7 Employee Rights Small Business Owners Need to Know

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Elizabeth Leer

Small businesses rarely have the means to manage their human resources department (if the department exists at all!). They can’t always refer to a lawyer on retainer in every situation.

For this reason, small business owners and managers should know basic employee rights to avoid unnecessary litigation and negative situations that reflect poorly on the business.

This creates a fair and enjoyable work environment that establishes mutual trust and ensures long-term, fulfilling employee-employer relationships. Here are 7 Basic Employee Rights Small Business Owners Need to Know.

Right 1: Fair Labor

According to the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) every employer is required by law to comply with certain fair labor practices. Even small businesses are not exempt.

Here are the rules established by the FLSA:

● Minimum Wage – The current Federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per working hour but can vary based on the type of business and by state, county, or city.

● Overtime – Employers must pay a rate of 1 and ½ times the established hourly rate of an employee for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek.

● Hours Worked – This includes all times when an employee is performing an activity required by his or her job duties. It also includes time when an employee is required to be on premises or at any designated place of work. Here is a Department of Labor (DOL) reference sheet that clarifies this rule.

● Recordkeeping – Employers are required to keep track of payroll records and employee timecards.

● Poster – All employers must display the official DOL poster that outlines these requirements.

Right 2: Safe Workplace

The federal government passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in 1970. The act proclaims that workers have a right to a “safe working environment.”

This means that a workplace must be free from dangerous equipment, excessive noise levels, and employers must not expose workers to toxic chemicals.

Employers are responsible for investigating potential safety and health threats and must remove them if possible. If not, they must inform their employees and provide proper safety training and equipment, specially when it comes to occupational health services.

If your located in Idaho and have been injured on the job, check out this Idaho workers compensation lawyer to find out what you should do next. Getting the compensation you are owed can be difficult, and they are there to help.

Right 3: Freedom from Discrimination

Mutual respect is key in the workplace, but this is even more important within a small business structure. Wes Herman of Woods Coffee is an outstanding example of an owner who understands this principle.

To attract and keep top tier talent, owners must create an enjoyable, trust-based work environment that is free of discrimination as he told UpFlip during a recent interview. That’s why Wes could grow his business to over 17 locations and over 350 employees.

Regardless of personal principles, there are rules established that prevent businesses from discriminating against employees.

As a general rule, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against candidates based on sex, religion, color, race, national origin, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age.

This can vary based on state law and the number of employees, but here is a list of the key federal laws pertaining to discrimination:

Equal Pay Act (EPA)
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

Employers must also protect employees from sexual harassment with training and other procedures of accountability.

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has extensive resources on their site.

Right 4: Privacy

Employees and potential employees have privacy rights extended to them by several federal laws and regulations. This means that employers can’t take actions like search an employee or their belongings or run a background check on a potential employee without their written consent.

However, employers also have rights in this realm. Employers can monitor company emails, phones, and computer usage if their monitoring policies are transparent. For example, an inappropriate email sent on a company server is not protected.

Surveillance laws also vary by state, but most permit camera usage if an employer notifies employees that they are being recorded.

Right 5: Whistleblowing

Employees may inform authorities and testify about illegal actions taken by an employer. They can do so without fear of retaliation or retribution.

For example, if an employee reports your business for negligence regarding safety regulations or discriminatory actions, then the company has no legal grounds to retaliate against the employee.

Retaliation means an employer cannot:

Fire or lay off a whistleblower
Blacklist, demote, or reassign to affect promotion
Deny overtime, reduce pay, or deny benefits
Formally discipline
Intimidate or make threats

The National Whistleblower Center has extensive explanations of these rights.

Right 6: Unionization and Collective Bargaining

Whether you employ union or non-union workers, the National Labor Relations Act applies to your business. Specifically, it grants employees of private employers the rights specified in Section 7 of the Act:

The right to organize, form, join, or assist a labor union.
The right to collective bargaining by representation (of their choice).
The right to engage in activities related to “other mutual aid or protection.”
The right to abstain from any of these activities.

These rights include discussion of conditions of employment and wages.

With the rise of the Digital Age, some social media policies have come in the crosshairs of the National Labor Relations Board for violation of Section 7.

The Board can lean one way or the other based on their ideology, so carefully review any social media policy before distribution to ensure compliance. Ideally, employers should work with an attorney familiar with labor law.

Right 7: Employee Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act grants employees 12 weeks of protected unpaid medical or maternity leave over a 12-month period. This means that under certain family medical conditions, an employee can take leave without risking their job security.

It’s up to employers to take an active role in monitoring FMLA claims. They may request forms and medical certifications to determine whether an employee’s absence is up to legal standards.

Only employers with 50 or more employees must worry about the FMLA. So, it may seem like this right doesn’t belong in an article that pertains to small businesses.

However, the SBA classifies businesses by industry and their average annual revenue or number of employees. The lowest limit for the number of employees in their table is 100, and they classify most business by revenue.

Therefore, the act applies to many businesses classified as small. All this information is fundamental if you are looking to sell your business online, as employees are part of the transfer.

Conclusion

While I’ve covered the key rights business owners should know, there are additional laws at the state, county, and city levels. Some of these laws are contradictory to federal regulations.

If in doubt of any law or regulation, consult with a certified employment lawyer for clarification.

Independent of federal regulations, it’s advisable for employers to write their core values into a business plan and work manual.

Call Tracking for Small Businesses: How to Improve Your Performance

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Petro Melnyk

Call tracking is the action of tracking the origin of incoming calls in order to understand how clients found about a company. In its most basic form, different virtual phone numbers are used for different advertising channels or different advertising campaigns.

When the client uses any of these numbers to call the company, the channel, ad, or campaign the client interacted with when making the call (a TV, radio, or newspaper ad, a printed leaflet, billboard, an email, or social media campaign, a website add, an affiliate partner, etc.) is automatically known.

Call Tracking and How It Works

While offline advertising is served well by simple call tracking (as described above), digital advertising makes use of much more comprehensive and capable tools. By installing call tracking software on a website, it is possible to implement campaign-level, session-level, or even visitor-level call tracking.

In visitor-level call tracking specifically, call tracking software assigns a distinct phone number to each unique visitor and tracks when the latter calls and converts. As a result, the consumer’s entire interaction history with the website (also known as their ‘touchpoints’) becomes visible, offering much better information about exposure to various ads and greater insight into the client’s decision-making as well.

Benefits of Using Call Tracking as a Small Business

Unlike larger corporations, small businesses don’t have the luxury to waste resources on dubious adventures or costly mistakes. Instead, they closely monitor their expenses striving to be as efficient as possible. However, like big companies, small ones are just as dependent on advertising to drive their sales, and since advertising is typically one of the greatest expenses, ensuring it is cost-efficient is of vital importance.

In this context, call tracking offers some great benefits. Most importantly, it allows marketers to directly monitor the number and relative proportion of incoming calls associated with each advertising channel. Such insight makes it possible to discontinue inefficient campaigns and abandon inefficient channels, which helps cut costs. Alternatively, the resources saved can be redirected towards more productive marketing campaigns. In each case, this translates into a higher return on investment and lower marketing spends per customer/ lower customer acquisition cost.

