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10 Different Strategies to Consider When Growing Your Small Business
From improving SEO to outsourcing, there are plenty of strategies you can use to grow a business. But which ones are right for your company? Here, members of the online small business community share their top tips. Go through the options and choose the strategies that are most relevant to your team and your operations.
Find the Best Credit Cards for Your Small Business
Money is an essential element of growing a small business. So credit cards can be a lifeline for many. And they can even help you build up credit in the early days. In this Acuity post, Kenji Kuramoto lists some of the best options for startups.
Use These Hacks for a Successful Product Launch
Launching a new product can be an effective way to grow your business. But not all launches are successful. So how can you prepare for this activity? Molly Stovold shares some helpful tips in this Process Street post.
Consider Going International
One of the best ways to expand a small business is to enter new physical markets. But it’s not for everyone. And it can be even more complicated during times of uncertainty. In this Sales Hacker post, Jake Rheude dives into the pros and cons.
Start Outsourcing in Your Business
At some point while growing a small business, it becomes difficult to do everything on your own. If you want to grow further in 2021, it may be time to outsource. Rishi Khanna explores the concept in this Borderless Mind post. And members of the BizSugar community chimed in here.
Keep Your Supply Chain Running Smoothly
A quality supply chain can help your operations run smoothly as your business grows. But issues tend to come up from time to time. So how can you keep things functioning as intended? Ivan Widjaya dives into the subject in this Funding Note post.
Leverage Trending TikTok Content to Grow Your Business
TikTok has grown exponentially in the past couple years. So leveraging this content for your business may help your brand experience a similar surge. If you’re looking to leverage this trending content, read this Social Media Examiner post by Michael Stelzner.
Consider Adding a Statutory Agent
As your business grows, you might register it as an LLC or corporation. And a statutory agent may come in handy as you consider various legal implications. In this CorpNet post, Nellie Akalp goes over this concept and how it may impact businesses of various sizes.
Improve Your SEO in 2021
SEO is an important element of any online marketing plan. But the concepts affecting this strategy are always changing. Learn how to improve your efforts in 2021 in this THGM post by David Leonhardt. Then see what BizSugar members had to say about the post here.
Build Your Social Media Strategy for 2021
Social media has been an essential element of many small business marketing strategies for years. But if you haven’t updated your tactics in a few years, it may be time to rethink some things. Christian Zilles shares tips in this Social Media HQ post.
Boost Your Productivity at Work
Growing your business starts with improving personal productivity. Some entrepreneurs and professionals struggle to get things done from day to day. But the tips in this Startup Professionals Musings post by Martin Zwilling may help.
If you’d like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: [email protected].
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “10 Different Strategies to Consider When Growing Your Small Business” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post 10 Different Strategies to Consider When Growing Your Small Business appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Why is an LLC so Popular? Watch This Free Webinar to Find Out
A Limited Liability Company or LLC as it is more commonly known is one of the most popular business entities for entrepreneurs. This is especially true for first-time business owners. In addition to tax benefits, an LLC protects the members of the company from personal liability for business debt. If the business doesn’t perform as planned, your personal assets will be protected.
The “What Business Structure is Right for You?” webinar will go into detail about LLC and other forms of business structures to highlight the pros and cons of each one. And knowing how each structure can affect your business and personal finances is extremely important. As the first big legal decision for new business owners, you should get as much information as possible before you choose your business structure.
Nellie Akalp, the CEO of CorpNet.com and Anita Campbell, Founder and CEO of Small Business Trends LLC, will be hosting the webinar and sharing their decades of business experience.
Click the red button and register to attend this free webinar on Jan 17, 2021, at 2 p.m. (EDT).
Register Now
Featured Events, Contests and Awards
WEBINAR: What Business Structure is Right for You?
June 17, 2021, Online
Picking a business structure is usually the first big legal decision for a new business owner and one of the most confusing. However confusing, it is an essential step to protecting your personal assets from any liabilities of the company. In this webinar, Nellie Akalp CEO of CorpNet.com, will share insight on business entities to help guide you to the best decision for your new venture.
WEBINAR: Best State to Incorporate
July 28, 2021, Online
Some say Delaware, others say Nevada while someone else may say your home state. What is the best state to register a business in? What if your business is expanding into new territory? At what point should you Foreign Qualify? Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, will go in-depth to answer these questions and more in this webinar.
Win Corporate Clients: The Real Deal 2021
October 4, 2021, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
What if you could rapidly scale your consulting, coaching, professional services, outsourcing, certified diverse company or other corporate supplier business with lucrative B2B clients…clients who buy from you month after month, year after year, with a well that never runs dry. That’s exactly what we’ll show you how to do when you join us!
WEBINAR: Steps to Start Your Business
October 20, 2021, Online
Starting a business can be an exhilarating time, where everything seems full of potential and purpose. But navigating the logistics of launching a business can be daunting. In this webinar Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, will outline the steps necessary to legally start a business and get up and running on the right foot.
More Events
SB’21 San Diego
June 7, 2021, Carlsbad, CA
Influencer Marketing Strategies Summit
June 08, 2021, Online
Webinar: Connecting with People through Behavioral Analysis
June 10, 2021, Online
DigiMarCon West 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
June 16, 2021, Santa Monica, CA
Email Innovations Summit North America 2021 – Livestream
June 17, 2021, Online
DigiMarCon Silicon Valley 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
June 23, 2021, San Francisco, CA
17th International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining MLDM’2021
July 17, 2021, New York, NY
Talent Acquisition Week | VIRTUAL
July 19, 2021, Online
DigiMarCon America 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference
July 21, 2021, Online
6th Annual Advancing AEC Technology 2021 | July 26-28 | Chicago, IL, USA
July 26, 2021, Chicago, IL
Thought Leader Liaison Engagement Summit
July 28, 2021, Online
DigiMarCon Ireland 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
August 11, 2021, Dublin, Leinster
DigiMarCon New Zealand 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
August 18, 2021, Auckland, NZ
DigiMarCon Australia & New Zealand 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
August 25, 2021, Sydney, NSW
The Driving Change Conference
September 14, 2021, London, UK
DigiMarCon Asia Pacific 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference
September 15, 2021, Online
The Beauty Trends & Innovations Conference
September 15, 2021, London, UK
DigiMarCon South Africa 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
September 29, 2021, Johannesburg, South Africa
DigiMarCon Africa 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
October 7, 2021, Cape Town, South Africa
TECHSPO Dubai 2021 Technology Expo (Internet ~ Mobile ~ AdTech ~ MarTech ~ SaaS)
October 12, 2021, Dubai, UAE
More Contests
SINET16 Innovator Award Application
June 1, 2021, Online
This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.
You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “Why is an LLC so Popular? Watch This Free Webinar to Find Out” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post Why is an LLC so Popular? Watch This Free Webinar to Find Out appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Company Retreats are Like the Mullets of Office Meetings
This article, “Company Retreats are Like the Mullets of Office Meetings” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post Company Retreats are Like the Mullets of Office Meetings appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Scott Wilder of HubSpot: Community Engagement is Playing a Tremendous Role in Digital Transformation Efforts
I’ve known Scott Wilder for well fifteen years or so. And in that time (and even before that) he has led community-building efforts at big tech brands like Adobe, Apple, Google, Intuit and Marketo. And now he’s heading up HubSpot’s engagement and community-building efforts.
Earlier this week Scott and I had a LinkedIn Live conversation on how community building has evolved over the years, it’s a role in digital transformation efforts, and how it will need to be done in a post-pandemic world in order to stay in tune with rapidly evolving customer needs and expectations.
Below is an edited transcript of a portion of our conversation. Click on the embedded SoundCloud player to hear the full conversation.
smallbiztrends · A Few Good Minutes With Scott Wilder, Head Of Engagement And Community At HubSpot
Small Business Trends: What have been some of the biggest, more meaningful changes to building communities over the years?
Scott Wilder: I think a lot of the core principles are the same. What’s changed is right now at this moment because of the pandemic, because of the creator economy, communities become more in the spotlight. They’re not at the C level table yet, but they’re definitely getting a strong voice. And then I think the second thing that’s changed is more and more people are leaning into analytics and the ROI. Secondly, I think people are leaning into thinking of community almost like as a product, how it’s integrated and embedded into the whole customer experience.
Then I think the last thing would be a lot of companies are thinking about becoming a media company, and we can talk more about that later on. And so what role does community play in that? By the end of the day, the principles are the same, trust the customer, give them a seat at the table when you’re co-creating, engagement is important but relying on the community to respond, user-created content. Audio, audio is new as well, but some would argue that Discords has been around for a little bit, so audio’s been around.
Small Business Trends: What role does community and development of communities play in digital transformation and has the pandemic changed the definition or did it change the role that community plays in digital transformation?
Scott Wilder: So community plays a tremendous role because it’s a great opportunity to get customer feedback. It’s a great opportunity to co-create, how many times… I’m a corporate guy. I know you’re in a different space, but how many times in the corporate world have we sat at the table, sat at a whiteboard, knocked out the customer journey, but there’s no customers in the room. Right?
Small Business Trends: Yeah.
Scott Wilder: I was saying earlier to somebody that in my staff meetings we used to first put an empty seat at the table for the customer, and then we just invited customers. But there’s so many times you’re mapping it out, so how can you do this digital transformation without customers. And a great way to access the wisdom of the crowd in an older term, a great way to access it is through community.
So I think that’s kind of two key things. And then the pandemic, it’s interesting because the pandemic has accelerated a lot of things, virtual events, et cetera, et cetera, but we’re also kind of seeing a rebalancing right now. What I’m saying is that, what I mean is that Clubhouse has seen a slight decline in engagement, right? So people leaned in so much because they had to, and they really wanted to reach out to folks and community and online events. It’s great to do that, but now in terms of digital transformation, it’s kind of like we’re stepping back and kind of reevaluating that thing called offline as well because that can play a role in this whole kind of evolving experience.
Small Business Trends: Are you starting to see as companies make a shift to a subscription model, they do focus more on a community to help them with a churn situation?
