Category Archives: Business Planning

Top 10 Must-Follow Marketing Tips for SAAS Start-UPS in 2021

Posted on by Atreyee Chowdhury
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The SaaS market is promising but it also brings incredible competition. With new software products getting launched every day across every vertical, building a viral product is harder now more than ever.

No matter how challenging and saturated the market may look, it is not impossible to gain the attention of your audience. With the right mix of product-market fit and smart email marketing tactics, you will witness the ball to be at your side. This is what we are exactly going to talk about in this blog post.

We take a deep dive into the 10 marketing tips that can create the foundation of your marketing success for your SaaS business in 2021.

10 Marketing Hacks To Skyrocket Your SAAS Start-up in 2021

No matter what marketing technique you use to acquire customers if your product does not meet the demands of your target audience. In other words, build something that people want.

This makes developing a unique selling proposition the heart of every growth hack technique.

Yes, you heard that right.

If your product is just like your competitors then no one is going to care about what you build. Did we tell you that you can use your audience research data here?

Finding the bridge to connect what your audience want and competitors fail to deliver is going to make you unique. The best part? Your perceived value in front of your audience will grow. But once you have developed your USP, the rigorous part comes in; marketing.

Ideally, you would have to undergo multiple experiments and iteration in your strategy to find out what works and what doesn’t but we make that easier for you so here are some examples of a good marketing plan.

The following 10 tips can streamline your SaaS customer base in no time.

1. Adopt a freemium model

If there is one strategy that opens up your software adoption rate like no other, it is the freemium model.

In an oversaturated market, where your customers are overwhelmed with product choices, a freemium model makes it easier for them to make the final decision. You empower them to make their own decision.

There are multiple strategies to experiment with here. From a 30-day trial window to lifelong freemium access, you can sample tests on real audiences.

2. Word of mouth marketing

There’s a good reason why word of mouth marketing is so popular amongst the SaaS startup community. More than often, SaaS startups include this model to gain their first customers.

It is the most effective, sustainable, yet low-cost strategy to gain loyal customers. But all its sweetness comes in one condition.

You need to deliver a superlative customer experience to your early customers. If your first customers do not find you valuable, there is little chance that they would tell their community about you.

This means to turn your customers into brand evangelists you would not only need to satisfy their expectations but exceed them. Be obsessed with customer delight. No matter what you have to do, be it give discounts, create a hyper-active response team, be there in there to answer their needs.

3. Viral marketing

Creating a viral effect with one marketing technique is often hard yet not impossible.

All you need to do is look closely into your process to identify the growth lever that can make it possible. Infact, there are a few established ones already available in the industry. The best part?

They always give results.

From referral schemes, loyalty programs for existing customers to giveaway contests any of them can give you results. It can not only give you the opportunity to establish new relationships with customers but improve the total value of your existing customers.

4.  Content marketing

There is so much value that content marketing can bring to your SaaS process.

Content is king after all.

But while you get invested in developing the heart of this scalable marketing strategy, do not forget to market your content.

There are so many methods to do so. From microblogging, SEO optimized knowledge base, webinars, infographics, time-sensitive promotions, to lead magnets, you can test all. For promotions, you can consider guest blogging or sponsor the content for an influencer to do so. Another cost-efficient way would be to use user-generated content.

5. Branding

Building a successful SaaS product is almost impossible without building a brand. Unsure why?

Here is the answer.

A successful branding venture can bring multifarious benefits to your SaaS product. From faster adoption rate, strong community, higher retention, optimized marketing costs, and the best part, market capture.

You can basically become synonymous with the category of product you are building. Does that suddenly sound like Google?

There are so many ways to do this. From SEO optimization, press review, authority review, influencer marketing to affiliate marketing. But to ensure performance, you need to keep in mind your unique situations. The budget, constraints, and goals.

6.  Optimize all the time

In business, there is no such thing called maximum sales. Ideally speaking, even if you have reached the saturation point of your total market size, it doesn’t mean your growth potential has reached the roof. You can always work on improving the perceived value of your product in the eyes of your target audience.

But to do so, you would need to optimize your processes which makes it so valuable to realize your startup potential.

There is so much you can do here. From aligning the micro-level factors like landing page elements to macro-level factors like product-market fit there is always room for improvement. The best part? It will help you yield better results without investing more resources in your marketing.

What follows is a significant improvement in the LTV (lifetime value), CAC (customer acquisition cost), and the final ROI (return on investment).

7. Create API integrations

APIs are the best scalable customer acquisition techniques you can integrate into your marketing operations.

It can not only open doors to new audiences but reinforce the foundations of strong partnerships with your collaborators. The best part? You automatically gain the position of authority in the market.

But here’s a word of caution.

Partnerships can make or break your brand’s reputation. While the right partner can fast pace your growth by years, the wrong choice can deter your speed by many years. An effective way to think about it is to ask a vital question. Whether your collaborating brand is an extension of your product’s value? If yes, then it is often the right choice.

8.  Paid marketing

Although there is no substitute for what you can accomplish with organic marketing in time, only depending upon organic growth will slow down your SaaS startup significantly. This makes paid marketing and campaigns incredibly vital. But here’s a thing.

Before you jump into paid marketing, ensure you have a complete strategy laid out. With the increasing expense of paid ads, chances are you will invest significant resources with little to no returns.

There are so many techniques to do this right. Use FOMO (fear of missing out), time-sensitive offers. Campaigns that are contextual and personalized on the basis of audience profiles and channels of distribution tend to perform better. But the best piece of advice is to develop a mindset of testing and optimizing.

The more you are open to A/B tests and campaign optimization, the better your long-term results will be. Chances are you can even witness exponential growth.

9.  Invest in building trust and authority

Trust is one of the most crucial elements for your SaaS product to succeed. No matter how promising your product may appear, if your target audience does not trust your brand, they will not engage with your brand.

This puts authority building as one of the top priorities for your marketing team.

The best part is there are many cost-effective ways to do so.

Use social proof like customer testimonials and peer reviews to do so. Platforms like G2, Quora, and ProductHunt are great ways to kickstart this. You can later integrate the best reviews of your clients on your website too. But this is not all.

You need to make sure the payment gateway is safe and secured. Using end-to-end encryptions and third-party vendors like Paypal is a good strategy to do so.

10. Collaborate with experts

Collaborations and partnerships are undoubtedly one of the most sustainable strategies for building a robust SaaS business. But if you thought that your partnerships are limited to indirect competitors, influencers, and authorities, then think again.

There is so much value that a domain expert can bring to your SaaS startup.

A SaaS growth marketer brings their domain expertise. Some of the best SaaS marketing agencies can optimize your growth levers to unleash the true potential of your product. From reducing marketing costs, finding new sales opportunities to improving customer acquisition and retention, there is so much a specialist can do.

They can prove to be your biggest asset when it comes to growth in the long term.

Conclusion

Building a successful SaaS product is hard and going to be even harder in the future.

But that doesn’t mean there is no room for winning. All you need to do is shift your mindset about the development process. Think of disrupting the existing process even in a small way possible.

Keep on reiterating and evolving your product-building methodologies and even your product if required.

This dynamic landscape makes the requirement of a nimble marketing plan incredibly important. Sure, the above tips are to give the foundational speed for today. But to sustain that growth you need to optimize the process and make changes from time to time.

Only then can you see true success with your SaaS startup.

