a vital step towards democracy in developing countries. Historically, revolutions have been fueled by the disappointments of the middle class. Therefore, the decline of the middle class in countries like the U.S. and the U.K. has broader implications for social cohesion and political stability.

Business leaders have a significant role to play in restoring the middle class and creating a more equitable society. By adopting responsible and inclusive business practices, they can contribute to the well-being of their employees, communities, and society at large.

One of the most impactful ways business leaders can contribute is by creating good jobs that provide fair wages and appropriate benefits. Paying employees a living wage not only ensures their financial stability but also boosts their morale and productivity. Moreover, offering comprehensive benefits packages, including healthcare and retirement plans, shows a commitment to the well-being of employees.

Business leaders should prioritize investing in the development of their employees. Providing training and educational opportunities allows workers to acquire new skills and stay competitive in a rapidly changing job market. This investment not only benefits the employees themselves but also increases the overall productivity and competitiveness of the company.

Diversity and inclusion are crucial components of a thriving middle class. Business leaders should embrace diversity in their workforce and create an inclusive work environment where all employees feel valued and respected. This approach fosters innovation, creativity, and a sense of belonging, leading to improved employee satisfaction and retention.

Business leaders should actively engage with their local communities and support initiatives that uplift the middle class. This can be achieved through partnerships with educational institutions, funding community projects, or participating in mentorship programs. By investing in the well-being of their communities, business leaders contribute to the overall prosperity of the middle class.

The decline of the middle class in countries like the U.S. and the U.K. calls for urgent action from business leaders. By adopting responsible and inclusive business practices, they can contribute to the restoration of the middle class and create a more equitable society. Paying fair wages, investing in employee development, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting community initiatives are all essential steps toward rebuilding the middle class. Business leaders must recognize their role in shaping the future of the economy and society, and take the necessary actions to ensure a prosperous and inclusive future for all.

First reported by Forbes.

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According to the survey, nearly two-thirds (64%) of C-suite executives expressed their intention to hire more professionals of all types due to generative AI. This positive outlook on hiring is reflected in the types of workers that organizations plan to bring onboard. The survey found that 49% of business leaders surveyed intend to hire freelancers, while another 49% plan to hire full-time employees. This even split between freelancers and full-time employees suggests a balanced approach to workforce expansion.

The research also revealed a disconnect between C-suite executives and their senior managers regarding the degree of AI adoption within their companies. While 73% of C-suite executives reported embracing AI, only 54% of VPs, 52% of directors, and 53% of senior managers expressed the same sentiment. This discrepancy may be attributed to a lack of training and understanding of how AI will impact work.

Kelly Monahan, the managing director of the Upwork Research Institute, emphasized the importance of bridging this gap. She suggested that organizations should implement change management strategies that include effective communication of expected outcomes related to generative AI adoption, clear policies, and addressing fear and uncertainty. Encouraging teams to adopt a learning orientation is also crucial in navigating the impact of AI in the workplace.

Contrary to concerns about AI leading to massive job losses, economic research, such as a study by Goldman Sachs, suggests that AI is more likely to be a complementary tool for human workers rather than a complete replacement. According to the Goldman Sachs study, automation based on AI is used in some capacity in about two-thirds of American jobs. However, the typical proportion of work in a given profession that can be automated by AI is between 25% and 50%.

This finding highlights the potential for AI to augment human capabilities rather than render them obsolete. Rather than eliminating jobs, AI has the potential to automate certain tasks, allowing employees to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their work. This shift can lead to increased productivity and efficiency within organizations.

The Upwork survey also found that the adoption of AI varies based on the size of a company and the work arrangements of its employees. Midsized companies with workforces ranging from 501 to 5,000 employees showed the highest level of AI adoption, with 62% leveraging AI. In comparison, larger companies with over 5,001 employees exhibited a slightly lower adoption rate of 41%. Small companies with 251 to 500 employees had a 56% AI adoption rate.

Furthermore, the survey revealed that companies with remote-first workforces were more likely to embrace AI. Among full-time remote firms, 68% reported using AI, while only 53% of companies that primarily worked from physical offices did the same. The survey also indicated that companies with hybrid work arrangements, ranging from three to four remote days per week to two to three remote days per month, also showed a favorable attitude towards generative AI adoption.

As businesses continue to explore the potential of AI, it is essential to understand that AI is not a threat to human employment but rather a tool that can drive innovation, efficiency, and growth. The survey findings suggest that business leaders are optimistic about the impact of generative AI, with a majority of C-suite executives planning to hire more professionals. This hiring trend includes both freelancers and full-time employees, indicating a flexible approach to workforce expansion.

To fully embrace generative AI, organizations need to invest in training and education for their employees, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to work effectively alongside AI technologies. Moreover, clear communication, change management strategies, and addressing concerns and uncertainties are vital for successful AI adoption. By adopting a learning orientation, businesses can navigate the evolving landscape of AI and leverage its potential to drive positive change.

First reported by Fox Business.

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OpenAI, a leading research laboratory in the field of artificial intelligence, has recently announced its plans to introduce an app store for AI software. This marketplace will allow developers to offer their own versions of generative AI, expanding the reach and availability of this cutting-edge technology. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, launched last year, has gained significant traction among tech experts. Now, companies can refine and personalize the technology by developing their own models and making them available through OpenAI’s app store. This strategic move not only widens OpenAI’s customer base but also provides developers and businesses with access to a diverse range of AI solutions tailored to their specific needs.

As a developer or someone in search of custom-developed AI solutions, OpenAI’s app store presents a promising opportunity. By leveraging the software offerings in the marketplace, you can enhance your business operations, improve efficiency, and unlock new possibilities. It’s essential to keep an eye on this development and explore how these AI applications can benefit your specific industry or business niche.

In a bid to revitalize its business, Twitter is undergoing significant changes under the leadership of CEO Linda Yaccarino and with the involvement of Elon Musk. The social media giant aims to strengthen its brand by focusing on video content and commerce. Yaccarino has been engaging with political and entertainment figures to stabilize and enhance the Twitter platform. These strategic efforts aim to attract more businesses to the platform, creating new opportunities for engagement and growth.

As a business owner, Twitter’s renewed focus on video and commerce can offer you valuable opportunities to connect with your audience, promote your products or services, and drive business growth. By leveraging the platform’s features, you can engage with potential clients, build brand awareness, and establish yourself as an industry authority. Keep an eye on Twitter’s updates and explore how you can leverage these changes to your advantage.

If you’re a WordPress user looking to streamline your content creation process, you’ll be delighted to know that WordPress.com has launched an AI assistant called Jetpack AI Assistant. This tool is designed to assist with various aspects of content creation, including post generation, headline creation, and translations. With its automation capabilities, Jetpack AI Assistant can help you expedite your content production, improve the structure of your blog posts, and even provide translations. Furthermore, the AI assistant features a chat function, allowing users to ask questions and receive prompt responses.

Maintaining an active blog is crucial for businesses to establish thought leadership, engage with their audience, and drive organic traffic to their website. With WordPress.com’s Jetpack AI Assistant, you can streamline your content creation process, save time, and ensure consistency in your posts. This tool can be a valuable asset for small businesses with limited resources, enabling them to produce high-quality content efficiently.

Humanly, a Seattle-based startup, has recently secured $12 million in Series A funding to fuel its AI-powered recruiting automation platform. This platform aims to assist companies in finding candidates with relevant experience by leveraging AI chatbots and analytics features. The funding will enable Humanly to further enhance its SMS chatbots, which help streamline the hiring process and ensure adherence to specific criteria. Additionally, the platform offers interactive exchanges during live calls, generating insights and sending follow-up emails.

Recruiting the right talent is a critical aspect of business growth and success. By leveraging AI-powered platforms like Humanly, businesses can automate and optimize their recruiting processes, saving time and resources. While these platforms have been primarily adopted by larger organizations, their increasing accessibility and decreasing costs make them viable options for small businesses as well. Keep an eye on the advancements in AI-powered recruiting automation to find the best solution for your hiring needs.

When you or your employees are on the go, accessing networks securely is of utmost importance. ZDNet has conducted extensive testing to identify the best travel VPNs that ensure safe browsing and streaming while traveling. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) protect personal data by encrypting your internet connection and hiding your public IP address. By using a travel VPN, you can safeguard sensitive business information and mitigate the risk of data breaches.

In an increasingly digital world, protecting your business’s data and ensuring online security is paramount. When traveling, connecting to public Wi-Fi networks can expose your sensitive information to potential threats. By using a reliable travel VPN, you can establish a secure and encrypted connection, mitigating the risks associated with public networks. Consider the VPNs recommended by ZDNet to protect your business’s data while on the move.

Staying abreast of the latest tech developments can give your small business a competitive edge. From OpenAI’s app store for AI software to Twitter’s focus on video and commerce, these advancements present opportunities for growth and innovation. By leveraging WordPress.com’s AI assistant and AI-powered recruiting automation platforms like Humanly, you can streamline your operations and enhance productivity. Additionally, ensuring secure browsing while traveling through the use of travel VPNs is crucial to safeguard your business’s sensitive data. Embrace these technological advancements and empower your business to thrive in the digital age.

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1. Minor Illnesses

Minor illnesses have the potential to sneak up on employees when they least expect it. This can include everything from the cold to the flu (and that’s just the start).

Protect against employee absence by helping your employees maintain their health. For example, you can hold health fairs throughout the year to give them access to the testing they need. Or if they suspect an illness, you could take steps to help them get checked.

Some seemingly minor illnesses are much more serious than they appear on the surface. Maybe an employee takes a Lyme disease test with expectations that the result will be negative. However, they soon find that they have this illness and that it’s prohibiting them from working as expected.

2. Mental Health (Stress and Anxiety)

You can’t tell if someone is struggling with a mental health issue, so it’s best that you don’t jump to conclusions (either way). Stress, anxiety, depression, and a variety of other mental health concerns can result in time away from the job.

Here’s a statistic from the National Alliance on Mental Illness that will open your eyes: 20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2019 (51.5 million people). This represents 1 in 5 adults.

In other words, if you have 100 employees, roughly 20 of them will suffer from some type of mental illness. That’s a big number.

Just the same as physical illnesses and injuries, mental health is a big reason for employee absence. There are steps you can take to help your employees help themselves:

• Encourage them to take time off if they need to recharge their batteries
• Help them eat healthier and exercise regularly
• Promote a good work/personal life balance

It’s often the small changes that have the biggest impact on your organization. You never know when you’ll make a decision that helps an employee (or employees) overcome a serious mental concern, visit https://ryderclinic.com/ambien-zolpidem/.

3. Employee Absence From Burnout

This goes along with point #2, mentioned above. Hard work is a good thing, but constant rumination about workloads, harrowing work schedules, and ever-accumulating deadlines is a fast-track to employee burnout. All employees need to take time away from the office every now and again. In fact, this is so important that you need to encourage employees to do so. Let them know that there’s nothing wrong with taking a break.

Keep your eyes open for signs of employee burnout, such as a decrease in productivity or subpar work. If you suspect this, talk to the employee about what’s happening and make suggestions for them to get back on track.

Note: Some employees will find it difficult to realize that they’re burning out. They can’t see that they’re heading down a dangerous path, so you need to step in and show them the way.

4. Personal Life Responsibilities

This is where a good work/personal life balance comes into play. If you work your employees to the bone and don’t allow them to spend time on things they enjoy outside of their jobs — such as their family and hobbies — it’ll eventually backfire.

Not only can personal life responsibilities result in employee absence, but they can also take a toll on their mental health. And when that happens, you can also expect to see an uptick in absences.

Make it clear to your workers that it’s encouraged to have a good work/personal life balance. Taking this one step further, help them achieve this, such as by offering a flexible work schedule.

5. Non-Work Related Injuries

There is no shortage of circumstances that can result in a non-work related injury. For example, you could suffer multiple injuries in a motor vehicle accident. Or you could slip and fall in your home, thus requiring medical attention.

As frustrating as it may be, keep in mind that an employee could suffer an injury outside the workplace that results in them missing a day or more of work. It’s important to be both sympathetic and understanding of these circumstances, should they occur.

What Can You Do About It?

It’s one thing to realize that employee absenteeism is a problem. It’s another thing entirely to take steps to curb this concern once and for all.

There is no one size fits all solution, but there are definite steps you can take. Try the following:

• Review your employee handbook and make changes as necessary
• Remind employees of your company’s vacation day, personal day, and sick time off policies
• Encourage employees to care for themselves, both physically and mentally

By taking these steps, you’re doing two things. First off, you show employees that you’re aware that some people are taking too many days off. Secondly, you provide guidance on what they can do to get back on track.

You hope that you never have to do it, but there may come a time when you have to sit down and explain to an employee that their absentee record is a concern. Don’t wait to have this conversation, as you may find that they have a good reason for missing work.

Final Thoughts About Employee Absence

There are times when employees need a day off for one reason or the next, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, what you need to be careful about is employees taking advantage of the system.

If absenteeism is a problem within your company, you’ll soon come to find that it’s having a negative impact on productivity. Subsequently, it can drag down everything from customer service scores to revenue.

By recognizing these common causes of employee absence, you can address them before they escalate to an even bigger issue. And the sooner you take action, the better it can be for you and your business’s bottom line.

The post Top Reasons for Employee Absence appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

It does seem like going digital is the new call for this decade, right? We’ve already seen rapid changes in the global market, across all verticals, with more and more sales being chalked up online.

At the local level, having an individual online persona for your small business is all well and good. That trend has been popular for quite a few years now. However, moving your business activities to online platforms is still a relatively new concept.

Many larger companies have already made their move toward digitization, though many more have yet to take the plunge. Smaller businesses, in particular, remain ambivalent. This is likely linked to the high rate of failure that accompanies attempts to make this change. A recent report by McKinsey states that approximately 70% of large-scale transformations do not successfully meet the expectations they set. Clearly, a better road map is vital for those reluctant to dive in.

Listed below are some high-level categories to keep an eye on as your small business prepares itself for the increasingly digital 21st-century marketplace.

Why Successful Digital Transformation Will Prove Critical

Before we jump into the “how-to” part, let’s briefly take a look at the “why” of digital transformation.

Digital transformation encompasses several comprehensive measures that migrate your business needs, functions, and operations to the appropriate digital platforms. The overarching goal is to simplify and optimize your processes. Simply stated, the motivation to digitize is to stay lean and competitive. In the new economy, “busy work” won’t cut it. There will be plenty of work for everyone as sales increase, though job responsibilities will obviously have to evolve.

Keeping this working definition of digital transformation in mind, the points below drive home its importance.

Improving Customer Experience and Convenience

Today, most of your competitors are already moving their shops online. This will give both your existing and potential customers a whole new and wider range of options to choose from.

Be warned. If you stick to your “bricks-and-mortar-only” model, you will quickly end up losing sales to your competitors. The lockdowns of 2020 made this point abundantly clear.

Providing a comfortable experience to customers who now prefer shopping online will be a major move toward gaining and keeping their confidence and loyalty.

Maintaining a Sharper Competitive Edge

In one scenario, all of your competitors have gone digital and you haven’t. In another, none of them have done so and you have yet to make the move. In the latter case, you could be the first to take this step. By doing so, you establish an authority in the market and gain a first-mover advantage.

This enhanced reputation can also help you attract customers who previously were beyond your reach. Now, they are just a few clicks away.

Embracing Decision-Making Through Data-Driven Insights

Digitization also benefits your business by providing access to a detailed list of insights about your audience’s shopping patterns, demographics, etc.

You can use this data to create more relevant marketing and promotional campaigns that truly resonate with your audience.

4 Steps to Successful Digital Transformation

The significance of investing in digital transformation is clear. Listed below are the steps you can take to ensure a successful digital transformation for your business.

1. Identify and set realistic goals.

The first step to successful digitization is setting goals for your small business. These goals must be realistic and backed by thorough, research-based data.

For example, one goal might be to move all your HR-related activities to a single digital platform that your team is comfortable with.

Your goals must also be measurable. Whatever you can’t measure is what you can’t successfully achieve.

2. Successful digital transformation will require an increased focus on strategy.

Once you figure out your goals, creating a strategy — a clear plan of action — is of utmost importance.

You can either take the entire process of digitization on your shoulders or invest in a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP). A DAP streamlines the adoption of your digital tools and ensures every employee makes the most of their new toolkit.

You may have heard of Appcues as a tool that facilitates product adoption, but today there are great alternatives to Appcues that go beyond baseline functions. These alternatives neatly assist with user onboarding, training, and supporting employees on enterprise applications. They also offer a host of other features that facilitate digital transformation.

3. Ensure the security of all data.

Today, most consumers believe that their data is unsafe on the multiple online platforms they use on a near-daily basis.

Assuring the safety of the information they choose to share with your business is a vital step toward gaining their trust. It also helps to create a positive brand image.

As you upgrade your systems from analog to fully digital, be sure to monitor and seal all the nooks and crannies that might result in a data leak.

4. Regularly analyze usage data.

Make a habit of utilizing the data and usage insights you’ve collected over time to make informed decisions as to your next steps.

Data analysis gives you a better understanding of how well your employees and customers are leveraging the digital platforms you brought in.

You can determine which digital investments are driving desirable returns and which ones may need to be replaced or dumped.

With a data-informed overview, you can determine a clear path to take that will help grow your business, both online and off.

Key Takeaways

An insightful 2018 survey by The Economist found that there was a 48% increase in efficiency following effective digitization. A 47% reduction in operational costs was another key metric cited.

These statistics demonstrate the power of successful digital transformation. In essence, all you need is a clear roadmap for successful digitization. That roadmap may evolve as you move forward, but we’re clearly at a tipping point that may force our hand.

Do your research. Partner with proven experts as needed. The one thing you don’t want to do is wait around as more and more customers move to online puchases.

The post Steps to Achieving Successful Digital Transformation for Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This helps explain the growing reliance on outsourcing. In 2019, roughly a third of small businesses already outsourced some business function, and 52% were planning to do so. In 2021, the number of small businesses planning to outsource has shot up to 80%. 

Outsourcing is perfect for growing companies because it offers extreme flexibility, saves time, and allows you to work with top experts without the hefty price tag. Of course, you should never outsource anything related to your competitive advantage. (If it’s your stellar service that sets you apart, for instance, you would never want to outsource customer support.) 