Scott Wilder: I think it’s with churn, but also to maximize those dollars from company or from a customer as well. Right? I’ll call it above the line. So above a line is maximizing the revenue that’s generated. And so community could be introducing people to other services you have, other products you have. Our product portfolio is increasing pretty rapidly. And then obviously there’s below the line that everybody talks about in terms of support, deflection. We obviously look at churn. And so going into your point about churn, you might say that we’ll look at churn in terms of-. Our customers that are churning in the relationship in community, or we’ll look at customers who potentially could churn and see what they’re doing out of community. And then we can also say that if somebody comes into the community and they’re using say our marketing hub, but they’re kind of talking to other customers about the support hub or the service hub, that’s an opportunity for a cross sell.
Small Business Trends: A lot of companies start communities with specific ulterior motives in trying to drive the community to do certain things that the company wants instead of building a space for community to actually organically share the thoughts and concerns that are important to them. And so how does a vendor go about making sure that they act with the community at the center as opposed to what the company wants to get from the community?
Scott Wilder: That’s a great question. I think it starts at the top and really the community leaders have to work with the C level to say, if you give customers room to talk about what’s important to them and have them help each other, then everybody’s going to benefit from that. So you need a strong leader who realizes that you really do need to be customer first. And it’s not easy. As I go through my journey, some companies have done a better job. There’s one company I worked with in the past where to be transparent, one of the reasons I moved on is because all of a sudden they wanted to start selling off the community. Right? So that wasn’t really in the spirit of getting people together, like-minded people and having them interact with each other and help each other grow.
Small Business Trends: There’s so many different ways to get people’s attention. Is it harder today to build a community and keep people engaged now than it was back in the day 10, 12, 15 years ago?
Scott Wilder: So back in the day it was harder to get resources for community, right? Now you get the resources, but to your point, there’s definitely more noise, right? Out there. And so then you need to think through, are you going to take kind of a hub and spoke model of trying to participate in those other communities or other social networks and bring people to this site. You need to think through your strategy for that, but there’s definitely a lot of noise. And so then the question is, what is the added value? And so in HubSpot’s case, we have the academy, we get to think through about how we integrate educational content. And I know there’s just the comment about education there. So thinking about education content, thinking about what other kinds of media that you can bring to the table as well.
It’s definitely a lot of noise. You just have to say this is going to be a place where you can interact with people who are dealing with the same sort of problems in a secure environment. That’s the other thing, too, right? At the end of the day people are still going to Facebook, but there’s definitely skepticism out there about how safe my information is. Also in this industry trend, I believe it’s a trend, is these like-minded people want to gather in smaller groups, right? Instead of having this huge discussion on Facebook, there’s actually a trend celebrated maybe by the pandemic of smaller groups, maybe a 100, 200 people getting together in these spaces. And so a lot of these community platforms really optimize for that, so.
Small Business Trends: So you talked about how you’re liking the, I don’t like the term social audio, I actually like how Clubhouse calls it drop-in audio.
Scott Wilder: Drop-in.
Small Business Trends: So it sounds like you like that. What about video? What about streaming? Where does that fit into the mix of tools?
Scott Wilder: It’s a great point because I feel like we always forget video. There are so many SEO folks I work with and it’s all Google, Google, Google, and then you’re like, “Well, what about YouTube?” Right? So I think video, yeah. It’s a great point. I think video doesn’t get enough of the focus. And I’m not sure exactly why that is. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but people leaned into text, but this is obviously a whole generation that there’s a lot of video and video on their phone, et cetera, things like that. So I think yeah, you’re right on video is a huge opportunity. I mean, it’s great to see this on LinkedIn and maybe Facebook. I expect a big wave of people doing videos on LinkedIn. It’s kind of like all of a sudden LinkedIn must have highlighted their poll functionality, so right now everybody’s doing polls. So I would love to see people learn in more with video. I think it’s a huge opportunity.
Small Business Trends: I think it’s like… not just like what we’re doing here, but even Tik Tok, I mean the growth of Tik Tok with videos. I’m hearing people in the AARP crowd working at enterprises talking about, how do we figure out how to integrate Tik Tok into our engagement strategies? Twitch.
Scott Wilder: Yeah.
Small Business Trends: I mean, it’s pretty amazing what’s going on. And a lot of that is video-driven. Although I think you’re right, it seems like the focus from most of the business side is on this drop-in audio, which I guess, is easier to do. And you can do a lot of it, you’ll just have a phone and you’re talking into it. But it seems like there’s a lot of stickier engagement from video and it’s not just live stream, it could be the short-form videos that go up. I mean, even on the stuff I do, a two-minute clip can get over 20 hours of total viewing minutes in some of this stuff on a business social network versus let alone what’s going on YouTube and Tik Tok and things like that.
Scott Wilder: Yeah, no, exactly. We had some success with this when I worked at Marketo of having user-created videos on the branded community. But if you go to all these branded communities and I feel like a mind sweep where every night I go to 10 and to look at what’s going on there. Very, very small percentage is video. So I think how to, especially in a, I’m in the software business, I grew up on highway 101 in Silicon Valley with working with tech companies. So many how-to’s and demos can be done with video. Right? But instead, we have people who are hammering on the keyboards, right? In these long explanations. So it could be just how people across [inaudible 00:12:49] information, hopefully, that will, or that will probably change over time. This younger world comes up and is more comfortable with creating videos.
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This article, “Scott Wilder of HubSpot: Community Engagement is Playing a Tremendous Role in Digital Transformation Efforts” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post Scott Wilder of HubSpot: Community Engagement is Playing a Tremendous Role in Digital Transformation Efforts appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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In the News: Small Businesses Expect Revenue Growth in 2021
Slowly but surely people are going out and about as increasing numbers of the population are getting vaccinated. And this will eventually improve the revenue of many small businesses. Bank of America’s 2021 Small Business Owner Report has revealed 60% of small businesses agree with that sentiment, stating they expect their revenue to grow in 2021.
In this week’s roundup, 60% of Small Businesses Expect Revenue to Grow in 2021 is the article that takes a look at the optimism small business owners are feeling as the pandemic begins to die out. According to the BofA report, business owners feel the local and national economy will improve along with the revenue increase. And 21% of them also say they plan on hiring new people in the coming 12 months. The report goes on to reveal small businesses transitioned to digital solutions and used different funding sources to stay afloat during the pandemic.
This week we also take a look at the rising healthcare cost and how it has slowed small business growth, the high cost of cyberattacks on small businesses, and things you should know about your remote workforce.
Small Business News Roundup – May 28, 2021
Here are some more stories making news this week:
Rising Healthcare Cost Blamed for Slowed Small Business Growth
89% of small businesses believe the cost of prescription drugs is too high. 55% of small businesses providing healthcare coverage to employees say rising costs are hindering opportunities for growth. 63% of small business owners have an unfavorable view of pharmaceutical companies.
The Average Cost of a Cyber Attack on a Small Business is More than $25,000
When it comes to cyberattacks, small business doesn’t mean small costs. Over the past 12 months, the average financial cost of cyber attacks on a small US business is £25,612. This statistic was unveiled by the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021.
Schedule Breaks from Work? There’s a Good Chance You Get Interrupted Anyway
When working remotely and having to manage your own time, it is not uncommon for breaks to be overlooked. A new survey by the online scheduling platform Doodle confirms the US workforce’s collective neglect of breaks. 72% of US employees admit to feeling less burnt out by blocking their calendars.
Zoho CRM: From Post-It-Notes to High Level Service
Premier Ophthalmic has been providing equipment sales and service to optometry offices for more than 20 years. It was around this same time that Zoho began to take shape. And the two companies’ journeys have intersected for more than a decade.
What Types of Businesses Should be LLCs?
When you first start a business, part of the process typically involves choosing a corporate structure. As you begin reviewing your options, you’ll quickly learn there are many from which to choose. It’s important to conduct thorough research and carefully consider your goals when deciding which structure is ideal for your business.
Why You Are So Afraid to Negotiate
I am constantly surprised how in small business, so many people are afraid to negotiate almost anything. This can include situations that range from a customer’s purchase price, a lease rate for their office or any employee compensation. Many leaders see negotiation as a form of conflict and seek to avoid it at all costs.
5 Things to Know about Your Remote Workforce
The pandemic forced many businesses to require their staff to work from home. Now that the economy is opening up, businesses are deciding whether to retain remote work arrangements. A PwC survey found that 55% of employees expect to continue working from home even after the pandemic passes. In making the decision, employers should keep the following factors in mind.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “In the News: Small Businesses Expect Revenue Growth in 2021” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post In the News: Small Businesses Expect Revenue Growth in 2021 appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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B2B Marketing News: B2B Video Completion Rates, US Ad Spend Soars, Google’s New Starline 3D Chat, & What Makes A Brand Meaningful
Twitter Re-Opens Public Applications for Profile Verification For the first time since November, 2017 Twitter has begun allowing users to apply for verified profile status. As the new option is rolled out, a verification application option will appear within a Twitter user’s account settings, allowing brands to seek a blue check-mark, the firm recently announced. Social Media Today Google Ads Has New Smart Bidding Features Google has launched new eligible search campaign recommendations, along with target impression share simulators — two of several new updates of interest to digital marketers that have been rolled out to the firm’s popular Google Ads offering, the search giant recently announced. SEO Roundtable U.S. Ad Recovery Continues To Soar, Surges 52% In April April 2021 advertising spending was up 52 percent in the U.S. year-over-year, the biggest increase in more than a year, and this recovery has also been seen in more ad spending categories than previous months, according to recently-released ad spending index data. MediaPost LinkedIn introduces Event Ads and “boosted” posts LinkedIn (client) has made new post promotion features available from brand pages and rolled out a slew of new event advertising and analytics options, including custom streaming and mobile page analytics, the Microsoft-owned platform recently announced. Search Engine Land What B2B Firms Use Marketing Agencies For 31 percent of B2B firms utilize marketing agencies for brand mission, vision, and values initiatives, while 22 percent use agencies for brand purpose strategy — two of several statistics of interest to online marketers in newly-released survey data. MarketingProfs Instagram now shows creators how well their live videos and Reels are doing Facebook-owned Instagram has launched an update that reveals more data about the performance of live videos and short-form Reels content, with shares, saves, likes, plays, and comments among newly-available metrics data, the firm recently announced. Engadget Twitter Tests New ‘Super Followers’ Display Ahead of Program Launch Twitter has begun testing more visible integration of its forthcoming super followers feature — which allows creators to offer subscription-only bonus content on the platform — with a new super follower count likely to appear alongside traditional account follower numbers, the firm has announced. Social Media Today Havas Finds Growing Consumer ‘Cynicism,’ Only 25% Of Brands Even Matter Some 39 percent of brands are trusted by U.S. consumers, while consumers say that they don’t care about 75 percent of brands, a slight decrease from 2019’s 77 percent, according to recently-released brand meaningfulness survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost Analysis: Google’s Starline shows promise and perils of 3D chats Google launched its Project Starline 3D videoconferencing offering recently, its latest foray into the mixed reality communication realm, and Reuters has shared a look at some of the early impressions of the Google project. Reuters 2020 Business Video Completion Rates and Other Benchmarks 58 percent of business videos under one minute in length are viewed completely, while only 24 percent of those over 20 minutes long are watched in their entirety — two of several statistics of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-released survey data of some 760,000 business videos. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at the “creative brief” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Man’s Cell Phone Disagrees That Alexa Is Listening to Him — Hard Drive TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
Lee Odden — Lee Odden Masters Group Workshop on Influencer Marketing – Florida 2021 — Pubcon
Lee Odden — 50 Best Blogging Quotes (from Top Bloggers) — Ryan Robinson
Lee Odden — What’s Trending: The New SEO and the Case for Content Marketing — LinkedIn
Have you located your own top B2B marketing article from the past week of industry news? Please drop us a line in the comments below. Thank you for taking the time to join us for the TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you will return next Friday for more of the week’s most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.
