People use Jotform every day, especially our solopreneurs and SMBs who use Jotform to manage data, including customer information and sales. People use Jotform to cut down on administrative time and speed up processes. For instance, prior to Jotform, one of our customers used to use Excel spreadsheets to keep track of customer orders and information, and doing so was tedious and time-consuming. When the pandemic hit, their business needed to scale quickly, so they began using Jotform to digitally transform business processes and scale to keep up with an influx in sales.

Q: What are the different ways in which Jotform assists small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)?

Jotform helps small and medium-sized businesses scale operations by helping them digitally collect, organize and visualize critical data/information. No longer do people have to manually input data collected over the phone or in person. And it all starts with the online form.

Q: Tell us about Steve Hartert’s, VP of Sales Operations at Jotform, background.

I’ve been at Jotform since 2016 and have worn many hats. I have decades of experience in sales and marketing and received my MBA from Cal State Bernardino.

Q: How does Steve see inflation and supply chain issues impacting SMBs for the holiday season?

SMBs and solopreneurs are expected to see a massive influx of sales of products and services this holiday season, which is great but inflation and supply chain issues are still creating challenges for businesses. Online shopping continues to grow at a rapid pace and consumers see online as the default, and brick and mortar as secondary shopping options.

Q: Is there anything SMBs can do to work through these issues and optimize their businesses and sales?

To help manage inflation and supply chain issues, SMBs and solopreneurs should look for tech that can help them streamline business processes that quickly fit into workflows, and also boost productivity and cut costs. For instance, with Jotform, SMBs and solopreneurs can scale sales. They do this by expanding online and using online forms to collect orders and manage data. They can also manage customer information with our Tables feature and collect signatures using Sign.

Q: What else would you like us to know?

Jotform is a non-stop shop platform that SMBs and solopreneurs can use to scale sales and operations.

Move everything online to boost productivity and cut costs spent on administrative time. It starts with an online form that customers fill out. But from there, SMBs and solopreneurs can stay organized with the data collected using Jotform Tables and can keep track of orders too!

The post A SmallBizTechnology Interview with Jotform and Steve Hartert appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The first step has always been to grow and establish your brand as a household name when launching your business. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen overnight. It’s safe to assume that we are all searching for new ways to improve our business and brands.

Mapping Out a Strategy That Works for You

There’s no particular strategy, plan, or secret that will help you get immediate success. (Sorry to burst your bubble!) However, if you apply these small business tips, you could eventually reach that success bracket and increase your brand awareness.

1. Be specific in your goals and objectives.

Start by breaking your big goals down into smaller ones.

For instance, you can have a 10-year plan, 3-year plan, and a one-year plan. When it comes to small businesses, having specific goals could mean that you have the right direction in your company.

Don’t start by focusing on your 20-year plan yet you haven’t completed your quarterly objectives. That only means you might not even finish the first year.

2. Build a network.

No business succeeds as a standalone.

Truth be told, being a business owner is an isolating experience, especially if you are a solo business owner. But don’t let that deter you from connecting with other businesses.

In fact, staying connected with the larger community could catapult your business to the next level.

3. Create your vision.

Every employee you hire, product you develop, and marketing campaign you unleash should spring from the vision in your business.

Create a deep sense of what this business is about, then make sure every decision you make aligns with the idea.

Typically, it’s tempting to say “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way, but if it’s not in line with your vision, you’ll lose valuable time, money, and effort.

4. Be patient.

One of the significant challenges any small business owner will face is impatience.

Focus on the foundation and a steady improvement to your systems. Then and only then will your business start to witness growth.

5. Hire the right people.

Your team will either build or break your business.

You will need a solid staff to help you achieve your goals, but that doesn’t mean any Tom, Dick, and Harry can work in your company. By hiring the absolute best people, you can ensure steady and fast growth in your business.

If there’s one thing you should take seriously in all these business tips, hire the right people.

6. Trust your team.

You’ve established that your team is the best you could hire. Now it’s time to understand that there’s no room for ego in management.