But there are certain core functions that every company must handle — things like accounting, legal, marketing, and cybersecurity. Certain businesses may also need to deal with shipping and fulfillment or data entry — things that keep your business running but don’t impact your end product or service. 

According to Gregg Landers, director of growth management at CBIZ MHM, there are a few categories of tasks that are ripe for outsourcing: tasks that require a high degree of skill or specialized knowledge and highly repetitive tasks.

Here are four areas you should consider outsourcing to cut costs and see better results:

1. IT Training and Certification

If the pandemic taught us anything, it was the value of a highly competent IT department. With many teams still working remotely, you need to ensure that your IT person or team has the training they need. But trying to do that in-house is simply not cost-effective. According to a survey of learning development professionals, it takes an average of 132 hours to develop a single hour of online learning content. That’s more than three weeks’ worth of work!

This is why it’s better to invest in third-party training and certification programs. Outsourcing your group training to a company such as IBEX Business Experts reduces costs and ensures that your team is consistent and unified. You can choose instructor-led courses or virtual learning so individuals can work at their own pace.

2. Business Accounting

Any business that hopes to stay in business needs the help of a bookkeeper, accountant, or both. You need someone to keep your records up-to-date, track expenses, run payroll, file quarterly reports, and do your end-of-year taxes. Trying to manage all these tasks yourself is a recipe for disaster — or at least an audit. You may also want someone to do an in-depth analysis of your business or help you with financial planning, but that doesn’t mean you should hire a full-time CPA.

In the United States, the average base salary for an accountant is $54,127. That’s not counting bonuses, healthcare, and other costs that come with a salaried employee. Then there are the hidden costs of training and management for an in-house accountant. For most small businesses, it’s much more cost-effective to outsource this role. You can use software like Gusto for payroll and pay a licensed CPA to do your taxes, or you can work with an accounting firm to handle all these tasks.

3. Outbound Sales

If you’re trying to grow your business quickly, you’ll need to scale your sales team. The trouble is that it’s extremely difficult to develop a repeatable sales process, find the right talent, and train them to be effective team members. Hiring aggressively is also risky — especially in sales, which has the highest turnover rate of any sector. It can be devastating (both emotionally and financially) to invest weeks or months in training only to see those people leave.

A more sensible approach for many businesses is to outsource certain sales roles, such as outbound sales or business development. Outbound sales encompasses tactics like cold calling or emailing, attending trade shows, and selling door-to-door. Hiring a third-party company to do this for you will give you a steady influx of new leads while freeing up your in-house reps to do more high-value work. Because they know your company inside and out, they’re best suited to develop those relationships and close deals.

4. Marketing

Marketing is a broad term for a highly specialized and complex industry that changes each and every year. The type of marketing you should be investing in will depend on your business, your budget, and your target market. 

For instance, if you’re an online retailer, you may need to invest in pay-per-click ads, social media, influencer marketing, or all of the above. If you’re a service-based business with a long sales cycle, inbound marketing might be your focus. If you’re a mom-and-pop shop that only serves customers locally, you might focus your attention on search or on traditional media channels.

The kicker here is that your marketing tactics should change if you’re not seeing results. Hiring a full-time marketing person is risky because no marketer is an expert in everything. If you hired someone on the assumption that you’d be creating bus-bench ads and direct-mail pieces, that person is not likely to be as effective if you shift your budget to SEO and paid search. Unless you’re planning to build out an entire in-house marketing team, you’re nearly always better off hiring a firm that specializes in whatever tactics you’re pursuing.

As your business grows, it can be exciting to imagine what you could accomplish if you only had a team member dedicated to X. But outsourcing business functions that aren’t your core competency is almost always a better choice. It allows you to work with the top professionals in the industry — without paying their entire year’s salary. It also means you can invest in talent that can help you grow your business faster.

The post 4 Key Business Functions You Should Consider Outsourcing appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Simply going with whichever provider is cheapest can harm your business down the road. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing your business’s internet service provider.

1. Location and Logistics

Before looking at the criteria that really set providers apart, you’ll need to determine whether your preferred provider is available in your location. Check the options in your area, and be sure to consider both local companies and the well-known names. While it’s great to “buy local,” you may need capabilities the bigger vendors are better able to provide.

After that, compare price points and packages. You’ll want to avoid bloated packages that offer things you don’t need, like phone lines. Your business also likely has a price range you can’t exceed, so only evaluate plans that fit that target budget.

Once you’ve narrowed down the options and created a list of plans that could make sense for you, the real work begins.

2. Speed

Probably the most important thing to consider when choosing high-speed internet is the speed that’s promised. The number of Mbps (megabits per second) delivered is an important factor when deciding whether an internet plan is right for your business. Look at both upload and download speeds to make sure you’re getting symmetry between the two — reducing lags and video call freezes. 

Most home networks have just 50-100 Mbps, but a business should aim much higher. You’ll want around 500-1,000 Mbps (1 Gig) or even more. The number of devices used in even a small office will tax slower plans, and you can’t risk a moment of lag time. A higher speed also allows you to keep the same plan as your business grows.

3. Bandwidth

Bandwidth is closely related to speed, but it’s not the same thing. If you imagine internet cables as a road, speed is how fast the cars are traveling. Bandwidth is how many lanes they’re able to travel down. More lanes mean easier travel.  

Bandwidth is also measured in Mbps, and a plan’s promised Mbps typically addresses both. Remember that the advertised Mbps is usually the highest limit of the range of bandwidth a plan offers, so aim high when choosing. Also, keep in mind that fiber almost always offers better bandwidth than cable.

4. Reliability

With the basic requirements of speed and bandwidth addressed, it’s time to investigate reliability. Does the provider consistently deliver the high-speed internet they promise? Customer reviews and online ratings can give you an idea of who has a reputation for outages versus a reputation for reliability.

Online publications can give you a good overview of which provider performs best in different areas. Review and compare these resources, and you’ll soon discover who has the best reputation for reliability and customer satisfaction.

5. Low Equipment and Installation Costs

Some providers try to slip unreasonably high equipment or installation costs into your deal. Keep an eye out for those costs so you’re not caught off guard.

These one-time costs won’t matter quite as much as your long-term monthly rates, but they’re still worth considering. This is especially true if other providers offer similar service but cheaper installation costs. As you work to get your business off the ground, you’ll want to minimize your up-front investments.

6. Fiber Optic Internet

Delivering internet over cable is tried and true, and if that’s all that’s available in your location, you likely won’t suffer for it. But fiber optic internet is the best bet across the board. It’s faster and more reliable than cable by a large measure.

Fiber optic cables can deliver data faster than even the most efficient cable can. Fiber internet also sends data on a dedicated line that’s not shared with your neighbors, so their internet usage won’t impact yours. Downtime is also much less likely because fiber is less susceptible to things like power outages and temperature fluctuations.

7. No Data Caps

One of the most frustrating things internet providers do is put caps on the amount of data you can consume. They may technically offer high speed internet, but they’ll limit the amount of data that can be used at any one time. This causes your streams or calls to suddenly stall or slow for no apparent reason. Some providers even charge extra when you go above data caps.

This is obviously a bad deal, especially for a business, so try to avoid data caps whenever possible. You may need to read the fine print carefully to figure out whether your provider enforces data caps. The best providers will make it known that they never do.

8. Good Customer Support

No internet service is perfect all the time. If something does happen, you want to make sure you have a provider dedicated to fixing the problem. Great customer support is key for any provider your business may use, and internet providers are certainly no exception.

Research the companies known for great customer support, and pay attention to how customer-focused the sales reps you talk to are. Before signing on to an internet plan, investigate the customer support options that will be available to you.

9. Robust Security

Cybercriminals are everywhere these days, so you’ll want to be sure that your Wi-Fi provider has taken that into consideration. Criminals can spy on Wi-Fi networks or hack routers if they’re not fully secure.

Ask providers whether they offer 24/7 threat monitoring. Do they block IP address spoofing in order to prevent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks? You can change easy-to-hack default passwords on the hardware you’re purchasing, but your ISP should take the lead in securing your connection.

A good internet plan is an important investment for any business, and doubly so for one that’s digital-first. This list will help you start vetting internet plans so you can choose the best one for your business.

The post 9 Things to Look for in Your Business’s Internet Plan appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How to build a better customer service strategy 

Presently, ninety percent of Americans say customer service factors into whether or not they choose to do business with a company. 

Knowing this information presents you with an opportunity to win new customers. Therefore, if the customer’s experience with your company outshines your competitor, you will gain a new customer.

Take your customer service from mediocre to crowd-pleasing with these seven steps.

1. Evaluate your current customer support process

For starters, you can’t improve something without first identifying shortcomings. Take the time to evaluate your current customer service strategy and identify weaknesses. 

• Are calls and support tickets often bottlenecked? 
• Is your help desk disjointed? 
• Are agents flailing about to find answers to customer’s queries? 
• How many new customers return? If the number is low, could it be that you are losing them because of poor customer service? 

2. Set goals

Now that you know where the problems lie, you can set goals to overcome them and improve your service. Be specific. Do you want:

• Increase response and query resolution times?
• To add new channels for customers to contact you?
• To employ more help desk agents to alleviate long wait times? Thirty-three percent of customers are frustrated by long hold times and having to repeat themselves to multiple support agents.

 Don’t try to revamp everything all at once. Focus on a few priority goals that you can realistically accomplish within 12 months. You can roll out other upgrades at a later stage. 

3. Implement the right customer service software 

One of your priority goals should be to replace your old clunky customer service system with well-rounded CRM software. This single change will immediately up your game.

What to look for in customer relationship software:

• Integration with your other business applications and ecommerce systems. 
• User-friendly with a 360-degree view of the customer’s profile. All customer information, product purchases, and interactions should be in one easy-to-view place. 
• A multi-channel system that is capable of centralizing communication from different platforms like email, calls, social media, text messaging and live chat. 
• An efficient ticketing system for fast query resolution.

To help you find the right CRM system for your businesses, here’s a list of  the 13 best customer service software solutions of 2020.

4. Train help desk agents

All the best systems in the world won’t mean much if your agents are not properly trained. Just how much of an impact do customer service agents have on your business? Here’s what customers say: 

• 68% of customers said the customer service representative was crucial to a positive service experience with a company.
• 73% of customers say they fall in love with a brand and tend to remain loyal because of friendly customer service reps.

That’s how important your customer service team is to your business. So, invest in selecting the right staff and train help desk agents in company knowledge, product knowledge, communication skills, conflict resolution, and friendliness. They are on the frontline of your business and often the first point of contact for customers. 

5. Provide more digital channels 

Online shopping fared well in 2020. COVID quarantines pushed businesses to provide more digital contact options as customers struggled to access traditional channels like in-person assistance and overloaded call centers.

If you don’t already offer customer support via social media, live chats, and self-serve knowledge bases, it’s time to expand to more digital channels. Customers want the convenience of being able to contact a company through multiple channels, and most choose to do so online.

6. Continually analyze data 

When your customer service upgrade is complete and the results are delighted customers, take a moment to feel proud. However, that’s not where your job ends. Every good marketer will tell you that measuring and analyzing data is an important pillar of marketing. 

Continually analyzing data reveals a lot about where you’re succeeding and failing at customer processes. It also reveals insights into customer sentiment and preferences. 

You’ll be able to track customer retention rates. You’ll see patterns emerging from compliments, criticism or complaints. There’s a wealth of information you can glean from analytics to further enhance your customer service.

7. Reward high-value customers

Did you know that the number one reason customers stop using a company’s product or service is because they feel unappreciated? How can you turn that around? Offer your high-value customers rewards like an exclusive offer, a gift voucher for the birthday or other milestones, or discounted membership. Make them special and they’re likely to remain loyal to your brand. 

As the statistics show, customer service is often the differentiating factor between competing businesses. You can’t afford to let this area of your business just coast along. It’s time to make 2021 the year you level up your customer service. 

The post 7 Steps to Building a Better Customer Service Strategy in 2021 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What does that mean for you as a startup or small company? Your presence on YouTube matters. In fact, it matters quite a bit from a marketing and sales perspective. According to the site’s own statistics, viewers collectively watch more than a billion video hours daily. These are people hungry for information about a variety of topics, including those related to your products, services, and industry.

To sate the appetite of watchers and seekers on YouTube, you’ll need more than a business-focused channel. You’ll also need a plan to attract eyes and potentially become a top performer in your niche. Fortunately, getting an initial promotional bump shouldn’t take more than a few months if you follow these strategies.

1. Stay brand-true.

When first-time visitors land on your YouTube channel and videos, they deserve a taste of your brand. Be sure that everything from your thumbnail logo to your Canva-created banner to your graphics are brand-consistent. Delivering an unmistakable brand concept from the get-go helps you appeal to your target audience. It also differentiates you in whatever categories you belong.

2. Budget for YouTube advertising.

It’s tempting to reduce costs by trying to beef up your views and subscribers organically, particularly if you’re bootstrapping a corporate venture. Nonetheless, don’t discount the value and ROI of YouTube ads. As AdOutreach’s Aleric Heck notes, you’re best served putting your budget towards the advertising itself as opposed to fancy equipment. He recommends simplifying your ad videography and putting your dollars into highly targeted YouTube ad campaigns. You’ll get a lift and make your budget stretch much further by investing in what can produce real results.

3. Develop a welcoming intro trailer.

Never miss an opportunity to make an impression on your viewers, right down to the intro trailer on your brand channel. The best trailers are short and sweet. They’re meant to educate the viewer on your company, giving a 30,000-foot viewpoint. Save the nitty-gritty stuff for your video content. Users only need a palate-pleasing taste of what you do from your trailer, not the full-fledged buffet.

4. Brainstorm simplified content based on customer FAQs.

You know the biggest questions your customers ask. “How does this work?” “Can I do this at home?” “Is this a good fit for my family’s needs?” Use those FAQs as springboards to create content for your initial videos. Don’t worry whether or not the topic seems too basic. A straightforward 30-second “how to” video shot with your smartphone could drive far more interest than a clever, but unnecessarily convoluted, commercial.

5. Lay out a content management calendar.

Ideally, you’ll want to populate your YouTube channel with as much video content as possible. But the reality is that you might find it hard to film some weeks. To ensure your videos drop on a regular basis, construct a content calendar. Then, shoot numerous videos ahead of time. For instance, you could take a Wednesday afternoon, film 10 videos, and call it a day. They’ll be ready for you to use (after a round of editing, of course.)

6. Remember all that SEO 101 stuff.

Guess what? SEO isn’t just for your website. It’s also vital to getting visitors to your YouTube channel. Tag your videos, use keyword-rich descriptions, enable transcriptions, and take advantage of any opportunities to construct unique content. Double check the way you name your videos, too. Each video needs to be keyword specific so bots and humans know how to categorize it.

7. Make your voice heard.

If you allow viewers to comment on your videos, set aside time every few days to respond to their feedback. This type of monitoring isn’t just good manners. It’s also a way to communicate with users. Even if someone writes a negative comment, answer it with compassion, humor, or—at the very least—professionalism. 

8. Remind viewers to become subscribers.

How many times have you enjoyed a YouTube video only to click out without subscribing to the channel? It happens frequently. Yet it doesn’t have to be inevitable. Instead of allowing users to just go on their merry way, remind them to subscribe with a YouTube card or other effective device. Asking for them to support your channel will boost subscription rates, which will in turn increase your brand authority.

9. Leverage the power of playlists. 

As you begin to amass plenty of videos, you’ll want to organize them into groups. Those groups are essentially playlists that viewers can use to navigate your channel. It’s not uncommon for viewers to watch every video in a playlist devoted to a special topic. Over time, you may want to rearrange your playlists to stay up with trends.

10. Link to your videos obsessively.

Want viewership to skyrocket? Here are two words to keep in mind: embed and spread. Embed videos on relevant pages throughout your website, such as within a blog post or on a product page. You may also want to embed your latest YouTube content in a MailChimp email as part of a messaging blast. In addition, plan to spread the word on all your social channels whenever you release another video.

Now’s not the time to get camera shy or think you need to go to filmmaking school to own a piece of the YouTube pie. Any small business can build a brand presence fast on YouTube. The sooner you hit “record,” the sooner you’ll reap the rewards.

The post Break Into YouTube: 10 First Steps for Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Currently, this marketing method is shaded by social media dominance. The capability of this type of marketing campaign is often ignored by marketers. Of course, social media can boost your marketing strategies and give the results you wanted. However, marketing via email can produce instant results for your business in comparison to the social networks.

Want to know how? Check out these eight reasons why marketing through email is better than social media:

1. Personalization for improved outcomes

Email messages can be personalized more than a social media post. They allow you to easily segment audiences and send them personalized messages with more specific outcomes with CTAs.

2. Segments messages to boost conversions

You can easily slice and dice your mailing list per your strategic actions based on their prior actions. Details about the emails open and links they click let you use that behavior in segmenting the audience further. This should lead to better conversion rates.

On the other hand, social media will only give you some control in demographic targeting. It’s also troublesome to track at the individual level. Even though some social media channels allow demographic segmentation, none will work like email marketing.

3. Email builds relationships and credibility

People wish to do business with those they know, admire and trust. Email offers a direct connection to the customer, making it more personal rather than social media marketing. Customers can also quickly connect with you in case of questions or concerns via email.

Also, the personal appreciation messages you send will strengthen customer relationships and open the doorways for more future business.

4. Customers favor email for promotional messages

You can send promotional offers via email based on customers’ shopping patterns with this type of marketing. Rather than just sending a generalized promotional offer, you can embrace that opportunity to send special offers for the products and services customers are interested in. Besides, you can run a permission-based promotional campaign to improve sales and keep the customers attracted to your business.

5. Email reaches more mobile consumers

Undoubtedly, the number of smartphone users increases daily. Many of them check and respond to email on their phone. Unlike building an app or SMS marketing, email marketing does not require small businesses to invest a significant amount in new technology or various software.

6. Email is more cost-efficient

Email is an inexpensive way to reach people interested in hearing from you and regularly communicate with them. Plus, whether you want to run a marketing campaign or send promotional offers, it’s relatively cheaper than advertising on social media platforms. If you can get better results at an affordable price with email, why would you spend more?