Call tracking software often comes with advanced visual and statistical reporting tools that allow your business to efficiently monitor, analyze, and make sense of inbound lead data in real-time. A company that uses call tracking software is always aware of the evolution of its marketing campaigns and where the best optimizations can be made.

The opportunity to adapt-on-the-go based on data means many unproductive marketing efforts can be stopped in their infancy before they impact the budget. The advanced reporting tools mentioned above can also help assess the targeting efficiency of various audiences, the conversion rate, and the proportion of qualified leads (the quality of leads) generated by various campaigns as well as by various advertising partners or affiliate networks.

Call tracking also makes communication with your target audience more efficient. For instance, valuable time is not wasted on questions like “How did you hear about us?” and racking data can collect lots of other pieces of information such as:

Caller data (name, phone number, geographical location)
Call info (the time and day of the call, call duration, first-time call or not)
The device through which the consumer accessed the marketing ad
The status of the call (answered, directed to voicemail, abandoned, resulted in a sale, etc.).
The buyer’s intention or products of interest
Initial touchpoints (client’s interaction history with the website)
Call recordings.
Certain call tracking software can even transcribe the audio and extract keywords, which also makes it possible to judge about the efficiency of various keywords, optimizing their choice for the future.

Apart from containing highly valuable marketing-related info, such a wealth of data can make interaction with a potential customer way more efficient and natural, saving time for both parties, and increasing the chance of conversion due to efficient and productive communication.

Yet another great implication of using call tracking software is that calls can be also routed differently depending on their origin. For instance, incoming calls associated with advertising campaigns delivered via exclusive channels or targeting enterprise clients can be routed to higher-skilled agents to ensure the highest probability of conversion. Additionally, calls could be also routed according to geographic location, the type of product the client is interested in, and more.

For a small business that relies heavily on converting inbound calls and runs multiple advertising campaigns at the same time, call tracking would likely prove of great value because, without it, the company is very much blind to which marketing effort is driving the sales. Only by knowing this data, the company could channel the resources to the most productive marketing efforts and could adapt current and future marketing strategies to improve both marketing efficiency and overall performance.

Advanced call tracking can paint a much broader picture of audience history and exposure to marketing material. Truth is, this history of exposure can be very complex, spanning several multiple devices, channels, and interactions. Without an awareness about the entire sequence of decisions that pushed the client to call, any conclusion regarding the marketing efficiency of each individual campaign is incomplete!

How to Get a Security Certificate for Your Website

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Joseb Builder

Many security measures for your website lead to the best and safest practices for individuals and organizations. We live in a time when cyber crimes are rapidly increasing and developing with every passing day, and assuming various forms.

It is no longer only the responsibility of large corporations to maximize their security measures, as cybercriminals have shown they are prepared to attack any potential victim with sensitive information. This means anyone with valuable data or intellectual property stored online could be vulnerable to attacks.

One security measure that can be taken is the use of a security certificate for your website. Security is a valuable asset that will help in the growth of your web project. Security certificates may be an attractive feature for your customers, clients, and partners. SSL certificates can also secure payments, reduce cyber risks, and increase your search engine ranking.

Another way that you can generate interest in your web project is by optimizing your content to meet the demands of search engines. Check this guide to SEO for the best way to approach search engine optimization.

What Are Security Certificates?

Some websites are made more secure with an extension to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, whereby the HTTP protocol becomes HTTPS. The extra S stands for secure, and it means that the data exchanged on these websites is encrypted.

To obtain an HTTPS connection, you need a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate. These certificates enable a secure connection through an encryption process.

SSL and TLS certificates use cryptographic key pairs to connect the identities of websites and companies through digital documents called X.509 certificates. For each key pair, there is a private key that is kept secure and a public key that is widely distributed.

The public key can be used to encrypt messages that require the private key for decryption. The person that holds the private key can use it to sign digital documents, including web pages, which can be verified by anyone with the public key.

The standard encryption of these certificates uses 256-bit strength and 2048-bit RSA key. SSL and TLS certificates are compatible with almost every major browser and device. It is usually possible to obtain an unlimited server license, which means you can install it on multiple servers.

SSL and TLS certificates need to be signed by certificate authorities (CAs) that are widely recognized and trusted. CAs need to be accepted by client software, which includes operating systems and web browsers, and they must be subject to frequent and thorough audits. Popular CAs include Symantec, DigiCert, RapidSSLonline, and SSL.com.

How to Obtain a Security Certificate for Your Website

It is relatively easy to obtain an SSL certificate for a web project, and there are certain steps that need to be followed.

Decide the Type of Certificate You Intend to Use

It is more common now to use TLS certificates, the upgraded version of SSL certificates. However, as more people are familiar with the term ‘SSL,’ it is often used to refer to those which are technically TLS certificates.

There are three categories that SSL certificates are divided into based on the validation process.

Domain Validated (DV): This is a low form of verification that only proves you own the domain for the website for which you need a security certificate. These certificates are more affordable and only take a few minutes to be issued.

Organization Validated (OV): For this type of verification, you also need to prove details of your organization and a local presence, verified by a phone call. OV is more expensive, and it can take up to three days to be issued.

Extended Validated (EV): This validation requires DV and OV validations to have been completed. It is a more rigorous process that requires companies to have been in operation for a minimum of three years, and it is not available to individual users.

Obtain a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

It is an application holding the details of the domain to be certified. After completing the CSR, your certification authority (CA) will send you a confirmation email. Provided that your request is legitimate, it will be validated, and your CA will issue your SSL certificate.

Install Your Digital Certificate on Your Server

This is usually a straightforward process. You can obtain a step-by-step guide from the relevant server. You can use an SSL checker tool to ensure the certificate has been correctly installed on the server.

Buying an SSL certificate is a wise security measure to take for any organization that is running a website. You can obtain one quite easily and quickly. It is always a good decision to improve your cyber defenses and reputation with a recognized security certificate.

What You Should Know About Modern Automation

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Charlene Brown

You have probably heard people talking about modern automation numerous times. Maybe you have an idea what it’s all about or maybe you do not. If by chance you do not know, you should try to research more as it has affected many aspects of human lives.

When you hear about modern automation, you should think about a self-governing system consisting of machines that perform different tasks. A series of programmed commands are what guide this system to do what is supposed to do and execute the needed results. This is why computers have been the center of modern automation.

Now that you have read a few details about modern automation, you are maybe thinking about applying it in your factory or industry. There is a lot more that you need to know before applying it. Below is a discussion of some of the things concerning modern automation that you need to know.

1. Modern Automation Increases Productivity

With modern automation, control systems, information technology and machines are used to increase productivity during the production of goods and service delivery. Also, they increase the efficiency as well as the speed of the tasks performed. The machines perform a lot of work within a short time. Besides, they carry some tasks that human beings cannot perform.