You’ve hired them to help you grow your business. So…let them! There’s nothing worse than a small business owner who doesn’t believe he could make a mistake.

Trust your team and their unique capabilities.

7. Minimize your risks.

Unfortunately, taking risks is part and parcel of business, especially if you want your business to grow.

More importantly, it’s virtually impossible to control everything. However, there’s a limit to how much risk your business can handle externally and internally.

An excellent way to manage your risks is to talk to an insurance company provider. Such companies could potentially help your business grow without taking all the risks.

8. Be adaptable.

These small business tips wouldn’t be complete without pointing out that your business should be adaptable.

Successful startups always have one thing in common. It’s the ability to switch directions almost instantaneously to respond to changes in the market.

By changing and adapting, you are able to compare different approaches and identify which one works best for your company.

9. Invest in marketing.

Marketing is the heart of every successful business. How else will your business grow?

As a small business, I’m sure your budget is fixed. But that shouldn’t stop you from marketing your company.

Take advantage of budget-friendly marketing strategies, such as social media marketing and SEO.

10. Find a mentor.

Last but not least, find a mentor.

In addition to networking, you will need someone within your reach who can help you navigate the ups and downs of starting a business. And who better else to do that with than a mentor!

Mentors often have more experience in specific areas, and they can share a lesson or two to help foster your business growth.

Wrapping Up

These small business tips will ensure you are always at your best.

Be passionate about everything in your business. It will show and will also reflect positively towards the success of your business.

The post 10 Small Business Tips to Help Owners Succeed appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How to Use Landing Pages

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

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

The Inspirational Story of the Kauffman Foundation

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

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

Stop Aiming for Perfect

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

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

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

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

How to Get Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Small busineses can fork over a lot of dough for marketing, but arguably the most effective type of marketing is free: word-of-mouth marketing. This article is based on an interview with Olga Kay, owner of a business that makes fun socks for millennials, called MooshWalks. Olga has successfully engaged her loyal customers and social media followers to do the marketing for her company. This article combines advice from that interview plus extra tips so you too can activate word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

Click to read Simple Ways to Get your Customers to Do Your Marketing for You.

Just in Time for Filing: Tax Tips for Small Business Owners

Small business tax filing is not something that most of us look forward to – but once again, we find ourselves nearing the deadline for 2015 tax filing. If you are still gathering your documents, you will appreciate these small business tax tips from Candace Klein of Dealstruck.

Click to read 5 Solid Tax Tips for Filing as a Small Business.

Become a Better Manager Today

When you start a small business, you inevitably throw yourself into the role of ‘manager,’ whether you are leading a small team of employees or working with freelancers online. How the manager handles employees and work situations can greatly impact the success of the business operations – and no matter how good you are, we could all stand to improve our managerial skills. This article shares advice from Michael Riley of Vayner Media – ten tips that will help you successfully lead a team of workers.

Click to read 10 Tips for Becoming a Better Manager.

Marketing, managing, tax filing – what is on your small business to-do list this week?

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Tax Tips & How to Become a Better Manager appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small Biz Success Story – Hannah Perry of the Giggling Pig

Small business is the engine that drives America’s economic progress, and it’s no secret that people come from other countries in search of the American Dream. In this inspirational story you’ll learn about Hannah Perry, who came to the United States from England with just $15 in her pocket to last her a week. Life was tough but she struggled and found success with her children’s art and after-school studio called Giggling Pig. In this article you can learn about her recipe for success and business advice, plus watch the video interview.

Click to read How Hannah Perry of the Giggling Pig Turned $15 Into Small Business Success.

5 Tips to Become More Profitable

As an entrepreneur, profit is one of your main goals; however, there are many ways you can unknowingly let that profit fall through the cracks. This article has five tips that will improve your profit by filling those cracks, careful planning, and developing healthy financial habits.

Click to read 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Become More Profitable.

