Awesome Gmail Features You Probably Didn’t Know

A lot of people have one goal when it comes to their email. They just choose the right email service, set it up and that’s it. Most of them are not even interested in many different features one has to offer.

On the other hand, there are those curious users that are always looking for something hidden and at the same time beneficial for their email. It can either be an interesting feature or an overlooked trick that makes things much more exciting.

This type of obsession may lead you to some spectacular discoveries. If you are currently using Gmail and you haven’t uncovered anything interesting yet, check out our list of things that cannot be spotted easily.

Hidden Gems Of Gmail

Switching Accounts

This option is available to iPhone users for quite some time, but now, those who have Android phones accounts can do this too! This is a great alternative for those who have more than just one account.

The feature is called swipe-to-switch which means that it enables you to swipe (both up or down) on your Gmail Account avatar that can be seen in the top-right corner and to switch between Gmail accounts. Once you do this, the icon on your first profile will be changed.

Free Phone Calls

There are many applications, such as Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook messenger, etc. Even Microsoft allows you to do this, through Outlook, however, you have to leave the program and go straight to Skype.

With Gmail, things are much simpler. All you have to do is to press ” Make a call “, at the bottom of the screen and just insert the number you wish to contact. Then you’ll be connected through your webcam microphone. All calls to Canada or the United States are free for the time being. 

We Bet You Didn’t Know This Either!

Restore Things

Many people have accidentally deleted something they weren’t supposed to. Don’t worry. Even if this happens to you, those deleted events can luckily be restored. How, you wonder… There are a few easy steps that have to be taken.

  1. Go to your Calendar and open My calendars list
  2. Hover over the calendar and next to the name, press the Down arrow Trash
  3. Go to the box that is placed next to the event you want to restore and do one of these things: click Restore selected events if you want to restore deleted event or click Delete Forever if you want this event to be gone forever
  4. If you want to remove every single event, just press Empty trash now that’s placed at the top

Mute Fiddling Conversations

Most of us are constantly bombarded by boring, insignificant spam emails or at times someone may send you an email chain with a bunch of people you do not even know. Then you start receiving their replies and you suddenly realize you are stuck in a never-ending cycle.

How can you escape from it? Fortunately, Gmail allows its users to simply silence any conversation that is irrelevant to them. All you have to do is to select that boring email and tap on the three-dot icon on the bar above. If you do this, you never see these emails again because they will go directly to the archive. 

Undo Sent Messages

How many times have you unintentionally sent a message to someone? It has probably happened a lot. Well now, thanks to Gmail, you can easily correct this mistake by utilizing the undo-send button.

This is probably one of the biggest benefits that Gmail has to offer. Firstly, it was just a tester from Google Labs. In the meantime, it has received a lot of positive reviews and comments from the user, hence, they decided to turn it into a feature.

If you want to use it, just go to the “General” option and press the “Enable Undo Send” button to cancel the message. Once you send an email and you will notice an undo link in a yellow floating box. Just click on it and you will be presented with two options – to delete it forever or to re-edit it. 

So Many Wonderful Features!

It’s easy to see based on this list that Google (Gmail) is taking care of its users by simplifying email management. Now, you do not have to spend hours and hours searching for different options.

Additionally, Gmail is great because it is packed with numerous amazing features. And to think we named only a couple of them. Needless to mention, that you can use them in your marketing activities, all you need to do is to get a few established Gmail accounts, Accsmarket might help you with that. All these elements make this service even more outstanding than it appears at first glance. So what are you waiting for? Go and explore it!

6 Tips for Creating a Comfortable and Effective Workstation

Various studies have shown that a person’s workstation can affect the quality of their work by a sizable margin. This has pushed employers to exert effort to provide the best possible work environment for their employees to thrive and thus increase productivity and work quality in the office. There are different factors to take into consideration when thinking of ways to increase workplace efficiency and productivity. Having some tips to help you through the process can make it much easier and more organized.

1- Organizing a Workstation Layout

Speaking of a more organized process to make your workplace more efficient, the first tip that you can use is properly organizing your workstation layout. A person’s environment greatly affects their thinking patterns. If you are surrounded by any kind of clutter or have a messy workstation in general, you will have a hard time focusing on work. You will find yourself becoming distracted and you will feel frustrated. You might even decide to take more breaks than necessary just because of how frustrated you are because of the mind-blocks that you have. Decluttering your workstation and keeping it minimalistic can help clear up your mind and help you focus on the tasks at hand. This is because your brain is assaulted by hundreds of different stimuli at once, so it cannot really focus on the task you want to get done.  