2. Modern Automation Lowers Production Costs

Some of the big automated machines perform tasks that should be performed by many people. Imagine buying such a machine and doing away with the many people that perform the task that it is supposed to perform. You will definitely save a lot of money and achieve economies of scale.

For example, with automated panel assembly, only a few workers are needed to operate the machines as compared to a large workforce required for manual panel assembly. Further cost savings can be seen through reduced human error and increased efficiency.

3. Modern Automation Can Be Applied In Economic And In Everyday Activities

Industries can buy different machines and use them to perform different industrial processes. For instance, if you are in the pharmaceutical industry, you can buy a bagging machine for packaging drugs in small bags. You can know more about these machines by looking at an automated bagging machines website. This type of machine can also be used in cosmetic industries for packaging cosmetics in small sachets.

Have you ever thought about how a dishwasher or a washing machine operates? These are examples of applications of modern automation in everyday activities. Washing machines and dishwashers are programmed to wash clothes and dishes respectively according to the instructions given by the user.

4. Technologies Have Developed Out Of Modern Automation

Think about robotic technologies. These technologies were developed in an attempt to replace human labor with machines. They involved the designing, construction, and the use of robots to perform different tasks. Robots are now used to perform tasks in environments that can be hazardous to human beings. Also, people prefer to use them where repetitive work has to be done since human beings are likely to get bored with doing the same things all the time.

Robots are used in the motor vehicle industry to move automobile body parts during assembling. Also, they are used for loading and unloading different things during production in many industries. A lot of industries have replaced human labor with robots because when programmed well, they are able to repeatedly do the same activities perfectly.

5. For You To Experience The Advantages Of Modern Automation, You Need To Maintain Your Machines

For a machine to serve you well, it needs to be kept in working order. Do not start looking for maintenance services when your machines break down. Rather, have them checked regularly to ensure that they are in good working condition.

6. With Modern Automation, Good Quality Products Can Be Developed

A lot of people associate good quality products with human labor. However, this is not always the case. With human labor, products that vary are likely to be developed since it is hard for human beings to repeat the exact things that they have done. However, with machines this is possible. This is why a lot of consistency in the quality of products produced will be noticed when machines are used during production.

7. Modern Automation Has Led To The Efficient Use Of Raw Materials

With modern automation, industrial processes are better controlled. This means that the raw materials to be used in different industrial processes are known and can be controlled. Where will the misuse of raw materials come from when raw materials are efficiently used?

Imagine how the world would be like if machines were not in existence and every task had to be performed by human beings. Modern automation has made work easier in many places. For instance, people use machines to perform different tasks in industries. Robots have come to existence due to this and are now used in many industrial applications.

Why Email Marketing Is Effective At Driving People To Your Website

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mark Morrison

Many dismiss email marketing as something that worked in the past and which people tire of quickly, eventually unsubscribing from your list. However, nothing is further from the truth. For every $1 that you spend on email marketing, it is projected that you’ll get a $42 return on investment (ROI). In addition to this, 81% of small businesses rely on email marketing as their primary customer acquisition method.

In this article, we’ll give you some pointers on how you can use email marketing to the best of its advantage in your business.

Grow Your Email List

Firstly, to be successful at email marketing, you need to have an email list. This is not just any old list of email addresses. This needs to be a targeted list of people interested in what your company has to offer so that when you send through your monthly newsletter or sales promotions, they won’t unsubscribe.

Moreover, to increase the efficiency of your email marketing campaigns, you should increase email deliverability using an SPF checker and follow the necessary email security steps.

In addition to this, you need to make sure that your list is well segmented so that you send promotions, which are relevant to a specific set of people, to these individuals and not others. For example, if you’re a clothing retailer which sells both men’s and women’s clothing, if you have a promotion on your ladies’ range you don’t want to send this mailer to your entire database – you would want to send these mailers to just the women on your list.

Optimize For Mobile

With more and more people reading emails and surfing the Internet on their phones, you need to provide your readers with emails that they can easily read on their mobile devices.

Most bulk email-sending services have the option for you to see how your email will look on both mobile and desktop so you can make sure that you are happy with how it will look to both sets of audiences.

Design Your Content Well

If you want to get the most out of your email marketing efforts, you need to design your content well.

To promote click-throughs to your website, don’t give too much information in your email. Rather, craft your content in such a way that it piques the interest of your readers and want to click through to your website to find out more information.

Use Social Media To Extend Your Reach

Give your email additional legs by sharing it on social media. There may be people on your social channels who aren’t necessarily on your list. By making the email publicly available, you’re increasing the reach of your communications and are possibly even gaining new subscribers for your emails.

Analyze Your Analytics

It’s one thing to send out emails, but you need to measure how well/poorly they performed and use that information to make changes to your next send to achieve better results. Just like when playing right here, you want to measure your success in money.

When you’ve mastered the basics of email marketing, make sure that you’re consistent with sending out your communications so that your readers will look forward to your emails.

Why You Can’t Ignore Mobile Marketing

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mark Morrison

In the seven years between 2013 and 2019, worldwide mobile traffic increased by 222%. In the third quarter of 2020, traffic from mobile devices generated 50.81% of global Internet traffic, and mobile tech trends continued to skyrocket. From these stats, you can see that traffic originating from mobile devices is on the rise. For marketers as well as business owners, this means that it is necessary to make sure that people who access your website from their smartphone or tablet have the same experience as a person who is accessing your site from a laptop or desktop.

People Prefer To Shop Online

Online shopping has been around for several years. However, over the past year, it has gained popularity and has become the norm rather than the exception.

While the first generation of online shoppers would prefer accessing the eCommerce sites from their PCs, now people prefer to shop using their smartphone or tablet. They expect to be able to make their purchases via an app as this provides a seamless, mobile-friendly experience as opposed to having to access the shop’s desktop site.

The Mobile Device Is The New Shop Assistant

Consumers nowadays are informed and thoroughly research what they want to buy before they even set foot in a shop. Also, they will prefer to use their smartphones to assist them in making purchasing decisions instead of asking a shop assistant. In fact, studies reveal that 84% of in-store shoppers use their mobile devices when making a purchase.

With most shoppers having their mobile device at close range while in malls, this provides a great opportunity for other shops in the center to serve notifications to people’s phones based on their preferences and where they’ve shopped before.

People Want Easy Answers

When researching products and/or services that they want to purchase, people don’t want to have to work and want to find the easiest solution in the least amount of time. Taking out a smartphone from a handbag or pocket and quickly typing in a search query is simpler than going to a laptop, which is why this is the preferred method of looking for things that they need.

Mobile Marketing Trends For 2021

If you would like to succeed in mobile marketing in 2021, there are some trends that you can’t ignore.

Optimize Videos

For several years, video marketing has consistently been the most effective traffic source, especially on mobile devices. This year, it projected that over 75% of mobile traffic will come from videos so this is a good option to invest in.

Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising is set to generate far more click-throughs than ‘normal’ digital advertising. This means that you should be putting together a budget for this in your overall marketing plan.