The post B2B Marketing News: B2B Video Completion Rates, US Ad Spend Soars, Google’s New Starline 3D Chat, & What Makes A Brand Meaningful appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
The post B2B Marketing News: B2B Video Completion Rates, US Ad Spend Soars, Google’s New Starline 3D Chat, & What Makes A Brand Meaningful appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Quiz: Find Your Design Career Heaven
Psychologists tell us that by answering a handful of oblique questions, we can gain greater insight into our real desires. Today, we’re going to put that to the test with a simple fill-in-the-gaps story that will help you determine your ideal career in design.
We’ll tell you a short story, and ask you to add a few key details, from which we’ll work out what kind of career probably suits you; what kind of roles you should pursue, what kind of clients suit you best, and what type of day-to-day practice you’ll find most fulfilling. Remember: there are no wrong answers, and this is a guide only, you’re always free to make your own choices.
To begin, relax, and imagine the following scenario: You’re at the pinnacle of your career, and you’ve achieved more than you ever hoped; you’re internationally respected as a design leader, and to celebrate your work, you’re being given a lifetime achievement award by a design organization; the ceremony is tonight…
Images via Anna Shvets, Karolina Grabowska, Kumpan Electric, and Andrea Piacquadio.
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What Business Phone Systems Features Do You Need?
If you’re working from a home office or working on-site, you need a phone system that fits.
A phone system that fits is one that has the features you need right now. The phone system should also have features you may need in the future.
Why Phone System Features are So Important
Many phone system features are common. Even the most basic home phone has features like caller ID, answering machine, and volume control.
Better features help you up your game and be more professional. For example, if you’re working from home and using the regular home phone – do you really want to just place the phone on a counter, or would you rather place a customer on hold?
Let’s dig into features. Phones loaded with features aren’t much more expensive than the basic desk phone. Better to get all the features you can, than wish you had – and have to buy another phone system.
40 Best Phone System Features List
Here’s a list of what we feel are the40 best phone system features. There are dozens of more features available. We’ve chosen the ones we feel most apply to small business owners.
1. ACD System
ACD stands for automatic call distributor, which means the phone provides callers with a voice menu of choices, such as Press One for the sales team, or Press Two for the marketing team.
2. Artificial Intelligence
Think of this as similar to getting a message on your laptop, that a program is automatically speeding up an App. This works the same way with a phone. In the inner technology of the phone is the capability to speed up a process.
3. Audio Paging
A person can create an announcement and make an audible page. Such as “John, you’re wanted on Line 1.” Audio paging includes the capability for a person to create an announcement, store and review it before making the page.
4. Auto Attendant
Auto-attendant is a voice menu system that works like a receptionist would, but it’s a digital receptionist. A prerecorded voice directs callers to a voice menu system.
5. Automated Phone Directory
While Auto Attendant takes callers to a menu, an automated phone directory takes it a step further. Instead of directing callers to choose from a department, such as sales or technical support, the caller can choose a person. The names are stored in the directory. Check closely – the size (number of people) in the directory can vary.
6. Caller ID
The phone number and name connected to that number, for incoming calls.
7. Phone Call Queue
When calls come into the company, callers get a prerecorded message and are put in a queue or line. The caller will be told of their position, and listen to music while waiting. For example, “thank you for calling our company. Your call is currently third in line.”
8. Click and Drag Configuration
This works with PCs or laptops that use Microsoft Windows 10. This feature on an Android phone makes it possible for someone to move files – click and drag – from the phone to the computer, and vice versa.
9. Click to Call
This feature can be part of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems. Instead of physically dialing, the internet can be used to establish a connection between two callers.
10. Conference Call Setup
This is a must-have feature for workers who need to communicate as a team, but can’t always meet face-to-face. Being able to professionally take part in a conference call is always important, but even more important if you’re working from a home office when you need to be part of a team.
11. Dial-By-Name Directory
Callers can listen to a directory, and leave a message for a specific person. Sometimes a phone system has a vital add-on to this feature – the message goes to a specific employee and also to a general mailbox. It’s a great way to cover all the bases if an employee is off sick or on vacation.
12. Distinctive Ring
Sometimes an office phone system supports multiple incoming lines. The lines can be differentiated by rings, such as one ring, two quick rings, and triple ring. This can be a great feature for a home office. Work-related calls such as from suppliers can come on one line, customers on a second line, friends and family on a third line.
13. Do Not Disturb
When this feature is activated, it means that all calls will go directly to voicemail.
14. Excellent Analytics in Real-Time
This is an add-on to an office phone system that has multiple lines and phone numbers. The “analytics” come as the company owner checks out how many calls came in on each line. Each line has a separate phone number. It’s a great marketing tool and here’s how it works. A company places ads in various places, perhaps social media, a billboard and a magazine ad, each giving a different phone number. The company can see which type of advertising generates the most response.
15. Fax Sending Abilities
Back in those old days, many of us were accustomed to the shrill tones of a fax machine doing its work. People still send and receive faxes, but the technology is very different. Using a third-party mobile app, you can send a fax from a mobile phone. You can also send a fax using VoIP systems. And of course, a business phone system can include a typical fax setup.
16. Forwarding of Calls
On most phones, you can manually forward an incoming call. The technique varies a little – you would either press #72 or 72#, listen for a dial tone, and then press the phone number where the call is to go.
It’s just simpler and faster to have call forwarding as a ready selection. You can forward calls to other employees, or set up the phone to forward all calls to a mobile phone.
17. Fraud Monitoring
Calls that are routed through the internet can be monitored using fraud detection software and/or risk management software. This capability is important for businesses.
18. Group Phone Calls
A conference call is a number of individual users, all connected on the same call. A group phone call – just as it sounds – connects groups of people or employees. It’s a conference call that involves groups instead of individual users. It’s needed to connect groups of people who are working as a team.
19. Headset Enablement
You really need to use a headset. A headset for a call does more than just free up your hands to write or work while you listen and respond. A headset – used with a telephone system, PC, or laptop – helps block background noise.
20. Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is immediate text sending, either phone to phone or over the internet. You can also IM using VoIP systems.
21. Music on Hold
If you don’t think you need this one, check out this statistic. More than half of customers who are put on hold with no music, hang up the call. Customers don’t like to be put on hold. Even more, customers don’t like to be put on hold without music.
22. Interactive Voice Recognition
IVR is a feature that allows a caller to be recognized by voice. The person’s voice is prerecorded. When the person calls, the phone system automatically responds to the caller’s voice. IVR systems can also be set up to respond to a caller’s specific code, which the caller types in on the keypad when prompted. IVR is important for businesses handling private financial and medical information.
23. International Calling
There are all kinds of ways to save money when making an international call. For example, as long as two locations or business partners are licensed to use Microsoft – such as one in the US and one overseas – the licensed users can call each other using a special program. Some VoIP systems also have a flat, low rate for international calls.
24. Linked Sites
Android (Galaxy) phones can be linked to Windows 10. Once the two are linked, the users can transfer files, and respond to messages and calls.
25. Microphone Muting
Some phone models have a mute button but this feature is more common on headsets. The mute is a simple on/off.
The feature has a couple of advantages: For example, you’re listening but don’t want the other person to hear what you’re doing, such as noises from your home office or workplace.
26. Multi-Device Support – Link to Mobile Phones
This is often called Twinning, which makes sense. Twinning is a form of weaving, and that’s what you’re doing. You’re pairing a mobile phone and a desk phone.
Why would you do that? Well, Twinning allows users to make and receive calls on two separate devices. It also gives users the capability of sharing information from the desk phone – such as a company directory – to the mobile.
27. On-Phone Corporate Directory
A digital receptionist can direct callers to a corporate or company directory. With some office phone systems, each phone in the system can access that directory.
This feature really builds efficiency. For example, let’s say the person who handles the service department of an auto dealership is on a call with a customer who says they are shopping for a new car. The customer wants to talk to somebody in sales. The service manager knows that two salespeople are out on the lot, but a third salesperson is available. By accessing the company directory, he smoothly transfers the call and the customer’s lead is not lost. That’s the kind of knowledge workers need to be more efficient.
28. Phone Call Forwarding
This feature allows users to redirect a call to another location, such as another employee. It can also be used to redirect calls from an office phone to a cell. An employee can set up the phone to work that way as he or she leaves the workplace.
29. Recording of Calls
Right, we know, it’s not legal to record calls when the person doesn’t know you’re recording it. But being able to record a call – when initiated by one person and agreed to by another – can be an important feature. It can be used by a lawyer or a reporter, for example.