Cloud Security Tips

These days 77 percent of business owners are using cloud technology. Cloud software and apps feature benefits such as easy access to business data on the go – however, with that convenience come additional security risks. If you use cloud technology in your business, you’ll want to check out this must-read article that covers 5 important things you should do to increase the security of the business and customer data you store in the cloud.

Click to read 5 Security Tips to Keep Your Business Data Safe in the Cloud.

So what are you looking for this week – perhaps inspiration for your small business journey, financial tips, or cloud security strategies? Explore the articles above, plus check out Smart Hustle for more important small business information.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Small Biz Success Story, Ways to Increase Profit & Cloud Security Tips appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small Business Owners Can Capitalize on Freelance Workers

Freelance workers currently make up 34 percent of the United States workforce. Is your small business capitalizing on this group of skilled workers yet? If you said no, you probably aren’t sure what freelance workers offer your company and how to find them. This article will clear up all of your questions.

The article includes an interview with Constantine Anastasakis, the Senior Director of Business Development at Fiverr. Constantine is sharing more about how Fiverr works and how you can use freelance workers to push your own small business ahead. This is a trend every small business owner should be embracing! Learn how to do so by reading this helpful article.

Click to read Fiverr Interview: How to Use Freelancers as Your Competitive Advantage.

Boosting Your Small Biz Security

Hackers do not discriminate – your small business is just as vulnerable as your larger competitors (and perhaps even more so). Security breaches cost money ($3.79 million total in 2015) and they can also cost your customers’ trust. Fortunately, boosting your small business security does not have to be costly or complex. This article covers 6 of the best ways that you can secure and protect your small business.

Click to read 6 Easy Ways to Secure Your Business and Find Peace of Mind.

Calming Down Angry Customers

No matter how focused on customer service your business is, an angry customer will eventually fall through the cracks and you have to know how to successfully deal with them. When someone is yelling at you, it is easy to become frustrated and yell back, but this only makes the matter worse. So how should you deal with angry customers? This article is full of tips on what you can do when things heat up to turn the negative experience around and turn that angry customer into a loyal supporter of your business.

Click to read How to Calm Down Infuriated Customers to Your Advantage.

So what’s on your mind this week – building a remote team of workers, boosting your business security, or dealing with angry customers? Get help with the articles above, and check out the Smart Hustle homepage to read the latest stories.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Capitalizing on Freelance Workers, Boosting Biz Security & Calming Angry Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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

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

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

Other findings include:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

50 Small Biz Tech Tools

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

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

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

Is there a ‘Right’ Kind of Marketing?

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

Market Segmentation Can Help You Grow Your Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turning Your Hobby into a Business

They say you need to be passionate about your business to make it successful, but does this mean you can take something you enjoy as a hobby and turn it into a business idea? For the dreamers out there, we have a story of inspiration that proves you can. In this feature story, you’ll learn about Cassy Saba from Cassy Saba Jewelry. A bead kit she received at the age of 12 gave her the push to become a childhood entrepreneur and as a young adult she’s still hustling to make her dreams come true today. This story will provide inspiration to childhood dreams and smart hustling small business owners alike.

Click to read Cassy Saba Jewelry & the Journey from Childhood Hobby to Successful Business.

Who Is the On-Demand Economy – and Will the Government Step In?

Although the full time job is still the norm, a new group of workers called the on-demand economy or the gig economy is redefining how you can make a weekly paycheck. These workers are classified as independent contractors and you likely have experience with them in your small business – whether you have called an Uber driver to get a ride or have hired a freelancer to help you with small business tasks. A new Intuit survey is shedding light on who this group of workers is – but the on-demand economy is also catching the eye of the government, who is considering whether or not to reclassify independent contractors. Learn about this top small business news story here.

Click to read The On-Demand Economy & the Changing Face of the American Workforce.

Get Outsourcing Help in this Outsourcing 101 Guide

Outsourcing can help small business owners and solo entrepreneurs find the team of workers they need to execute small tasks and push the business forward – without the need to hire full-time staff. If you need help leveraging the power of outsourced work, check out this Outsourcing 101 guide that looks at four strategies that can make outsourcing work for your small business.