Invest In A Mobile App

As we mentioned earlier in this article, more and more people prefer to shop via their mobile devices and want apps to help them facilitate this process. They also use apps for just about everything, to watch movies and chat to friends via popular apps. If you have eCommerce as part of your sales strategy, you need to consider investing in an app seriously too.

What Are The Best Social Media Channels To Market Your Business On?

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mark Morrison

In 2020, there were over 3.6 billion people worldwide who were using social media. This number is likely to reach almost 4.41 billion in 2025 and will probably climb exponentially after this. These figures make social media usage the most popular reason why people go online.

With an ever-growing population of people being dedicated to social media networks, you cannot afford for your business not to be on social media. However, with so many marketing choices available, it can be difficult to choose which network is right for your organization.

We must caution against trying to have an active presence on all social media channels as, to be successful, it is necessary for you to keep up an active presence on all of them. If you spread yourself too thin, you could end up neglecting them, and getting stressed out. This is a risky spot to be in as a neglected feed could show consumers that your business is no longer active. So, rather choose two or three social media networks that you want to invest your time and energy in.

Here are a handful of the available social media networks and will show you what they are best suited to showcasing.

Yelp

If you have a brick-and-mortar business, you may want to consider putting up a profile on Yelp. This is a directory of businesses that you can browse based on your current location or a location that you set manually. On each business’ page you can review the company, which means that people browsing your listing can make an educated decision about choosing you.

YouTube

Whether you own a B2B or B2C business, you need to be creating video content and putting this on YouTube as this is the second-largest search engine next to Google as video marketing is becoming an increasingly useful way of getting your brand out there. Grow your business by growing your channel’s YouTube users. In terms of SEO traction, YouTube offers the maximum traction.

Instagram

This social media platform is driven by pictures that people take and upload to their Instagram pages. With the ability to now upload video content to the platform, Instagram allows your audience to get behind your brand, get invested and follow your every move. This makes it a great platform for you to share your brand.

An often-overlooked social media network is Pinterest. Often thought of as just a platform for people to share their crafting and home improvement ideas, it has become a great way to get content going viral. So, if you have great-quality pictures that display aspects of your product and/or service offering, you should give Pinterest a try.

LinkedIn is definitely the best platform for business-to-business marketing as it allows you to post professional content about your company’s goals and achievements so that you can generate a conversation with your potential customers. Moreover, based on the latest survey, LinkedIn is the #1 social media channel where IT companies choose to publish content and advertise their services.

If you want to play on this site, just remember its business orientated so you must act accordingly.

Marketing is not an exact science as what may work for one organization may not necessarily work for another. The trick is to try out the platforms you think may work for you and measure the results. If they don’t work, don’t be afraid to stop with what you’re doing and try another platform.

Avoid These Mistakes When Starting Your Business

Posted on January 18, 2021 by JJ Watt

It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to starting your own business, especially if it’s your first time. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to running a small company or even just being self-employed. Of course, one of those mistakes is believing that you won’t make any errors. The idea is not to avoid them—if you tried to do that, you’d also avoid the risk that is inherent to a successful business—but to minimize the ones you do make and bounce back from them with resilience. The common ones listed below can all be avoided.

Neglecting Your Personal Finances

You might think that your personal financial situation is irrelevant when you’re starting a business and that you only need to worry about your business finances. However, this is not the case. Your own finances might be a factor with investors and lenders. If you can pay off any debts before you get started, you should. If not, you might want to look at how to better organize them. For example, you might have several student loans that you can consolidate as a single payment with a private lender. This could also reduce your monthly expenses. Having your personal finances in order also means you have a better idea of how much your business needs to bring in if it is your sole source of income.

Insufficient Planning

If you are not seeking loans or investments, you may think you don’t need a business plan. However, it’s always a good idea to write one even if it is not as extensive as a formal one you would prepare to get others interested in your idea. Writing a business plan forces you to be concrete about your mission, your finances and your marketing. You’ll be better able to anticipate any obstacles that could arise and may see blind spots you did not consider. You may also want to think about whether you might want to hire other people even if you are a sole proprietor. For example, you may want an attorney to look over paperwork or an accountant to assist you with your taxes.

Marketing Errors

Creating a marketing plan should be part of your overall business plan, but it is so important that it should be a consideration all on its own. You need to know who your customer base is and what they want. A particularly common mistake is for people to assume that because their friends and family think their business idea is good, it must be. You need to look beyond your immediate circle. Some market research, including reading some industry literature and doing focus groups or surveys, could help.

Undercharging

People often start out charging too little for their products or services because they are afraid their customers won’t pay for them otherwise. There are a few problems with this approach. One is that customers may think of the product or service as low quality. Another is that it can make it difficult to raise your prices later. When setting your prices, be sure to keep your overhead in mind on top of your pricing.

Where to Sell Video Games in 2021

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Allen Brown

As an avid video game player, you have probably amassed an extensive collection of games over the years. The good news for collectors is that their stash of old video games doesn’t have to stay stored at home and collect dust. Several fantastic opportunities can help you get rid of your games without throwing them away, and you can make some money out of it. If you’re a gamer and want to give away some of the games that you don’t play anymore, read on to know where you can sell them in 2021.

Trade-In Websites

A popular source where gamers can sell their old video games is a trade-in website. These are online platforms that accept old games, with thousands of different prices for people to choose from, make a shipment order, send it to the platform, and then get paid. In fact, The Old School Game Vault, one of the platforms, says that trade-in websites should have multiple payment methods to suit different clients’ needs, whether it’s money transfers, business checks, or eGift cards. Trade-in websites accommodate sellers that are close by and agree to meet up locally for sale. The platforms are reliable cash-for-video game businesses, and they have a section for buyers as well if they’re interested.

E-Commerce Platforms

Another reliable source that gamers can use is e-commerce platforms, which are also websites, but it focuses on selling any product and not just video games. The trend of selling products online is popular, and gamers have numerous marketplaces to choose from. People can make accounts, list their items, wait for a buyer, and the platform takes care of the shipping and handling for you. It’s an easy, affordable, and flexible choice for people that want to sell their old games online.

Brick-And-Mortar Stores

The online methods aren’t for everyone, and some gamers prefer to physically go to stores and sell/trade their games instantly without the idle waiting time or possible shipment issues. People still love to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, and these establishments specialize in selling second-hand memorabilia, consoles, or video games. Even though technology and digital platforms are growing, traditional stores are still thriving, and they can be excellent sources for you to sell your unwanted games.

Social Media and Forums

Social media platforms and online forums can work for people that have time on their hands. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you can sell your games yourself by utilizing the marketplace feature in social media and forums. Write a good description, choose the price you want, and wait for someone to message you. This method is only good for local meet-ups or if people are willing to ship the games themselves.

When trying to sell your video games, the key is to find a reliable source that can buy your games and make it worth your while. People can even sell their stash themselves if they have the time for it, but they’ll need to put in the effort to get in touch with sellers and ship the games to them. Old video games you don’t need anymore can find new homes and be enjoyed by others, and they can help you make some extra cash along the way.