2- Investing in Adjustable Office Furniture

Convertible standing desks and swivel chairs with adjustable back support can accommodate the needs of the individual using them depending on their height, weight, and preference (whether they prefer to work in a standing or sitting position). Forcing yourself to do a time-consuming task in one position can be physically straining, especially if you’re compelled to stay seated for long hours. However, with a standing desk converter, your body can be in motion while you work. What’s more, these pieces have been proven to reduce back pain, increase energy levels, and improve overall health. This leads to more productive hours at work since you’re not struggling with discomfort.

Purchasing padded and height-adjustable chairs will ensure that you’re always sitting in the correct posture. Further, monitors should always be placed at eye-level, so it’s also a good idea to invest in monitor stands to position your displays in a way that would not strain your eyes or neck.

3- Having the Right Workstation Furniture

A tip that could prove to be really helpful in making sure that you are productive is getting the right office furniture. Being comfortable gives you the benefit of being able to do work for long periods of time without getting tired or feeling irritated. One of the basic workstation furniture pieces that you need to get a hold of is a good-quality desk. If you want an added boost in productivity. The design of the Desky dual ergo edge sit stand desk gives you an idea of what an ideal ergonomic desk should look like and how its design allows you to work comfortably without having to damage your back and neck. Getting a desk that allows you to work when you are sitting down in a chair, or standing up will make a bigger difference in your productivity than you might ever think. If you are not the type of person who can concentrate on work while standing, then you can invest in a high-quality chair that gives you the support you need while working.

4- Adjusting Monitor Settings

If your work requires constant use of a laptop or computer, then it might be a good idea to adjust your monitor settings. Eye strain is one of the side effects that many office workers face when they have to do work on their computer for hours at a time. Eye strain is caused by the intensity of the light being emitted by the monitor as well as fonts that could cause you to constantly squint at the screen. Adjusting your screen’s settings to ensure that you can work without harming your eyesight is important if you want to be productive.

5- Having Enough Space

If you still haven’t set up your workstation, then this is your chance to ensure you start off on the right foot. Make sure that you have a productive time at work by giving yourself the space you need to move around. If you have limited space to work with, get smaller furniture pieces so that you have space to roam or to move around without bumping into things or other people going about their day.

6- Having Better Access to Equipment

Having better access to equipment will help you get your work done faster because there is less of a chance of getting distracted by something else. Studies have shown that when employees need to navigate through the workplace carefully just to reach the equipment they have to use, they are less likely to do the task quickly. They get more easily distracted, not to mention that having limited access to office equipment such as printers or office supplies can derail work since they are necessary for most tasks.

Using these six diverse tips, you will be able to have the most productive and effective workstation ever. You do not have to worry about going home at the end of the day dissatisfied with the amount of work you finished. Better yet, you will have an easier time exercising your creativity and innovativeness so that you can be more efficient and productive.

Tech Upgrades to Modernize Your Business

Staying up to date is hugely important no matter what industry you are in as this allows you to stay competitive, streamline your business and satisfy the changing needs and expectations of your target customers. Those that fail to modernize will inevitably get left behind, but it can also be hard to stay current when there are so many developments and trends changing in every industry. Technology is one of the most effective ways to stay current, especially in a time when many astonishing developments have taken place in the tech industry. With this in mind, here are a few tech upgrades to make that will help to modernize your business.

Cybersecurity

First, you need to make sure that you are current when it comes to cybersecurity.

It is unfortunate, but this is an enormous and growing problem that affects businesses of all sizes and in all industries so you need to make sure that you have the best possible protection in place with antivirus software, a VPN, firewall, password managers and other cybersecurity solutions.

Remote Working Tech and Tools

Remote work was steadily becoming more common prior to the pandemic, but is now considered the new normal with many businesses planning to stick with remote work even once the pandemic is over as it can bring many perks for all. In order to take advantage of these benefits, a business needs to have the best remote work technology and tools available, including screen sharing software, video call software and anything else that will help to make remote work easier for staff.