Click to read Outsourcing 101: Find the Right Partners to Help Build a Business.

There you have it, the top Smart Hustle articles from the week of February 7-13. Stay informed by clicking to read one of the articles above, or check out the homepage to read other recent stories.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Outsourcing 101, the Changing American Workforce + Taking Your Business from Hobby to Reality appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is KPI?

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

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

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

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

Why Are KPIs Important?

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

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

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

Tracking and Analyzing KPI Metrics

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

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

Staples Quick Wins KPI App

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

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

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

• QuickBooks
• Google Analytics
• Shopify
• Facebook
• Twitter

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

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

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

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

What I’m referring to is the on-demand economy, which is also called the gig economy. This is a general term for the growing group of independent contractors who work ‘gigs’ instead of regular full-time jobs. The on-demand economy includes freelancers and consultants who contract out their work as well as workers who do service-based gigs like drive for Uber or make money by renting out their home with sites like Airbnb.

The on-demand economy touches many of us in the small business realm. I’m sure some of you reading this are on-demand workers yourselves, while others may have hired on-demand workers for anything from getting a ride to getting help on your business website.

A recent Smart Hustle article explores what we know about the on-demand economy today. It includes:

• Statistics from a recent Intuit survey which looks at this part of the American workforce including who they are, how they like their work and what challenges they face.
• Government initiatives to learn more about this group in terms of labor laws and classifications.

In terms of government interest, the article points out that the U.S. government is questioning whether these workers should be classified as ‘independent contractors’ or not. I see many sides of this:

• Independent contractors are important for our economy.
• Yes, some companies might be abusing or misusing the classification.
• However, independent contractors often WANT to be contractors because of the freedom it gives them.
• Either way, the government should be VERY careful about reclassification.

The article gave me a lot to think about in terms of the on-demand economy and the ever-changing American workforce. I urge you to check out the article – then come back and let me know your opinions in the comments.

Click to read The On-Demand Workforce & the Changing Face of the American Workforce.

The post The American Workforce Is Changing – Will the Government Step In? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Valentine’s Day Marketing

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

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

Tech Twitter Chat

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

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

Tips to Compete With – and even BEAT – Bigger Businesses

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

Click to read 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Beat Bigger Businesses

Making Pivotal Changes in Your Business

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

Click to read Why Your Small Business Needs to Pivot

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

The post Smart Hustle Recap – Valentine’s Day Marketing, Upcoming Tech Twitter Chat & More appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Standing desks are a current fad sweeping offices and schools across the country. However, surprisingly enough, standing desks aren’t new at all. The history of standing desks dates back to the 1400s and in the 18^th and 19^th century they became especially popular among the rich. Several famous people throughout history have used standing desks, including Thomas Jefferson, Ernest Hemingway and Donald Rumsfeld.

Today there are several companies that make standing desks, including Varidesk, Ergo Depot and others. These desks are designed to be used while standing up or while sitting on a high stool. While designs vary, these desks are purported to have several health benefits – but others say they offer health consequences too. In modern working condition mostly traditional or sitting desks are used this leads to gaining more weight as there is no metabolism or activity and even only doing exercise with proper diet is not the perfect solution so if you want to avoid this obesity take a safe fat burner like Ultra Omega Burn. There are many fat burner available in market, checkout the Fat Burner list here.

High Quality Educational Furniture are getting the spotlight once again this year because of a recent study about the effects that standing desks can have when used at school. The study measured high school students on a number of neurocognitive tests – both before and after they had used standing desks for an entire semester. The study found that using standing desks changed the students’ brain activation patterns and boosted their cognitive skills such as memory, concentration and problem solving.

That study aside, there are some people who claim that standing desks can do more harm than good. To present you with a fair and balanced discussion of the topic, we’d like to share the benefits of standing desk to help you decide if a standing desk is right for you.