7. Seamless integration with other marketing tactics

Another top advantage of marketing through email for small businesses is that it blends well with other marketing tools. Companies can craft emails to reach a variety of goals and promote a number of other campaigns.

For instance, you can combine email marketing with a CRM system. If you are running a precise campaign and want to measure analytics, marketing through email works. On the contrary, you have to be dependent on the network you choose for social media and the facility they provide.

8. Own your email list

With your own email list, you have a direct route to potential customers and interact with them. Also, everything you communicate with them is under your control, unlike other platforms. More specifically, you need to make communications with the target audience as per the social media network’s rules, regulations, and features they provide.

Reasons to make email part of your marketing strategy include:

• Email efficiently drives more traffic to your company website

• Email helps in generating higher ROI

• It can be an effective tool to generate brand awareness

• Emails improve customers’ engagement easily and quickly

• Marketing via email is useful for testing the various strategies

If you make email part of your marketing strategy, you will have a lot more benefits than choosing social media. The most common advantages of marketing through email include owning an email list, most personalized and one-to-one communication, inexpensive, audience segmentation, and much more.

Whether to choose marketing through social media or email, it should be your decision. Nonetheless, when you want to increase brand awareness, boost sales, or retain brand-loyal customers, the power of marketing through email should not be overlooked.

The post 8 Reasons Why Email Marketing Is Better Than Social Media appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Talented people live all over the world. The trouble is navigating the legal, managerial, and cultural hurdles to find and hire them. You’ll learn quickly that you aren’t in Kansas anymore. 

Don’t let distance be a barrier. When it’s time to expand your operations beyond U.S. shores, use these five tips to hire the international team members you need:

1. Partner with a Global Employment Solutions Provider

Different countries play by different rules. You need to find a global employment solution provider who knows how to operate in your expansion locations. 

An international employer of record (EOR) allows you to legally and indirectly hire team members in other countries. It’s responsible for compliance with labor laws, benefits administration, global payroll, and tax withholding.

Look for an EOR that does more than just handle the paperwork. Any EOR worth its salt makes employees feel like they’re on the “A” team through cultural support and managerial consulting. 

Avoid EORs that charge a percentage rather than a flat fee. EORs with percentage models will make you want to pay your foreign employees less to keep your costs down. 

No matter where you are in the world, better pay and benefits attract better employees. Particularly if you’re hiring for leadership or technical positions, skimping on compensation is a good way to shoot yourself in the foot. 

2. Hire Employees, Not Contractors

It’s tempting to just pay a contractor in another country to work for you. But there are a lot of reasons why hiring employees is a wiser choice.

For one thing, your company will generally bear more of the compliance burden than the contractors it employs. For example, if you aren’t compliant in your classification of the contractor, you pay the fines and penalties. 

Using contractors can also increase the risk of intellectual property issues. In some countries, the contractor could wind up owning some of the IP that he or she creates on behalf of your company.

If you’re going to engage a contractor regularly, hiring them as an employee is probably more cost-efficient as well. Plus, the people you hire will appreciate the consistent pay and benefits that accompany employment. That benefits the employee, of course, but also creates a more cohesive and deeper company culture for you.

With that said, there are times when hiring a contractor makes more sense than hiring a full-time employee. If you just need a logo designed, for instance, then it probably isn’t a good idea to employ the designer. Look to your EOR to help you weigh the pros and cons.

3. Don’t Assume Domestic Agreements Will Work

Toss that boilerplate employment contract or non-compete agreement you use at home when expanding abroad. Categorically, home and international versions might be similar. But the details will differ, often substantially.

It’s critical that you have contractor and employment contracts, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, and agreements designed to protect your IP. But they all need to be drafted to comply with local rules and laws to be effective.

Courts can and often do throw out contracts over a single clause. Beyond that, legal representation can be expensive and difficult to find in a foreign country. 

Your EOR should have employment attorneys in your expansion country. They can make sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, no matter the local language or the law.

4. Preboard Before You Onboard

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that working remotely can be challenging for both the employer and for the employee. This is doubly true for remote work conducted across international borders.

Be diligent. Consider not just communication with remote workers, but data security, local infrastructure, and cultural differences. You don’t want to find out that your employee can’t use their company computer because its plug won’t fit into local wall sockets, for example. 

The good news is, many preboarding best practices should be familiar. Set realistic expectations for the role. Provide opportunities to meet regularly with management. Discuss what data is sensitive and how it should be handled. Talk through any limitations on their access to company infrastructure and information.

The best way to prevent post-hire surprises is to do your homework on the front end. It’s better to find out that a relationship won’t work early than after you’ve integrated a new team member into your workflow. 

5. Speak the Language

Speaking the language of international employees means more than speaking their actual language. It also means developing a corporate culture in sync with a country’s cultural norms.

You need to be aware of any cultural taboos so you can avoid accidentally insulting or offending one another. For example, avoiding eye contact is seen as a sign of respect in some foreign countries. But in the U.S., it’s viewed as rude or a sign that someone is lying. 

Ignorance of cultural norms is not a defense. Constantly pleading with each other for forgiveness is not a productive working relationship.

Provide one-sheeters to each remote team about the cultural tendencies of each country in which you operate. Convene an ice breaker session to get to know each other and discuss potential points of friction. Getting cultural differences out in the open is the surest way to prevent feelings of resentment from festering. 

Another component of speaking the language is choosing your communication tools wisely. For example, some domestic phone plans cannot send or receive international SMS messages. Slack, on the other hand, is used around the world for team communication. 

When in doubt, ask: How would your international team members prefer to communicate? Are there things that you say or do that frustrate them? What sorts of compliments motivate and inspire them? 

Expanding internationally is a big, exciting step for any startup. Success or failure is going to depend on your ability to recruit, hire, and retain great employees. That’s just as true in China and Canada as it is in Kansas.

The post 5 Tips for Startups Hiring Internationally appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has thrown a serious wrench into many companies’ interview and assessment processes. As firms try to navigate a path forward, it’s worth figuring out where coronavirus has dented your recruiting infrastructure. Here are 4 of the most important elements to consider: 

1. Posting the Job

Job hunting has been a primarily digital affair for years now, but the pandemic has taken the importance of tech in the process to new levels. Job fairs, conferences, and in-person recruiting opportunities have all but vanished, making recruitment sites the de facto job fairs of today. 

Technical recruiters need to keep in mind that this shift is exactly what they’ve been waiting for: an opportunity to take in resumes from as few funnels as possible, reduce travel costs, and maximize efficiency throughout. The impact can be positive for your entire business, too! Candidates recruited from LinkedIn are 40% less likely to leave than employees recruited through more traditional means. The shift to a fully digital recruiting process may have been sudden, but be prepared for it to stick around for the long term. 

2. Technical Assessment

Perhaps the single most crucial aspect of technical recruitment is the technical assessment. Before you hire a candidate, you need to know if they’re up to the tasks or not. While you might have once held technical assessments in your office during prospect visits, Covid-19 has mandated a new way of doing things. If you don’t want the quality of your technical assessment process to tank, you’ll likely need a bit of help.

There are a number of firms out there capable of facilitating remote technical assessments for tech hires. Platforms such as Coderbyte can reduce the cost per hire by up to 25% by maximizing efficiency and effectively vetting candidates. This makes the initial investment easy to earn back over time. 

3. Identifying Need

How do you determine when it’s time for a new hire in the first place? Likely after consultation with team leads and balance sheets, you feel comfortable enough to make a call either way. The new world of remote work has turned the water cooler into the project management platform, meaning that you can be more precise than ever about potential areas of need. After a given development cycle, go back through the data covering the process from start to finish. Is there anywhere that lagged behind expectations? Any snags that employees ran into repeatedly? Any complaints about crunch or resource misallocation? The more concrete your answers to these questions are, the more informed your decisions about technical recruiting will be.

4. “Fit” Analysis

How do you know whether a potential employee will fit well with her future team? More importantly, what steps can you take to come up with as definitive an answer as possible? During normal times, this involves conversations between top candidates and existing team members. These discussions likely entails questions that get to the heart of key issues. Now that the interview process relies almost entirely on email, Zoom, and phone calls, fit is no longer something that can be determined on the fly — you need to search it out. 

Find other ways to determine fit ahead of time. An increasingly popular method is by combing through candidates’ social media. A survey from CareerBuilder found that 70% of businesses now check the social media pages of applicants, and 54% have rejected someone because of what they found. In this day and age, that number should be quickly approaching 100. It’s not easy to coax sociability out of someone over a video chat, so look for its manifestations in other places. 

The age of Covid-19 has not made technical recruiting any easier, but that doesn’t mean a thorough recruiting process is impossible. By using the tools, platforms, and methods at your disposal, you can effectively attract and vet candidates in a way that ensures no one slips through the cracks. 

The post 4 Key Elements of Technical Recruiting & How They’ll Be Affected By Covid-19 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

My company has been hiring rapidly since March, because we serve e-commerce clients who are experiencing a rise in order volume as more people buy online. By the end of the year, we’ll have added 500 new people since the start of the quarantine shutdowns. Those hires will increase our global workforce by 33%. 

Here’s what we’ve learned about hiring during this time and overcoming new issues along the way.

Hiring Challenge: Managing a high volume of applications

Before March 2020, the biggest hiring hurdle for many employers was finding a large enough pool of qualified applicants. Unemployment was at a 50-year low. But as layoffs and furloughs started happening, many employers have been flooded with applicants for each open position. 

In our case, the volume of responses we received required us to move faster to adopt new software to manage our applicant tracking process. A scalable applicant tracking system allows you to filter hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applicants’ data through your HR and recruiting filters quickly. It can also sync that data with information from third parties, like headhunters who help you fill key positions and employees who make referrals from their networks. 

We started our changeover to new tracking software before the quarantine, but the need to hire more people quickly and the number of applications speeded things up. In all, making the switch to new software took about three months. It has enabled a new, better approach to candidate management.

Hiring Challenge: Managing the employer brand

As we launched our hiring drive, we didn’t rely on jobseekers to find us. Our marketing and HR teams developed employer branding campaigns to show prospective applicants what’s appealing about working for us. This kind of campaign typically targets both active jobseekers and “passive” candidates who are already employed elsewhere, to encourage them to learn more about job openings they might be interested in. 

Of course, most growing companies do candidate outreach that ranges from social media ads to college career days and community job fairs. But quarantines and distancing add a new challenge. According to our head of HR, the virtual-only requirements for this campaign forced us to: 

• strengthen our employer branding strategy
• reinforce our social media presence
• merge our campaign content about business and company culture topics to give candidates a fuller sense of what it’s like to work here. 

As a result of these adjustments to make our employer branding stronger in digital channels, our career page received 245% more visitors than before the pandemic began. We also saw a 475% increase in views of our LinkedIn page during that time.

One note of caution: As you step up your employer brand messaging on social media, you’ll need to find a way to balance your messaging to potential hires with messaging to prospects and current customers, so that prospects don’t start tuning out your posts. 

Hiring Challenge: Communicating with candidates

With a strong employer branding program, you should have lots of applicants to choose from. But if you don’t follow up with them, you can suffer brand damage in several ways. 

First, candidates will see you as an unresponsive employer, so they may not apply with you again. Next, they may complain about your lack of response to friends or on social media. That can discourage other people from applying. And a lack of response can create morale problems if you have an employee referral program. Applicants may complain to their friend or relative who referred them, and that employee may be embarrassed or upset that their referral wasn’t acknowledged.

Implementing an applicant tracking system will help you communicate clearly and consistently with candidates. So will a new mindset. With the pipeline in place to manage candidates as if they were leads in a CRM, you can treat applicants with the same consideration and follow-up as prospects and clients. 

When you have a pipeline and automated systems in place, you can check in with your applicants at each stage of the process to thank them–and to let them know what they can expect next. This level of communication can improve candidates’ satisfaction with the experience, even if the hiring process takes longer now due to distancing and other restrictions. Good communication can also encourage candidates who don’t make the cut the first time to apply again later, because they know your company will treat them well.

It may seem counterintuitive that the way to handle a deluge of applications is to treat every applicant like a prospect. But when you show candidates that you see them as people and communicate clearly with them, you’re strengthening your brand and your candidate pipeline. 

Hiring Challenge: Interviewing candidates at a distance

After you’ve identified the people you want to interview, you face a new challenge. How can you assess someone when your interactions are mostly happening on-screen?

Face-to-face interactions have always been an important part of the hiring process. To replace the lost or reduced in-person connections that help you evaluate candidates, the key is having focused conversations that help you understand your candidates. (It’s also important to make sure your remote interview experience is technically top notch.)

For example, when I’m talking with prospective hires, I usually ask about what their parents or extended families did for a living and what the idea of work meant to them as children. I also like to ask people who they look up to. Who are their mentors and inspirations, and why? The answers to these questions can show you what motivates candidates at a core emotional level and as professionals. 

These types of questions are focused more on soft skills than anything else, and that’s because of one of our cultural values: Every professional is a person, and an important part of the person is the professional. That means we seek applicants who are authentic and bring all the elements of their identity with them to work. We deal with fraud, which means we also deal with trust. So, we need authentic employees who are themselves at work. 

What are the benefits of this approach to candidate screening? If you’re hiring people to solve complex problems creatively—people you hope will grow within the company over the long term—you don’t want them to feel like they have to turn their personality off at work and turn it back on when they’re done. Employees who can be themselves at work are more likely to mull over work challenges during their off time—which can lead to better, more creative ideas and solutions.

It’s also critical to ask questions that can help you see if the candidate is a good fit for your company culture. For example, if an applicant isn’t comfortable working with cross-departmental teams and developing their own domain of expertise, they may not be a good fit for a role at a startup that requires collaboration and flexibility. 

Hiring just to fill a role quickly can be a costly mistake that hinders your company’s ability to grow. So can letting applications flood in with no response. By communicating with applicants and asking candidates questions that help you see the person in the professional, you can find the best people to help you grow now and help your culture flourish in the future.

The post How Fast-Growing Businesses Can Handle New Hiring Challenges appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

To be sure, you don’t have to rise to the fame of a Mary Kay Ash or Zig Ziglar to be a sales phenom. Plenty of salespeople across the world land tons of deals, build loyal connections with customers, and solve buyers’ biggest conundrums. You may not know their names, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less successful. 

Here’s the dirty little secret, though: The majority of sales folks aren’t utilizing all the tech at their fingertips. As a result, statistics culled by Forbes suggest that most sales experts sell only 35.2% of the time. The rest of the time, they’re pushing papers, engaged in redundant activities, and not bringing in revenue. 

The bottom line is that even the most prolific seller probably has room for improvement. And there’s no shame in wanting to get better. So why not embrace the technology that can help you rev up your conversations? Or reduce the risk of being ghosted by a top prospect?

Below are four tech stack must-tries to impress your boss and win over resistant buyers.

1. Close deals seamlessly with virtual proposals.

Remember the days of sending your client a proposal, waiting for the client to make adjustments, and going through the process ad infinitum? (Those days might have been as recently as this week, to be honest.) Every time you make your prospect jump through a hoop, no matter how minuscule, you risk losing momentum.

What’s the way to close this gap for good? Leverage proposal and contract processes that automate the system on one platform. PandaDoc, an all-in-one document automation software, notes that requesting proposals the old-fashioned way needlessly extends your close rate. In other words, you waste precious days and weeks trying to get the final go-ahead. Plus, once you’ve built a proposal on paper, how easy is it to change on the fly? In most cases, it’s not easy at all.

The way to fix this issue is to find a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider like PandaDoc that offers the ability to manage your proposals and eventual contracts in one location. Having documents available to everyone who needs to know—and make changes effortlessly—transforms the proposal experience. It also shortens the sales cycle by reducing buyer barriers to acceptance.

2. Add robust templates to your tech stack.

Have you ever found yourself writing the same email again and again? Sure, you might change a word or two here and there. But the gist and tone remain similar. These are documents and correspondence that you could automate with software.

What’s the value of having dozens of templates? With the right system, you can deploy your templates quickly across omni-channels. Have a prospect who prefers text? No problem. Your template can be revamped to look great on a phone. Dealing with someone who’s a social media user? Send DMs and get noticed.

Not sure you want to invest in more tech software? Even if you just keep a catalog of templates on your centralized knowledge system, you’ll be ahead of the game. As a side note, you don’t have to lose the individual touch. In fact, you should focus on personalization because it’s what 80% of participants in an Epsilon buyer study said they want. Templates can be constructed with “holes.” Fill those “holes” with customized messages and foster connections without losing precious hours re-typing content.

3. Invest in a truly modern customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Why do so many salespeople rave about CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce? The companies have made it their business to lead the CRM industry. They’re continuously adding new solutions to their platforms, including AI-driven tools.

Feel as if your outdated legacy CRM gets the job done? That may be true. However, it’s worth investigating state-of-the-art CRMs. Sure, it’s understandable to want to hold onto your CRM because you know it. No one likes change. Still, it might not be the right answer anymore.

Newer CRM platforms aren’t just clearinghouses to hold prospect and client information, either. The top ones allow you to analyze customer behaviors, set up regular messaging based on where a customer is in the sales funnel, and perhaps listen socially. Unless you’re 100% sure you have a CRM that truly links your organization’s marketing, communications, service, and sales teams, you’d be wise to investigate what’s on the market.

4. Increase your sales prospecting IQ.

The more intelligent your sales prospecting, the less arduous it is to uncover truly qualified potential clients. AI has helped sales technology become savvier, moving way beyond just grabbing prospects’ personal and business information from the web.

How does sales intelligence work when buoyed by technology like AI and machine learning? For one, sales software can crawl the Internet, looking for potential prospects based on your company’s past purchases and historical information. The software can then deliver target personas to specific sales team members. Even if the sales team has to evaluate the information by hand, everyone will save time.

Sales prospecting software can also help you scrub and update information, much of which will be outdated in about a year’s time. Remember: These are processes you would have to do yourself or ask someone else to do on your behalf. If a program can do it just as well, why not let it?

Prospect.io even suggests that sales prospecting should include a deep dive into data about the sales that turned you down. This way you can get a better understanding of why, and what to do better next time. 

Sales will always be about relationships, and tech can help you finally have the time to build connections. So why wait? Stop spinning your wheels and start generating long-term ties.