30. Redial
Yes, you can check the Caller ID to get the number of all calls. The redial feature allows you to automatically dial the most recent call. With some phones the redial feature allows users to dial up to 3 most recent callers.
31. Remote Phone Use
This is the name for the Android phone App that allows the Android phone to connect to the Windows 10 PC or laptop.
32. Routing of Incoming Calls to Any Device
With this feature, you can set up the phone to route incoming calls to different phone numbers. After-hours call control is an important feature for many businesses.
For example, let’s say you run a heating/ac technician service. The first after-hours “trouble” call goes to your first chosen number, the next trouble call goes to the second chosen number, and so on.
33. Screening of Calls
Caller ID can be used to screen calls. Calls can also be screened through a VoIP phone system. Calls can be screened through a service platform. For example, Nextiva call screening and blocking is a standard feature of its business phone service platform and united communications system.
34. Screen Sharing
This is a much-needed feature. With screen sharing, a computer screen one person is viewing can be shared with another, or with a group. Teams of employees can look at information, which helps them work together.
It’s an important feature for a business that deals with charts or columns of figures, such as an investment company. In that type of business, screen sharing is a customer service tool.
35. Secondary Ringer
With this feature, an inbound call also rings on a secondary device. For example, an inbound call will also ring where an employee is connected using a laptop and headset. It’s an important feature to have so that no calls are missed when an employee is not present to answer the main office phone.
36. Speed Dial Capabilities
Phones are various capabilities for storing numbers for speed dial. With some phones, you can only set up 3-speed dial numbers, with others, up to 9. You can set up 9 “speed dial” Skype numbers.
37. Video Conferencing
This feature allows conferencing using video and audio. There are two or more users, at two or more locations.
38. Voicemail
Voicemail can be recorded as part of the phone or as a separate piece of equipment. Voicemails can also be received on VoIP systems and listened to by clicking on an audio file.
39. Voicemail to Email Feature
With some VoIP systems, you get an email notification that you have received a message. You then click on the audio file and listen to the message.
A newer feature actually transcribes the voicemail to written words. The feature works similarly to how it works in cell phones. With cell phone texting, users can opt to speak into the cell phone microphone and have their words transcribed into a text message.
The voicemail to written words works much the same way. But instead of cell phone voice to text, it’s voicemail transcription to email written word. Voicemail to email is a good feature for someone who needs to multitask – handling one phone call while seeing what a separate caller has left as a message.
40. VoIP Phone Calls
Vo IP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Instead of using a phone line, the call is made using IP. Vo IP works best with high speed, broadband internet access if you want all the available features. But if you don’t have high-speed internet, if you can email, you can use VoIP.
Best Business Phone System Options for a Small Business
If you’re a sole proprietor or a company owner with a small number of employees, your organization may not need all the features of a communications system. But if you hope to grow, you may want to choose available features proactively to get the best rated phone systems for small business.
During the pandemic, small business owners adapted. They used technology because they couldn’t meet face to face. Even if you’re a sole proprietor or manager of a small group of employees, you may be interacting with larger companies.
You can bet that the larger companies are using video conferencing for communications. Having that capability may be the single most important office phone system features today.
Types of Office Phone Systems to Consider
In the past, everybody used what’s called PSTN, or public switched telephone network. In other words, PSTN is a landline for communications.
You need high-speed internet to use VoIP communications. If you tried VoIP in the past, you may have been turned off by poor sound quality. That’s changed. VoIP calls through a desktop computer or laptop, are just as clear as a landline.
Cloud phone systems are very user-friendly in business applications. The options for accessing the cloud phone system are varied, and that’s one of the reasons it’s a popular means for communications for businesses.
Should you kick your landline to the curb? What if your business has been using the same phone number for years? You may be able to port that number over to a VoIP service.
Other Office Phone System Options
Here are a couple of features that may fit certain businesses:
Time-based Routing
Route calls to various locations based on time zones.
Unified Messaging
Multiple types of messages go to one inbox.
Baby Monitor
Some phones can be connected to a baby monitor, an especially nice option for employees working from home.
How do business phone systems work?
Phone systems work in two main ways, over traditional phone lines, or via the internet. With the internet, phone systems can be cloud-based or VoIP.
What is the use of a telephone in an office?
A business may still need an actual telephone in the office, even if a business doesn’t use the telephone in the traditional way.
For example, calls are received by the business phone and routed with a digital attendant. Or the business phone can be set up to route calls to another phone or cell phone.
An actual business telephone in the office is still important. It can act as the hub that disperses incoming calls to the proper location.
What are the different types of business phone systems?
The main types of business phone systems are PSTN (landline), VoIP, and cloud-based.
A cloud-based phone system sends voice and information over the internet. Users can then access the information that’s in the cloud. The information can be accessed through a variety of devices, such as cell phones.
What is a cloud based phone system?
A cloud-based phone system transmits voice and data over the internet, and that information is stored in a Cloud. Users can access Cloud information by using a variety of devices, as long as the devices have an internet connection.
Using the Cloud creates convenience for all the users. It doesn’t matter what type of device the user has – cell phone, tablet, laptop – as long as there is an internet connection, the user can access the information.
What are VoIP phone systems?
There are a growing number of phone system providers using the VoIP system for communications. Communications over the internet using VoIP are often less expensive than traditional communications systems.
Here are some VoIP providers:
RingCentral
GoToConnect
8 X 8
Verizon Digital Voice
Magic Jack for Business
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “What Business Phone Systems Features Do You Need?” was first published on Small Business Trends
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Rising Healthcare Cost Blamed for Slowed Small Business Growth
89% of small businesses believe the cost of prescription drugs is too high. 55% of small businesses providing healthcare coverage to employees say rising costs are hindering opportunities for growth. 63% of small business owners have an unfavorable view of pharmaceutical companies.
These adverse beliefs about the pharmaceutical and healthcare setting in the United States was unveiled by a new national Small Business for America’s Future survey.
Small Business for America’s Future is a national coalition of business owners and leaders working to provide small businesses a voice at every level of government. The survey interviewed 1,052 small business owners in the US on their thoughts on healthcare and pharmaceutical costs.
Survey: Rising Healthcare Costs Affecting Small Business
Among the key findings was 66% of small businesses believe the current prescription drug market isn’t working and requires a major overhaul. 87% of small business owners say it is important that the Biden-Harris administration and Congress take action to lower prescription drugs costs.
The findings of the survey are important as they confirm that the rising cost of healthcare including prescription drugs are a major concern for small businesses. Many small business owners are of the belief that the financial implications of healthcare and prescription drugs are hindering business growth.
Small Business for America’s Future Co-Chair Erika Gonzalez, an Allergy and Asthma Medical Professional and small business owner based in San Antonio, commented on the urgency of the situation:
“The cost of healthcare and prescription drugs have skyrocketed for many small businesses and it’s having a real impact on their growth.
“If we are going to have a strong small business sector and economic recovery, we need our policymakers to act to rein in these costs. It’s an urgent priority of small businesses,” Gonzalez added.
Holding Off Hiring
More than a third of the small businesses surveyed rising healthcare costs has meant they have held off hiring a new employee.
40% say they have increased the costs of products and services as a result of healthcare costs increasing.
15% of survey participants admit to having reduced their workforce or laid off an employee due to rising healthcare costs.
Over a third of small businesses that provide healthcare coverage to employees say they have changed or reduced such coverage as a result of growing costs.
What is the Solution?
The research shows that small businesses in the United States are in support of policies and measures to lower the costs of prescription drugs and healthcare.
82% of the surveyed said it’s time for the government to limit unjustified price increases to not more than inflation. A similar number (79%) believe lower drug prices will not hurt the healthcare industry’s ability to develop new treatment and cures.
Almost 90% of small business owners are in support of capping out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare.
85% support the adoption of policies that eliminate anti-competitive behaviors and patent abuses that extend brand drug monopolies that block price competition.
The Small Business For America’s Future report confirms the importance and urgent need to advance a fair economic framework in relation to healthcare that works for small business owners and their employees so that business growth can be nurtured and sustained.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “Rising Healthcare Cost Blamed for Slowed Small Business Growth” was first published on Small Business Trends
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What Types of Businesses Should be LLCs?
When you first start a business, part of the process typically involves choosing a corporate structure. As you begin reviewing your options, you’ll quickly learn there are many from which to choose.
It’s important to conduct thorough research and carefully consider your goals when deciding which structure is ideal for your business. That said, many business owners have begun choosing the LLC (limited liability company) structure in increasing numbers.
This may be an option you should strongly consider. Keep reading to learn more. The following points will help you better understand which types of businesses benefit most from becoming LLCs.
What Type of Small Businesses Should be LLCs?
Almost all businesses can theoretically qualify to become LLCs. The nature of the services or products you offer may not necessarily influence whether you can start an LLC or not.
However, you should consider your business’ current size when deciding whether to form an LLC. Perhaps more importantly, you should consider future plans.
An LLC offers many protections a corporation also offers. That said, there are key differences between the two.
For example, the owners of corporations essentially own shares of stocks in their businesses. LLC owners, who’ve invested in the business already, own equity in the business’ assets.
In other words, if your business is likely to reach the point where you’ll wish to sell shares of stock to members of the public, it will need to be a corporation in order for you to do so.
That may not be a factor influencing your decision if your business has only a few owners who are likely to continue running it with you for an indefinite period of time. If you don’t have any intentions of selling stock in the future, you may prefer establishing an LLC over a corporation, as the process involved in doing so is much easier.
High-Risk Businesses
One of the key benefits an LLC offers its owners is protection from liability if the business sustains losses. In other words, if your business faces debt, but it’s an LLC, your personal assets can’t be seized.
That’s why many entrepreneurs choose to establish LLCs when starting businesses where the risk of sustaining losses is relatively high. Knowing their assets are protected offers them substantial peace of mind.
Side Businesses
While you may hope to make it a full-time job in the future, right now, running your business may be a side job. If that’s the case, you might not have much time to spend on officially setting up your business when you choose a corporate structure.
This is another reason you may consider starting an LLC. Although it is important to familiarize yourself with the steps that establishing an LLC involves, such as drafting an official LLC operating agreement, you should know that starting an LLC is typically a simple process compared to other corporate structures. This may be ideal if you have limited free time due to already having another job.