6 Good Reasons Why You Should Consider Starting an Online Business

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Charlene Brown

Thanks to the rapid growth of the World Wide Web, online businesses have taken the world up by a storm. Even brick-and-mortar companies have started redirecting their efforts to compete in the online business world. Going online is beneficial for both clients and sellers, and has proved to be especially convenient during the ongoing pandemic. Read through this article for 6 good reasons why you should consider starting an online business.

1. It Is Very Inexpensive

Starting an online business will cost you much less than having to purchase or rent physical space to set up your business. A physical store will require the presence of employees and a manager to maintain the store. You will also spend a lot of money on furnishing the store and making it look presentable. On the other hand, to establish an online store, you only need a computer, a domain name, and a hosting service. Work on gaining online traffic and attracting an audience by using social media platforms to advertise your business. Some social media platforms offer promotional services, allowing you to get the word out for your business. After building a solid follower base, you can direct them to your website or an online store where you display and sell your products or services.

2. Convenient and Flexible

Running an online business allows you to work on a more lenient and flexible schedule. You can work any time during the day at the hours that work best for you without having to stick to regular office hours. As long as you are able to manage your business efficiently and keep it running smoothly, you can decide when you want to work. However, if you plan on taking days off, make sure to announce your business days to your clients. The passionate entrepreneurs at eCommerce Paradise recommend that you look into drop shipping to grow and build your business effectively without having to worry about inventory. This is another perk that is only available to online businesses. Your income depends on how you use your time and how much of it you dedicate to your business. Flexibility, and the freedom to balance your work and personal life, can encourage you to become more productive in business.

3. Choice of Location

With an online business, you have the freedom to work beyond the parameters of a desk or an office. You can run your business from anywhere in the world as long as you have a laptop and a stable internet connection. Having the freedom to choose the location you want to work from will make you more willing and keen on working, which in turn, will increase your productivity and boost your creativity.

4. Growth and Income

In an online business, your income isn’t tied to the number of hours you work. It is based on how productive you are while working and your ability to generate income, even when you are not online. When working in e-commerce, you need to learn where to direct your efforts. Invest time in improving your website and coming up with marketing and SEO strategies. You need to constantly search for ways to grow and maintain your business because the competition in the e-commerce world is quite fierce, and you need to stay one step ahead of your rivals.

5. It runs 24/7

Since online businesses can generate sales even when you are not present, this can allow you to focus on other aspects of your business and life. Besides, a well-designed online store makes it possible for people to easily find what they are searching for. It can reach more people than a physical store and allows them to purchase items at their convenience. With the presence of an online store, your clients can make purchases in the middle of the night from the comfort of their bed!

6. Outsourcing

When your online business grows, you can start to outsource some of your work. Outsourcing can be very helpful, especially if there are some aspects of your business that you would rather not handle, or simply don’t have the time to focus on anymore. Hiring freelance employees or contractors to help you with your growing business can help you expand it even more. When you start outsourcing, you will have more freedom to focus on your life while growing your business simultaneously.

Online businesses have become very popular, and for good reason. Many entrepreneurs prefer them to traditional businesses because they have more growth potential and are very flexible. With the right resources for drop shipping to grow and build your business effectively you can succeed. If you were on the fence before, the above 6 reasons will definitely convince you to establish an online business.

Reasons Why Your Business Needs SEO

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Mike Zhmudikov

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an important part of businesses. It is significant for better searchability and visibility of a brand or business website. SEO is known for its digital properties that is why business owners must adopt it to attain its benefits. Here in this article, we are going to share a few reasons why your business requires SEO.

Improves Organic Search

Have you been wanting to know what SEO means? The performance of a business website can greatly be improved by organic search and it can help get users’ engagement or conversion. Google is the leading search engine and holds a major part of the search market as compared to Yahoo, Baidu, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, and others. It would not be wrong to say that Google contributes about 75% of the entire search market. This is why it’s necessary to follow its guidelines. People, who have access to the internet, visit Google at least one time a day for getting information. SEO can help improve the organic search of your business website, which can ultimately improve conversion rate.

Builds Credibility and Trust

SEO aims to build a strong base for a website to provide a clean, friendly, and effective experience to users. With its digital properties, SEO can build the credibility and trust of a brand. No doubt, trust, a them nd credibility cannot be built overnight, so you need patience and commitment. Just rely on professional SEO experts like Olga Gladkaya and Mike Zhmudikov from SEO Company in Toronto, and allow to do wonders for your brand.

Better User Experience

Everybody desires maximum visibility and better organic rankings, but for that, it’s important to focus on optimal user experience. A favorable user experience can make a website successful. Customers are well aware of their needs and if they cannot find the right information, their experience will be affected. Therefore, it’s necessary to provide desired information to customers in a few clicks and that can be possible with quality SEO.

Positive Impact on Buying Cycle

Customers prefer doing research when they want a specific product or service. Thanks to the internet and search engines that have made their research quick and hustle-free. Quality SEO tactics can broadcast your message for exclusive deals, groundbreaking services or/and products, and the significance of your offering. This will definitely influence the customer buying cycle positively. Try dagmarmarketing.com to get help having your business appear in the top search results when people search in your industry.

Helps Understand the Web Environment

The web environment keeps on changing due to the advancement in technology. Of course, it can be challenging to keep your website updated along with the change in web development. Having a credible hosting partner like Hosting Foundry is a great start. But with SEO, you can understand the web development and can know about tactics being applied by other competitors.

Comparatively Cheap

Of course, Search Engine Optimization costs money. But you will be glad to know that the SEO cost is relatively cheap if we consider its benefits for a brand or business. Spending on SEO will be an investment for your business and it will generate benefits for several upcoming years. So, invest today and enjoy long-term perks.

Expert Tips to Create Warm Feelings With Your Brand in Social Media

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Penny Ortiz

Social media has taken its throne in marketing, and for many businesses, it’s the key element for brand growth. If done right, the domino effect can create a wave of positivity for most businesses to boost brand awareness and increase conversions to increase sales.

Promoting your brand on social media is vital for most businesses, but creating the right emotions with your content in these channels increases sales. The key to becoming successful in social media marketing is engagement and creating warm feelings with your brand. When consumers associate well with your brand, it creates brand loyalty and increases your growth.

Here are some practical tips you can use to create warm feelings with your brand on social media.

Understand Your Audience

When generating content for your social media pages or website, it’s essential to understand who your target audience is and what they are about. When you know and understand your target market, you’ll learn how to create the right emotions that will appeal to them.

For example, a business selling cars may need to create content that’s showcasing adventure, status, and other feel-good emotions. If it’s a luxury car company, your customers want to feel special and feel they are paying for exclusivity. A business in the financial sector may also need to convey trust, security, and integrity. All these are ways of creating warm feelings with content and helps your target audience resonate well with your brand.

Create a Compelling Title

The first thing that attracts your target audience to click on your content is the headline of your blog post, visuals, or videos. You need to trigger a response that will compel your audience to click on your content and read it.