The post 4 Types of Sales Tech You Shouldn’t Sleep On appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Utilize your best content in many forms

If your latest eBook has proven to be a best-seller, consider turning the chapters into a series of podcasts. Not only will you increase the reach of the content, but you’ll also make it more accessible to people who don’t have the time to read. In the process, you’ll enrich your brand’s and business’ digital footprint.

2. Emotionalise your connection

The ultimate prize in marketing is the creation of an emotional connection with customers. Podcasting makes your brand voice audible, and it leaves a deeper, bigger impression on your  listeners. Your sincerity and commitment can be communicated in a way that really sticks with consumers.

3. More time with your target audience

With a captivating tone of voice, you can hold on to your target audience’s attention longer. As with any text-based content, the chances of readers just skimming through the content is high. With podcasting, you have a silver bullet to hold on to their attention and spend more time with your target audience because of your voice. Using a variety of pitches and tones, you can take the ‘boredom’ out of going through content with podcasting, which creates more opportunities for you to be listened to.

A podcast is another way you can bring in revenue. All of the above play vital roles in ensuring this desired outcome, and additional tips for how podcasting can generate revenue are included below.

Paid content

Once you’ve established your authority in a given area, you’ll have the bandwidth to charge for future podcasts. In a way, it’s monetising the trust people have in the quality of your thoughts and ideas.

A selling platform

Your podcast can be a platform to sell products and services. For example, if you’re a motivational speaker, you may choose to sell a leadership course or live webinars.

Distribution

If your podcasts have established a reputation as an authority on online selling, don’t be surprised if an eCommerce giant seeks the right to distribute your podcasts on their platform. After all, it’ll work in their favour, too.

Podcasting is a rapidly growing business. To get started, these are the three basic pieces of equipment you’ll need.

1. Condenser Microphones

You’ll need a dedicated condenser microphone since most standard computer microphones aren’t good enough.

2. Studio Headphones

It’s essential to ensure the quality of your recording. Poor sound quality sits right next to poor content in poorly performing podcasts.

3. Audio editing software

It’s the final piece in ensuring you’ll be heard. For a start, you can download free programs available online.

If you are new to podcasting, you can consider getting podcast packages and bundles to get started on your podcast journey and see real growth in your business.

The post Increase Your Business Revenue With Podcasting appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While there is a lot you can predict and plenty of articles to read, it’s probable that there are some aspects of entrepreneurship you’ve overlooked. Let this article be your helpful reminder of the complexities that often go hand-in-hand when launching your business off the ground. Here are five lesser-discussed things you need to account for when starting your business. 

1. It’s not often a straight shot to success

Success in a new business is often viewed on the outside as a linear trajectory. New business owners who start with excitement picturing this predictable growth pattern are more often than not disappointed. Too many new businesses start without a contingency plan for what to do in the event something goes wrong. What will you do if you have a slow few months, backtrack after six months, or if it takes a full year of losses before you’re profitable?

There is a chance you’ll be profitable straight away, but it’s also possible that you won’t be. Plan for that in advance.

If you’re a service-based business, what will you do if clients don’t pay you straight away? Is it going to create a cash flow problem?

Take some time to think through how things could not go as expected and decide how you’ll handle it ahead of time. In the event the worst happens, you won’t panic because you already know what to do.

2. Bookkeeping should start right away

Even if you are simply making a domain name purchase with no other planned expenses for another month, it’s important to start bookkeeping right away.

Small business owners often get so caught up in the product/service creation and sales process that the more mundane tasks like Bookkeeping perth or looking into pre paid business cards often get left to the wayside. Small business owners wear many hats at the beginning of starting a business, but to be successful, money is the most important part. Understanding where it’s going and where it’s coming in (staying on top of expenses) will help you prioritize and keep a lean operation. Consult a small business accountant if you’re not sure how to do it, or if you simply haven’t got the time.

How much does it truly cost you to obtain a customer? What is the lifetime value of that customer once you’ve got them on board?

These questions are going to be crucial in running a successful operation and you need to know them inside and out.

3. There are many variable costs to consider

If you’re starting your business today, you’re already aware that you’ll have fixed costs to get going. Whether that’s the purchase of a new computer, a printer, a building you’ll lease, or an electric bill you’ll pay.

But have you considered some of the other costs you’ll face?

If you’re going to accept credit cards (which you absolutely should) you’ll pay anywhere from 2-4% of your gross revenue in average credit card processing fees for that privilege. You may also be subject to business license and registration fees, insurance premiums, and self-employment taxes. These types of payments and risks should be considered carefully so you know how much it really costs to get started. 

4. You are not your target market

The best businesses solve a problem, and many entrepreneurs are inspired to solve a problem in their own lives. While this is a valid and popular way to find an idea, it doesn’t immediately mean it will be a success.

You are not your target market. There needs to be someone else out there who also believes it’s a problem and they need to believe it can be solved in the way you plan to. Validate your problem and your solution through target market research. Maybe your problem isn’t widespread enough to be a viable business. Maybe the solution you’ve created isn’t the best way to solve it.

Target market research is crucial to ensure your business idea has a market.

5. You don’t have to have it all figured out to get started

Many people are afraid to start a business because they don’t have the answers to all of the potential questions they could face. While there’s merit to doing research of course (if you’re reading this, you already know that), but there’s also a lot to be said for just digging in. You’ll figure out what you don’t yet know very quickly.

By starting with a lean and flexible operation and digging into the trenches, you’ll quickly see what works, what doesn’t, and where you should pivot or optimize for the best results. There are so many things ahead of you that even the most well-prepared entrepreneur can’t have it all figured out. And that’s ok. You’ll learn as you go, gain skills, make mistakes, and find your way much quicker if you get started. See what resources are available to you. Enlist the help of human resources software to help you manage your staff. Rome wasn’t built in a day and no one is a master of all areas when it comes to launching a business.

Concluding Thoughts

Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. There are many twists, turns, surprises, and exciting moments ahead. While it’s important to do research and understand what you’re really getting yourself into, it’s equally important to dig in and get your hands dirty. 

A perfectly planned business simply does not exist. A business executed imperfectly is far better off than the not-yet-started one waiting on the sidelines. Don’t wait for that perfect moment or else you’ll never start.

The post 5 Things to Account for When Starting Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While the ambition, the passion, and the concept are right, the reality that many small enterprises still fail is an ever-looming guillotine. No one gets into business to fail, but the statistics, the current economics, and even the world’s needs can change with the wind, and what might be great today can be vapor tomorrow. 

The Help You Need

That is why a smart small business owner needs some help. And for the savvy entrepreneur, the software is the answer. Small business management software is one of the best tools to own if you want to keep an eye on all aspects of your business correctly. It lets you watch inventory, budgeting, revenue, and even employee effectiveness.

It can include options like extensions to payroll software for small business needs that will help you effectively track your employee’s earnings, taxes, and so forth. It can link you to the best SEO software for small business marketing to get your brand higher on Google and Yahoo searches. And some of these programs are even free with the initial software.

What it means for you is you have a resource, a support system, and a guide that can help you with the intricacies of your business, especially the money aspects, and help you stay on top of things, without being an overbearing micromanager. It does the managing for you. 

Small Business Software That Works for You

Just because you buy the best accounting software for small business finances doesn’t mean you get to let fate take the wheel. You are still the ultimate control engine of your enterprise. And the software is nothing more than a helper. Letting it run the show is tantamount to allowing waves to steer a ship. Eventually, you are going to hit the rocks. You must be at the helm.

In that respect, here is a list of great small business software possibilities, along with other technologies, for your new endeavor:

1. Management Apps

Feature-rich management apps software is designed to improve the customer relations side of your company. While the market is heavily saturated with these programs, there have been many new industry developments. They use automation to trim hours of data entry off your plate and are very easy to use.

2. Integrated Voice Searching

Have you ever used a voice text program? Did it have issues with odd words that don’t usually come up in your native tongue? That is because most are only programmed for common words. Slang, swear words, and unique names give it trouble. When choosing your business’s name, having one a voice search will understand will help with search engines. 

3. Social Media Marketing

There are two ways to market with social media. You can use Facebook Ads, link it to your company page, and make a clickable option for people to get instantly transferred to your site. The other is through Facebook Messenger. Messenger can be used to offer products and discounts and raise awareness for exciting things yet to come. 

4. Square Is Your Friend

Square hit the landscape helping smaller businesses take credit cards instead of losing a potential transaction. Now they have an integrated installment option, allowing customers to pay off larger ticket items over time. The retailer gets paid, the customer gets what they came for, and everybody wins.

5. The Future Is Now

Two letters that will change your entrepreneurial model forever: A.I. Artificial intelligence has been a part of the working world for quite a few years, integrated into the software, giving birth to new concepts in automation, and improving internal operations, almost invisibly. If you didn’t know it was happening, you might be understandably concerned. Don’t be. These “thinking machines” are geared to help, not to hinder. 

6. Remote Options

With the use of automation, A.I., and external shipping, working from home is not only a real option but also the preferred option for many entrepreneurs. They can run their store, have everything shipped to the customer, and do it all from their home office, while in their pajamas. Is it professional? Maybe not. But if there is an issue, like perhaps a worldwide pandemic, it is a nice thing to have.

The Freedom to Choose

One of the best aspects of software is the variety. There are tons of products in every part of your entrepreneurial needs. If you need accounting, there are plenty. If you want an excellent payroll program, walk through your local electronics store. And even better, getting small business software free online is an ever-present opportunity. 

So, what is the best software for small business? It depends on what you know, what you need, and what you can afford. Some programs are fantastic and won’t cost you a dime, although the add-ons can add up. Others can cost a mint but are comprehensive. Figure out what you need, shop around, search online, and be specific. The right choice is out there, just waiting for you to choose it for your endeavor.

The world may have changed, but small businesses haven’t. There is still the dream of being your boss and doing whatever it takes to make that a reality. Resources pop up almost daily that are designed to help. If you are a struggling entrepreneur, you need only to find the one that will give you a leg up and assist with your needs. And it might just give you a way to overtake your competition. 

The post Technologies Small Business Owners Should Consider Using Today appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These are the essential features a marketplace script should have:

• Customization options
• Scalability
• User experience
• Affordability and
• Mobile accessibility 

Top Marketplace Platforms

1. BigCommerce

Most suitable for small-to-medium sized businesses, BigCommerce’s dashboard is very straightforward and user friendly.

Pros:

• Fully hosted
• Easily accessible
• Unlimited product listings
• Unlimited bandwidth & file 
• Integrations with shipping and POS software
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• You have to pay for 24/7 customer service.
• They are expensive compared to competitors. 
• Customer orders don’t come with tracking information.

2. Shopify

Offering the widest range of apps, add-ons, and plugins for small, medium, and large marketplace platforms, The Top Shopify Developer NZ are always ready to help to build an online store providing  Shopify provides tons of readymade templates for personalization.

Pros:

• A ready to use ecommerce store with cloud hosting
• Access to hundreds of themes and plugins
• Hundreds of templates for selling any type of products
• Built-in payment gateways
• Highly customizable and scalable
• Compatibility with popular third-party integrations

Cons:

• Month-to-month pricing
• Limited customization options
• High price for the enterprise level plans
• Complicated migration

3. Shopygen

Supporting different types of marketplace platforms like B2C and C2C, Shopygen provides turnkey solutions for marketplaces like Uber, Airbnb, and Instacart. They also provide services for customized plugins and themes for other eCommerce software developing platforms like Mgento, Shopify, WooCommerce etc. 

Pros:

• Created using NodeJS technology
• Highly customizable
• No recurring fee
• Cost effective in comparison to its competitors

Cons:

• You will need to get your own hosting and security maintenance.
• If customization is required, the development time is longer than usual.
• It requires an upfront cost. 

4. Magento

Magento’s platform helps to empower retailers and brands with flexible cloud solutions to help companies scale up their business. Magento’s wide range of customizable options makes it a  great platform for merchants who want to innovate and grow with technology.

Pros:

• Integrated checkout, payment and shipping
• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Catalog management
• Instant purchase
• Customization options available

Cons:

• Long development time 
• Higher budget than most of its contemporaries
• Doesn’t have a lot of content creation options
• Magento Commerce support comes with a hefty price

5. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source wordpress shopping cart plugin. It is one of the most chosen eCommerce platforms in the market and runs on about 30% of all stores.

Pros:

• Regularly updated and totally secure
• Highly customizable
• Integrates with many other ecommerce platforms and payment gateways
• Complete support

Cons:

• Not all of the features come with the basic plan
• Expensive external themes, plugins, and hosting
• You are on your own with regards to maintaining hosting to security and backups.

There are many eCommerce softwares available in the market; don’t just limit your choices to SaaS. Of course, managing a self-hosted site is not as easy as a SaaS platform, but you get the complete control when you own the code of your site which is incomparable. Ultimately it depends on your requirements, budget, and how you are going to manage your website.

The post Shopping Cart Software for Multi-Vendor Ecommerce Marketplaces appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Strong Human Resources Management Team

The core of a successful business plan is the people that you surround yourself with. You cannot expect to have success without a high-quality staff. And you cannot expect to work with the best people without a competent human resources management team. As a team you should choose a good program like VoIP for Business for business strategies and communication.

As part of your human resources team, you need to have a professional who is trained to find and hire the best talent to keep your business moving forward. This person will be the face of your company as you bring new people into the fold. A good human resources manager will also be able to effectively craft your company culture so that you retain quality employees. Increasing employee satisfaction will go a long way in supporting success for your organization,
making it important that you have human resources staff in place to make this happen. you can focus on scaling and growing your business by the help of singapore nominee director.

2. Cash Management System

You are only as strong as your cash management. Most businesses that go bankrupt do so simply because they run out of cash and not because they are not equipped to be profitable. There are a number of factors that you need to consider when designing and implementing your cash flow system. How much cash do you need to have on hand? How do you collect payments from clients? How much inventory do you need on hand to operate with a comfortable margin?

How much capital do you need at your disposal in order to grow your business and how will you balance this with your debt? All of these questions need to have an answer if you want to avoid having cash flow issues.

3. Marketing Plan Focused on ROI

Marketing is a critical piece of any business plan. When crafting your general marketing or franchise marketing and promotional initiatives, it is important that you devise a plan that is focused on your return on investment. The last thing that you want to be doing is dumping your money into initiatives that do not pay off for your bottom line. One of the best places to start your analysis of your marketing ROI is through your own company website. Through your site, you can use Google Analytics to learn how people find your business, where they come from, and how much they are willing to engage with what you have to offer. From here, you can craft your marketing plan to reach the right audience while responding to their specific needs.

4. Solid IT Infrastructure

In today’s modern business world, it is imperative that you leverage technology to your full advantage. This means that you cannot slack on putting all of your IT infrastructure in place. Without a solid IT foundation, your business will not be able to keep pace with the competition in a fluid marketplace.

If you do not have the ability and staff to run your technology systems in-house, you can look into contracting out for managed IT services. This will take a significant amount of work and worry off of your plate so that you can focus on the meat of your business. With a managed service, you can take advantage of a staffed IT desk and proactive monitoring of all of your most vital technological systems.

5. Business Plan

The cornerstone of your success lies with your business plan. This formal document serves as a guide as you make tough decisions about your organization. You can customize your plan to meet your specific business needs. Most plans include an executive summary, a list of high-level staffing positions, financial data, marketing initiatives, and more. Not only will this serve as a reminder to you, but it is also a useful piece of information for potential investors.

These five elements will combine to ensure that your business is put in the position to succeed both in the short-term and in the long-term. With all five of these essentials, you will be able to weather a variety of issues and come out on top.

The post 5 Business Essentials That Every Business Owner Needs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This goes to show that your online presence, particularly your website, is doing more than half the work for you when it comes to lead acquisition.

When you’re starting your company, all you want to do is get a website off the ground and get the word out as quickly as possible.

However, it is easy to make mistakes during the early stages of this process that could end up costing your brand in the long run, especially if you never address those errors later on.

You may already be doing most things right when it comes to your site, but it can only take a few key mistakes to drive prospective customers into the open arms of your competition.

Here are four potential risks to avoid if you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your website:

Ignoring Mobile

By 2021, there will be an estimated 3.8 billion smartphone users worldwide. This means an increasing number of people will be using their mobile phones to browse the internet.

This requires having a website that is compatible with different screen sizes and mobile operating systems.

If you only make your website accessible on desktop, you are running the risk of alienating a massive portion of potential customers.

Incorporating Corporate Speak

It is easy to fall into the trap of using lots of corporate jargon on your website. You might have the best intentions, however, if your website is crammed with industry jargon, potential customers might be tempted to look elsewhere. Even though you’re marketing to businesses, rather than clients, your website is still going to be looked at by people who want to understand what they are reading, so you may need help from a web design company.

We’re not saying you should dumb things down to a preschool level, but try to make sure you’re using clear and easily comprehensible language.

Focus on making your content understandable to your audience rather than yourself, and have a clear content marketing strategy for the future. If you must use any terms that aren’t considered common knowledge, explain them or provide links with additional information.

Lacking Updates

If you’re a business owner, chances are that you’re leading a hectic life. There are likely multiple roles you have to play within your company, leaving you with not much time or energy at the end of the day.

Updating your website is probably the last thing you want to do, but if you fail to do so, you run the risk of letting it look dated and neglected. That is not a good look when you’re trying to attract new customers.

In case you really don’t have the time to update your site regularly, at least hire an expert like The Web Shop design services to do the design for you.

Adding some content from time to time shows your visitors that you’re actively maintaining the website, which in turn shows that you’re up-to-date on current trends.

Even if you keep the general image of your website the same for a while, and even if you don’t add any significant content, it would be a good idea to update your customer stories on a regular basis.

Adding little notes from satisfied customers from time to time will give your website an extra degree of authenticity.

Failing to Secure the Website Properly

When you’re in a rush to get your business off the ground, you may neglect some website elements that don’t seem major, like your website’s security, but that’s a mistake.

The number of cyberattacks increases every year as technology advances. Just last year there was a 17% increase in data breaches compared to 2018. Not securing your B2B website can put your customers’ data at risk. Not to mention it makes you seem unreliable and unprofessional.

It is imperative that you protect any customer information collected by installing firewalls and encryption technology. It might be tempting to procrastinate on this, but if anything goes wrong, it could cost you dearly.