Author bio

Atreyee Chowdhury works full-time as an Instructional Designer and is passionate about writing. She has helped many small and medium-scale businesses achieve their content marketing goals with her carefully crafted and compelling content. She lives in Bangalore, India with her husband and parents. She loves to read, experiment with different cuisines, travel, and explore the latest content marketing and L&D trends in her free time. You can reach her on Linkedin or write to her at atreyee.c@gmail.com for any content writing/marketing requirements.

What is Product Liability Insurance? 4 Things You Need To Know

Posted on by Jackson Thomas
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Large business manufacturers produce goods at a massive scale every day, and there are always products that will have defects that cause malfunctions and a decrease in quality. Because of this, production lines always include a quality testing stage in the whole process to ensure that all products are tested and Inspected for any type of defects. After a product passes quality control, it can now be packaged and shipped to outlet stores and distributors. Still, some products get damaged during transport, and these can still make it to the store shelves and the consumers. When consumers purchase a defective product while being unaware of its condition, it may cause serious harm to the user if an accident occurs due to the malfunction of the product. These situations usually lead to lawsuits being filed against the company, and the consumers may sue them for the damages caused by their products. Lawsuits regarding defective products and damages to customers usually lead to million-dollar lawsuits that can greatly affect the company’s sales and reputation, leading them towards bankruptcy. To avoid such situations, manufacturing companies can avail product liability insurance that can protect them from lawsuits and damages to their company’s name and sales. The next part of this article will cover the basic knowledge that one must know regarding product liability insurance.

Several phone manufacturers also avail of product liability insurance packages.

1. What is product liability insurance?

Product liability insurance is a type of insurance package that companies and manufacturers can avail to protect their companies from lawsuits and claims of personal injury or property damages from their customers. Companies take time to set up product liability insurance since this can help them cover the legal costs brought by lawsuits. The insurance package can also cover costs of medical damages and property damage. Insurance companies offer different insurance packages depending on their client’s business scale, which ranges from small business owners to large conglomerates.

2. How does product liability insurance work?

Whenever a malfunction occurs on a product purchased by a customer, the product liability insurance package of the company will help pay for the damages done by the malfunction of the product. An example of this occurrence can be observed on a Samsung Note 7 lawsuit that happened on a flight of Jet Airways.

In October 2017, a female passager was boarded on a flight to India on Jet Airways when suddenly, her phone burst in flames while stored in her handbag. The passenger observed smoke coming out of her handbag approximately 15 minutes after boarding the flight. A flight attendant immediately responded to the situation and tried to use a fire extinguisher on the device, but the fire extinguisher failed to operate. The attendant then submerged the device in a tray full of water to prevent any possibility of fire or explosion. Fortunately, the device stopped smoking, and nobody was harmed during the incident. In the aftermath, the female passenger was furious over the lack of preparation of the airline’s safety precautions and was planning on filing a complaint against the company as well as the phone’s manufacturer.

In this incident, the phone company was expected to pay for the damages caused by their product. This was not the first time that Samsung has encountered smartphone problems as they had to recall some of their products in the past year. The company did not have product liability insurance, and they also had to recall the note 7 series products in the previous year due to other claims of malfunction and exploding batteries, so they were expecting a loss of over $17 billion in total revenue. There are a number of other companies that have received lawsuits or even class action lawsuits when a large number of people goes through a similar issue with a product and due to the large number of people the combines settlement is usually high and sometimes proof is not required by some of the plaintiff and plaintiff can claim there share without the proof of purchase and can get compensated from such no proof class action lawsuits.

Had they availed a product liability insurance for this product, they could have lessened their losses significantly. They could have avoided a product liability lawsuit that could affect their resources and brand reputation.

3. How much is product liability insurance needed?

To decide how much a product liability insurance package will cover, the scale of the business must be considered. A large-scale business will typically produce a thousand units of products in a single day, which means there is a larger possibility of occurrence of defective products. A larger yield will mean more defective products, so the insurance must cover the majority of the price of production to avoid major losses in case of a recall or a lawsuit. Smaller business owners will only need to avail a basic package for product liability insurance since their production rate is less than that of large-scale companies.

Insurance can help secure a business against liabilities.

4. What is the difference between general liability insurance and product liability insurance?

General liability insurance is a type of insurance purchased by businesses to protect their companies from all types of claims and lawsuits that may affect their sales and profits in any way. This type of insurance covers all types of services provided by a company. The difference between general liability and product liability is the range of the compensation that the insurance will provide. General liability insurance can cover all the services provided by a company, which includes consulting, estimates, and customer service. In contrast, product liability insurance only covers the products sold by the company to its customers.

3 Steps Landlords Can Take to Protect Themselves from Lawsuits

Posted on by Alex Sanders
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Landlords need to protect themselves against lawsuits to a high degree, perhaps more than any other business owner. Unlike other industries, courts tend to favor tenants, especially in difficult situations. Now that the world is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, courts are especially sympathetic toward tenants facing eviction, even when it’s clearly the tenant’s fault.

Tenants don’t just sue their landlords over evictions. The truth is, you never know what will drive a tenant to file a suit, whether its because of real maintenance issues in their dwelling or COVID-19 fraud. Sometimes tenants file lawsuits that don’t make sense, but you still have to take time out of your day to show up in court.

Lawsuits are costly and time-consuming, so you need to protect yourself if you want to avoid the inconvenience of litigation. Here’s a good starting point:

1. Require Your Renters To Carry Renters Insurance

 To get your mortgage, you probably had to show proof of homeowners insurance, if not additional types of insurance. Tenants renting the property should have their own type of insurance designed to cover losses and damage to their personal property. It’s called renters insurance and if you want to protect yourself from lawsuits, you need to require tenants to hold a policy.

Renters insurance protects tenants’ personal property when it’s damaged by things like natural disasters, burglaries, and random accidents. For example, if the sewer backs up into the house and the flood destroys a tenant’s musical instruments, they can file a claim to recover the cash value of their instruments.

Bay State landlord always look for Massachusetts flood insurance policies that will protect their finances and help them quickly restore their property. Such coverage may also include liability insurance, which protects the tenant if someone gets injured while in their dwelling.

Renters insurance will cover relocation expenses

Relocation is another expense renters insurance covers. If your property becomes unlivable, a tenant with renters insurance can get a hotel covered until you fix the problem. If the problem can’t be fixed, renters insurance will pay for the tenant’s moving expenses. Some policies will even pay the additional cost of increased living expenses if their new rent is higher.

In some states, landlords are required to pay for a tenant’s accommodations if their main rental becomes uninhabitable. Tenants can sue if their landlord refuses to provide alternative housing.

If you don’t want to risk having to pay for your tenants’ hotel stay while you fix a serious plumbing issue, require your tenants to carry renters insurance.

2. Create a Strong Lease With an Attorney

Your lease is only as strong as your weakest clause. If you forget to include a legally required clause, your lease could end up being no better than swiss cheese in court.

The only way to create an iron-clad lease is to consult with an attorney. While you can find lease templates online allegedly created by lawyers, templates are too generic to rely on for the basis of a tenancy agreement.

For example, unlawfully withholding a security deposit is one of the top reasons tenants sue their landlords. You might think you’re fine if you aren’t withholding your tenant’s deposit. However, a lease containing illegal security deposit terms can also justify a lawsuit.

Lease mistakes often have far-reaching consequences. Creating your own lease makes you susceptible to losing lawsuits that you would otherwise win if your lease were designed by an attorney.

3. Be Clear and Direct to a Fault

Some people feel threatened by direct communication, but you can’t be vague or ambiguous with your tenants. For example, if your tenant misunderstands something you’ve said, they might act on that misunderstanding in a way that violates the lease. If you try to evict them, they might sue you – and win.