Businesses on a Budget
As a small business owner, it’s highly likely you’ve invested some of your personal income and assets into funding your business. You may also continue to do so in the future.
Research the tax benefits of forming an LLC if so. With some types of business structures, profits are first taxed before being distributed to owners, then taxed once again when owners file individual returns.
LLCs are different. When you form an LLC, profits are only taxed when you file your return, ensuring minimal taxation. That may be an appealing quality of the LLC structure if you’re on a tight budget and want to protect your personal income from higher taxation.
That said, in some cases, the costs of running an LLC prevent the tax benefits from yielding any major advantage. Once more, you should conduct thorough research and review your financial situation when deciding if an LLC is the best choice. It’s also worth noting that, compared to other structures, the LLC structure is relatively new. As a result, the tax benefits of an LLC vary to some degree from one state to another.
The main point to remember is that there’s no one corporate structure that’s right for all businesses. The ideal structure for a small business may not be ideal for a thriving enterprise. Hopefully, though, these points have helped you gain a clearer sense of whether an LLC structure is suited to your business.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “What Types of Businesses Should be LLCs?” was first published on Small Business Trends
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Start Using a Smart DAM and Image Optimization Stack
Asset management and website performance optimization are two of those unavoidable headaches faced by every website owner.
A digital asset management (DAM) platform can provide centralized asset repositories with intuitive dashboards to help you manage assets. On the other hand, an image CDN can help you get rid of that messy responsive syntax and provide dynamic asset optimization with huge performance boosts.
The problem is that website performance has become such a competitive factor that DAMs with other priorities tend to fall short. On the other hand, specialized image CDNs don’t solve the problems associated with image management, particularly within organizations.
With that in mind, I propose solving these problems for good by putting together image management and optimization stack using ImageEngine and Cloudinary. Instead of being a comparison between these two tools, this article describes the benefits of using them to complement each other.
Features and Asset Management Capabilities
As a DAM, Cloudinary provides you with a visual interface to store, manage, and edit your image and video assets. In that way, it’s not much different from any other professional image managing software such as Adobe Bridge, except that it’s an online, browser-based service.
Using the Media Library, you can upload, delete, and organize images in folders, for example. The visual image editor allows you to make advanced transformations and image touch-ups and see the results instantaneously using tools like sliders, dropdowns, etc. You can even chain transformations together for multi-layered effects.
Cloudinary also allows you to manipulate images and videos this way using their URL-based API.
Cloudinary has additional auxiliary features that make asset management easier (especially in organizations), such as backups, role-based multi-user admin, and feature extensions via third-party integrations and add-ons.
This is something most image CDNs don’t provide. Instead, they allow you to access and transform images using URL manipulation. Transformations are usually made using string-based parameters or directives. A serverless, headless DAM, if you will.
However, the advantage of using a dedicated image CDN like ImageEngine, is that it can usually provide enhanced asset optimization. ImageEngine, for example, is an intelligent image CDN that uses WURFL device detection to finely read the context an image is accessed from (device model, PPI, OS, browser, resolution, etc.) and then chooses the optimal image for that configuration.
This frees up website owners from having to do any additional optimization. This business logic is also built-in to all of their global PoP servers, and ImageEngine specifically delivers cache-hit ratios close to 100%. The following performance section will illustrate the difference this can make in practice.
Check out the key differences between ImageEngine and Cloudinary. And, for a deeper insight, see the comparison with other similar CDNs, like imgix and Cloudflare
Performance
Just to cover our bases and prove that this is an effective asset management and optimization stack, I’m also going to affirm it using a Lighthouse performance audit. Here is a quick summary of the results:
For this test, I built a web page with a tonne of images with overly large file sizes. In this first Lighthouse audit, I didn’t apply any optimization to the images. Here’s the result:
As you can see, we had some major problems when it came to the loading time of our assets. Overall, the page took more than 10 seconds to load. One of Google’s crucial user-centric performance metrics, LCP, scored a miserable 7.5s. Lighthouse suggested that some of the main problems encountered were the asset file size, inefficient cache policies, using non-optimal image formats, and improperly sized images.
Both Cloudinary and ImageEngine are supposed to address all of these factors with their auto image optimization. In the next audit, I used the same page and content but served my images via Cloudinary:
As you can see, there is improvement in most factors. FCP is now in the green, and both the Speed index and LCP times have almost halved. Even TTI and CLS improved slightly. That being said, it’s still nowhere near optimal, and we’re still falling short of the all-important 3-second loading time ceiling.
So, finally, let’s do another Lighthouse audit – this time using ImageEngine on top of Cloudinary. Here are the results:
With ImageEngine, I finally scored in the green with 95. All the metrics that have to do with the sheer speed at which image content loads improved. The Speed Index and LCP, which is the most important, improved dramatically. CLS scored worse, but this typically varies from test to test.
You can find another and more extensive breakdown of the performance and pricing comparison here.
Transformations, Bandwidth Utilization, and Cost
Cloudinary’s pricing plans work on a credit-based system. Starting with the free account, you get 25 credits/month. Each credit can be used for 1,000 transformations, 1 GB of storage, or 1 GB of net viewing bandwidth. The other two packages cost $99 for 225 credits and $249 for 600 credits, respectively.
You should plan to generate a minimum of 5 transformations per image. In effect, that limits you to around 200 images with the free plan, excluding whatever manual transformations you make.
ImageEngine’s Basic plan costs $49 and provides you with 100 GB of Smart Bytes. Smart Bytes are based on optimized image content and translate to roughly 400-500 GB of raw images.
So, with Cloudinary, you have to compromise between bandwidth and storage usage as well as the number of transformations you can make. Transformations for Cloudinary are counted as they are dynamically generated on-demand.
However, if you use ImageEngine for optimization, you can switch off Cloudinary’s auto-optimization. When a new image variant is needed, it will be generated and delivered via ImageEngine. Considering variant count isn’t limited by ImageEngine, this will drastically cut down on the number of credits you’ll need to spend on transformations.
Effectively, that means you could use the bulk of your Cloudinary credits purely for storage and specific transformations. For example, advanced cropping, applying effects, or color adjustments. These are, after all, the main functions of a DAM.
With this setup, ImageEngine’s Basic plan and Cloudinary’s free plan should be adequate for most websites, saving around $50 a month.
How to Implement Cloudinary with ImageEngine
Signing up for Both Services
As it will house all of your image assets, the logical place to start would be to sign up with Cloudinary.
Create a (free) account, and make sure to take note of your “cloud name” during the setup wizard. This will be the name of your designated storage location on the Cloudinary platform and is usually a garbled string like di2zgnxh0 by default. However, you can change this to something more meaningful.
Once you’ve signed up, you can start uploading your image assets and creating different versions/transformations of them. Setting up Cloudinary integration on a CMS, like WordPress, is usually straightforward. Just indicate the CMS you’ll be using, copy the API key, install the plugin, and activate it.
Next, sign up for a free trial with ImageEngine. There will also be a short setup wizard during which you will:
Provide ImageEngine with the website where your images will be delivered.
Supply your image origin (in this case, your Cloudinary web folder). For now, you can only add the Cloudinary, e.g., res.cloudinary.com.
Get your ImageEngine image-serving domain, e.g., {randomstring}.cdn.imgeng.in
When in your ImageEngine dashboard, you’ll see this domain listed under “Engines” as well as an entry for Cloudinary under “Origins.” Edit the latter and under “Advanced,” add your Cloudinary folder to the “PATH” field.
That’s it, you should now be able to store and manage images via Cloudinary and serve them via the ImageEngine CDN.
Dynamically Loading Specific Image Variants
Let’s take a look at a use case for loading different transformations of individual images on your site. This example will showcase how you can use Cloudinary’s advanced image editing tools to transform images while still reaping the optimization rewards of using ImageEngine as your image CDN.
A popular practice today is to use rounded images for team, client, or profile portraits. Using Cloudinary, you can load this transformation using the following URL:
https://res.cloudinary.com/myimages/image/upload/w_400,h_400,c_crop,g_face,r_max/w_200/profile.jpg
This will resize the image to 400 by 400px, focus on the face, and apply the maximum amount of radial cropping around it – to a width of 200px.
The same image can then be accessed via your ImageEngine delivery engine simply by swapping out the domain:
https://images.myimageengine.com.imgeng.in/image/upload/w_400,h_400,c_crop,g_face,r_max/w_200/profile.jpg
NOTE: I added my Cloudinary folder designation (“myimages”) as the path to my image origin. With that config, I don’t need to include it every time I use the image URL.
For example, you can set up the origin like this:
And, then under advanced:
If I specifically wanted to load the profile picture in WebP format (for transparency support, for example), I could add the ImageEngine directive f_webp:
https://images.myimageengine.com.imgeng.in/image/upload/w_400,h_400,c_crop,g_face,r_max/w_200/?imgeng=/f_webp/profile.jpg
ImageEngine and Cloudinary – The Wrap Up
Both ImageEngine and Cloudinary are superb platforms that can make managing image and video assets easier and improve your website maintenance. However, both services have their specialty in which they outperform each other.
For ImageEngine, it’s delivering blisteringly fast image loading times in next-gen formats and with a minimal loss of visual quality.
For Cloudinary, it’s providing a visual interface to organize, store, and edit your image and video assets.
As a further incentive, letting each of these services handle what they’re best at can lead to lowering your long-term operating costs.
[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of ImageEngine –]
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How to Start a Beekeeping Business
Starting a beekeeping business – called Apiculture – involves simple steps.
First, you educate yourself with information on basic bee biology. How much room do you need? When are the local nectar production times?
Next, you figure out what equipment you need. It’s basic stuff. Of course, the bees and hives. Some simple tools for maintain the bee colonies. And equipment for extracting honey and other products.
Another important step? Reach out to the beekeeping community with questions. Other beekeepers have first hand data that they share with each other and newcomers.
Why You Should Start a Beekeeping Business
Beekeeping is a feel-good business. You earn money selling honey and related products. But there’s a huge bonus to all that.
Bees are globally important. There’s a reason for the phrase “busy bees”. According to data, they are responsible for pollinating about 30 percent of the plants humans need for food, and 90 percent of flowering plants.