Make sure to seek the advice of cybersecurity professionals and comply with the latest regulations.

Taking shortcuts when it comes to developing a B2B website can prove costly. It is important to consider all the potential risks involved so that you avoid any problems later on.

The above is by no means an exhaustive list of all the problems you may encounter along the way, but these are a few places to start.

The post Four Risks To Avoid During B2B Web Development appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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Unlike enterprise companies, however, small business leaders have limited tech budgets. They can’t afford to take risks on unproven tools, nor on “one size fits all” systems that don’t actually serve anyone.

What are the must-haves when it comes to small business technology? For managing knowledge, making payroll, and everything in between, these tools are smart investments:

1. Payroll and HR: OnPay

Most small businesses can’t pay a staff account, but they can afford the next best thing: OnPay’s full-service payroll software. OnPay is available in every U.S. state for $36 plus $4 per person per month, and it’s flexible enough for both 1099 and W-2 employees. What’s more, OnPay automates tax filings and integrates with other popular timecard and accounting tools.  For the best knowledge of software check this out.

A payroll solution like OnPay is particularly important during COVID-19. The system can process and track absences, tax credits, and benefits adjustments. That way, you can focus on keeping the revenue rolling in. 

2. Knowledge management: Guru

Losing a key employee can be devastating to a small business. Guru is a knowledge management system that facilitates continuity by ensuring the company’s knowledge is accessible by anyone on the team. 

Like Slack, Guru has a free plan for small teams. Its Builder plan, however, is the best choice for growing companies: In addition to the starter plan’s features, it comes with knowledge triggers, analytics, API access, and duplicate detection. Analytics can identify efficiencies, while duplicate detection keeps the database clean with minimal work by the team.

3. Communication: Slack

Slack is popular on teams of all sizes, but it has a special fan base among small businesses. Rather than fire emails back and forth, Slack lets you instantly message one or more members of your team. Its notification system is perfect for employees who carry a mobile device but can’t check their email throughout the day. 

For small teams, Slack offers a generous free plan. Consider stepping up to the standard one — which costs $6.67 per month — for access to your organization’s full messaging history and more integrations. 

4. Document management: Dropbox

While you may keep a few dusty flash drives in your desk drawer, there are reasons why most companies store their data online these days. Not only is it easier to just click “upload” and “download” than it is to carry around a storage device, but it’s practically impossible for data stored in the cloud to be lost. 

The gold standard in cloud document management is Dropbox. After the free trial, Dropbox starts at $15 per user per month for 5 TB of storage. Dropbox’s collaboration tools make it easy to securely share contracts, spreadsheets, image files, and more from anywhere. 

5. Social media management: Hootsuite

Social media is vital for small businesses. Managing it, however, can be a serious time-suck. Hootsuite lets you create and publish content across platforms from a single account. Its flagship service, scheduling, lets you keep the posts coming even when members of your team aren’t working.

Hootsuite does have a comparably high price point, so start with its Profesional plan, at $29 per month. If 10 social profiles and a single user aren’t sufficient, its Team edition — which costs $129 per month — doubles the number of profiles and triples the number of users allowed. 

6. Email marketing: Mailchimp

Like social media, email is a free and effective channel for small businesses trying to get the word out. Although email marketing is Mailchimp’s strong suit, it’s recently added related features, such as landing page optimization and digital ad development. 

Mailchimp’s free plan has a surprising array of features, including surveys, one-click automations, a CRM tool, and custom domain capabilities. For most small businesses, the free plan’s limiting factor is that it’s limited to 2,000 contacts. 

Why step up to Mailchimp’s essentials plan, which runs $9.99 per month? A/B testing and 24/7 support. Multivariate testing can make a big difference in your conversion rate, but it’s not the most intuitive process if you don’t have a marketing background.

7. Customer relationship management: HubSpot 

HubSpot may be an all-in-one tool, but it’s an awfully good one for small businesses. HubSpot has programs for everything from content management to sales support, but its CRM software is what it’s best known for.

No matter the size of your team or data volumes, HubSpot CRM is free. Use it to manage your contacts, send bulk emails to leads, and respond to customer support tickets more efficiently. HubSpot boasts more than 200 integrations, including Zoom, Google, Facebook, and Salesforce. 

8. Website development: WordPress

More than a third of websites run on WordPress. Why? Because it’s both powerful and code-free. Professionally designed themes make it easy to create a site for your small business that punches above its weight class. And thanks to its block-based system, everything from text to maps to reviews can be dragged and dropped into place. 

WordPress’s Premium plan is supposedly best for freelancers, but it’s also popular in the small business community. For $8 per month, the package comes with better design tools, Google Analytics support, and custom CSS. The Business plan adds custom plugins, 200 GB of storage, and live chat. 

9. Online payments: Square

Square is more than a payment portal. Small businesses use Square to accept payments in-person, online, by phone, and via an app. Square offers its point-of-sale app and reader hardware for free, with payments costing 2.6% of the total plus 10 cents. 

Square also has all sorts of peripheral features that benefit small businesses. Next-day transfers make moving funds between accounts easy, while end-to-end encryption and active fraud prevention provide peace of mind. 

Especially when you run a small business, staying on top of technology is tough. Do your research, and take advantage of free trials. Reevaluate semi-annually so you can eliminate any tools you aren’t using. Double down on those that save you time. Investing in your efficiency is never a bad idea. 

The post The 9 Best Small Business Software Tools of 2020 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What do business leaders say to help keep themselves motivated?

Innovation

“You can’t have everything you want, but you can have the things that really matter to you.”
Marissa Mayer, cofounder of Lumi Labs and former president and CEO of Yahoo!

“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat.”
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and CEO of Leanin.org

“If you don’t innovate fast, disrupt your industry, disrupt yourself, you’ll be left behind.”
John Chambers, chairman emeritus of Cisco and CEO of JC2 Ventures

“We want to build technology that everybody loves using, and that affects everyone. We want to create beautiful, intuitive services and technologies that are so incredibly useful that people use them twice a day. Like they use a toothbrush. There aren’t that many things people use twice a day.”
Larry Page, co-founder of Google

Focus on People

“Customers should be number one, employees number two, and then only your shareholders come at number three.”
Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chair of Alibaba Group

“Transparency within your organization is the difference between having a business that’s simply running, and having one that’s moving in one direction.”
Michael Riedijk, CEO of PageFreezer Software and director of West Coast Ventures and Lucent BioSciences

“If you’re competitor focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”
Jeff Bezos, founder, CEO, and president of Amazon

“It’s very difficult to design something for someone if you have no empathy.”
Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr and Slack

Skills

“Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.”
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, co-founder of Tesla, and co-founder of PayPal 

“Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation.”
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

“For me, it matters that we drive technology as an equalizing force, as an enabler for everyone around the world.”
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

“Stone Age. Bronze Age. Iron Age. We define entire epics of humanity by the technology they use.”
Reed Hastings, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Netflix

Personal Development

“Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that.”
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

“You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.”
Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies

“Desperation sometimes drives innovation.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber

Trends and Tips

“Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.”
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter

“One way to understand human progress is to look at how technology has made products and services — once reserved for the elite — progressively more accessible and affordable.”
Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal and chairman of Symantec

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
Ginni Rometty, president, chair and CEO of IBM

“Do you feel good in your role? If yes, that’s the perfect time for you to experiment with something new, to get out of your comfort zone.”
Pierre Nanterme, former chairman and CEO of Accenture

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas Edison, inventor 

Beat the business blues by keeping these motivational quotes close by.

There’s no one better to learn from than leaders who have been there and done that. Motivational quotes mean more when the source is someone who’s gone through the frustrations we experience and come out the other side.

The post 20 Motivational Quotes from Technology Leaders appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The challenge, however, is there are so many potential business opportunities on the landscape these days, that it’s often overwhelming to identify one that involves minimal risk, upfront investment and training.

So we’ve done the research for you. The following are 5 great home-based business ideas that are engaging, affordable and flexible all rolled into one.

Become a Freelance Writer

If you are a skilled writer, then there’s a good chance you could be an excellent freelance writer. Freelance writers can work from anywhere – you could opt to sit in your local coffee shop or travel around the world with laptop in hand.

You must have a grasp on tone and grammar and the ability to edit and research topics you aren’t familiar with in order to find success. Another benefit is that sometimes you are forced to do research about topics and learn things you never would have known if you weren’t writing about it.

Start an Air Freshener Business

This at home business is ideal for men, women and retirees. You can choose your own territory, training is minimal, there isn’t a requirement for lots of storage. The commercial air-freshener business is a growing industry – without odor neutralizing products, the workplace and commercial restrooms would smell unpleasant and negatively impact repeat traffic and company morale. The increase in demand for air fresheners has created a great opportunity for entrepreneurs who seek home-based business opportunities. In order to find great success, it’s vital to know that the secret to good customer service is real people – like you.

Act as a Virtual Assistant

If people think of you as being very organized, then a virtual assistant could be a good fit.

Executives eventually find themselves in a place where they’re unable to manage all of the emails, calls, appointments and other responsibilities they must take care of – they’re busy running their businesses.

Insert a virtual assistant; if you become a virtual assistant, you would use your email, skills, phone and other online tools to handle online calendars, make reservations, set up reminders, schedule appointments, organize events and file documents.

Manage Social Media Accounts

If social media is one thing you have down pat, but never thought it could turn into something you could make a living doing, there’s some good news.

Many businesses are happy to pay people well if they have the ability to manage social media accounts. If you are able to stay on brand, reply to customers intently, use correct grammar and share appropriate content, you could find a lot of success as a social media manager.

Become a Personal Trainer

If you’re into health and wellness, you could think about becoming a personal trainer.

When you’re a personal trainer, you make house calls, let clients come to you if you have the correct equipment and visit a gym. You have to be extremely knowledgeable about the human body, understand safe and proper exercises for body types and have the skill set to buy sildenafil from canada get people motivated and help them stay motivated. You should also have the people skills to get to know your clients and learn more about what they want and what works best for them.

The right home-based businesses allow entrepreneurs to be more in charge of their own lives. Whether you have children at home, prefer to sleep in or like to take long lunches, home-based businesses are beneficial. Or maybe you want to ditch those quarterly reviews and be your own boss and travel when you want. These reasons are all enough for you to explore the low cost home-based businesses out there. Consider your areas of expertise and interests to help you decide which business idea will work best for you.

The post 5 Perfect Low Cost Home-Based Business Opportunities appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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

The post 13 Quick Fixes for Your Company’s Data Security appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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

The post 10 Smart Solutions for Checking In With Your Remote Team Members appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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.

As a small business owner or someone who is looking to soon become one, you often feel alone in this new world. You may feel like you are throwing yourself into the lion’s den with no guidance. Guess again, friends, because there are plenty of people who have made it through the exact place you’re currently in! Not only are you not alone in this, but many podcasters have great insight into this world and what it takes to navigate through. In honor of National Podcast Day, here are five podcasts we love for those who are getting started in the business world.

1.   So Money – Farnoosh Torabi started this podcast as a way to help empower young adults and to help them figure out how to balance life with getting into the business world. Her primary goal was to help them understand their money woes. As her life and experiences morphed and grew in different directions, Farnoosh allowed her podcast and advice to grow with it. She went on to discuss career changes and growth, family balance, and newfound money woes, maturing her conversation to a growing audience that was following her advice through these same struggles as well. Guests on her podcast do not shy away from fearful topics. No issue is left alone as they discuss the good, the bad, and the bitter ugly that exists in entrepreneurship.

Episode to try – 750: Ashley Feinstein Gerstley – teaching young women about their worth, wealth, and money.

2.   The Side Hustle Show – This podcast focuses on how to earn money on the side. This really just means for anyone looking to supplement their income or as a means to slowly get out of the corporate world. Nick Loper really focuses this podcast on how to get your financial situation where you want it and out of the depths of debt. Nick basically goes to show that anyone is capable of having a productive side hustle, no matter the reasoning behind the leap of faith. Whether the side gig is for fun, fixing finances, or rebellion against the corporate world, Nick walks you through what it takes to make the balance needed for a successful side hustle.

Episode to try – Episode 267: The Hustler’s Mindset – The 10 traits of successful side hustle entrepreneurs  

3.   GirlBoss Radio – The GirlBoss herself, ‎Sophia Amoruso, started this podcast to feature successful women who have found their success in various ways in the business world. The podcast sets out to empower young women with the knowledge, resources, and tools needed to plan and succeed in their futures. They want to move the idea of female dependence into the past. The women behind the podcast have real conversations about the issues that are brought up along the way. They promote inclusiveness, vulnerability, and curiosity among other qualities that produce a well rounded and welcoming podcast for all to learn from.

Episode to try – Success isn’t a Straight Line According to Away Cofounder Jen Ribio

4.   The Fairer Cents – The girls behind this podcast get straight to the point and don’t hold back. Here, money issues that are unique to women in the business world are discussed openly and freely. These ladies aren’t afraid to ‘stick it to the man’ and really dive deep into issues that have plagued women in the workplace for decades. They speak with the underdogs of this world who fight this money battles each and every day to try to get a better grasp on how to fight back and open the eyes of the old boys’ clubs we all know about. By doing this, they address how to get a step ahead and how to overcome the obstacles to end up on top. These women kick butt and take names, but all while addressing concerns than female business owners will experience at some point.  

Episode to try – Episode #13: Taking Action to Create Change

5.   Afford Anything – Two great friends, Paula and Jay, join forces on this podcast to bring two very different perspectives to the discussion of entrepreneurship and money. They lead very different lives but have similar goals and ideas about life in general. The topics of conversation cover how people from all walks of life may experience very similar trials and hardships along the way to success. Guest speakers add to this diversity and inclusivity, showing listeners that success is truly what you make of what you’re dealt.  

Episode to try – Episode #151: Ask Paula – “I feel like I don’t deserve my success. What should I do?”

The post 5 Podcasts We Love and Why appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Benefits of a Virtual Team

More and more companies are embracing the virtual worker concept and allowing employees to work from home. Just take a list at the top 100 companies in 2017 that are offering remote jobs. Businesses like Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, Hilton Worldwide, Xerox, Dell, and Intuit understand the benefits, and need, of offering remote work as an option to recruit and maintain the best possible employees.

Some of the overwhelming benefits of having a virtual team include:

• Increased worker productivity: the removal of distractions like impromptu meetings and loud co-workers, remote employees, and their manager’s report a definite increase in overall productivity.
• Lowers stress and boosts morale: 82 percent of remote workers report lower stress levels according to a survey by PGI. In addition, the survey also reported that 80 percent of workers had a higher morale and 69 percent reported lower absenteeism.
• It reduces employee turnover: According to a study published by Stanford University, job attrition rates fell by over 50 percent for a China-based firm with 16,000 employees.
• It satisfies millennial workers who demand flexible benefits and work styles: 68 percent of millennials surveyed by AfterCollege say that the option to work remotely increases their interest in an employer.

Each of these benefits is not only a boost to the overall operation of a business but also has a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. So let’s take a look at what managers need to know about effectively building a virtual team.

Two Keys to Building a Collaborative and Productive Virtual Team

According to an article by Alvernia University, there are two keys to building a more collaborative and productive virtual team that managers and leaders need to know: Structure and Communication.

Having an outlined team structure, especially for larger teams, is essential for ensuring team productivity and collaboration. Harvard Business Review recommends using a flexible, fluid team structure of multiple tiers that include a core (strategy and development), operational level (ongoing day-to-day workers) and outer network (temporary or part-time workers with specialized expertise). Having this type of defined structure brings together team members who need to collaborate for specific purposes.

In addition to developing a team structure, companies are strongly encouraged to have a written telecommuting policy. This allows employees to understand expectations on how they will work.

The second key to building a strong virtual team is communication. However, it is not just about ensuring that you have proper methods in place for facilitating communication, but that you are continually encouraging communication between virtual team members. Non-work communication can buy phentermine pakistan lead to building trust which leads to success. Therefore, managers and leaders should highly encourage both work and non-work communication through team building activities and interactions when in the office and other outside activities.

How your #smallbiz can build the best #virtualteam that is #productive and collaborative.
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Collaboration and Communication Tools for Virtual Teams

Tools play an integral part in ensuring that your team can collaborate effectively and remain productive, regardless of where they are located. Here’s a roundup of some of our favorite tools that assist virtual teams.

Communication Tools

To ease communication between virtual employees, companies can turn to tools like Slack or Skype. These real-time tools allow for individual or group conversations and the sharing of files. Skype also allows for the use of video and screen sharing so that team members can see one another and specific details they are discussing.

Project Management

There is an extensive list of online project management tools that businesses can use to organize their business projects. Two of our favorites include Asana and Teamwork.

File Sharing

Using an efficient file sharing tool not only allows team members quick access to the documents they need but the ability to collaborate by leaving comments and notes. Two great tools to consider are Dropbox and Google Drive.

By taking the right steps to implement the proper tools and best strategies, business leaders and managers can take advantage of a remote workforce to increase their business operations and bottom line. For those looking to improve their skill level and knowledge of today’s business functions and processes, consider pursuing an online MBA through an institution like Alvernia University.

The post How Leaders Can Build a More Collaborative and Productive Virtual Team appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But we live in modern times now, and the spreadsheet, while it still has its place, is slowly becoming passé for many functions.

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets to organize data, manage finances, and keep on top of customer contacts, try these better solutions instead.

1. Invest in Accounting Software

Business schools still teach accounting using spreadsheets, and while understanding formulas may be necessary for MBA students, it’s not required for you as a busy entrepreneur. Spreadsheets become unwieldy after a certain point, and they can’t do even half of what good accounting software can.

For example, platforms like QuickBooks let you invoice clients and receive payments, sync your bank account info with your accounting system, and generate reports without spending hours in a spreadsheet.

2. Manage Customer Data

Staying on top of who your customers are, what they’re buying, and your communications with them requires more than a spreadsheet. In days gone by, you’d simply have contact details in a spreadsheet, but today, customer relationship management platforms like Insightly let you do so much more than that.

Need to find an email to a client? It’s right there in your contact file. Want to assign a follow-up call to your sales rep? Some CRM platforms have project management features baked in. Thanks to today’s CRM technology, we’ve moved away from passive customer contact to more active and integrative software, and that’s good news for all.