Once you get to court, it will be your word against theirs. Did you really give your tenant permission to install a zipline in the ceiling? If the judge thinks you did, you won’t easily change their mind. Verbal agreements are considered legally binding agreements.

Make every effort to be clear and concise with your tenants in all of your communications. Try to avoid text messaging and only use email for electronic correspondence. Make sure every phone call is accompanied by a follow-up email to provide a permanent record of the points discussed. Leave no room for unnecessary confusion.

Being a Landlord Is Risky

Being a landlord is a risky business. Although, owning rental property is appealing because it’s one of the best ways to amass wealth over a long period of time.

Tenants have rights, as they should, but often, those rights are abused and taken advantage of in the legal system. No matter how great your tenants are, most are just one upset away from filing a lawsuit. While you can’t prevent all lawsuits, you can mitigate the potential for lawsuits arising from common misunderstandings.

What is Mobile DSP and Why Do You Need It for Your Programmatic Advertising?

Posted on by Sherry Hunter
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If you work in the marketing industry, you’ve probably heard about mobile demand-side platforms or DSPs. However, if you don’t have a deep understanding of how this tool works and why you may need it for advertising, keep reading the article!

A DSP is used by marketing agencies and brands to manage ad and data exchange accounts as well as different supply-side platforms through one interface. This software is a great solution to quickly buy mobile and tablet impressions at auctions. You can do it in real time through private marketplaces or direct deals. Purchasing mobile advertising space becomes much easier for media buyers since they can make bids in bulk at lower prices. But this is not the only benefit of a DSP! Check the list of demand-side platform advantages and features below.

Advantages of advertising with a DSP

In-app tracking dsp mobile app

Since apps collect first-party data, they provide advertisers with lots of important parameters, such as user gender, age and geo-location. This data helps marketing experts identify right user segments and find the best-performing audience  Eventually, ads reach potential customers faster and drive better results.

Precise targeting

In contrast to a web environment that may become entirely anonymous in the near future, mobile IDs are really helpful in tracking user performance in the long run. Device IDs provide marketers with more accurate information on user engagement. Specialists can see the exact number of ad clicks and views in the app. This is extremely beneficial for advertising campaigns. Thanks to accurate targeting, your conversions can significantly grow with a DSP.

Engagement boost

As an advertising expert, you must realize that apps allow for highly engaging  and less disturbing ad formats. Users are less likely to be irritated by advertising because it appears during the pauses in their activity. Since they don’t come across boring banners, they may have a good and long-lasting impression from your creatives. Moreover, they may even like your ad if it provides some in-app bonuses for viewing.

High CTRs

Click through Rate is called CTR. The statistics gathered by popular brands shows that in-app ads drive higher CTRs than web ads. The Marketing Dive reported that the average CTR for apps is 0.58%, while for web it equals only 0.23%.

The difference is dramatic, isn’t it? Additionally, Appssavvy reported that a DSP mobile app performs nearly 11 times better than traditional banners. As you see, this type of advertising is simply more effective.

No ad blocking

Unfortunately, in-browser blockers disrupt the effectiveness of web advertisement.  Since the majority of people use blocking software, most Internet users are unreachable for your campaigns.  But luckily, in-app environment doesn’t  enable doing this. Hence, you can benefit from accessing various segments, including previously untapped groups.

Higher revenues

Since recently, there has been a dramatic switch from browsers to mobile apps. The eMarketer states that most people spend 90% of their time on smartphone apps, while the rest is taken by web. So no matter what business you have, you should take into account this behavioral change and make appropriate decisions. Consider the example of Facebook that increased its revenues from zero to over 40% of total earnings with the help of mobile apps.

Choosing a decent DSP

To pick the right demand-side platform, you should have a close look at the features listed below.

Software architecture

A good DSP must work well with different apps, browsers, operating systems and devices. As you might understand, huge amounts of data from numerous sources require a very powerful DSP technology. Therefore, you have to make sure that the platform you are going to use is capable of accommodating massive amounts of data and executing a big number of operations at the same time.  A DSP technology must be advanced enough to reflect actual information in real time.

Targeting algorithms

As mentioned above, reaching the right market segments with your ads is crucial for success. Because of that, you should opt for a DSP that has the following targeting capabilities: geolocation, mobile device type, OS, user behavior, context and demographics. If all of these categories are offered by your vendor, then it can be a great choice.

Ad formats

To ensure high engagement rates, you should test different types of ads. Your DSP must support a wide range of ad formats, including videos, rich media and dynamic apps. By analyzing what works best for your potential customers, you can increase your business revenues. Also, make sure that creatives you are using allow for interaction, such as  swiping, touching and expanding.

Safety

Before purchasing a DSP, ask a vendor about the security measures they take. To avoid troubles, your DSP  brand must be safe. That means that the software must have in-built multi-layered anti-fraud system. There also must be mechanisms that detect fake clicks and track the number of real user impressions.

Performance reports

Successful advertising campaign is impossible with tracking its performance. Reports can provide you with a better understanding of how to get more customers from your ads. So you should opt for a DSP that provides frequent reports on your statistics. Having an updated information gives you knowledge about different aspects of your advertising campaign so you can optimize it and maximize your ROI.

Final thoughts

The main value of DSPs is that they allow advertisers to make multiple bids in real time and manage lots of ads from a wide range of publishers almost effortlessly. It ensures great transparency and makes ad tracking and optimization much easier. Hopefully, this article helped you better understand what a demand-side platform is and whether you need it for your marketing campaign.

8 Tips for Onboarding New Tenants

Posted on by Alex Sanders
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As a real estate investor, it’s important to get new tenants into your property as soon as possible, so you can start making money. But it’s also important to adequately prepare your tenants for their rental.

The onboarding process is a vital step in improving tenant retention and ensuring the handover of keys goes smoothly – and there are several strategies you can use to make it even smoother.

Why Onboarding Is So Important

Onboarding is important for several reasons:

• First impressions

It’s hard to overstate the importance of first impressions. A first impression often dictates how a person feels about another individual or a situation for months, or even years to come. If you start things on the right foot, your tenant will see you – and your property – in a much more favorable light.

• Relationship building

This is also your first opportunity to build the landlord-tenant relationship. You can talk about the property, get to know each other, and set the tone for all your interactions to come.

• Setting expectations

During your initial interactions, you’ll get a chance to set expectations with your tenants. What are the rules and standards for living here? You can look your tenants in the eyes and make sure they fully understand.

Collectively, these effects have a strong influence on your tenant’s disposition, their friendliness, their potential to accommodate your requests, and even their retention.

In other words, a good onboarding process will keep your tenants around longer and minimize stress and headaches for you down the road.

Tips for Onboarding New Tenants

So what can you do to make onboarding new tenants go smoother?

1. Prioritize healthy communication

Good communication is vital when onboarding new tenants. It’s important to articulate your thoughts as clearly and directly as possible and to allow your tenants the chance to speak their mind as well. Remain as polite as you can, be transparent when answering questions, and provide extra details upon request. Any bad communication experience during the onboarding phase is going to set a bad tone for the future of the relationship.

2. Create and keep a checklist

Before going through the onboarding steps, take the time to create a full checklist. Write down everything you want to cover during onboarding and in the days that follow; this will make sure you don’t forget anything. Then, keep this checklist on hand for all your future onboarding sessions to ensure consistency.