Pros of Standing Desks

According to the recent study we mentioned earlier, standing desks can possibly help your cognitive functioning. Having better concentration, problem-solving skills, and memory are certainly pluses no matter what industry you work in. If the study results are also applicable to adults in working situations (not just students in school), then a standing desk could improve your productivity and efficiency on a daily basis.

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The other benefits of standing desks have to do with physical health. It has been found that the average worker spends 5 hours and 41 minutes per day sitting at their desk, and another 7 hours sleeping at night. That’s a whole lot of sitting and laying around, which can have negative health consequences. Therefore, a standing desk can help to:

• Improve your metabolism (thereby lowering your risk of obesity)
• Reduce your risk of metabolic problems including Type 2 Diabetes
• Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduce your risk of cancer
• Lower your long-term mortality risk (the risk of dying within a given period of time)

Cons of Standing Desks

The pros of standing desks demonstrate that they can help your physical and cognitive health, but that doesn’t mean the issue is a closed case. Some people say that standing desks can also have harmful effects on your health. This includes:

• Pain including sore feet and lower back problems.
• Health risks such as increased risk for cardiovascular problems like carotid arteries, varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis (because the heart has to work against gravity to keep blood flowing from the toes up).
• Some tasks are better performed when sitting down, such as those that require fine motor skills, so a standing desk may impact your work on some tasks.
• Standing burns 20 percent more calories which means you will likely tire more quickly during the day.

So is a standing desk right for you? We asked this question to Austin Chiropractic services and according to them, only a user can buy accutane eu decide based on the pros and cons listed above as well as your job and individual preferences. The one thing that can be certain is that no matter what desk you choose – a traditional desk or a standing desk – you need to switch it up throughout the day. You shouldn’t be sitting all day and you shouldn’t be standing all day either. Try to work both into your daily routine so you can enjoy more health benefits and avoid the consequences.

The post Should You Switch to a Standing Desk? A Look at the Pros and Cons to Help You Decide appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The survey involved gathering opinions from more than 1,000 small business owners from across the United States. The ten-question survey asked about small business marketing in 2016, including goals, priorities, challenges and tactics.

Results show just how tough small business marketing is. Some of the interesting findings include:

• Nearly 47 percent of small business owners handle marketing on their own. That’s a big duty for someone who already wears so many hats.
• Nearly one in five small business owners don’t plan on using digital marketing in 2016. Digital marketing includes things such as websites, social media, digital advertising and email marketing – techniques that are popular among larger businesses but harder for some small businesses to manage.
• Over 20 percent of small business owners don’t store customer and lead information at all and only 24 percent use a customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
• Small business owners are challenged with measuring the results of their marketing campaigns. Almost half aren’t sure if their efforts are effective, and 13.9 percent know for sure that they aren’t.

Despite these statistics, small business owners are well aware of the potential benefits of a good marketing strategy. About half will be using digital marketing in 2016 to drive sales and brand awareness, and about one in three will focus on goals such as collecting leads and retaining customers. There are many one of the top agencies in legal firm marketing that specialize in working.

The survey clearly shows how difficult small business marketing is. One potential reason is demonstrated in the following finding: “Most small businesses are still using a fairly unsophisticated digital marketing stack.” Fourty-one percent use only one or two software applications, and another 26 percent use three or four.

However, there are plenty of tech tools available for small business marketing, including tools to help manage customers and leads, tools to help measure marketing results, and tools that make specific strategies (like blogs, social media, and emails) easier to implement. Small business marketing is definitely one of the biggest challenges your company will face – it’s time to embrace the technology that will make it simpler and more effective.

The post Overwhelmed by Marketing? New Survey Shows Just How Tough Small Business Marketing Is appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Asana

A long time player in the cloud-based project management space, Asana is a favorite of many because of the robust capabilities it packs into a simple-to-use package. The suite stands out from other solutions because of the robust reporting features which enable users to visualize project progress with charts and graphs. Asana also lets you create custom search views so you can instantly filter projects, tasks, and other action items with a click of the mouse.