3. Create a Better Content Calendar

As blogging and social media have taken a more important role in marketing campaigns, we’ve seen a move toward using content calendars to organize efforts across different media. Spreadsheets have come in handy, though they require a lot of legwork to set up and manage.

A better way to get visibility into the calendar view of your content and social media is content calendar software. Brands like CoSchedule have developed sophisticated platforms that integrate with tools like WordPress and social media, and that give you the big picture view of the types of content you have scheduled.

4. Manage Projects Smarter

If you work with a team and use a spreadsheet to stay on top of assignments, you know that doing so usually requires more energy than it’s worth. You’ve got multiple people accessing the spreadsheet, and sometimes people can delete the wrong entries or not see notes they need to complete a project.

Project management platforms like Asana let you assign tasks to team member, communicate on projects, share files, and set deadlines. Nothing slips through the cracks!

We must give props to spreadsheets. After all, they lay the foundation for the technology that followed. But when there is a better solution, why not use it? Today’s software industry is chock full of innovative solutions that can make your life and your work much, much easier.

The post 4 Innovative Ways to Organize Data (NOT Using Spreadsheets!) appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Recently, I encountered another angle that I think some business owners would appreciate, after watching a session where Bethany Edwards, co-founder of Lia Diagnostics, pitched her business to the crowd at the 2017 SXSW Dell Experience.

Bethany and her team have developed a biodegradable, flushable pregnancy test; therefore her business resides in the complex area of medical products and regulations. This is a rapidly growing field; other companies in this space have developed tests for other health issues that patients might prefer to be discreet about, which has helped surge the at-home test market. I caught up with Bethany later on to get her tips for small business owners in similar areas where the products are complicated and highly regulated. Get the interview by clicking Play below.

In the video, Bethany also shares general pitch tips and advice for starting entrepreneurs. But if you are in a complex field or dealing with a complex product, here are Bethany’s specific tips for you:

1. Assume that people don’t understand the complexities.

Before crafting your script and materials, begin with the assumption that some or even all of the audience do not understand the technical aspects of your business or product.

2. Simplify your main message.

Since you are speaking to people who don’t understand the complexities, start by trying to explain the problem and your solution in the simplest way that you can describe it.

3. Avoid jargon.

If the audience doesn’t understand the complexities, they will not understand these technical terms; simplify your language.

4. Write as if you were explaining it to a kid.

When writing your script, picture someone who has no idea what you are doing, and try to find ways to describe the business succinctly but in a meaningful manner.

5. Practice the script but be ready to deviate.

Things may happen while you are pitching (for example, in Bethany’s pitch she lost some of her slides and had to wing it!). But you should also read your audience in real time and make on-the-fly decisions about what you should or shouldn’t include and when elaboration is necessary.

Bethany shares more advice in the video above. Her interview is the second in a series of 2017 SXSW Dell Experience coverage that we will be sharing in the next few weeks.

The post Advice from the 2017 SXSW Dell Experience: How to Pitch a Complex Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Are you setting them up for success? With these four tips and tools, you can improve workflows and make your team more productive.

1. Take the Project Management Out of Email

Project management is a huge time suck. You have to break down large jobs into small tasks and then dole them out to the respective team members. That’s not the hard part. What’s more difficult is tracking deadlines, who’s finished what, and the progress completed.

There are several free tools to manage projects for IT teams in small businesses.

One great platform is Trello. Trello is a project management app accessible on both the computer and on mobile devices. No matter where your team members are, they can access updates about specific projects, see deadlines, find the tasks assigned specifically to them, and get moving. Under each project you can use lists to track each team member’s progression, and assign individual tasks to the person responsible.

Asana is another project management tool ideal for team members. This tool has its own mobile app so team members can log in anywhere, anytime. There is a small learning curve, which shouldn’t be a hindrance for your IT team. Once you get your projects up and running, it’s easy to use.

2. Collaborate Virtually

These days, there’s no reason IT teams need to come together in a conference room to hash out projects that need completing. Save your team hours on drive times by collaborating virtually.

GoToMeeting is a great collaboration tool for bringing geographically diverse teams together online. Send each team member the login link and when you expect them to be on screen, and away you go. You can share your screen, connect on video for a face-to-face feel, or even mute teams if they need to keep working while listening to your message.

Skype is another great tool for connecting virtually. This offers the same features (albeit a little less robust) as GoToMeeting, without the price tag.

3. Share the Big Picture

IT teams tend to focus on problem solving. It’s rare they’re in the trenches with the overall strategy of the business, and that could be a lost opportunity. By looping them in via your customer relationship management (CRM) tool, you can show the importance of their work in keeping the customers happy and dollars flowing into the business.

Insightly is commonly used by small businesses to manage customer concerns with IT departments. Customer relationships teams connect directly with the people in the IT department who can resolve issues with checking out online, problems with the website, or other IT related difficulties. The IT department can see the conversation and have full insight into what the customer needs fixed. This saves hours eliminating the middleman and getting customers’ needs resolved quickly.

4. Allow Virtual Work

Today’s workforce should be less centered on when and where the person is working but whether the employee is getting the job done. This is especially true in the world of IT.

Most IT jobs can be done virtually, which means you can offer your team a tremendous perk by allowing them to work anywhere. Still, as a business, you want to track what’s happening and how many hours your team is spending on IT tasks.

Toggl is a free tool that can help you see the breakdown in hours for your IT team. Using this tool can help you get deeper insight into your IT member’s day than if he was in your office working. It tracks time spent on specific tasks so you can see exactly what’s draining his hours and assess where he could be better utilized in the company.

Time Savings Starts With Tools

Technology today continues to advance in a way that allows you to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time getting work done. By using these tools in your business, you set your team up to be more productive and more effective without working overtime.

The post 4 Time-Saving Tricks to Manage IT Teams appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Tips for Improving Your Likability

In this intriguing Smart Hustle interview, Ramon Ray spoke with Dave Kerpen who shared the many ways that becoming more likeable can improve your business – building trust with mentors and business colleagues, developing a company culture that empowers your employees, and listening to your customers so you know what they value and how to help them.

Click to read Dave Kerpen’s 5 Simple Rules for Being More Likable and Successful in Business

Must-Have E-commerce Tools

There are around 110,000 e-commerce stores online. How can you stand out in the crowd and grow a profitable small business? By using the right tools! This article covers six of the most important e-commerce tools that will help your online store run smoothly.

Click to read 6 Essential Tools for Every E-commerce Business

The Importance of Non-Revenue Assets

When asked what drives the value of your business, most small business owners say it is revenue, but in fact, much of the value of your business is locked up in non-revenue assets – whether it is equipment, processes, intellectual property, customers, or something else. These assets are particularly important when selling your business to a strategic buyer, so it is essential that you understand the non-revenue assets that will drive up value. This article shares three tips for doing so.

Click to read The Hidden Value of Your Business in Non-Revenue Assets

Boost Your Startup Valuation

Valuation is essential for startups because it helps build buzz and draw in potential investors and lenders. However, it is now easier than ever to start a business, so competition is fierce. This article teaches you how to guard the value of your startup with three important tips.

Click to read How to Make Waves with a Startup Valuation

At Smart Hustle, we strive to provide tips and insights on all aspects of running a business – advice specifically for small business owners.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Increase Your Likability, E-commerce Tools, and More! appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

New Business Has Slowed? Here’s Why

The key to business growth is acquiring new customers, so if you’ve noticed that things have slowed down, it’s time to take notice. While slow business growth can happen for reasons like an economic downturn, there are often business missteps that are to blame. In this article, sales guru Adrian Miller is sharing five reasons why you might not be seeing the new business you’d like. Figure out which are applicable to your situation, then use her advice to fix it.

Click to read 5 Reasons Why You Might Not Be Winning New Business

Connecting with Customers via Facebook Live

Video marketing is a hot trend right now, but do you know what is even hotter? Live video. The thought of appearing live and unscripted on camera in front of your customers might sound daunting. However, when you understand the benefits of live video (and the fact that your fears are largely exaggerated!), you’ll be ready to take the first step into this promising area of marketing. In this Smart Hustle interview, social media expert Kim Garst shares the benefits of Facebook Live and five tips that will calm your fears and get you prepared for your first live video.

Click to read 5 Tips for Using Facebook Live to Get Closer to Your Customers

Enhance Your IT Security Today

A sobering statistic for you: in a recent survey of 500 IT professionals, 30 percent said they believe there is nothing they can do to protect the security of their company. If you’ve ever felt the same way, it’s time to eradicate that self-defeating thought and take charge because you definitely CAN improve IT security at your business! In this article, cloud service LogMeIn is sharing four simple things you can do to greatly enhance the security of your company.

Click to read How to Improve IT Security in Four Simple Steps

So what is troubling you these days? Winning new business and sales? Forming better relationships with your customers? The security of your business data? These articles are sure to help, and for more tips and advice, catch new content over at SmartHustle.com.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Winning New Business, Facebook Live & IT Security appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Sponsored by Citrix, this event is a great opportunity for business owners and entrepreneurs to mingle with others in their local business community and to learn how to keep their businesses moving forward. You will learn:

• How to use technology to save time and money while increasing productivity
• How to leverage the power of mobility and the cloud
• Why technology can’t be a quick fix in a bad business process
• And so much more!

Thе world оf technology hаѕ developed, opening doors fоr small businesses tо eliminate thеіr fixed costs іn expensive infrastructure аnd IT management, аnd instead uѕе pay аѕ уоu gо solutions thаt аrе significantly lower іn cost аnd offer mоrе versatility. In addition, thеу hаvе thе tools tо collaborate wіth thеіr teams іn a wау nеvеr seen bеfоrе. Thrоugh lower costs аnd increased productivity, small businesses аrе nоw able tо level thе playing field аnd compete wіth thе big guys. Technology can give you an edge over the competition – if you know how to use it correctly! Take your business to the next level with the right technology. Infrastructure іѕ оnе оf thе mоѕt costly items fоr small businesses. Thе initial price tо purchase аnd set uр thе infrastructure іѕ еnоugh tо set a small business bасk months, іf nоt years. Onсе іt hаѕ bееn set uр, thе maintenance оf thе servers аnd infrastructure іѕ laborious аnd budget draining. IT personnel hаvе tо maintain thе ѕуѕtеm аnd protect аgаіnѕt аnу downtime thаt соuld impair business productivity.

Anоthеr expense fоr businesses іѕ software thаt requires installation. Onсе a software solution іѕ purchased, іt muѕt bе installed аnd license keys hаvе tо bе maintained оn multiple pieces оf hardware. Thе process tо dо thіѕ іѕ laborious аnd thе tіmе intensive.

Tо counteract thеѕе twо wауѕ оf doing business, mоrе companies аrе moving tо thе cloud. Onсе уоu hаvе just a simple internet connection, уоu саn dо аlmоѕt аnуthіng. Software-as-a-Service thаt runs іn thе cloud does nоt require installation whісh іѕ whу mоrе companies аrе leveling thе playing field аnd adopting thіѕ wау оf doing business. It іѕ seamless tо set uр аnd requires nо maintenance.

Whеn a small business invests thеіr money іn cloud software, thеу significantly limit thеіr spending, allowing thеm tо invest іn оthеr aspects оf thеіr business, giving thеm thе opportunity tо compete аnd grow faster.

The post 10 Ways Growing Companies Use Technology to Stay Smart and Competitive appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Free #webinar on Smart #Tech upgrades with @LenovoSMB on 9/20!
Click To Tweet

This free webinar will bring together a group of tech expert panelist that will discuss the importance of keeping your technology updated, the benefits of cloud computing and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and factors that should drive your business technology choices. Here are the webinar details:

Smart Tech Upgrades to Drive Productivity, Performance, and Profitability

Tuesday, September 20^th

1:00 – 2:00 PM EDT

[btn link=”https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/235047375450782209″ color=”red” size=”size-l” target=”_blank”]Sign Up HERE[/btn]

This is a FREE webinar, so I hope you will join me, as I will be participating on the panel. I will be joined by Eric Knopf, co-founder of Webconnex, and TJ McCue, who consults on content strategy and produces web content for technology companies. The webinar will include lively discussion, best practices, and thought-provoking questions and answers and is great for anyone in business who uses technology and wants to be more productive, improve performance and be more profitable!

Secure your spot by registering today. I hope to see you Tuesday, September 20^th!

The post Webinar: Smart Tech Upgrades to Drive Productivity, Performance, and Profitability appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Benefits of Mentorship for Small Business Owners

As a small business owner, you are already quite busy. Should you make time for mentorship? Is it really that important? If you want to succeed, the answer is yes. This article shares three important areas where a business mentor can help you learn and grow – a true eye opener for those of us who tend to do things on our own.

Click to read Don’t Go It Alone: How Having a Business Mentor Can Change Your Business

Tips for Attracting Mentors

A mentor is typically someone who is a ‘step ahead’ of you in the business world – they’ve been through it all and have lived to tell the tale. But how can you appeal to someone who is obviously very busy and get them to share their time and experience with you? The answer is by being a good mentee. In this article, guest contributor Ella Rucker shares five ways you can become a mentee that your ideal mentor cannot refuse.

Click to read 5 Smart Ways to Maximize Your Potential for a Business Mentor

Business Growth Tips from GlambitiousIAM.com

Glambitious I Am is an innovative network for female entrepreneurs who have a diverse set of professional experiences and are eager to share their advice with others. In this article, six members of the “Glambitious Power Circle” contributed their top tips for business growth. It’s no surprise that mentorship made the list (“Join a Group of Like-Minded Entrepreneurs” and “Find an Accountability Partner”), but to see what else made the list, you’ll have to read the full article.

Click to read 10 Business Growth Tips from the Glambitious Power Circle

An Inside Look at Entrepreneur Ramon Ray

Ramon Ray, Editor of Smart Hustle Magazine, is used to being the one who interviews others. In this twist, Ramon finds himself at the other end of the interview table! Zev Asch, President of Ledaza, sits down with Ramon to ask him about his entrepreneurial journey and other personal questions, like his biggest wins and mistakes, and who inspires him the most.

Click to read Zev Asch Interviews Smart Hustle Magazine Editor Ramon Ray: What the Entrepreneurial Journey Is Really About

The four articles listed above all have a common theme: mentorship. Having other entrepreneurs around you who inspire and push you is an important part of running a small business. In fact, we felt so strongly about this that we created the Smart Hustle Community to help business owners network and learn from each other! Check out the community here, and for more great articles, head over to SmartHustle.com.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: The Power of Business Mentorship appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s a small business owner to do?

If you’ve rode this roller coaster before, you have likely realized that you must take a slightly different approach depending on the season. While you always want to provide customers with a pleasant and positive experience, each season requires its own unique spin on promotions and marketing in order to lure shoppers into your store, whether physical or online.

In a recent article on The Business Journals titled How Staples Helps This Retailer Weather the Doldrums after Holiday-Sales Rush, I read about how one company uses Staples Print and Marketing Services to adapt to the seasons and give customers a positive experience.

A wise small business owner knows the value of planning in advance. Check out The Business Journals’ article to learn how a fellow business owner relies on Staples to boost sales through the holiday season and beyond. It is sure to spark some creative ideas for how your business can successfully ride the holiday sales roller coaster too.

This article was written in partnership with Staples; however, all opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

The post How to Ride Holiday Sales Through January and Beyond appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Finding Your Niche

As a small business, it is important that you define your identity, values, and market. It not only helps people understand who you are, but it also gives you a roadmap for how to drive your company forward, including marketing and product development. In this interview with James Hill of High Cotton, we learn about a company that “started with a yard of fabric on the kitchen table” and then grew into a million dollar business. They did this by targeting a very specific market and building an identity that would resonate with this group. If you could use some help finding your niche, this article is for you.

Click to read Developing a One-of-a-Kind Brand: James Hill and the Story of High Cotton

Small Business Legal Issues (And How to Avoid Them)

Your small business is driven by your passion but, unfortunately, if you make the wrong legal choices the business can quickly go off course. This article explores five of the most common legal mistakes that small business owners make, regarding legal structure, intellectual property, shareholders, investors, and payroll taxes. VanillaLaw firm is an international law firm for the for the global business community.  You’ll learn more about each of these important small business legal issues and also how you can avoid making disastrous legal mistakes.

Click to read 5 Common Legal Mistakes that Can Hurt Your Small Business

Lessons Learned About Becoming an Entrepreneur

The road to becoming an entrepreneur isn’t paved, and each person who sets down that path experiences his or her own bumps along the way. In this interview, we speak with Inger Stapleton, the owner of Inga’s Lingua, an educational program helping busy professionals learn the Spanish language.  Inger shares three of the most important lessons she’s learned from becoming an entrepreneur. Some of her points will be familiar for those who have entered the world of entrepreneurship, and other points just might surprise you.

Click to read Lessons Learned and the Importance of Setting Goals and Being Flexible – An Interview with Inger Stapleton

You may have noticed a theme in the articles chosen for this week’s Smart Hustle Recap: all are about the road to becoming a small business owner or entrepreneur, and how the choices you make along the way can either drive your success OR your failure. Finding your niche, avoiding legal issues, and learning as you go are all strategies that can drive your success. As you’re cruising down the road of entrepreneurship, take a quick break to get these and other lessons on SmartHustle.com.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Finding Your Niche, Avoiding Legal Issues & More appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

One such company that is trying to help businesses with this very endeavor is Xero. In this interview, we talk to Russ Fujioka, Xero’s President for the Americas region. He provides us with some vital financial tips and advice that are useful to all entrepreneurs.

Xero

Xero is a New Zealand-based company that was founded in 2006. Since then, it has been one of the fastest growing Software as a Service companies in the world. They are leaders in the New Zealand, Australian, and United Kingdom cloud accounting markets. Over 1,400 employees are located in 20 offices across the globe. Forbes even identified them as the World’s Most Innovative Growth Company in both 2014 and 2015.

The business was started because they wanted to change the game for small businesses. Their cloud-based accounting software helps people do their accounting anytime, from anywhere. It enables millions of small businesses to thrive by using better tools, information, and connections.