You don’t need much room, and the equipment is basic. You can make money. If you need another good reason, here it is: beekeeping is an awesome shared educational experience for families.
How Profitable is Beekeeping?
The basic cost to get started – bees, hives, tools, a smoker, protective wear and a honey extractor – comes in under $1,000. That’s just the basic starter kit, and experienced beekeepers advise starting with no more that two hives.
One hive includes from 8 to 10 removable frames, where the bees store the honey. You can get from 30 to 40 pounds of honey per hive. Honey production varies throughout the country. The bees produce more in warmer climates.
One pound of honey can be sold for about $10, according to current information. The price of honey has doubled since 2016.
Additional ways to make money from honeybees include:
Honeybees “livestock” – Selling bees and starter kits to novice beekeepers.
Pollinator services – Transport your hives to an orchard, nursery or other agricultural business to help with plant pollination.
Bee pollen – Can be dried and sold, contains proteins and amino acids. Easily collected just outside the hive entrance using special pollen traps.
Propolis – A sticky substance bees make to seal cracks inside the hive. It has uses as a natural disinfectant.
Beeswax – Highly sought, but the wax is not produced in big quantities. Beeswax is mostly sold by large-scale operations. The wax is used in lotions and soaps.
Bee venom – This is in its infancy, but is being touted as a treatment for arthritis, and possibly Lyme’s. As you can imagine, collecting bee venom is challenging. And once the bee stings, it dies.
Starting a Bee Farm
Honey bees have been tended by beekeepers for hundreds of years. There are Stone Age paintings showing a beekeeper and hives.
That Stone Age beekeeper didn’t have the advantages of books and internet research, and that’s where a beginner should start. Read about bees. There are aspects of their life cycle that are amazing.
You need a basic understanding of a honeybee’s life cycle before you start. That knowledge will help you make the right choices as you fill your order cart with beekeeping supplies.
Get the Necessary Beekeeping Equipment
Hive – There are two types, the Langstroth and the Top-Bar. The Langstroth is most common. There are stacked vertical boxes, each containing frames. The Top-Bar is a horizontal set up, which uses vertical bars. The bees make the comb and honey on the bars, which are pulled out from the top.
Hive Tool – Like a crowbar, it’s used to separate the Langstroth hive boxes. The boxes can get stuck together from the honey drips.
Uncapping Comb – To remove the caps from the tops of the combs. Bees lay honey in the combs and then seal each comb. This tool removes the tops without damaging the combs.
Smokers – Used to puff smoke, to calm the bees when a beekeeper needs to access the hive.
Protective gear – The bee suit, plus veil and gloves.
Honey Extraction equipment – Can be hand-cranked or motorized. They come in a variety of sizes, depending on how many frames they can hold.
If you are looking for eco-friendly and high-tech beekeeping tools along with educational materials and programs, Crown Bees provides everything you need to get you going.
Order the Bees
There are 20,000 species of bees worldwide. There are more than 4,000 species in North America. Many of these are not honey bees. For example, more than half of the bee species are ground nesting bees. They aren’t honeybees, and don’t produce honey.
The most commonly used of the honey bees in the US is Apis Mellifera, or European honey bees. They can be purchased in a “Nuc” or nucleus group. They can also be purchase as an already-started hive.
You’ll find ads for bees on the internet or can find ads through your local beekeeper’s organization. Orders have various shipping specification. Shipping varies according to the number of bees ordered and the time of year.
Get your Bee Farm Licensing
Some states require a registration and inspection process.
To find out, go to your state’s Department of Agriculture website. Search under “apiary license” or “beekeeping license.”
Beekeeping for Beginners
The hive has a Queen, drones and worker bees. The drones are males, which leave the hive on mating flights, and then die. The worker bees are sterile females.
The Queen leave the hive to mate with up to 80 drones. She doesn’t need to do this again – she can store sperm in her body for five or six years!
Queens are the focal point of the hive. She leaves the hive to mate and returns to lay eggs. The bees that hatch will either be drones or workers.
Starting a Hive System
When you order bees, you’ll get a group that’s properly mixed with the queen, worker bee and drone.
Caring for Your Bees
Chores are by season. In the spring season, the bees may need supplemental feeding (pollinator cakes or cookies) because they’ve consumed all their honey over the winter. You may add an empty hive body, in case some bees look for new homes. You’ll check to make sure your queen bee is alive.
In the summer season, you can begin to harvest honey as each frame fills. You should also provide a water source. You can use a bird bath or shallow object, providing rocks or floating pieces of wood that bees can perch on while they drink.
Fall season is harvest time, leaving enough honey for bee to eat over the winter. Begin to feed your honey bees colony as soon as flowering plants are no longer available. Bees can survive the cold winter season.
Bee populations do best without a lot of disturbance. You can monitor hive activity visually.
Using Honey Extractors
Extractors use centrifugal force to remove the honey from the combs. They come in various sizes, depending on how many frames they can hold.
Before you place a frame in the extractor, you must remove the cap that the bees have put on each cell. You can use a hot knife, but the uncapping comb does the job with less damage to the comb. You can also use a flow hive beekeeping system to make the extraction process much easier.
Things to be Aware Of
The honey bees colony has a number one enemy, and it’s the Varroa mite. A bee hive can be infiltrated by many predators, including mites, beetles and wax moths. Those critters are after the content of the bees honey stores. They can also be diseases, such as American and European Foulbrood.
How much does it cost to start beekeeping?
The average cost for bees is from $125 to $200. Hives range from $2 to $500. A smoker is about $20. Protective clothing ranges from $1 to $200. Some bee company workers nix the protective clothing suit and use the head covering only.
A small hand-crank extractor may run from $115 to $160. The same size motorized extractor with various settings will start at $250.
You can stock up on everything you need to get started on a small scale for less than $1,000. Those experienced in the business advise an individual to start with two hives at your site. They advise learning the business before making an all-out investment.
What is the best time to start a hive?
The best time to start a hive is in spring, but that varies throughout the country. The best time to start is when plants are flowering or producing nectar.
Having a nectar source helps all colonies settle into a new environment, as they learn their way around during pollination efforts.
Is beekeeping hard?
A colony of bees can be fragile. Although the work is not physically hard, attention to detail is important. You must monitor your colony and react quickly to any signs of trouble.
An entire colony can be wiped out by predators or disease.
How many acres do you need for beekeeping?
A hive stack should have an open area around it, at least 7 feet all around. You can fence the area to keep away curious pets, or wild animals. If fence, take care to make sure to provide ventilation.
How much do bee farmers make a year?
Advice from those in the buzz-ness is – grow slow, reinvest the profit.
Make your own market.
In the first year, you may only clear $500 to $1,000. Within 2 or 3 years, you should clear up to $5,000. You can also generate additional income by making items from beeswax. Etsy beeswax candles are big sellers on the platform.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “How to Start a Beekeeping Business” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post How to Start a Beekeeping Business appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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From Finesse To Zest: 25 Powerful Qualities That Elevate Your B2B Marketing
Which qualities encompass the best that B2B marketing has to offer? Are there overlapping elements that bring success to both our professional and personal lives? How can you bring more of these qualities into your own marketing efforts? From a seemingly endless compilation of possible traits held by successful marketers, some naturally work their way to the forefront over time, yet aren’t often explored. To help answer these questions, let’s take a look at five powerful qualities that we can combine to drive not only the best B2B marketing experiences, but that we can also harness and learn from to make us better associates, business partners, and people. For each, we’ll also offer five ways you can add more of them to your own marketing — a total of 25 ways to add more determination, poise, kindness, zest, and finesse to your B2B marketing experiences.
1 — Marketing with Determination
Marketing with determination springs from a passionate will power — a sometimes fierce or all-encompassing resolve that may be personified by sisu, the Finnish art of inner strength. When it comes to this kind of determination, some say you either have it or you don’t, yet even the most driven B2B marketers can make a mindful effort to bring more of this passion to our work. Here are five ways to do so. To Add More Determination to Your Marketing:
Visualize the efforts necessary to break through barriers
Market as a marathon and not as a sprint
Bring your passions into your marketing
Focus on each of the short-term goals that will combine to long-term success
Embrace multiple angles for showing your marketing vision
[bctt tweet=”“Marketing with determination springs from a passionate will power — a sometimes fierce or all-encompassing resolve that may be personified by sisu, the Finnish art of inner strength.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis” username=”toprank”]
2 — Marketing with Poise
Marketing with poise stems from a certain variety of level-headedness, bringing a calm and graceful presence for whatever work is at hand. Whether it’s managing teams of hundreds or thousands, or crafting any form of digital deliverables, marketing with poise raises the overall level of quality on any project. We can cultivate some of the aspects that comprise poise. Here are five ways to start the journey. To Add More Poise to Your Marketing:
The calming elements of your personal life can also work wonders to steady your professional presence
Practice the art of being humble and level-headed in the face of adversity
Focus on enhancing the essence of a marketing effort that sets it apart from the competition
Take comfort in the preparation you’ve done and the unique experience you bring to the marketing table
Accept and learn from setbacks and move on with grace and dignity
[bctt tweet=”“Marketing with poise stems from a certain variety of level-headedness, bringing a calm and graceful presence for whatever work is at hand.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis” username=”toprank”]
3 — Marketing with Kindness
Marketing with kindness offers us the chance to empathize with differing viewpoints and methods, and to bring genuine compassion and concern to any situation we encounter in our busy daily lives as marketers. Whether through seemingly small gestures or mighty acts of warm sentiment and respect, marketing with kindness has a powerful effect on our lives. Through slight adjustments we can increase the amount of kindness we broadcast out into the world — here are just a few ways to start. To Add More Kindness to Your Marketing:
Make a conscious effort to empathize in all your communication
Ask yourself whether your actions would have the ring of truth to your own mother, grandmother, or even Mr. Rogers
Remember that an initial meeting with a new client or colleague will often lead to partnerships or friendships that can last decades
Recognize and address your weaknesses and shortcomings
Find and follow the goodness in your marketing efforts
[bctt tweet=”“Marketing with kindness offers us the chance to empathize with differing viewpoints and methods, and to bring genuine compassion and concern to any situation we encounter in our busy daily lives as marketers.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis” username=”toprank”]
4 — Marketing with Zest
Marketing with zest adds that “wow” factor — the type that brings unbounded zeal and enthusiasm to all our daily interactions. Zest brings delight to all our journeys, and a certain joyful eagerness in whatever marketing adventure we may currently be working on. It can also be one of the most difficult qualities to find, however it can be nurtured. Here are five ways to bring some Z2Z — zest to zeal — into your B2B marketing. To Add More Zest to Your Marketing:
Change up a marketing environment that’s grown stale by adding new sights, sounds, scents, and tactile surroundings that rejuvenate and restore joy in your professional adventures
Bring more of your unique qualities and strong points to your marketing efforts
If you now find yourself with hybrid or remote work options, embrace them to the fullest by trying new work environments
Seek out potential collaborations with people you deeply admire
Identify the areas of your marketing life present the biggest challenges, and map out ways to infuse each with a sense of delight
[bctt tweet=”“Marketing with zest adds that ‘wow’ factor — the type that brings unbounded zeal and enthusiasm to all our daily interactions.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis” username=”toprank”]
5 — Marketing with Finesse
Marketing with finesse enters the realm of the skillfully gentle touch. It’s also a quality possessed by people who seem to have a subtle knack for understated polish in all of their communications, management, and creative endeavors. Marketing finesse shows a sophisticated understanding of the audience and an ability to smoothly pivot, when necessary. Encourage your own marketing finesse by considering the following five ideas. To Add More Finesse to Your Marketing:
Don’t bring a brute-force tree shredder to trim delicate orchids ; use your experience to choose the right tool for the marketing job at hand
Practice marketing diplomacy in your teamwork, whether internal or client-facing
Be generous in sharing your skills and time
Go the extra mile to show your gratitude
Strive to mentor and teach the next generations of marketing professionals, and continue your own lifelong learning
[bctt tweet=”“Marketing with finesse enters the realm of the skillfully gentle touch, held by people who seem to have a subtle knack for understated polish in all of their communications, management, and creative endeavors.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis” username=”toprank”]
Beautiful & Bold B2B Marketing Go Hand In Hand
via GIPHY When we allow the powerful qualities of determination, poise, kindness, zest, and finesse to join hands and unite, truly beautiful B2B marketing experiences spring to life. Thanks for coming along on this introductory journey to better B2B marketing through heartfelt qualities we can all work to experience more of in our lives. Contact us today and find out why top brands from LinkedIn and Dell to SAP and Oracle have chosen TopRank Marketing to create award-winning B2B marketing.