When creating your titles, you can use powerful words that set off warm feelings, like the words “best,” “free,” “tips,” and other terms that will make your audience eager to click and read your content. You can also build confidence in your brand by using “certified” or “expert” that indicates authority and authenticity.

Remember, to be considered an expert in your industry, you must be professional and give valuable insights backed up by facts. You can maintain your credibility by using hard evidence, like citing reliable sources and imagery.

Create short and intriguing titles by using relevant keywords and powerful words to create excitement. A creative title will help you get more engagement and traffic to your social media pages and your brand.

Engage Your Consumers with Your Content

When customers use a hashtag and mention your brand, you can respond to the customer’s post. This makes the customer feel valued and cared for by your brand. When you give direct responses to customers’ content when they tag you, it also increases engagement while creating warm feelings toward your brand. There are different tools online you can use to find posts that mention your brand on social media.

You can also continue the conversation by asking questions about their experiences with your products or services. When they get back to you about their experience with your brand, it helps you remedy any mistakes and will also spark more engagement among other users.

Make Your Posts Visual

Images and videos are awesome additions to add to your social media posts and marketing content in general. They create a more appealing post that users will want to read and attract consumers who disregard plain text in social media posts. Including an image or a short video in your social media posts can appeal to more users and increase posts’ accessibility.

Have videos of your brand story like how far you’ve come and grown as a business, or you as a business owner from your childhood. Sharing the video on social media with your audience is an excellent way of connecting with them and creating warm feelings with your brand. By sharing your business stories, it humanizes your brand. Your consumers can easily relate to your brand, build an even stronger relationship with you, boost sales, and increase brand loyalty.

It’s easy to transfer the videos from DVD to your computer by digitizing them. There are various forms of digitizing DVDs for different software. For example, you can use a DVD Ripper for Windows.

Post Frequently and at The Right Time

Ensuring your social media channels are active is essential to show your audience that you’re up to date and on top of the latest trends. Your consumers want to know what’s happening with your brand, what’s new, and when you’re launching any new products or services. Make sure that you’re frequently posting to keep your audience in the know. It helps them feel like part of your brand, and they are happy when they are aware of any happenings with the brand.

Frequent posts will maintain your loyal followers and will also attract more followers. If you don’t post as often, you may risk losing followers, and your followers may easily forget your brand.

It’s also essential to ensure that you’re posting at the right time when users are active. This is the best way to ensure that your followers see your content, increasing engagement with your posts. Posting frequently about your industry’s latest news will help your business be recognized as an authority within your industry. Publishing this type of content will often showcase your brand ahead of the game.

Engage with the Latest Issues and Trends

Liking and sharing the latest social media posts on your industry’s issues and trends is a terrific way to show involvement and support, assuming you’re reacting or sharing content that’s fair and isn’t offensive. Engaging with such content will strengthen your brand reputation and evoke the right feel for your brand.

Doing this will demonstrate to your consumers whether they are potential customers or not, and that you value social happenings rather than just making money. This will generate admiration and respect for your brand.

How To Keep Yourself Protected On The Internet?

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Tanzeel Ur Rehman

The internet has been one of the greatest revolutionary inventions to transform the world into a fast-paced and fun-filled environment. There’s a huge commonality between the internet and the universe that they have no limit on their expansion and that you never know what they have to offer you. Even though it has a lot of benefits and never-ending interesting things associated with it, it could still turn out to be an absolute nightmare in no time if safety measures are not taken. Following are a few tips and rules to keep you safe and avoid getting you into trouble:

Selection Of The Right ISP

First things first, keeping yourself and your data safe must be your top priority and to do so, make sure to select a reliable internet service provider when thinking of getting a new connection. This way you will already be saving your valuable time against many hackers and viruses as big internet providers smart and strong enough to tackle them on their own. The selection of the right provider is a pathway to a successful experience for online shopping and banking on a protected platform. Nevertheless, we still need to take some extra precautionary measures from our side to ensure we leave no room for viruses or hackers to interfere.

You may visit www.localcabledeals.com to see which providers are available within your area and you may compare them to see which provider offers the tightest security and which one of them best suits your requirements.

Keeping Your Info Confidential

Keep your personal data such as your address, date of birth, phone number, account details, or any other important information private at all times, and always keep a check on how people can see these details on privacy settings. You don’t want millions of people to see these details without your consent. Similarly, never share or upload stuff you don’t want your family or strangers to see as you nearly lose control of all that stuff that has been posted online.

Avoid Phishers and Scammers

Don’t make a fool out of yourself by clicking random links on emails or other websites asking for your login details or other information. Trust me, no one is kind or dumb enough to give you a new iPhone or million dollars to a random person from a different country for just clicking on the link or sharing it. Rather, it could cost you the money you’re looking to earn for free. Therefore, be smart enough to go to legitimate sites and apps directly, rather than sharing your details with phishers. Never share your login details with anyone and keep a strong, yet easy to remember, password to keep yourself safe.

Careful Against Fake Profiles

In today’s world, there are loads of ways people can trick you easily into trusting them. Fake social media profiles with bold pictures are one of those tricks to attract the opposite gender into their scams, resulting in harmful consequences. Hence, never agree on meeting anyone in person you spoke to online as there’s a very rare chance it would be the same guy who claimed to be the one. Only agree on meeting someone you met online at a public place with an adult who your parents trust upon. Try to be as cautious in social media as you are in real social life!

Keep Your Systems Safe

Keep your devices secure at all times and there are plenty of ways to do it. Keep your antivirus software updated, it cannot guarantee 100% security but will detect and remove most of the malware on its own. Moreover, keep your operating system and the applications you use up to date as well, as a new update comes up with essential security layers. Also, make a habit of keeping your webcam veiled when not in use to keep yourself protected from viruses that let hackers see through your webcam.

Conclusion

The aforementioned points are a generic overlook of providing you with a safe ground on the internet. Keep these above tips in mind and implement them in your daily life internet usage and you would never lose your data or important information online. There are a lot of other ways hackers can use to reach you out, however, if someone is looking for a blueprint to follow, sticking to these tips will not only make life easier for them but will also guarantee a guarded journey throughout.

How To Build A Profitable Affiliate Marketing Website

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Liv Taub

There are many steps to building a profitable affiliate marketing website. According to recent studies, over 80% of brands and publishers alike leverage affiliate marketing tactics. Indeed, these marketing strategies are popular ways to refer visitors to various products and services. With each successful referral, you can earn commission from your program.

Fortunately, digital marketing doesn’t require significant startup capital, making it a great way to increase your earnings. As an upcoming affiliate marketer, you need to know the proper steps to build a profitable website. This way, you can boost website traffic and generate higher revenue. Read on to learn about how to build a profitable affiliate marketing website.

Decide on Your Niche

First, you need to decide on your niche for your website. Ideally, you should choose a narrow target audience. Naturally, focusing on a smaller group of people makes it easier to figure out their exact needs and deliver value to your customers. Often, thinking of niches within niches is an effective way to narrow your focus. For example, you might want to target a fitness audience for your affiliate program. To break this down further, you might choose to target individuals interested in healthy eating habits, weight-loss, or yoga.