3. Explain all your rules and expectations

Take your time explaining all the rules and expectations you have for living at this property, even if they’re spelled out in the lease agreement. Having a conversation will ensure they truly understand.

4. Get all paperwork signed (and make copies)

Obviously, you’ll need to spend some time going over the paperwork and signing it. Make sure you make multiple copies of all these important documents and give your tenants copies they can keep.

5. Get questions, comments, and concerns from your tenant

Onboarding shouldn’t be a one-directional exchange. Instead, it should be a two-way dialogue. Make sure your tenant feels comfortable opening up and ask them if they have any questions, comments, or concerns. If they do, try to address them as best you can.

6. Exchange contact information

Next, exchange contact information. You probably already have your tenant’s primary contact information on file, but this is your chance to get multiple backup forms of communication. In-kind, you should also provide your tenant with multiple ways to contact you – which may be especially important in an emergency situation.

7. Store information properly

Create a file for this tenant and store all your paperwork there. It’s important to stay organized as a landlord for multiple reasons – and onboarding is your chance to get things started on the right foot.

8. Follow up

Finally, make it a point to follow up with your tenant after a few days. Ask if they’re settling in okay and if they’ve had any issues with the property. Verify their understanding of the rules and expectations and ask if they have any follow-up questions. It shows you care about their wellbeing and gives you an opportunity for follow-up discussion if necessary.

Do note that every tenant will be different, so you may need to vary your approach slightly. For example, some tenants are mostly solitary and desire privacy, so you’ll want to respect their preferences. But others are more chatty and outgoing – and they might like to have more conversation before you part ways.

In any case, if you do your best to set expectations, communicate well, and make your tenants feel comfortable, you’re going to be rewarded. Just make sure you continue treating your tenants well consistently throughout their stay at your property.

How to Start Your Own Social Media Marketing Agency

Posted on by Emma Yulini
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Thinking about starting your own social media marketing agency but don’t know where to start? 

You’ve come to the right place. 

While social media marketing is certainly a lucrative industry to work in, the competition is also tight. It’s crucial to plan your business carefully and have the right strategy so you can win more clients and grow your business. 

In this guide, we will discuss all the necessary steps to starting a successful social media marketing agency, and let us begin right away. 

1. Choose a Specialty as a Social Media Marketing Agency

A social media marketing agency is actually a pretty broad term, and you can actually offer many different services to different types of clients. 

In general, you can choose to be either a specialist or generalist agency.

A specialist agency offers specialty services in one industry or sector. For example, you can choose only to offer services to fashion businesses or sports businesses. Or, you can choose to specialize in B2B operations. 

However, you can also be a generalist aiming to serve all kinds of clients. 

Both types have their own pros and cons, but if you are just starting out, it’s typically best to start out as a specialist and focus on specific types of clients first. This can help in hiring, so you can hire people that specialize in the services you’d like to provide. 

However, being a specialist might mean it’s going to be harder to attract your first few clients, so you’ll need to focus more on marketing your business. 

2. Developing a Pricing Strategy

How should you price your social media marketing service? There are many different factors that might affect the answer. You should generally consider who your target audience is, your skill/experience level, your unique value proposition (UVP), and your overhead costs when defining your price. 

Some overhead costs to consider: 

  • Labor costs
  • Taxes
  • Business licenses/permits
  • Office expenses
  • Software investments
  • Professional/legal services

A good approach is to perform a competitive analysis and check how much your competitors are charging their services. You can always opt to charge cheaper than them in order to attract more clients, but if you are confident about delivering more value, it’s okay to charge more. 

3. Establish Your Business

Establish your business as a legal entity. 

This is often the most frustrating part of starting a business but is necessary. 

You should: 

  • Register your business. If you are going to start the business on your own, you can establish a sole proprietorship. However, we’d recommend establishing your business as an LLC or corporation so you’ll be more protected in the event of legal disputes, debts, and other issues
  • Set up a business bank account(s) to keep a separate fund for your agency and to start receiving payments
  • Find a legal help to help you in the legal aspects of the business
  • Depending on your location, you might need to get specific licenses, certifications, and insurance policies before you can start the business. Check with your local trade associations for your local regulations. 

If necessary, you can get help from a business consultant or a lawyer to make sure your business is compliant with the legal requirements in your area. 

4. Branding and Marketing: Winning Your Clients

The toughest challenge of starting a social media marketing business is landing your first client, but there are effective ways you can try to establish your credibility and attract more clients: 

  • Have a professional website: build a credible, functional website that showcases your credibility and professionalism. Publish relevant, high-quality content on your social media, and add relevant client testimonials to your website. 
  • Social media presence: as a social media marketing agency, it would only make sense that you have at least a decent social media presence. You don’t need to have millions of followers, but make sure you are using social media best practices in all your profiles. Demonstrate that you know what you are doing in the social media space. 
  • Build relationships: build relationships with other brands and relevant influencers. Network at relevant events, and make guest appearances on other blogs, podcasts, webinars, and other opportunities. Actively engage brands and influencers you’d love to work with. 

Engage with a HubSpot Solutions Partner program-eligible digital marketing firm. A HubSpot partner firm will have marketing teams that are constantly learning the newest methods for analyzing data.

5. Improving Your Productivity

The more productive and efficient your social media marketing agency is, the more clients you can work with, and the more revenue you’ll generate. 

A crucial aspect of growing your social media marketing agency is finding the right balance between executing existing clients’ projects and pitch your agency to new clients. As you can see, this can be very challenging in the long run. 

Here are a few tips on how: 

  • Create a workflow that works best for you. This is very important and might need trials and errors before you’ll get it right. 
  • Invest in the right technology. You’ll need, at the very least, social media analytics and management tools (like Buffer, Hootsuite), SEO tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs, Content analytics tools like Buzzsumo, and agency management software and tools like Function Point to maximize your productivity. You’ll also need a complete office suite (Microsoft 365 or Google Suite) and a digital asset management solution like Dropbox. 
  • Content planning. It’s crucial to plan your content in advance so you can batch and schedule your tasks to maximize efficiency. This also allows us to delegate the right tasks to the right people. 
  • Automation: implement automation whenever possible. Tools like Hootsuite, for example, allows us to schedule the posts to minimize manual labor. 
  • Outsource: If possible, outsource some of the more repetitive and redundant tasks to third-party vendors, provided it’s a cost-effective choice. 

Closing Thoughts

Starting a social media marketing agency is certainly not an easy task, but in the end, your hard work will be worth it once you’ll get a steady stream of clients. 

The key here is to really understand your client’s needs and problems and be a viable solution for them. Keep a mindset that you’ll grow by helping your clients grow in social media marketing results. 

How to Set Up an Efficient Business Office

Posted on by Bernadine Racoma
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To have an efficient business office is the key to being productive. There are probably many things that may come to your mind when setting up a business office – the location, the equipment needed, and how comfortable you will be in the workplace. Equipping your office will require you to buy different items.

Here are some of the things you need if you wish to set up an efficient business office.

The computer

It’s impossible to complete the work without a computer. If you wish to have an efficient office, make sure that you invest in high-performing computers that have a longer lifespan. Do some research and choose the computers that would fit your specific needs. If some of your employees are doing fieldwork or their task would require them to be out of the office from time to time, consider buying a laptop for them. Remember, always go for quality over price when purchasing computers.

A projector

A projector is also an important thing that you should have in your office. It can help you discuss and present things clearly during business meetings. In addition, having a projector on ceiling is an excellent idea because this can help you get the best brightness possible from the unit. Another advantage of this is that it keeps the projector out of the way, and everyone can freely walk without blocking the light from the projector.