Russ Fujioka’s Financial Tips for Small Businesses

One of the more important aspects of running a business is keeping your finances in order. And we find Russ Fujioka’s advice incredibly valuable:

1. Invest in Technology

Many small business owners either feel strapped for cash or think they are not technologically savvy. Because of this, they might avoid making an investment in software that can actually help their business. Russ stresses that when you purchase software like the kind Xero offers, it takes an entrepreneur’s attention away from everyday details and allows them to re-focus their attention on taking action that will grow their business. Xero software automates financials which frees up time for small business owners.

2. Get an Accountant, Bookkeeper, or CPA

Not all entrepreneurs are skilled at accounting or keeping their finances in order so don’t be afraid to outsource those jobs. Accountants, bookkeepers and CPAs are trained to deal with money, and so you should seriously consider hiring one of these people long term. Then, you can put your efforts into other business-growing activities.

3. Don’t Do It Alone

Sometimes small business owners feel as if they need to know it all – and do it all – by themselves. But Russ points out that there are many people out there who can mentor and give advice along the way. In fact, he suggests that you assemble a team of trusted advisors made up either of professionals and/or friends who have different experiences that you do. Their assistance can greatly benefit you and your company.

The Takeaway

The ultimate goal of technology should be to help businesses alleviate mundane tasks. Too many people work too many hours that don’t actually lead to their businesses growing and thriving. Follow Russ’s financial tips by putting some thought into how you can invest in technology to make your business the best it can be. Investment in technology is the key to your business’s growth..

The post Financial Tips & Advice from Russ Fujioka of Xero appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Do You Need a College Degree to Start a Business?

Instead of going to college, Charles Bonfiglio went to work for a franchised automotive company right after high school. He worked his way up to becoming the top performer, then became a franchisee himself. After decades of experience in the franchise, he left to start his own company in 2007. So can experience alone set you out on the path to success or do you need a college degree? Join the discussion by checking out this article.

Click to read Do Entrepreneurs Need a College Degree? An Interview with Entrepreneur and Franchisee Charles Bonfiglio

How to Grow Through Clever Use of Content

Is content a tool for every business, or does it only work in certain industries and areas? In this interview with Julie Tupler of Diastasis Rechab, she argues that everyone, regardless of industry, can use content to grow. Julie is a nurse who focuses on one specific ailment – diastasis recti. Using a combination of books, DVDs, guides and more, she has created a booming business in this specific niche. The article explores how you too can use content to grow, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer or a videographer.

Click to read Boosting Your Biz through Content: An Interview with Julie Tupler of Diastasis Rehab

Your PR Cheat Sheet

Every business owner wants media coverage, but getting the attention of PR is another thing entirely. If you’ve ever tried to navigate the scary world of PR, this article for you. This cheat sheet covers all the basics of how to get your business in the spotlight, including developing a story, finding media contacts, writing a pitch and following up.

Click to read The Power of PR: Your Cheat Sheet to Getting Media Coverage

So what do you think? Do you need to go to college to start and run a successful business? Is content a good strategy, no matter what industry you’re in? Could adopting the right approach help you get the media coverage you’re looking for? Come contemplate these issues with us by reading the fore-mentioned SmartHustle.com articles – and if you have a comment to share, join the discussion in the Smart Hustle Community.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Do You Need a College Degree? Plus Content and PR Tips 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.

Snapchat Announces a New Advertising Option

If millennials are your target market, you probably know about Snapchat by now. This social media platform is a hit among 18-34-year-olds, who use the platform to share pictures and videos. Snapchat has offered various advertising options for a while now, but on June 13^th, they announced a brand new option that shows promise for reaching the millennial market. This article explains your new Snapchat advertising option, and also presents an infographic full of tips on how you can use Snapchat to market your business (both organically and paid).

Click to read New Snapchat Advertising: Target Millennials with Video Ads

Pitching the Media

Another way to market your business is to get coverage in the media. Although small business owners typically don’t have the budget to hire a PR person, the DIY strategy can work when executed properly. This article shares tips on how to pitch the media, including where to pitch as well as the length and timing of your pitch.

Click to read 3 Ways to Pitch Your Small Business to the Media

Improve Your Sales with Negotiation Skills Training

Sales are the most important aspect of building a successful business. Think about it – no matter how great your marketing is, you won’t get very far if your sales team can’t seal the deal. In the days of fierce competition, your sales team must be able to build a strong argument for your product and service, but they also must be prepared to negotiate the final terms and price. This article presents six reasons why you should provide negotiation skills training to your sales team to set them up for success.

Click to read Negotiation Skills Training: Why Startups Need It

Growth Hacks to Try in Your Small Biz

Growth hacking refers to a wide range of activities spread across marketing, sales, programming, and design that help a business grow FAST. Taking examples from successful startups like Apple, Google, Dropbox, Pinterest and more, this article shows you how you can also use growth hacks like referrals, email signatures, communities, piggybacking and more in your small business.

Click to read 9 Growth Hacks from Your Favorite Startups (And How to Use Them)

What do you say – are you ready to market your business and bring your sales to the next level? Get guidance in the articles above and for more ideas and inspiration visit SmartHustle.com.

The post SH Recap – Market Your Business, Improve Your Sales, and GROW! appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Smart Hustle Conference – A Must-Attend Event

Ramon Ray recently announced the 11^th Annual Smart Hustle Small Business Conference, a day-long event specifically for small business owners and entrepreneurs. On October 20, 2016, over 400 will gather to learn from some of the smartest small business minds of our time, including Peter Shankman, Joe Connolly, Gene Marks and more. The Smart Hustle Conference will feature lessons, seminars, and an exhibit of the latest small business products and services. Early bird pricing is available until August 20, so click to learn more about the event and buy your ticket.

Click to read 11^th Annual Smart Hustle Small Business Conference Launches October 20^th – NYC

B2B Marketing Mistakes

We often cover marketing from a general perspective, but if you’re a B2B business, you’ll want to check out this article that is just for you. Mobile marketing is hot right now, but it’s only effective if you do it correctly. The article covers the seven top mobile marketing mistakes that B2B businesses make – and how you can avoid them.

Click to read 7 B2B Mobile Marketing Mistakes that Chase Away Buyers

Digital Tools for Small Business

Let’s be honest – there are way too many digital tools available for the average small business owner to sort through. However, choosing the right digital tools is important to the success of your business. This article is meant to help by offering a three-step system for evaluating, choosing, and implementing digital tools (such as CRM social media managers, project management systems, etc.). If you want to cut right to the chase, Ramon also offers up his five favorite digital tools for communication and connection.

Click to read How to Choose the Right Digital Tools for Your Small Business

The Conversations You Need to Have Before You Start a Business

Starting a business is a decision that will impact the whole family, and we’ve all heard stories of families who have been torn apart, unable to withstand those hard start-up years. To ensure your family makes it through the hard times, there are several conversations you must have upfront. This article covers the three most important discussions to have before you dive into entrepreneurship.

Click to read 3 Important Family Discussions to Have Before Starting a Business

At Smart Hustle, we like to cover a range of topics including marketing, technology, lifestyle, sales, operations, finance and more. If you like staying up-to-date on these topics, then I know you will also love what we have planned for the Smart Hustle Conference! Get more information by clicking that link above, and for other information and inspiration, check out SmartHustle.com.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Smart Hustle Conference, Digital Tools for Small Business & More appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This article is brought to you in partnership with Verisign, the global leader in domain names and internet security

When today’s customer wants to learn more about a business, the first place they usually turn is the Internet. This has made an online presence essential to a brand’s success. Setting up both a website and social media accounts means when customers enter search terms in Google, information about your company will appear.

But merely having an online presence isn’t enough. Studies have shown that businesses that actively engage customers can expect to grow 40 percent faster than they would if they didn’t have an online presence at all. The first step is to online success is choosing a domain name, but the work only begins there. Here are a few steps you should take to build and maintain an active online presence.

Putting Your Domain Name to Work

Once you’ve registered a domain name, you’ll likely begin immediately working to publish a winning website. But there are several different ways you can use this domain name to build your business’s online presence. Building and launching a new website that shows off your products or services is one of the most common ways. But there’s another option.

Instead of building a new website, you can actually redirect your domain to an existing website. This could be an existing platform for your business, like a WordPress or Blogger blog. However, you can also redirect a new domain name to a social media site, which can act as your business’s temporary landing page. While having both a website and social media presence that work together is ideal, sometimes new businesses can’t realistically do both in their early, more formative days.

Starting on Social Media

For any new business, social media is a great way to set up on an online presence at no cost whatsoever. Social media sites come with a built-in base of potential customers, making them the perfect outlet for testing the online waters. However, unlike your own website, you won’t have the level of control you’ll have with your own website. By registering your business’s web address and directing it to point to one of your social media accounts, you’ll be able to set up your online identity, build your brand, and market your business with a professional web address that customers can easily remember.

Of course, social media is at its best when it’s being used as a marketing tool. As soon as possible, though, brands should begin working on developing and deploying a website, which will give a brand optimum control. With so many drag-and-drop-based website development tools, businesses can create their own websites without even calling upon a design professional to help. Once a website is in place, a brand will have the benefit of a scalable online presence that can be updated as needed.

Once designed, your business’s website should serve as your central hub, providing a place for customers to go when they need information. All of your other marketing efforts should drive customers to that website to engage, learn, and, hopefully, buy. Over time, your website and social media presences will serve to complement each other, offering similar information but in different ways; At https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/01/how-to-create-a-customer-centric-experience.html you can learn how to take advantage of it to provide a good customer centric experience.
Your business should use its website alongside its social networking efforts to connect with customers and get the word out about the great work you’re doing.

This article was written in partnership with Verisign, the global leader in domain names and internet security. All opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

The post Social Media and Websites: How Businesses Can Get it Right appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In today’s Internet-driven marketplace, before a business can open its doors, an online presence is a must. Just as a storefront with an “open” sign once let communities know a business was ready for customers, a website lets today’s customers know that a business is open. Whether a business is online, local, or a combination of both, the vast majority of customers will search for information online before making a decision.

The advantages of being online are immeasurable. Not only can an online presence help a business get off the ground, but it also helps a company thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Today’s customers would rather Google a company than pick up the phone to call, even for small details like operating hours or directions. When a business doesn’t have that information online, it risks losing customers to competitors.

But in order to be found online, a company must first be online. There are three major options to get started on building a strong online presence for your brand. Eventually, you should consider a combination of all three, but to get started, focus on one and add the others later.

1. Social Networks and Ecommerce

More than a billion people interact with social networks, as well as sites like Amazon, Etsy, and Yelp. The good news for brands is that it’s fairly simple to set up a page on each of these sites, at which point you’ll have access to a built-in base of existing customers. However, even if you choose to set up a comprehensive presence on one preferred social media or e-commerce site, you should still invest in a domain name that points to that site. External websites can change, but your URL will always be a site where customers can find you.

2. Company-Branded Email

If you’re using an email through a third-party site like Gmail or Yahoo, you may be scaring customers away. A full 90 percent of people surveyed say they feel more comfortable working with a small business that has a branded email. When your email address reads yourname@yourbusiness.com, you add a layer of trust you’ll find you need as a new business. Securing a domain name is fairly easy and inexpensive and you can still use your favorite email client to get your email.

3. Company Website

Like a domain email address, you need a website URL to serve as your online business card. As important as social media and e-commerce are to your online presence, your own domain name gives you the most in terms of control and flexibility. Once you have a domain name you can point it to your social media page or e-commerce store or set up a basic WordPress site to serve as your web page. If you want something more comprehensive, a service like Wix or Weebly can help.

Before you can decide on your business’s online branding, you must first set up the basics. Your domain name is the single most important choice you’ll make as you build an online presence. For about the price of one lunch, you’ll be able to brand your business while also creating an online home that makes it easy for customers to find you. There are multiple extensions available, but for best results choose either a .com or .net address and try to find a name that will make it easy for customers to find you. As a small business, the right domain name can make a big difference in being seen by your customers as legitimate and professional.

This article was written in partnership with Verisign, the global leader in domain names and internet security. All opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

The post 3 Tips for Building a Solid Online Presence appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Printing technology is sometimes overlooked, but choosing the right printer for your business can greatly improve your operations. Since printers are used so frequently, small differences in costs and speeds add up to big differences over time.

The HP OfficeJet Pro Series

This series of printers is for small business owners who want professional color in a compact, affordable package.

• Professional-quality color documents will cost you up to 50 percent less per page than laser printers.
• Employees can also boost productivity with the ability to print from their smartphones and tablets.

There are a number of models in this series. Prices start at $199.99, and they are sold both in-store and online at staple

HP PageWide Printers

This series of printers is for small business owners who need professional-quality color documents from a printer that delivers exceptional efficiency:

• In a single pass, you can print professional-quality color documents across any width you need.
• With just 0.5 second prints, you’ll get record-breaking speed.
• Other benefits include energy efficiency and exceptional security.

Models in this series start at $499.99, which makes them the lowest total cost of ownership in their class. They are sold online only. Companies nowadays switch business energy suppliers to be able to be energy efficient and lower their costs.

Find the Printing Technology that Fits Your Business Needs

Each of the new offerings is a “series” of printers. This means that you can choose the exact model that will work best for your small business, based on what other specific functions you’ll use and your daily printing needs. Like any other business purchase you make, it’s important that the printing technology you select fits with the needs of your business.

Shopping at Staples has perks as well. Staples Rewards members get up to 5% back on their purchases and free shipping on any HP purchase of $14.99. They also have auto restock programs for your ink and paper so you’ll never run out of these essential office supplies.

By partnering on this latest innovative printing technology, Staples and HP are reaffirming their commitment to the small business community. Your office technology can either hold you back or push your business forward. When you purchase your next printer, don’t underestimate the importance of low costs, fast speeds, and professional quality.

This article was written in partnership with Staples; however, all views expressed are my own.

The post Staples & HP Partner on the Latest Innovative Printing Technology for Small Business Owners appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small Business Week Events

Small Business Week is an initiative of the SBA so they are running a special series of Small Business Week events which includes live events (with live streaming online) and webinars to educate small business owners. However, many other companies are joining in on the fun with their own events, including contests, promotions, training, and dedicated content. This article covers all the main events so you can participate.

Click to read Small Business Week 2016 Events.

The Importance of Follow-Up

In this interview with SCOTTeVEST founder Scott Jordan, he tells us about what he says is the “one reason for my success” – following up on every opportunity that comes his way. He explains how follow-up is important in nearly every aspect of your business, whether it is customer and advertising inquiries or daily business operations. The informative audio interview is bolstered with a list of Scott’s top 6 tips for successful follow-up.

Click to read Follow-Up: The Most Powerful Tool for Your Small Business Success.

New Tool to Generate PR Buzz

As it stands right now, the PR process is pretty messy. Businesses want media coverage, but reporters often feel ‘spammed’ by PR teams who fill up their inboxes with pitches. At SXSW 2016, Ramon learned about a new tool called Babbler that is aimed at improving the process. Babbler works like a social media site and helps to connect business marketers with right reporters who are looking to cover stories on that topic. The result – reporters get content they need to make great stories, and businesses get the media coverage they are looking for.

Click to read How Babbler Can Help You Generate Buzz about Your Business.

It’s Time to Grow Your Business

In this video interview, Ramon gets the opportunity to chat with Amanda Holmes, CEO of the business growth company Chet Holmes International. The video full of tips on how to take your business to the next level. In the article, we’ve also pulled out some of Amanda’s tips as the must-follow rules for business growth. This article is sure to put you on the path to success.

Click to read 5 Rules of Business Growth from CEO of Chet Holmes International.

What Small Business Week events will you be participating in? Which interview are you going to check out first?  Let us know in the comments and check out SmartHustle.com for help on your other small business questions.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Small Business Week Events + 3 Amazing Interviews appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

If you’re still looking for marketing ideas to try (and master) then this is the Smart Hustle Recap for you! Today we will be featuring a number of marketing strategies that work for small business owners, including developing a return on relationships, designing personalized products, creating a stunning business logo, and using hashtags to your benefit.

Marketing Strategies that Work #1: Return on Relationships

You have likely heard of ROI, or return on investment, but what about ROR? ROR stands for return on relationships, and in this Smart Hustle interview, Ted Rubin (who coined the phrase) will tell you what it is, how you can grow ROR through social media, and how ROR will impact your bottom line.

Click to read Ted Rubin on How to Maximize Your Return on Relationships (ROR)

Marketing Strategies that Work #2: Personalized Products

In this second Smart Hustle interview, we hear from Gustav Reyes, who has found success creating wooden rings. In addition to inspiration, the article will teach you about the benefit of creating your own niche, including personalizing the customer experience with customizable, intimate gifts that are sure to draw the customers in.

Click to read How to Pursue Your Business Dreams – An Interview with Gustav Reyes

Marketing Strategies that Work #3: Business Logo

Your business logo gives your company a visual identity. It sends a message about what your business is about, and it helps customers recognize your brand when they see it. Certain elements of the business logo, (like meaning, color, representation, design contrast, and a timeless appearance) should be planned out in advance to get the biggest impact. If you’re just starting out (or looking to rebrand with a new logo), this article has the essential design information you need.

Click to read 5 Essential Elements of an Eye-Catching and Memorable Business Logo

Marketing Strategies that Work #4: Hashtags

Hashtags were made popular on Twitter almost a decade ago, but now they are a staple of all social media sites. Used correctly, hashtags can help categorize and publicize your social media messages to reach a wider audience, but if done wrong, they can scare your followers away. If you’re still struggling with hashtags in your small business, this article offers 3 simple ways to use them effectively.

Click to read Hashtags Can Help Your Small Business Be One of the Big Guys

Marketing will always be somewhat of a mystery because it is not an exact science, but if you take the time to do your research, you can create a solid marketing plan for your small business. Explore the above articles to learn about these marketing strategies that work, and for help with other marketing and business questions, check out the Smart Hustle homepage.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Marketing Strategies That Work Including Return on Relationships, Hashtags, Logos & More appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How to Use Landing Pages

Landing pages are an important tool to use in the middle of your marketing funnel. They help you capture website visitor information so they become leads that you can contact – and then they help move those leads into paying customers. In this interview with Robert Nendza of LeadPages (a landing page tool), he explains how to use landing pages, detailing the process so you can replicate it in your own business. This article (and the accompanying audio interview) is sure to change the way you think and execute your marketing.