When choosing your niche, be sure to think of at least four or five products this audience would want to purchase. This is essential to ensure there are affiliate opportunities for your niche. Another example niche is real estate marketing. Check out the top real estate affiliate programs to learn more about real estate websites and how to promote them.

Find A Web Hosting Provider

Once you’ve determined your niche, you need to find a web hosting provider. To maximize profits, affiliate marketers need an online presence that’s fast, affordable, and designed to increase conversions. Therefore, look for a web hosting provider that offers plentiful bandwidth and storage to meet your site needs. Websites with more media content require more bandwidth per visit than simpler blogging sites with one image per article.

Ideally, try to estimate the amount of traffic you get on your website to determine your bandwidth needs. Then, you’ll need to scale your site as your traffic increases. Thus, look for cloud hosting providers or plans that have easy switching procedures to ensure you seamless scalability. Certainly, you need to find a web hosting provider to meet the goals of your unique affiliate marketing website.

Choose A Domain Registrar

In addition, you need to choose a domain registrar to reserve the domain name for your affiliate marketing site. When choosing your domain registrar, research how different providers handle domain management. For example, some registrars offer auto renewal services, bulk discounts, and unique extensions.

With these options, you may want to purchase multiple domain extensions and common misspellings of your brand name. This makes your website easier to find, increasing your potential traffic. For more information on choosing the best domain registrar, Neil Patel’s domain registrar review offers in-depth comprehensive advice and recommendations. It is essential to choose a reliable domain registrar to launch your affiliate marketing campaign.

Join an Affiliate Program

Moreover, you need to join an affiliate marketing program once you have your small business website domain. Of course, your affiliate program largely depends on your desired niche. Generally, there are two affiliate models to choose from. First, you can join a high-paying low volume program. Usually, software and web hosting products are the most popularly sold items in this approach.

On the other hand, low commissions and high-sales volume programs can offer a wider range of products and more niche flexibility. To find your program, conduct a search based on the type of product you want to sell. Use affiliate market search engines for more comprehensive results and data on the program. Absolutely, joining an affiliate program is essential to start selling products and earning revenue.

Create Compelling Content

Lastly, you need to create compelling content to drive traffic to your site and increase your sales. By generating regular content around your chosen site, you can raise the number of product views and conversions. Many affiliate marketers write blogs and reviews for their website. Importantly, you need to select targeted, specific keywords based on the content your audience is searching for. W

hen writing your content, consider how your potential consumers are going to use your products. Notably, consumers are more likely to make a purchase when they feel knowledgeable in the product and are persuaded by the results it can yield. Therefore, you need to create compelling content to increase your affiliate site’s profits.

There are several steps to build a profitable affiliate marketing website. First, you need to decide on a narrow niche for your site. Next, find a reliable web hosting provider that meets your traffic needs. In addition, choose a domain registrar to reserve your domains and IP addresses. Moreover, join an affiliate program with appropriate products for your audience. Lastly, create compelling content to drive traffic to your site. Follow these steps to learn how to build a profitable affiliate marketing website.

7 Reasons Ethical Hackers are a Must-Have to your Business

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Rachel Burnham

Reasons to Protect Your Business with White Hackers

Hacking is the process associated with spyware programs to gain unauthorized access to a business system. With malicious actions, a hacker can steal confidential information, download business files, etc. From the point of view of unauthorized access, such actions are illegal. The opposite person to a black hacker is an ethical hacker. Such a specialist legitimately sneaks into your business system to check for vulnerabilities. Login is only done with the permission of the business manager. Therefore, hire a hacker for business is the right decision.

Ethical hackers are always proactive

If you use the services of a white hacker, then he will not wait until the cybersecurity of your business is violated, or a data leak occurs. The white hacker is immediately aware of the existing vulnerabilities before something threatens the security of the business. That is, an expert will prevent a cyber-attack.

Moreover, if anything bad happens to any of your systems or servers, these experts are here to correct the issue right away. Lots of companies have a cloud disaster recovery service on speed dial so they can prevent any data loss or other issues that come up in the event of a cyber-attack. This is an important service because it helps to quickly fix any security problem that may arise.

Is there a demand for ethical hackers?

Let’s see what do ethical hackers do. White or ethical hackers provide services to increase information systems’ security with the knowledge and agreement with the customer within the framework of a contractual relationship or according to the program of reward for vulnerabilities found. Are you complicated to understand? Let’s make it simpler: white hackers hack you and your resources with your permission and for money and show how they did it so that you fix this bug and no one else hacks you.

White hackers will offer you penetration testing, or red teaming, ranging from $ 3,000 to millions of dollars, depending on the task’s complexity. The range of their services and prices varies significantly across the market and depends on specialists’ competence and company size. As you can see, the service fees are high, but darker if there were no demand, the price would not have risen so much.

What companies hire ethical hackers?

The American platform Bugcrowd has calculated that ethical hackers who help companies find bugs and holes in security systems make up to $ 500,000 a year. Virtually every major tech company and financial institution is working with ethical hackers, including Tesla, Amazon, and Facebook. Large companies are willing to pay large sums of money to hire burglars. Tesla and IJet pay hackers between $ 1,000 and $ 15,000 for finding a bug or loophole in the system, depending on its complexity and the severity problem. Mastercard is ready to pay ethical hackers from $ 3 thousand. This practice of finding errors for a fee is called bug bounty in the professional community. In American companies, there is a fairly common practice of creating separate bug bounty programs when any user can report security holes.

Do ethical hackers need a degree?

Ethical hackers usually work to find critical vulnerabilities with a price of $ 3-5 thousand. As a rule, such specialists have certificates of Certified Ethical Hacker, Offensive Security Certified Professional, and others. Accordingly, to master the direction of hacking, it is not necessary to have a scientific degree. It is enough to pass certified courses by good experts.

Ethical Hacking – Reasons to Use the Service

White hackers are known to partner with many companies that report their cybersecurity. A common task for a white hacker is to conduct penetration tests on a business system. White hackers conduct authorized hacking of the client’s systems and products while testing them for vulnerabilities and resistance to attacks. This is just a test, not to steal personal data. The system is hacked under the direction of the company. The expert records all the results and draws up a detailed report, which indicates where the vulnerabilities are in the system. Do you think about the service of white hackers? Do you want to hire a specialist, but you are not sure if? Then below, we have described important reasons.

An ethical hacker can skillfully handle a VPN

Regular networks of proxy servers can no longer guarantee complete anonymity and security. Virtual private networks have long replaced proxies. VPN provides isolated access to the network through VPN server chains and encryption of transmitted data. Therefore, if you want to hide your activity from the provider and third parties, you need to use VPN. But not all VPNs can keep you from hacking.

Only ethical hackers know how to handle the program and select the VPN servers list properly. The best service is VeePN. All you have to do is register on the VeePN website, then download the app to start using the VPN right away without the need to configure anything. You can connect to many countries because the developers took care of their users and created a huge selection of VPN server locations. You can enjoy an extensive network of VPN servers in 50 locations across 42 countries. VeePN is available on laptops, computers, and mobile devices. One account can use the service on several different devices. The program also offers a trial so that every user can be convinced of the quality of services.