Fast and reliable internet access

A reliable and high-speed internet connection is now essential in every office. There will be a possibility to decrease productivity inside your office if your internet is slow and unreliable. A fast internet connection can make your employees work efficiently and help them finish their tasks on time. The faster the speed of your connection, the more productive your team will be.

A multipurpose printer

Another piece of equipment that you should have in your office is a printer. Whether you choose to go paperless or not, you must have a printer installed in your office. Good thing, there are now printers that offer other features like a scanner and a photocopy machine at the same time. So you can easily print or get a copy of an important file if you have a multipurpose machine inside the office.

Filing cabinets

The best way to make your business office efficient is to keep it clean and clutter-free. So be sure to have enough, or should we say plenty, of filing cabinets in your office to keep everything intact. It’s where you can keep your essential documents without making the workplace look messy.

Creating an efficient workplace can be a daunting task, but it’s the best thing to do if you wish to increase employee efficiency. When your team members have everything they need, they can finish whatever task you give them faster. However, an efficient office does not only rely on how good the equipment your employees use. It’s about how happy they are at what they’re doing and how well you treat them. Always prioritize work-life balance if you want them to stay efficient and productive.

5 Benefits of Using Bitcoin for Your Small Business Operations

Posted on by Maria Francesca
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The modern business sector is increasingly adopting cryptocurrencies in recent years though they have been around for a while. Industry giants including Dell and Microsoft have accepted it, why not your small business? There is so much to gain from bitcoin, and it will keep your business ahead of your competitors. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of using digital currency for your small business operations.

Establishes new revenue streams

Cryptocurrencies provide a great way to supplement your cash flow over the long term. There are numerous ways you can integrate cryptos into your business and benefit from what it has to offer. Growing your business with a crypto business account will boost innovation, expand its scope and give your business a new direction.

Improves brand awareness and visibility

Most business sectors are is overly saturated. To stand out from the rest you need to improve visibility and brand awareness. Consumers have a thing for businesses that take their marketing to a whole new level. Being able to advertise that you support cryptocurrency transactions can attract new attention to your business. It gives you a cutting edge over your competitors. By adopting bitcoin, you will improve your business innovation which will attract more traffic to your business resulting in more profits. Adapting to new solutions is one of the best ways to be innovative for your business.

Cheaper and faster transactions

Merchant transaction fees account for 2 or 3% of your cash flow income which is draining your small business cash. This new form of payment has zero fees and thus you will benefit from more revenue. There are no verifications for each transaction which might take days, and this tends to hold income, thus cryptos are way much faster than you could ever imagine. Blockchain is the technology that checks every regulation, and it ensures quick processing of transactions which might take a matter of few seconds.

Facilitate your customers’ safety. Customer safety is a service that the majority of customers highly seek since it has their best interest. When you ensure anonymity for your customers in a world where they are highly scrutinized you are sure that they will be loyal to your business. Digital consumers are tired of governments and companies tracking their moves and this explains why they are increasingly using buy cryptocurrencies to conduct their transactions.

No borders

Cryptos attracts a booming customer demographic of investors, innovators, miners, and traders who are rooting for cryptos to be adopted by businesses. They are a global currency that is not restricted by a company or government, and they ignore border restrictions. Businesses that adopt cryptos experience an increase in profits due to customer retention and acquisition. By accepting cryptos in your payment processes you will be able to materialize on a new demographic and build a long-term stream of revenue.

An investment opportunity

Similar to other currencies digital currencies fluctuate in value though they are less stable than gold or cash. This fluctuation can be a large upside by looking at digital currency as an investment. When your business accepts digital currency, you can wait and cash them in which is investing in their value increase. Digital currency possesses so much potential and it is a matter of time for the world to experience its growth.

Final thoughts

The future of modern businesses is in blockchain technology and digital currencies, and early investors will benefit from their competitors. What are you waiting for? Buy Bitcoin with Credit Card to join the future and enjoy the numerous benefits that online businesses have to offer.

Useful Asset Management Tools and Software for The Energy Sector

Posted on by John Guevara
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In this digital era, there is a high need for businesses to manage and track their assets. With everything technology has brought about, tracking and managing assets have become a bit complicated. Furthermore, there is high insecurity of data with the employee turnover. There is a lot that a company can cost from mismanaged and misplaced assets. Companies tend to spend more than they need without proper tracking of their assets. They need to have an accurate picture of their assets and where they are located. This is very crucial for the energy sector that provides utilities such as water, electricity, and gas to businesses and households. This sector faces a lot of challenges in asset management and areas like equipment maintenance.

Resolving Challenges in Energy Sector with Asset Management

The energy sector relies on heavy usage of assets and asset management tools have become important. Companies like Neara provide asset management software for a power line. You can also get the best power line design for pole compliance and efficiency. Assets management tools such as CMMS and AMS provide many benefits to organizations. Some of the benefits reaped from these tools include;

  • Creation of an active preventive maintenance program
  • Real-time tracking of assets and their performance
  • Generating RIO for individual assets
  • Managing inventories accurately
  • Tracking the life cycle of assets
  • GPS Tracking the location of assets
  • Scheduling and prioritizing work orders

The main benefit of using asset management tools in the energy sector is to collect data in real-time with a centralized system. When this data is accessible to managers, technicians, and workers, it speeds up operations and provides an overall overview of all assets that still hold value. IoT tools are best for collecting real-time performance details of an asset. IoT devices can be used to:

  • Assess the condition of an asset
  • Assess the usage history of an asset
  • Check for the latest compliance and permit history
  • Check the repair and maintenance history

CMM, AMS, and IoT devices are the best for asset management. With the data collected from these, it is easy to work on important assets like towers and transmitters. The utility sector has technicians employed specifically for repairing and maintaining aging infrastructure to minimize the chances of outage or failure. That means that these experts must have accurate data for active response. Accurate data provides more visibility and a connection between the technicians in the field and the workers in the office.

Real-time collection of data using assent management software helps in the proper calculation of asset RIO. A company in the energy sector can get a rough idea of the value of its assets. Calculating asset RIO is done by calculating the cost of maintenance and operation. Through this calculation, it becomes easy to decide if the equipment or asset will be worth replacing or throwing away at the end of its life cycle.

IoT devices can be used to minimize the costs of maintenance and avoid failure. IoT makes it easy for companies to collect accurate data on the performance of assets. Devices like trackers, sensors, and barcodes interact and pass the information to the central management system where the data is stored. Asset management tools can help companies in the energy sector in different ways as follows.

  • Reducing risks and safety issues of their assets
  • Approaching maintenance proactively
  • Reducing impact on the environment
  • Improving the use of renewable sources of energy such as solar systems, and wind and hydronic turbines

Conclusion

These are important asset management tools and software suitable for the energy sector. When finding one, you need to identify the gaps in your assent management and maintenance. You can also compare software based on the company’s needs for asset tracking and management.

World Economic Forum

Posted on by Richard Cole
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The World Economic Forum (WFE) is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum referred to the foremost political, business, social, and different leaders of society to shape global, local, and industry plans. It was set up in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is settled in Geneva, Switzerland. It is autonomous, unbiased, and not associated with any external interests. The forum aspires to display entrepreneurship in the global public interest while maintaining the best governance expectations. Having such an assembly encourages communications, clarity, and trust, which is the core of all businesses. If you aim to start a new business in the Netherlands, the World economic forum will become your support.