Asana supports up to 15 users and includes numerous collaboration and project management functions within the software. Their premium plan costs around $9/month per user and offers a few extra features such as privacy controls, guest user support, and the ability to export your data. You can also expand the functionality by integrating Asana into a variety of other productivity tools.

Trello

The best way to describe Trello is that it’s the digital equivalent of sticky notes on a whiteboard (commonly used in the Kanban project management method). Getting started is fairly simple. Users simply create a board for each project. Within the board, users can create categories and cards for each task. Each card has its own comment section, descriptions, file attachments, and other custom information fields. For small teams and businesses just starting out, the free Trello plan should be sufficient. As your company grows, the Business Plus plan provides fine-grained user permission controls and support for apps to expand the functionality.

Mavenlink

Unlike most other project management suites which focus solely on team collaboration and project management, Mavenlink provides a more comprehensive solution which integrates into all components of your business. The solution is ideal for long-term projects which require extensive planning. Mavenlink uses Gantt Charts so you can easily spot dependencies and potential bottlenecks.

In addition to being a project management solution, Mavenlink also helps to simplify your accounting processes. Built in accounting capabilities enable you to generate invoices, view and approve billable time, view your margins, and manage your budgets. The starter Mavenlink version costs $19/month for five users. If you want invoicing and other financial management functions, you’ll need to pay at least $29/month per user.

Smartsheet

If you’re looking to manage your projects using an Excel style solution, Smartsheet is the tool for you. The solution enables users to quickly enter project action items line by line on a spreadsheet. For each project, you can group tasks and assign them to different team members. Overall it’s a straightforward project management solution; the biggest selling point is that the learning curve is kept to a minimum without sacrificing functionality.

Smartsheet integrates with a variety of other tools such as Google Apps, box, Dropbox, DocuSign, and Evernote so you can make the solution fit the way you work. The starter Smartsheet tier starts at $10/month and supports one admin user and unlimited collaborators. This means you can create sheets (projects) and invite as many colleagues, guests, and other parties as needed. It also includes Android and iOS mobile apps so your teams can access their project information at their desk or on the go.

There are plenty of project management suites available for businesses of all sizes and budgets. Assess your needs and then choose a tool that offers the capabilities that will benefit your business.

The post Do More in 2016 With These Project Management Suites appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

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

Internet

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

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

Meetings and Presentation

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

File Storage and Sharing

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

Staying Productive

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

Staying Juiced

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

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

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

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

However, if you listen to the stories of many successful business owners, you’ll quickly learn that money does not make success – and there are many among us who have in fact lived the American Dream. Daymond John – founder of the brand FUBU and investor on ABC’s Shark Tank – is a perfect example.

On January 19, 2016, Daymond John will be releasing his third book – The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage. The book shares details of how Daymond John achieved the American Dream. With a $40 initial budget, a little help from friends, and a lot of determination, Daymond turned FUBU into a $6 billion brand.

Daymond credits his success to his ability to tap into ‘the power of broke.’ When you can activate the power of broke you:

• Focus on your goals and work hard to reach them.
• Find creative solutions to problems.
• Become mindful of all the other resources at your disposal – time, effort, mind power, manpower, and determination to succeed.
• Discover innovative ways to market and connect with your customers.

As the title of the book suggests, Daymond believes his ability to harness the power of broke was his greatest competitive advantage and the reason why he has become so successful.

Now, if you’re thinking that Daymond is the exception to the rule and the American Dream is unachievable for most of us, you’d be wrong. After discussing his own story, The Power of Broke goes on to provide dozens of examples of other entrepreneurs and business owners who have also activated the power of broke to reach success – music executives, clothing designers, culinary masterminds and other top professionals in a range of industries.

Taken together, Daymond John’s The Power of Broke will inspire you as well as teach you how to harness the power of broke to achieve your own goals. It is a reminder to us all that the American Dream is still alive for those who are determined and willing to put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

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