Click to read How to Build a Powerful Marketing Machine: Tips from LeadPages VP of Marketing

The Inspirational Story of the Kauffman Foundation

The Kauffman Foundation is a philanthropic organization that is devoted to the advancement of education and entrepreneurialism. As a small business owner, you may have come across the name before and even visited the website for resources like the ‘Founders School’ which provides valuable information to entrepreneurs. In this article, we get the full story of the man behind the Kauffman Foundation. In an exclusive Smart Hustle interview, Matt Pozel from the Kauffman Foundation tells the inspirational tale of Ewing Kauffman whose sales expertise and business savvy helped him earn the money to start the foundation. This is a tale that is sure to inspire and motivate your own journey.

Click to read Matt Pozel of the Kauffman Foundation Shares the Story & Legacy of Ewing Kauffman (Interview)

Stop Aiming for Perfect

Small business owners are a highly ambitious group, a fact that makes many of us prone to perfectionism. While ‘perfect’ may be the standard you have set in your business, this article explains why perfectionism can actually hurt, not help, your business. If you need convincing, this article has 5 reasons why perfectionism isn’t a good model. It also offers help to those perfectionists who have to learn how to let go.

Click to read 5 Reasons You Need to Stop Aiming for Perfect in Your Business

Knowledge, inspiration, and reality checks – that’s what we are offering you in this edition of the weekly Smart Hustle Recap. For help on your other small business issues and questions, make sure to check out the full Smart Hustle website here.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: How to Use Landing Pages, the Story behind the Kauffman Foundation, and More appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The study was a survey of 3,210 small and medium sized businesses with between 10 and 999 employees from 11 countries around the world. The survey asked respondents about their companies’ usage of digital technology and how it impacts the business.

Many survey sites lure with the promise that you can make a lot of money on their websites. They sometimes speak of several hundred euros a day, which you can easily generate on the side. But does that really correspond to reality? The answer is: mostly not . Nevertheless, paid surveys can be interesting for some people, especially to make a little money on the Internet without knowledge or previous knowledge. In addition to completing surveys, more and more sites are offering other methods of making money – for example, by watching advertisements or testing video games. It can be even more attractive to test products for which companies are willing to pay significantly higher amounts than for filling out a survey. Product tests are therefore usually much more profitable than online surveys, which is why we also offer you this service on our website. Go through produkttester to know more about the Earning money with surveys (online).

Among the findings, arguably the most important was the link between digital technology usage and growth. One third of all SMBs (and 45 percent of SMBs with between 500-999 employees) say they are “well under way in applying technology to connect people, devices and businesses” – and these companies also saw revenue growth of ten percent or more in the last year. The most popular digital technology in use is collaborative software (used by at least 50.6 percent of SMBs) followed by CRM (38 percent) and business analytics software (37 percent).

Other findings include:

• Over 39 percent of SMBs agree that “active participation in the digital economy will be essential to our company’s survival in the next three to five years.”
• Varying by region, between 52.5 and 60.2 of SMBs say that digital technology helps them streamline operations and improve productivity.
• Despite depending on digital technology, between 35 and 45 percent of SMBs are concerned that their company relies too much on data to make business decisions.Visit testerheld.de to know more.

Overall, the study shows that small and medium sized businesses are embracing digital technology and reaping the benefits in terms of business growth. If your business hasn’t made the switch yet, 2016 is the perfect year to hop aboard this important trend. If you’re not sure where to start, you can begin by exploring this list of the top 50 digital technology tools for small business owners.

The post New Survey Finds Digital Technology Usage Linked to Small Business Growth appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

SmallBizTechnology has a long history of promoting technology use among small business owners. In the years since our launch, we’ve covered small biz tech tools for just about every aspect of businesses, and we love to spread the message that leveraging technology can help you pull ahead of the competition.

Okay, you read the news everyday and follow how things are going on around the world. You go on holiday and see some beautiful hotels in other countries. But, most likely you haven’t experienced other parts of the world like Digital Nomads do. As the experience of living somewhere is very different than taking a vacation in the same place.

Luckily, all that changes when you become a digital nomad blog. You travel to any part of the world to feel how living in other countries feels like. Once you do that, you either confirm some of the many things you may have heard about a country and its people, or totally realise that all that you heard (or maybe most) are rarely true. You are given the opportunity to learn a lot of languages and live with a lot of people that will reshape how you see the world. Indeed, the Digital Nomad Lifestyle really opens your eyes to a bigger world outside the places that you already know.

Yes, we Digital Nomads work, and often work hard, sometimes harder than in an office job. But on our days off we don’t have to visit every birthday party, mow the loan, clean our houses and fix the long waiting tasks. We go and climb mountains, volcanoes, see one of the world wonders. We go and explore new cities, in my case I go and look for abandoned houses to explore. There’s a whole new world in front of your doorstep, a world which needs to be explored.

In this week’s Smart Hustle Recap we have an amazing article covering the top 50 small biz tech tools available – no more searching and wasting time trying to find out what works, this list has taken the guess work out of the equation so you can dive right into the technology that will help grow your business. Our other stories feature creative marketing ideas and tips for using market segmentation to grow your business. Check out our top Smart Hustle stories below.

50 Small Biz Tech Tools

Stop wasting time on dead ends – this list provides the ultimate small biz tech tools that have proven effective for small business owners like you. The list is broken down into:

• Productivity Tools
• Collaboration Tools
• Project and Task Management Tools
• CRM & Email Marketing Tools
• Financial Tools
• Website Design Tools
• Social Media Sharing & Management Tools
• Webinar Tools
• Video Creation & Sharing Tools
• Travel Tools
• Hiring & Outsourced Help Tools

Just choose the area you most need help with to learn about the best tools that will help you reach your goals.

Is there a ‘Right’ Kind of Marketing?

Our next story will have you rethinking the type of marketing you think is ‘right’ for your business. Each business may rely on its own type of marketing, but sometimes when you expand beyond your comfort zone you can achieve bigger results. This article has three examples from the Business Circle solutions that will jumpstart new ideas on how you can market your small business.

Market Segmentation Can Help You Grow Your Business

Segmenting your market involves looking at all the different types of customers you serve and trying to find other ways to reach them and drum up extra business. This article will give you tips on developing a strategy so you can understand your market segments and use that information to grow your business.

So which article will you explore first this week? Get more information via the links above, and for other current stories visit Smart Hustle here.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: 50 Small Biz Tech Tools & Other Hot Stories appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

However, if more than half of small business owners are currently using freelancers, we could also flip the statistic and examine it from the other end – almost half of small business owners are not using freelancers. Some of the likely reasons include that they may not know where to find freelancers, how the small business-freelancer relationship works, or what the benefits are to their company.

We need to clear up this confusion right away because embracing the freelance trend can give your small business a competitive advantage.

On that note, I want to point you in the direction of my latest Smart Hustle interview with Constantine Anastasakis, the head of business development at Fiverr. Fiverr is an online platform that connects business owners who need specific tasks completed with talented freelancers who can do the work for a reasonable fee.

In this interview, we will clear up pretty much all the questions you have about using freelancers in general and the Fiverr platform specifically. The interview includes:

• What is Fiverr?
• How do you use the platform?
• How does the Fiverr platform make the small business-freelance relationship safer?
• How are small businesses using freelancers, including a fictitious example of how “Becky’s Bake Shop” could use freelancers to grow her business.
• Tips for ensuring your freelance transactions go smoothly.
• The benefits that using freelancers and independent contractors bring to small business owners.

Small businesses who embrace the freelance trend can get ahead because they can get more accomplished, develop a remote team of experts, and focus on their most important tasks – all without having to hire additional employees. There are several signs that this on-demand economy is the future of the American workforce. Don’t fall behind on the freelance trend – get informed and get ahead by listening to my interview here.

The post New Fiverr Interview Shows Small Businesses How to Capitalize on the Freelance Trend appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In 2007, Bo Burlingham coined the term to describe these businesses – small giants. Although these companies were choosing to remain small, the things they were able to accomplish made them giants in their industries. In his 2007 book Small Giants, Bo Burlingham told the story of fourteen of these small giant companies.

2007 may seem like yesterday to some of us, but it was actually a decade ago! Because there are still so many amazing small giants out there, Bo Burlingham and Forbes have teamed up to bring a new list of small giants for 2016.

The post New List of Small Giants Provides Inspiration for Small Business Owners appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Valentine’s Day Marketing

If your business hasn’t done any Valentine’s Day marketing yet, you probably think it is too late to capitalize on the holiday. Not so fast! This Smart Hustle article shares ten Valentine’s Day marketing ideas that you can try at the last minute. The list includes ideas for boosting sales and customer engagement, applicable to both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

Click to read 10 Last Minute Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas

Tech Twitter Chat

Did you hear the news? Staples has recently unveiled a new feature called Staples Tech Services where you can get next day service on PCs brought to their store by noon. To explore the topic of how technology downtime impacts businesses, they are holding a tech Twitter chat on February 17, hosted by Ramon Ray and Denise O’Berry. This article will tell you everything you need to know to participate in this tech Twitter Chat – including some helpful information for those who have never participated before.

Click to read Staples #MakeMoreHappen Twitter Chat: Avoiding & Reducing Tech Downtime

Tips to Compete With – and even BEAT – Bigger Businesses

As a small business owner, you probably feel that you are at a disadvantage compared to the power and resources that your bigger business competitors have. While bigger budgets and more manpower are to their advantage, there are also several advantages that YOU hold over THEM. This article explores five key ways that you use your own small business strengths to your advantage.

Click to read 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Beat Bigger Businesses

Making Pivotal Changes in Your Business

After you’ve established your businesses, making changes can be a risky endeavor. However, if planned carefully, pivoting your business can lead to greater success. This article gives a few examples of companies that have successfully pivoted and outlines how you too can use pivoting to give your business a fresh start.

Click to read Why Your Small Business Needs to Pivot

Marketing, technology, sales – what is your business focused on at this particular moment in time? Click to explore the articles that will help you the most, and stay tuned next week for another Smart Hustle recap.

The post Smart Hustle Recap – Valentine’s Day Marketing, Upcoming Tech Twitter Chat & More 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 StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Intercom

Intercom allows us to understand how our customers are using our product and to communicate with them directly in the application, thereby improving our customers’ experience and giving us valuable product feedback.
– Arjun Arora, ReTargeter

2. Conduit Mobile

Conduit Mobile (renamed Como) has a DIY mobile app builder that allows you to create your own loyalty app. You can brand the app and set up coupons and loyalty cards. Foursquare is actually a great way to build loyalty to your brand/local business. Foursquare will provide you with promotional material to showcase at your business locations.
– Gideon Kimbrell, InList

3. Smarter Remarketer

If you want to to really scale your customer loyalty program, look into Smarter Remarketer. The founder, Angel Morales, is quite possibly the most brilliant mind in online retail and his product proves it. Smarter Remarketer allows you to build detailed customer segments, score customer value and automate actions that will drive true brand loyalty.
– Matt Hunckler, Verge

4. InfusionSoft

I’ve been through several SaaS products and none can compare to InfusionSoft. There’s a reason I’ve used it for years, when often I pick up and drop so many other SaaS systems simply because they promise something flashy and fail to follow up. InfusionSoft allows me to interact with my customers intelligently.
– Rob Fulton, Matikis

5. Curebit

Curebit is one of the best customer referral and loyalty programs on the market. They’re a relatively young startup, and have a very simple-to-use program to enable brands to get their customers to share products. We find incredible value in rewarding advocates who spread the word, and Curebit makes this easy.
– Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

6. LoyaltyMatch OnDemand

LoyaltyMatch is easily integrated, has mobile apps, is customizable and has a gamification feature.
– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

7. RelateIQ

RelateIQ is a best-in-class CRM, or as they call it “relationship intelligence” tool. I use RelateIQ to keep in touch with all of our customers. Their insights and organizational tools really make it easy to build better relationships and increase loyalty.
– Adam Lieb, Duxter

8. Loyalty Gator

Loyalty Gator offers tons of options in setting up your loyalty program to best suit your business. They offer reasonable pricing and unlimited transactions as well.
– Josh Weiss, Bluegala

9. Index

Index is a brand new, mobile-friendly tool now on the market that helps build multi-channel customer loyalty programs for online retailers.
– Rameet Chawla, Fueled

10. Pirq

Pirq has a simple, easy to use mobile app for on-the-spot punchcard loyalty programs. What makes it great is that it encourages repeat customers and it’s digitizing a concept that’s been around for ages, thus making it relatable to people.
– Andy Karuza, Brandbuddee

The post 10 Great SaaS Products for Building Customer Loyalty Programs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Gary V. on Marketing and Doing Business

You have to market and do business for the year we actually live in. Gary demonstrated this throughout his career in many ways. In 1997 he knew that computers were starting to get big. He focused his business on creating a website, doing email marketing and using Google Adwords. Nowadays what you have to do is get a gmb listing verification.  Always focusing on what is relevant at the moment has led to his success. Let the team help you develop an online marketing strategy to drive more qualified visitors to your site and convert those visitors into leads and sales.

Gary V. on Patience and Persistence 

Gary has gotten a lot of emails from entrepreneurs over the years who claim they are being patient and wonder how long until they should just throw in the towel. Basically you just have to keep at it, and don’t quit! Want some inspiration? Consider that Gary did Wine Library TV for 19 months before it was really recognized on a large scale.

Gary V. on Criticism

Before writing his new book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary was looking through Amazon reviews of his first two books – getting angry about one and two star reviews. But he used that anger to fuel himself to do something better. He listened to the reviews to figure out what people were looking for, and then delivered it to them in his latest book.

Gary V. on New Trends

Although Gary started his Wine Library TV using Youtube, he let it go and ended up moving to another platform instead – a move he admits was a mistake. He did vow that he wouldn’t let the next big thing pass him by though, so when Twitter came out he recognized it as something great and decided to angel invest in it right away. And if you’re going to go into a new trend he says go ALL in. He spent hours every day when Twitter came out, just talking to people and answering their questions in order to build a following.

Gary V. on Family Business

Frustrated with your family business partners? Gary loved working with his father, currently loves working with his brother, and hopes to have the chance to work with his kids someday. “Family businesses, if you over-communicate and you care about the other person more than you care about yourself, are the single best thing you can ever do.”

Gary V. on Social Media Strategy

Social media platforms aren’t a place to just push your business out there and expect to get results. You have to create quality content that is native to the platform – for example, great pictures for Instagram, infographics for Pinterest, hashtags on Twitter, etc. You have to know who you want to reach and go to the platform where your target group is spending their time. If you know what you’re doing and understand the nuances of that particular social media platform, you can create stories about your business that are a perfect match for the platform…and that you engage with your target customers.

Gary V. on Social Media Content

Social media isn’t a place where you should run to beg for business or to brag about yourself. The point of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is that you should GIVE, GIVE, GIVE to your followers and fans. It’s a way to gain leverage with them. When you give and keep on giving, it gives you permission down the road to ask for business. It’s all about developing the relationship with all the key components that you want in any good relationship – trust, respect and connection.

Gary V. on Entrepreneurial Entitlement

With the creation of Facebook by college student Mark Zuckerberg, now everyone thinks they can create a startup. And when they have a business they believe that they are entitled to everything that comes along with it, including customers. But you aren’t entitled to anything – you have to work for it.

Gary V. on Storytelling to Make Sales

Storytelling can help you sell a product or a service to a customer. “You have to understand what’s the commodity and what’s not. What’s not is where you need to story-tell.” And a good story WILL translate into sales.

Gary V. on Social Media for Start-Ups

The first thing you have to do is figure out who you want to reach. Narrow it down to the demographic that you want to target, and then use social media to find them. You can use Facebook ads to find that exact demographic. You can also use options like Twitter search. But you have to win new followers and fans with interesting and quality content. You could start out by running an offer, but then you’ll get the “lowest common denominator fan” – the one who is following you to just get the offer. Instead you want to find people that are interested in your topics and truly want to connect with your business. Giving them the content they want will get them in the door, and you can market to them later.

Gary V. on What Social Media Platform You Should Start With

There isn’t one place that everyone should start if they’re looking to get into social media marketing. You have to look deep into what you want to accomplish and who you want to sell to – then go where those people are. So, for example, if you want to sell to 12-18 year olds you should start on Vine, but if you want to sell to 42 year old women you should start on Pinterest or Facebook.

Gary V. on Gaining a Twitter Following

You have to work to build a loyal following. Gary V did it by spending a lot of time on his Twitter profile, then searching and finding people who were interested in wine. He then took time to answer their questions – to jump into the conversations they were having and provide information and advice. Those people began to follow him and with time the base grew.

Gary V. on Facebook

Whereas some social media platforms are best for certain things – like animated gifs on Tumblr, real life pictures on Instagram, infographics on Pinterest – Facebook gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want. One new feature he recommends is Facebook dark posts – unpublished posts that can be used to target specific groups. That way you can send relevant, targeted posts to different groups, even if they’re not fans of your site yet.

Gary V. on Social Media Tools (Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Buffer, LocalResponse, etc)

All of these tools are fine and can work for your business if there is a good match between what you need and what the tool offers. You also have to know how to use the tools properly or you’re never going to see good results. You should also weigh the tool properties to what you want to achieve. For example, Hootsuite allows you to send out your messages to all networks at a click of a button – but Gary is completely against that because he believes you have to match the content with the specific platform to get the best results.

Gary V. on Investing

Gary has made a lot of investments in the past. Some are successful (for example, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) and some not successful. But when choosing who to invest in, he likes to “bet on the jockey, not the horse every time.” That means he likes to bet on entrepreneurs themselves – those that have the fire, the spark, the determination to succeed. One example is his investment in Birchbox, a female-owned startup that got a lot of “no”s before they got a “yes” from Gary.

Gary V. on Business Advice for Women, Minorities, etc

Being an immigrant to the US, Gary understands the difficulties certain groups face. But he boils it all down to execution. If you can execute your plan and make things happen then nobody will care. Underdogs can use their status as a motivator for the climb to success.

These are the main points from Startup Grind’s Fireside Chat interview, but if you’re hungry for more you can watch the full interview here. As you go forth, ready to try some new things in your own small business, remember the most important point – success doesn’t come easy, but if you’re willing to work hard, you may find it – just like Gary V. did.

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