Read further: Starting a business in The Netherlands

Their activities are molded by a fascinating institutional culture established on the partnership system, which attests that an organization is responsible for all the layers of society. This establishment carefully mixes and balances the best of many organizations, from the public and private sectors, international organizations, and educational foundations.

The forum members believe that progress occurs by blending people from different backgrounds who desire improvements. . Read more…

Understanding the World Economic Forum (WEF) 

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) group includes a cross-segment of the global economy-experts from the private and public sectors. It involves the most prominent CEOs, negotiators, business tycoons, media influencers, government authorities, engineers, and association representatives worldwide.

Established in 1971 in Geneva, the WEF is dependent on stakeholder theory. The stakeholder theory implies that while a private area substance’s job is to build profits for its investors, it is firm owners upon the organization to see the rest of society as having an ‘opinion’ in its activities. Business partners, clients that the organization serves, and the nearby and global-local area are considered deciding factors while establishing new businesses.

Conference

Resided in Switzerland, the WEF foundation is even active in New York, Beijing, Tokyo, San Francisco, and India (Mumbai). The latest yearly gathering in Davos was held virtually, global community in January 2021, with an annual in-person conference anticipated August 2021 in Singapore under “The Great Reset.” The significant issues of this meet were how big data and data science would influence supply chains? To know more, click here on Intercompany Solutions Company Blog.

World Economic Forum (WEF) Activities 

The WEF is supported by its participation, which unites newcomers from different organizations with approximately $5 billion in yearly turnover, just as people from varying backgrounds, including VIPs, engineers, producers, researchers, and interested people willing to provide annual commitments and meeting charges to attend. 5 Regional gatherings are held in farming-oriented countries like Africa, East Asia, and Latin America, yet the yearly gathering in Davos, Switzerland, is the central gathering occasion for all participants.

Conclusion

WEF conferences effectively introduce new issues, patterns, and companies, individuals, and the public for conversation. And also, they are trusted to assist with developing corporate and public area strategies for future dynamics. The WEF’s purpose is to improve the position of the world economy by engaging business, political, and industry agendas with the help of other leaders of society.

5 Ways to Create a Patient-Friendly Healthcare Website

Posted on by Amy Fischer
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Having a website is one thing, but making sure that it is efficient is different. In this article, we will talk about making a website patient-friendly. Most parts of healthcare web design are actually really similar in building other websites. Here is a guide that will help you make sure that you are utilizing your website to its maximum potential. The guide is a good way to step up good web design. So if you want to improve your optometry website design by making it efficient you came to the right place.

1. Intuitive and Easy to use.

It shouldn’t feel confusing to use your website. You want patients who view your website to navigate through the pages easily. This is so that they can find the information they need with no hassle. Having a simple layout and functionality also promotes accessibility and inclusivity. You want anyone and everyone to be able to use your website. You can do that here with a website builder like Boxmode.

2. Clear and Complete Information

This is one of the main reasons why businesses and companies have websites, to put out important information publicly. You want your existing patients and/or potential patients to have access to frequently asked questions and information they might want to know. According to a study, patients then go to practices that they know about. So having important info online helps them trust you.

Anyone can make a website these days with the help of website builders software and programs but what does it take to make a good website that actually helps those who are targeted to use it? Some basic information that you may want on your site are the following:

Contact numbers and email

This is in case they have additional questions about your practice or services.

Location of the clinic

For a lot of people location is an important factor. Of course most people tend to choose clinics that aren’t far from their home so that they can go to it easily.

The services that you offer

This is for customers to know if you can work on the problem that they have.

Your background

This will help establish your credibility by discussing your expertise and specialty in your field.

3. Social Media Icons

Make a way to allow your social media accounts to be seen on your website. Make sure that there are clickable icons so that your patients can easily go to your social media accounts. Having a website is actually part of marketing your practice. So utilize it in that way too. But mainly letting your patients follow your social media accounts is to maintain an online relationship with them. You can communicate with them in that way too.

4. Have a Call to Action

If a person visits your website most of the time it’s because they have interest in your service or practice. So allow them to act on that interest. Allow booking appointments on your website etc.

5. Make sure your website is HIPAA Compliant

Make sure your web designer knows about HIPAA in order to ensure HIPAA compliance.

How Students can Start their Own Business

Posted on by Mila Evans
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The student years are rightfully considered one of the brightest. It is a time when you make valuable acquaintances, acquire a wide variety of skills and the energy and creativity that keep you going.

All of these characteristics perfectly describe not only being a student, but also a startup that you can get involved in regardless of your age. The real combo is to develop your business idea while still at university because nowadays students can both learn and work on their own projects and implement them in reality. Of course, it is not easy, but students are aware of a lot of the tips in this case, and at any time they can turn to the paper writing help. In our article, we will talk about all the important points of turning their idea into the beginning of your own business.

Possible mistakes at the start

Sometimes the desire to quickly implement your incredible plan leads to indiscretion. In such long-term projects as the development of your business, rushing is not allowed.

What mistakes can be made at the start of unawareness?

Lack of idea

You need a clear idea of what you plan to do, not just a burning desire to be an entrepreneur.

Lack of analysis of the market

Before the start of an active business is worth seriously considering an analysis of the market and the chosen niche. This way you will save yourself from possibly reinventing the wheel or investing in irrelevant services or products.

Be sure to analyze both the unique selling propositions of your future competitors and your target audience. It is better to understand in advance what it will expect from you. The better you understand your audience, your potential customer, and buyer, the more accurate your product will be in meeting their needs.

Lack of a business plan

A business plan is necessary when you are going to involve outside people as well – investors, sponsors, etc. They need to show that you have a plan of action, that you are clear about the risks and future costs, and that you can deal with them effectively.

Moreover, a business plan starts working for you already when you just have it: this way you show that the idea you are proposing is interesting at least to its creator, who took the time to develop and present a business plan. Do not neglect this fact, which will help to create a positive impression at the first negotiations.

However, it is also worth preparing a business plan if you are going to implement the whole project alone. So you will write down the stages of the idea, think through the risks and solutions, assess the required investments, and analyze the competitors’ offers. Such preparatory work will not be useless, believe us.

Laziness

This wild, unbridled beast often attacks young entrepreneurs. But only the one who overcomes it will succeed in business – and will win time after time, day after day. So, when you find yourself struggling with laziness and procrastination, go straight to https://eduboard.com/ to find out how you can get professional help and never miss a deadline.

Business plan

In the previous section on the mistakes of starting a business, it is no coincidence that so much attention was paid to the business plan.

The structure of a business plan includes:

  • title page;
  • executive summary;
  • A description of the product/service;
  • market analysis;
  • production plan and cost calculation;
  • promotion plan;
  • organizational plan;
  • financial plan.

 Some students find it difficult to write a good and complete business plan, in which case they turn to business plan writing help.

Team

The next question that needs to be resolved at the startup is the startup team. What should you do: start to realize your dream by yourself or ask for help from like-minded people?

Attracting partners means new opportunities and related risks. To understand whether it is worth turning to someone for help, you can objectively assess the creative and managerial skills of yourself and your colleagues, as well as by delving into the specifics of the chosen niche.

Money Investments

Finally, the most important question that worries all students who have decided to start their own business is how to deal with the start-up capital, how big should it be, and whether it should be at all? 

However, business ideas are so diverse and require so different amounts to start the whole mechanism of their own business that it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question posed.