The post From Finesse To Zest: 25 Powerful Qualities That Elevate Your B2B Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
The post From Finesse To Zest: 25 Powerful Qualities That Elevate Your B2B Marketing appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Spotlight: Winding Wick Candles Crafts Sweet Candles and Supports Entrepreneurs
What makes a business stand out? In some cases, it’s a new design for their products. Other times, it’s additional services to bring in a different target customer. Winding Wick Candles does both.
The candle company offers products crafted to look like sweets. And the owner provides courses and resources for those looking to start their own businesses. She’s even gotten attention from Etsy because of this unique model. Read about her journey in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Sells handmade candles.
Founder Tiana Coats told Small Business Trends, “My candles are decorative candles. They are crafted to look like desserts.”
Business Niche
Documenting her business journey.
Coats doesn’t just sell candles; she also provides business insights. In fact, she has a YouTube channel where she documents her business journey. And she even offers an online course.
How the Business Got Started
As a creative outlet.
Coats says, “I was working at my desk job and I wanted to pursue a creative career. That is when I started experimenting with candle making.”
Biggest Win
Being recognized by Etsy.
Coats explains, “In 2019 I won the Etsy HQ visit contest. Etsy flew me out to their headquarters in Brooklyn. I got a tour of their HQ and I got to sit in on some workshops.”
Biggest Risk
Launching an online course.
Coats adds, “I started a candle business online course. There was nothing else like it on the market and there was a huge learning curve. I decided to implement my idea and the program generated around $70,000 in the first year.”
Lesson Learned
Ask for help.
Coats says, “I should have hired help sooner. I went through extreme burnout at the end of 2020. I had to close my business for a month so I could recover.”
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Opening a storefront and creating jobs.
Coats says, “I would love to have a physical store where people can smell the scents in person.”
Business Advice
Don’t give up.
Coats explains, “My very first decorative candle that I purchased in 2018 had zero sales. I took a lot of time to come up with the concept and test the design. Even though nobody purchased it I knew that I had an interesting idea so I made a second design in November of 2018 and it sold over 200 units in a month. If I would have gave up after the first design I would have missed a huge opportunity.”
* * * * *
Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program
Image: Winding Wick Candles, Tiana Coates
This article, “Spotlight: Winding Wick Candles Crafts Sweet Candles and Supports Entrepreneurs” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post Spotlight: Winding Wick Candles Crafts Sweet Candles and Supports Entrepreneurs appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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What is RebateKey and Why Your Business Should Use It
RebateKey is an excellent marketing tool that provides companies on a website platform like Walmart or Amazon ways to offer thousands of rebates and rewards on their products and brands for a chance to attract more customers. The buyers benefit from the reduced cost of the products they purchase, while the seller benefits from the boost to their full-price sales numbers which help increase their rankings. This guide will help you discover if RebateKey can work for your business.
What is RebateKey?
One huge difference between RebateKey and the thousands of traditional rebate services is that RebateKey does not require physical coupons or the mailing in of a Universal Product Code. It allows shoppers to register their claim online and then simply wait for their rebate check, overall creating a much better experience with its discount offer.
RebateKey was started in 2018 by over 30 eCommerce sellers who took the chance to join forces to develop a better way to promote their best and latest products with shoppers. It has since been growing at a rapid pace, mostly thanks to word of mouth.
What is a Rebate?
For anyone unfamiliar with the retail rebate process, they are a type of discount that is offered retrospectively after purchase rather than upfront like a normal discount. So with a product offered with a rebate promotion, the customer will initially purchase the item at full price but on the promise that they can then claim the rebate later and receive a partial refund. Ultimately it is an incentivizing marketing ploy to drum up interest in a product and get people to purchase the product originally at full price which then improves the shop and product’s rankings better than a standard discount sale would.
How does RebateKey work for Sellers?
Rebate Key handles the entire process for both the buyers and the sellers. Both sign-up to the Rebate Key platform, with the sellers informing Rebate Key of what products are offered with deals, and Rebate Key then manages everything else.
The seller’s Rebate Key process looks like this:
1. Sign-up to Rebate Key with your email and shop details.
2. They send URLs of products offering discounts.
3. Rebate Key promotes the products to registered buyers.
4. Buyers make a purchase and enter their order number on Rebate Key.
5. Rebate Key proceeds with the rebate and sends an email confirmation.
The rebate process begins after the buyer enters their name, email and order ID number. The rebate key money is then held for 30 days, after which the seller must approve or decline the rebate. Once approved, Rebate Key sends the money via check to the buyer.
Why Your Business Should Use RebateKey
There are a lot of fantastic features for sellers on Rebate Key which provide a better user experience and great value for money. You can create unique landing pages, communicate with buyers and integrate with Chrome Extension. Here’s a quick run through all the reasons why you should consider using Rebate Key.
User-Friendly Platform Providing a Better Experience
The Rebate Key platform is very intuitive and easy to navigate. You can quickly set up rebate offers and RebateKey manages the whole process from there.
Value for Money Customers will Appreciate
By being able to offer such easy rebate offers, your consumers will appreciate the great value for money you offer on your products. While RebateKey does not generate reviews itself, the goodwill and generous discounts provided by the good deals can only help increase positive feedback.
Useful Chrome Extension for Adding Rebates and Coupons
The Chrome Extension available with RebateKey makes it even easier to add rebates for your customers to claim their discounts in the future.
Landing Pages for User Conversions
To help drive up user conversions, RebateKey has a landing page creation feature that lets you create landing pages for your products. This gives more visibility to the rebate offer and the product itself and makes it easier for the customer to make the claim.
Multiple Online Marketplaces
RebateKey works with multiple online marketplaces, including two of the very biggest in Walmart and Amazon.
Ability to Contact Buyers Via Internal Messaging
Another brilliant feature of RebateKey is the ability for sellers to contact buyers via the special internal messaging service, whether they purchase through Amazon from Orlando or Walmart from San Diego.
Pre-Approval of Each Rebate Check on Auto
While RebateKey manages the entire rebate claim and money payment process, each seller still retains authority over each purchase rebate.
Support Via Facebook Messenger
Rebate Key also provides support with contact available through Facebook Messenger for quick and easy communication.
Access to Deals and Discounts for Your Customers
Every seller can use RebateKey as a one-stop-shop for all their special offers, which saves time and energy and keeps everything organized. This includes discounts for small business owners looking to save on everyday items.
RebateKey Pricing for Sellers – It’s Even Cheap at Full Price
Sellers only pay $2.95 to RebateKey per sale or rebate claim by buyers. This means if a single rebate campaign results in ten claimed refunds, then the total amount the seller pays to RebateKey is just $29.50.
Extrapolate that to a much more successful campaign that results in a hundred refunds, all of which are full price-paying sales that help improve the shop’s ranking for the product, and the total is still only $295.
Using RebateKey for Amazon
There is so much eCommerce website competition online these days, and that is doubly so for the bigger online markets like Amazon and Walmart. But while competition numbers are high, customer numbers are much, much higher. Amazon Prime alone has nearly 100 million subscribers, so giving your business a visibility boost with a service like RebateKey is absolutely worthwhile.
Setting up a RebateKey account for an Amazon ship is simple and you can do it from your browser. The very first step is to create a seller’s account by providing some details such as your company name, address and website, as well as your contact email address. You will also be asked to enter your average product sales volume and the sort of products you’d like to rebate.
The RebateKey dashboard then features all the options for submitting a rebate campaign. To set up the campaign, you must enter the following information:
Name of the rebate product
Brief description of the product and product category
Images of products
Unique product ID number
Number of rebates in the campaign and campaign length
Discount percentage offered in rebate
Is It Worth It? A Brief RebateKey Review
It is worth weighing up the pros and cons so here we will have a look at the primary benefits and compare them to less beneficial elements of working with this discount system for an Amazon store.