Injection of malicious code

These vulnerabilities allow writing to the database of a site, service, or application. What is the threat? For example, if a hacker found such a vulnerability on the website, he could easily:

change any news and sections on the site, adding or deleting part of the data;
add or remove administrators, editors, moderators;
place your ad, links, text, code, script;
sell links from someone else’s site.

To avoid this, you must partner with ethical hackers.

Invalid authentication and session management

A fairly common vulnerability, as a rule, is caused by insufficient thoughtfulness of the authorization logic or additional session checks. From interesting examples of exploitation, we immediately remembered one exchange. Due to incorrect management of sessions combined with an IDOR vulnerability, it was possible to reset the password from any account by changing the email for recovery. Therefore, to avoid this threat, you need the services of an ethical hacker.

Cross-site scripting

The specificity of such attacks is that malicious code can use user authorization in the web system to gain extended access to it or to obtain user authorization data. Hackers can insert malicious code into a page either through a vulnerability in the web server or through a vulnerability on the user’s computer. The idea here is to force the attacked site to transmit data to the attacker’s site. Don’t want to get under attack – you need white hackers.

Ethical hackers are cost-effective

Black hackers can do a lot of damage to a business, resulting in bailouts or significant money losses. If an ethical hacker can detect the weakest points in the business system and prevent an attack, you will save much more money, even though an ethical hacker’s services are high.

Ethical hackers know everything about black hackers

Even if you know how black hackers operate, you may not always stop his evil actions. Black hackers use many harmful programs that the average person does not know about in their work. In fact, by harming your business, they will earn money, although this is not legal. Ethical hackers, who know many programs and understand their functioning, will accordingly prevent any threat. You will be free from problems, and your business will flourish.

Latest innovations in FinTech

Posted on January 11, 2021 by David Smith

The fintech industry has evolved greatly in the past few years and is continuously developing over time. This form of technology has put behind traditional banking methods and has introduced new and improved methods of banking which have completely revolutionized the financial arena in 2020.

Our article today highlights some of the most significant innovations in the fintech industry this year.

1. Digital Banking is Future

The advancement in digital technology has paved the way for digital-only banking. The common use of smartphones has further made digital banking a convenient and accessible solution for people. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic digital banking has become widely popular as one can fulfill their banking needs without having to physically go to the bank. It also allows people to pay their bills without having to step outside their house.

Moreover, one can monitor their expenses, transfer funds from one account to another, and be able to manage their finances more efficiently through different mobile applications. People are no longer forced to take a ticket and stand in long queues. They can simply log in to their account and get the task done in a matter of a few seconds.

2. Cryptocurrencies on the Rise

Cryptocurrencies are a comparatively new technology which has completely shaken the financial sector all over the world. A cryptocurrency is a digital form of a financial asset or a digital currency that is encrypted through special codes. Breaking these codes is close to impossible which makes cryptocurrencies a secure way to substitute money especially for virtual transactions.

Bitcoin is one of the most popular forms of cryptocurrency which has been a market leader for over a decade now. Some of the biggest market players in the tech industry such as Microsoft have now started to accept Bitcoins. Cryptocurrencies have indeed made transactions across the globe easier but a lot of cryptocurrency providers are worried about the illegal activities surrounding digital currency such as money laundering and cybersecurity attacks. It would be beneficial on the part of cryptocurrency providers to provide access to relevant security certification training to their employees to make cryptocurrencies a safe option.

3. Digital Insurance Gaining Popularity

The latest digital insurance trends are steadily making their way into the insurance industry. Consumers are now demanding a fully digitalized experience when it comes to insurance-based interactions whether they are looking for simple term policies or life insurance companies that offer rebates. Digital Insurance companies are taking on a more customer-centric approach to help them implement new technologies and provide solutions to their customer that would fulfill their insurance needs.

Insurance companies are struggling to bring a completely digitalized experience to their customers. It should be understood that digitalizing insurance is a process and will require time. Having the right tools and cooperative staff can help in bringing consumers the experience they have been longing for.

4. Big Data Technology

One can simply not underestimate the role of big data in bringing a financial revolution to the fintech industry. Big data has changed the way the financial sector generates value for its customers. There is a massive emphasis on meeting customer demands and improving user experience in today’s world. Moreover, companies are continuously looking out for innovations and tools that could help improve their services and enhance the customer experience.

Big data along with machine learning provides the financial sector with promising results. Fintech companies can perform lengthy tasks of credit scoring and assessing their customers for creditworthiness at a much faster pace. Previously, it would take finance providers days to assess credit scores as it would need to be done manually. Things are different now, with technological advancements the process is much smoother and customers don’t have to wait for long periods.

5. Alternate Methods of Payment

As conventional form of payments is becoming history, there is a huge stress on alternate forms of payments. E-wallets have been on the forefront of this. An e-wallet is a pre-paid electronic card that can be used to make online transactions through a smartphone, tablet, or any other electronic device.

Your e-wallet will most likely be secured by a password. To activate the e-wallet, the user will be required to install the software on the device underuse and enter the information required. Once you have shopped online your e-wallet will automatically fill in the information on the payment form and the transaction will be complete.

E-wallets are not just used for online shopping they are becoming increasingly famous in more mature markets and are being accepted by the merchants in the US and the UK. According to Statista, the mobile e-wallet market has reached transactions worth the US $1 trillion in 2020 alone.

6. Multiple Payment Gateways

The online shopping sector is booming in all parts of the world. With the surge in online shoppers, there has been an increase in the payment gateways that companies provide their users. The key to providing your customers with a great purchase experience is to provide them with a payment option that they are comfortable with. Payment gateways solve this issue as they provide the customers with several payment modes.

These payment modes can include credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets (discussed above), and different forms of cryptocurrencies. With the flexibility to make payments, customers are more likely to make purchases. Payment gateways not only provide customers with convenience they also make payments more secure for the customers.

7. Small Ticket Loans

Fintech technology has made small-ticket loans possible. Something which was out of the question for mainstream banks and lenders. They were reluctant to give loans to small companies due to the low margin for the outcome and the high cost of setting the loan up and recovering it. Fintech companies are giving their consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later. The loans come with a 0% interest rate which makes repaying them easy through installments. You must be thinking that how is money made then? This is done through sharing the customer data with the manufacturers. Reaching out to other customers who have the same demographics can skyrocket sales immensely!

Future Thoughts

There are several other innovations in the fintech industry such as biometric authentication, peer-to-peer transactions, and so many more that have also been popular among consumers this year. The rate at which fintech technology is being embraced by consumers is incredible. With the current stats, it is safe to predict that digital financial technologies will be adopted more readily by people in the future. With the growing popularity in the fintech industry, traditional banking systems are going to be a talk of the past unless they decide to adopt the technological aspects of the financial sector. Only then will they be able to prevail in the years to come.