The amounts needed to open your studio and grooming salon will be different. Of course, it is not always appropriate to talk about large-scale projects, given that most students have to actively attend lectures, do homework, work part-time, and all sorts of socialization. Under such conditions, there is not always a huge amount of money in reserve and endless free time.

We hope that our tips were useful to you. So take note and make your wildest dreams come true.

Main Issues a Wildcard SSL Certificate Can Solve

Posted on by Diksha Jani
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Businesses are continuously focussing on their website as their primary means to gain more leads. They also use the website to collect customer information, i.e., demographics, login information, and even financial information. As a responsible company, they must ensure that the underlying data is in the servers. There is always a risk of attack from hackers, with studies showing a hacking attack every 39 seconds.

You would need to install an SSL certificate that can mitigate the risk of data breaches.

The businesses running multiple first-level subdomains can install comodo wildcard ssl to prevent any untoward incidents. While the features may vary a bit across the Certificate Authorities (CAs), they can help in protecting your website. We will learn more about their benefits through this article.

What is a Wildcard SSL Certificate?

The installation of an SSL certificate ensures that the interaction between the visitor’s browser and the webserver is encrypted. But different types of certificates cater to various use cases. For example, if your business runs multiple sub-domains at the same level, you must choose Wildcard certificates.

They can secure your primary domain and several subdomains at the same level. It is a single certificate with a wildcard character (*). It helps to secure several subdomain hosts under the same base domain. For example, if you choose to secure the subdomains news.example.com, blog.example.com, careers.example.com, etc., with a single certificate, the Wildcard SSL is the option for you.

Benefits of Wildcard Certificates

Securing several sub-domains

What will you do if you must secure multiple sub-domains with the primary domain? Yes, help is at hand through the Wildcard certificates. It will help to secure all the subdomains under a single roof. You may continue to add several subdomains during the entire lifecycle of the certificate.

Improved certificate management

The use of Wildcard SSL certificates emanates from website administrators finding it challenging to manage multiple certificates for several subdomains. They can help to consolidate the requirement onto a single certificate. Moreover, it makes management easier as it requires your team to interact with only one vendor. Managing renewals and dealing with support activities becomes easier too.

They are affordable

Can you imagine the costs associated if you had to install separate certificates for all your subdomains? The Wildcard SSL helps to consolidate and reduce the costs associated with cybersecurity. There would also have been an increase in human resources requirements to handle the multiple certificates. When you buy one from a renowned CA, you also get additional features like the warranty, money-back guarantee, Trust Seal that only adds to the perks of ensuring your website is secure.

Prevents security warnings

Web browsers have been providing emphasis on ensuring a safe browsing experience for the internet. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been marking non-HTTPS websites as “Not Secure.” This warning was enough to scare visitors from the website and visit the competition. It led to an increase in bounce rate and lower visitor count, which also affected their conversions.

Other benefits

Some of the certificates ensure fast online validation and come relatively cheap too. It will allow you to have a free Trust Seal too. The certificates also ensure that the SEO value of the website is increased. You can choose the Comodo Positive Wildcard SSL for this purpose. Search engines like Google have provided lightweight weightage to HTTPS websites and ranked higher during a keyword search.

You can also choose a Multi-domain Wildcard certificate that will allow the business to secure up to 250 fully qualified domains through a single certificate. They also come with warranties that ensure they can be trusted.

Security risks that will make you think twice

Businesses must secure their website at all costs. If any hacker has access to the domain, they may create malicious sub-domains that would appear valid. The visitors would not be able to distinguish the sub-domains that are smeared and continue to visit them.

The web server may be compromised.

If businesses do not have proper safeguards, even the Wildcard certificates cannot help.

The certificate can be used across multiple servers that increases the risk. The web servers may be hacked, and the cybercriminals may host malicious elements for their dubious ends.

Security of the private key

Only the authorized person must have access to the private key. But it would be difficult for global teams to access it. It is better to have an audit log of the employees who are accessing the private key. The business must audit the records to trace if there was any unauthorized access.

On-time renewals

The certificates must be renewed on time. The IT team must set up notifications to inform them about upcoming renewals. If the certificate is not renewed on time, there could be errors on the site, and it would be insecure for visitors to visit the site. Notable brands have also faced this that has led to erosion of customer trust. Always keep in mind that updating lapsed certificates could be a severe issue.

Conclusion

There has been an increase in the number of hacking attempts at businesses. Therefore, it is a necessity that companies have robust systems to prevent these attacks. For larger businesses with multiple sub-domains, they must use Wildcard SSL certificates to protect the website. It can help to thwart data breaches and act as a line of defense against cyberattacks.

Top Ways to Secure Your Data on the Cloud

Posted on by Francis Brown
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In the modern age, the ways in which people store their data are heavily based on cloud computing. In fact, finding a company that doesn’t use clouds in one way or another is incredibly hard. Of course, all this is for plenty of good reasons, as cloud computing offers possibilities that were unimaginable even a bit more than a decade ago. The amount of data that can be stored by using a cloud easily beats any hard disk out there, both by performance and by price. Additionally, having your data off-site allows you to protect it more efficiently from any on-site issues. Now, cloud computing, like everything else, doesn’t come without its disadvantages. 

The main thing that people are worried about when using clouds is security. Of course, cloud providers do everything in their capabilities to enforce safety. But, having your data exposed in a server that can technically be tracked down can be a reason for some to opt-out of using clouds. Now, there is good news if you are personally conflicted on whether you should or shouldn’t use clouds because of security skepticism. There are a lot of things that you can do to boost how secure your data is on the cloud, and if you know what to do, your worries can be reduced exponentially. If you want to learn more, in this article, you will find all that you need to know about the top ways in which you can ensure that your data on the cloud is secured.

Focus on the encryption that your cloud service uses

When it comes to data safety, no factor is more important than encryption. If you’re not familiar with the term, encryption is the process in which the information is encoded in a way that makes it hard to decrypt it. This basically means that the stronger the encryption that your cloud service uses, the better the protection of your data on the cloud. So, always make sure that you do your research on the type of encryption of your cloud service. Additionally, it would be best that you avoid those services that offer no encryption of your data.

Third-party encryption

If you want to ensure that your data is protected to the extent that your cloud service doesn’t offer – there is a way to do so. Basically, you can utilize a third-party cloud security platform that will make sure that your data is as protected as possible. There are platforms that can offer you encryption of your data, separately from the services that your cloud service offers. This way, you ensure that your data is encrypted to the extent that barely any cloud services offer. 

Always opt for two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication might seem like an unnecessary hassle to some – but it truly boosts your online security exponentially. When it comes to passwords, they, of course, play an important role in how secure your files are. The thing is, passwords can be decrypted, given that the person trying to do so is persistent and skillful. Of course, this isn’t easy to do, to begin with – but it can be done. On the other hand, if you use two-factor authentication, you are lowering the chance of someone accessing your data. This is especially true if the two-factor authentication includes sending an SMS to your phone.

Don’t take password strength lightly

The fact that passwords can be decrypted has been mentioned previously, but let’s see how you can lower the chance of that happening. Many people aren’t aware of the importance of password strength. That is why they opt to use simple passwords that they can remember easily. The thing is the simpler your password, the higher the possibility of it being used against them. The same goes for those that use the same password on many different websites. So, next time you create a password – make sure to make it as undecipherable as you possibly can.

Only use trustworthy WiFi networks

When uploading your data onto the cloud, as well as accessing it – make sure that you never do so through a public WiFi network. Public WiFi networks are oftentimes way easier to hack into due to low encryption and high accessibility. This is exactly why a large number of hackers find their victims on those exact networks. All this is why it is incredibly important that you never use a public network when working with data that is on the cloud. 