Perhaps the most reassuring aspect of RebateKey is that you know all your payments are covered and secured. The product rebate ID system also ensures customers cannot make the same purchase more than once.
Another pro is that all the external traffic generated by the product rebates will be diverted to your Amazon store. The Facebook Messenger contact point is also good, though more on this below when we go through some of the cons.
One more pro for this RebateKey review is the automated mail after every rebate check so you know exactly which discount tickets have been claimed and when.
And so to the cons. While the Messenger contact point is good, the lack of assistance via telephone feels limiting. A phone number for personal contact would greatly improve customer service.
There is also the oft-unspoken negative that is the majority of rebates being more likely to be claimed due to the ease of claiming them online. With the old mail-in rebates, many of them would have been forgotten about or lost, but it is now easier for the customer now as well as for the seller.
Alternatives to RebateKey for Sellers
RebateKey is not the only service available for Amazon to take advantage of. Here we go through a few of the alternative firms that provide similar features.
Snagshout
Snagshout offers cashback and price reduction codes for products bought online with the refunds paid directly into the customer’s PayPal account. This is an even more streamlined service than RebateKey’s check-sending method but does of course limit the number of customers to those that have a PayPal account.
Vipon
Vipon offers lots of cash savings on products you order on the Amazon or Walmart site. They also have a points system and instructions for regular customers to reward them for multiple purchases via their site.
Cashbackbase
Cashbackbase lets customers find 100% cashback products that they can buy and be fully refunded for if they are not happy. The site also offers coupons from Amazon and Walmart stores to help them build sales quickly.
Who owns RebateKey?
As previously mentioned, the site was started about three years ago by over 30 successful e-commerce people who were looking for a better way to promote their products to more target users via rebate campaigns.
One of the co-founders is the wonderfully named Ian Sells, and another Leo Limin, and together these two characters recruited more businesses to join them in creating an easy-to-use rebate and coupon experience for both customers and online shops.
They run the platform site from their headquarters in Sheridan, Wyoming.
How does an Amazon rebate work?
To submit an Amazon rebate order claim for an item, you must follow these instructions carefully.
First, you purchase an item that has a rebate offer available on it and ensures the rebate offer deadline has not passed. The product details and information will have the deadline for purchase. It will also have a postmark deadline, which is the deadline by which you must file the rebate claim.
Secondly, once you have received the package, go to the RebateKey website and click their option for Amazon rebate campaigns (you will need to set up your account first). Complete the rebate form by entering the order number or order ID for the products you purchase before the postmark deadline. And make sure to read all the fine print to see if there are any other conditions or changes to the rebate process.
Be aware that once you click to submit the rebate claim after entering the order ID for your products, you can no longer return the products for any reason.
Finally, you simply wait for the 30 day time period to pass, the seller will then approve the rebate and RebateKey will send out your check in the mail.
Is RebateKey against Amazon TOS?
No, it does not go against the content list of the Amazon and Amazon Prime ToS because it is not a review-generating service. The terms of the Amazon platform absolutely do allow price reduction on products. However, it explicitly states that you cannot reduce prices in exchange for a review. As a review is not offered, it is perfectly fine.
Of course, sellers will hope the increased sales that the rebates generate will organically lead to a review or two, but a review is not part of the service and a review that does arise out of the rebate campaign will be a genuine review from a genuine customer.
Is RebateKey allowed?
Again, it is 100% legitimate because it has nothing to do with creating a review. All the Amazon and Amazon Prime platform restrictions on such services relate to creating reviews, not offering reduced prices.
How do I sell on RebateKey?
To sum up, here is a step-by-step guide on how to sell on RebateKey:
Create a RebateKey account, and set up the rebate campaign, including prices.
Publish and promote your rebate campaign to increase purchases.
Approve all legitimate rebates generated by RebateKey.
RebateKey now does all the work and mails the checks out.
Image: rebatekey
This article, “What is RebateKey and Why Your Business Should Use It” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post What is RebateKey and Why Your Business Should Use It appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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The Average Cost of a Cyber Attack on a Small Business is More than $25,000
When it comes to cyber attacks, small business doesn’t mean small costs. Over the past 12 months, the average financial cost of cyber attacks to a small US business is £25,612.
This statistic was unveiled by the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021.
Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, surveyed over 6,000 professionals from the US, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ireland. The participants were all responsible for their business’s cyber security. The study found that 23% of small businesses had suffered at least one cyber attack in the last 12 months.
Out of the 590 US small businesses surveyed, the average cost of cyber attacks is $25,612.
Cost of Cyber Attack to Small Business is $25,000+
Cyber security has long been one of the most challenging issues for small businesses. Pre-pandemic reports showed that by 2019, the growth of cybercrime would cost the global economy more than $2 trillion.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced many businesses to operate remotely, has created an even bigger breeding ground for cybercrime. Hiscox’s study reveals that 63% of the small business workforce is now working remotely. 53% of small businesses in the US believe they are now more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
What Can Small Businesses do to Protect Themselves
While in the current remote working climate small businesses may be more vulnerable to falling victim to cybercrime, there are steps they can take to alleviate the risks.
As Meghan Hannes, Cyber Product Head for Hiscox USA comments: “Small business can mean big business for cyber criminals. We know the financial impacts of cyber attacks can be substantial, and small businesses are increasingly feeling ‘cyber stress’. The good news is, there are measures businesses can take to help mitigate the risk.”
According to Hiscox, a critical step in minimizing vulnerabilities is to secure company servers, which are the most common point of entry for cyber criminals.
Involve All Employees in Cybercrime Prevention
Employees at all levels of the business should be educated and involved in cybercrime prevention. Cyber security should be part of a business’s formal budgeting process.
Intrusion detection and ongoing monitoring should be included on all critical networks, Hiscox recommends. As should utilizing alerts when using both automated monitoring and manual logging.
A plan for all cyber security incidents should be created, from detection and containment to notification and assessment.
Hiscox’s report confirms that with new working practices making small businesses more vulnerable to cyber threats and attacks, it is more critical than ever that businesses have robust procedures in place to mitigate the risks.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “The Average Cost of a Cyber Attack on a Small Business is More than $25,000” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post The Average Cost of a Cyber Attack on a Small Business is More than $25,000 appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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Zoho CRM: From Post-It-Notes to High Level Service
Sponsored Post
Premier Ophthalmic has been providing equipment sales and service to optometry offices for more than 20 years. It was around this same time that Zoho began to take shape. And the two companies’ journeys have intersected for more than a decade.
Read more about the story behind Premier Ophthalmic and how they’ve shaped their operations with clearly defined systems in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Buys, sells, and services medical equipment for ophthalmic offices.
The team carries equipment from top industry suppliers. But they also purchase used equipment, sell refurbished items, and provide service to clients. So there are several functions that all need to be managed under one brand name.
How the Business Got Started
As a small operation.
Mike Ryan originally founded the company back in 1999. The goal was to provide a high level of service and quality to ophthalmic offices that needed equipment and service. But he didn’t have many processes in place to accomplish that goal.
COO Kevin Flynn joined the team several years later. He told Small Business Trends, “In the early days, there were just three of us. And the business was being run on QuickBooks and Post-It notes.”
Growth Strategy
Create structure.
Flynn says, “In the early days, Quickbooks was our only structure and it was very limited. In any business, implementing a strong structure if what gives you more control over your growth and helps you maintain and sustain that growth. So Zoho gave us that foundational structure and allowed us to scale much easier.”
The company started out using just Zoho CRM. But they eventually adopted tons of other Zoho tools, including:
Books
Inventory
Cliq
People (HR)
Creator
WorkDrive
Expense
SalesIQ
Flow
Social
Forms
Analytics
Campaigns
Projects
Showtime
Zoho CRM still operates as the company’s central hub. And they integrate the other tools into that main dashboard so they can access everything easily. They now have a team of more than 30 and operate around the country thanks to these systems.
Biggest Challenge
Organizing inventory.
Flynn explains, “When buying and selling used equipment, tracking that equipment is always a challenge. It comes in and sits there and nobody knows what it’s doing there, it’s history, or what needs to happen with it. At the time we had no system in place.
“But now anything that comes into our warehouse gets barcoded and included into our asset management system, which is plugged into our CRM via Zoho Creator. So we can basically check in equipment as it comes in and goes out.”
Bonus Challenge
Managing trade show logistics.
Flynn says, “Sales reps would have to communicate what trade shows they registered for and things like dates and setup times. When we used to do this over email it would often entail about 30 messages back and forth.
“But now we have a custom trade show module within our CRM that provides the basic blueprints. It walks sales reps through each step so they can provide the information needed. And then it’s passed off to an internal person.”
Future Plans
Automating the company’s finances.
Flynn explains, “The big thing we’re working on now is our Zoho Finance integration. We have a lot of automations built into our CRM. But now we’re migrating the financial information over to Zoho Finance. So we’re working on rebuilding a lot of that automation.”
Lesson Learned
Take it slow.
Flynn adds, “When I first started using the Zoho platform, there wasn’t a ton of documentation available. So it was a lot of trial and error. Today there are YouTube videos, forums, and all kinds of information available to help you make the most of it.
“I think with Zoho One it can be tempting for people to jump right in and want to try and integrate every tool. But I’d recommend that you start with one and slowly roll them out. You’ll give people time to learn all the new systems so they don’t get confused or frustrated. The most difficult thing about this is trying to change people’s habits. So you need to make it as easy as possible for them.”
Company Motto
Find small areas of improvement.
Flynn says, “No matter what we’re doing, we should always be thinking ‘how can we do this better?’ Even if it’s a tiny, simple thing, we want to empower people within the company to come up with any ideas. And we want to be thinking about how we can make people’s jobs easier.”
“We’re not trying to recreate the wheel. We just want to improve bit by bit. And that has a compound effect. So if we see where we want to go, we can make small incremental changes. And we can see that we’re doing pretty well today. But we want to be able to look back in a few years’ time and think that it’s amazing how far we’ve come.”
This article, “Zoho CRM: From Post-It-Notes to High Level Service” was first published on Small Business Trends
The post Zoho CRM: From Post-It-Notes to High Level Service appeared first on Unix Commerce.
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