Always read the user agreement fully

Reading user agreements is something that many of us skip as we deem this process unimportant. While this might be true for the majority of instances, it is not always the case. In fact, whenever you’re handling something that has security at stake – reading the user agreement is imperative. 

When signing up for cloud services, you want to make sure that you understand the vital parameters of how it protects your data. In some instances, by reading the agreement, you can run into the part that says that you’re giving them permission to sell and/or use your data. Of course, if you want to boost security, you want to avoid this. All in all – never sign up to cloud services if you don’t fully understand every clause in the user agreement. The same goes for reading and understanding any updates in your cloud services’ privacy policies.

Think twice before uploading sensitive information

Lastly, let’s finish this article by tackling how you should approach sensitive information and clouds. In general, you want to avoid uploading anything that can be used against you on the cloud. So, your personal data, and anything that can, if exploited, compromise your safety. Surely, you decide what you want to upload, but just be aware that some data should be kept safe the old traditional way.

Finally, it is important to understand that while our options for pretty much anything are lined up for us – we still must do our part. Optimizing security in the era where everything is online should be everyones’ top priority. As you’ve been able to see, there are a lot of ways in which you can do your part, most of them not even being that complicated. So, instead of opting out of different new and modern ways in which we can optimize whatever it is that we’re doing, informing ourselves should be the first step. Embrace the positives and tackle the negatives head-on – and you will get the best of both worlds!

Signs You Need To Buy More Computer Memory

Posted on by Boris Dzhingarov
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Memory is vital for the computer because it is the component used to store data temporarily in order to allow really fast access. RAM is the most common memory type used in computers these days. It means random access memory and is formed out of chips that are mounted on long strips. The strips are dual inline memory modules, which is what we refer to when saying the acronym DIMM.

RAM is attached to the computer’s motherboard. It is very easy to remove and swap so upgrades can be done quite fast whenever needed. The problem though is that most people do not even know that they can install more RAM. And in some situations, this is one of the best tech tips you could receive since more RAM could drastically improve performance.

In order to help you make a very good choice, let’s think about situations in which you want to seriously consider adding more RAM.

Programs Load Very Slowly

Modern computers respond almost instantly as you click the icon that launches software. As a result, when you notice delays of over 2 seconds, there is a pretty good possibility that upgrading RAM can help. This is especially the case when you have an SSD installed, which is designed to help open programs fast. When software does not load fast and you have SSD, the culprit is most likely having too little RAM.

The Computer Uses Most Of The RAM

When you receive memory error messages or you see that the computer consistently uses over 80% of your RAM memory, it is time to add more.

You can easily check how much RAM is used on your computer at any point in time. In Windows, you use Task Manager. On a MAC, you use Activity Monitor. When your computer uses Linux, you have to go to the terminal and type “vmstat”.

When you run more programs at the exact same time, more memory is utilized. That is why you need to perform this test as you load the operating system. This gives you base usage levels. When base usage levels are naturally high, you also might want to install more RAM.

You Cannot Run Many Programs At Once

The situation in which this does not matter is when you use software that is very resource-heavy. Examples of this can be given in graphical suits and animation programs. If this is not the case and you cannot run several software programs at once, without performance losses, it is time to add more RAM.

As an example, let’s say you run Microsoft Word, your web browser, and an MP3 player program at the same time. If you cannot do this without lag or performance issues, the computer runs out of the memory it needs.

Final Thoughts

Remember that adding more RAM is very easy. However, you can only go as high as a specific limit. This is why you have to know as much as possible about the hardware part of your computer. Whenever there is something you do not know, like if it is normal for your PC to react in a specific way with your configuration, look for the information online. You will find it.

How To Improve Your Business Infrastructure And Grow Faster

Posted on by Charlene Brown
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When you own a business, it is common that at times you may feel stuck, but you want to expand your operations. There are different steps that you can take to grow your business and generate more revenue. Read on to learn how to improve your business infrastructure and grow faster.

Grow Your Business With SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an effective strategy that helps your business thrive online by improving its visibility. Effective SEO utilizes unique keywords to drive organic traffic to your website so that it ranks high on search engine results pages. Make sure you include quality content on your website that can add value to the users. Before users buy different products, they first look for information that can help them solve their problems. When the visitors to your site get the information they want, they can try your products. Conversions from clicks on your site can boost your sales and promote growth.

Prioritize Web Designing

A website is a critical and indispensable component that affects the entire operations of your business. You should design a user-friendly site that is easy to navigate. Apart from web design, you must also focus on other critical elements including the loading speed and bandwidth related to hosting. If you often experience downtime, knowledgeable web hosting individuals sighted that you must choose the right UK reseller hosting company to improve user experience. With reliable hosting infrastructure, you can significantly grow your business since your site can appeal to the interests of many users. All you need to do is to choose the best package that suits the needs of your company.

Utilize Appropriate Channels to Reach Your Customers

You can also use different social media platforms to engage with your clients to build strong relationships and loyalty. The advantage of using social media is that it provides a two-way communication system that allows you to get feedback from the customers. Start by making a short video to engage your customers with something they need. Conclude by offering to listen to their feedback. The feedback you get from the buyers is essential since it helps you make the necessary changes that can add value to your clients. You can also reach out to your loyal customers using the same channels if you have crucial information to share with your clients.

Use Management Software

You should use appropriate management or accounting software that helps you measure the performance of your business. You need to understand the metrics that help you track progress in your operations so that you avoid setbacks that can affect your operations. Carefully mapping your IT infrastructure will make it easier to spot bottlenecks and obsolete systems. With the right program, you can produce financial reports that reflect all business activities. More importantly, keep your IT infrastructure and computer networks in good working condition.

Build Strong Cybersecurity

Several small businesses, in particular, are victims of cyber attacks that often result in system crashes and data breaches. Cyber threats can impact the organization in many ways and cause great harm to its operations. The best way to address cyber threats is to choose an effective security system that you can add to your IT infrastructure. The cybercriminal elements continue to pose threats to businesses. Therefore, you need to strengthen your cyberinfrastructure to ensure that your business is ready for various threats that can affect the viability of your company.

Make Strategic Acquisitions

You also gain new clients from the small organizations that you acquire if you do it well. You can also use an Online Service Marketplace to build unique online services to grow your customer base. Another viable method of expanding your business involves strategic acquisitions of smaller businesses that offer ancillary services.

The strategy of acquisition helps your company access expertise and knowledge from employees within the acquired businesses. This can help promote the growth of your business. Metrics can be used for performing metrics as a service tasks and can enable your teams to make actionable changes to optimize security, development and operations.

Improve Customer Service

The quality of service that you offer your customers determines the success or failure of your business. Buyers are interested in the good customer service they get from your company, instead of the products. Therefore, you must develop an infrastructure that supports exceptional customer service to the consumers. For instance, you need to utilize an email marketing strategy when you can send personalized messages to the customers to appeal to their emotional interests. You should also build a database consisting of customers’ contact details that you can use to connect with them.

The success of your business strongly depends on the type of infrastructure that you use to reach your customers. In this digital age, it is vital to improving your online presence to attract many buyers to your business. Make sure that your website is user-friendly and has a fast loading speed as well. It is vital to choose the right programs that help improve your operations through the automation of various tasks. You should also strive to build formidable cybersecurity that helps protect your business. More importantly, provide quality customer service to attract more buyers.