Cloud Migration

Cloud computing can bring a wide range of benefits to a modern-day business, including reduced IT costs, access to virtually limitless computer resources, easier collaboration remotely and reduced IT maintenance. So, it is easy to see why so many businesses are migrating to the cloud. What is cloud migration? This is the process of moving your digital assets from old infrastructure to cloud infrastructure and it is an important way to modernize that could transform your business and improve daily operations.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is a type of tech that is becoming widespread and is no longer just seen as a futuristic type of technology in sci-fi movies. One of the best aspects of AI is that it can be used in so many ways, so getting to grips with this technology can help your business greatly and allow you to improve many areas. A few of the best uses of this type of tech include:

  • Data analysis
  • Process automation
  • Chatbots
  • Streamlining logistics
  • Predicting behavior
  • Improving marketing

Any business looking to modernize and stay current should consider these tech upgrades. Technology is one of the most effective ways to modernize a business and can help firms to succeed in several different ways, but it can also be challenging to keep up to date when there are so many impressive developments constantly being made. Starting with these will make a big difference and help your company to stay current.

How To Be Effective In Managing Your Expenses While You’re Out Traveling

When you are traveling, your whole routine gets disrupted – It can be difficult to stay organized. Although many of us associate traveling with taking time off, going on holiday and enjoying ourselves, others are required to travel constantly as part of their jobs.

When you travel as part of your work, you may be required to pay for everything yourself and keep track of your expenses so that you can claim your money from the company at a later date. This can be a headache considering that you are doing your job that has required you to travel, and also have to keep note of everything you spend your money on, not only to ensure that you can receive it back, but also making sure that you do not spend more than you should. In this article, we will advise you of how to be effective in managing your expenses while you’re out traveling, by keeping track of where the money goes and also by ensuring the amount spent remains as low as possible.

Understand Your Company’s Expense Policies

If your job requires you to travel often, whether you work for a company or are self-employed, you will have to submit expenses that are associated with the job that you do. It is crucial that you understand your company’s policies around expenses and reimbursement when you travel. Although this may sound like an obvious tip, not everyone knows exactly what type of expenses the company will cover and what the process of claiming your expenses entails, particularly if this is a new job for you. This is essential if you want to increase your efficiency and ability to manage your expenses while you’re traveling.

Keep All Evidence

You cannot forget that most companies will require evidence to go with the expenses claim submission to prove that you have indeed made that payment and that it was necessary as part of your time away for work. This evidence comes in the form of receipts, itineraries and invoices. Always ensure to keep all of these documents as well as make notes of where you spend the money and how much. This may seem a difficult chore at first, but it will quickly develop into a habit that will significantly improve how efficient you are at managing your expenses.

Put Evidence into Different Categories

We have discussed the importance of keeping your receipts safe. No matter how long you are away for, it is very likely you will have many different receipts for a diverse range of categories. It is a good idea to have different folders or envelopes, where you can keep all your receipts, invoices and any other evidence separate. This will make a significant difference when managing your expenses.

Get an Expenses Tracking App

Keeping track of your expenses is not an easy task when you are away. The experts behind Keeper Tax suggest using a mobile expense tracking software so that all the information is kept safe and in one place. This will make it much easier to manage all expenses and to submit the claim to your employer. Most of these apps even enable you to add the receipts and evidence of expenses so that it is less work for you.

Submit Your Report ASAP

Doing the expense report can be overwhelming, particularly when you are not organized to begin with. For this reason, many people end up losing money due a poorly written expense report or they simply find it easier to lose the money completely rather than submitting an expenses claim at all. This is why it is so necessary that you are organized from day one at managing your expenses, as it will ensure that you can submit this as soon as possible. You do not have to aim to have it done on the same day but at least within 48 hours.

Plan Ahead

One of the most important tips when managing your expenses, is to be organized and to plan ahead as much as you possibly can. This cannot be stressed enough. If you know that you will be away, make sure that you have an app where you can input your expense and keep track of these, ensure that you remember to get evidence with every expense, and that you separate them as we discussed above. The better prepared you are, the more efficient you will be when managing your expenses.

Managing your expenses can be demanding when you are away. When it comes to money, companies often want to ensure that they are not being tricked and that the expense made was essential. Make sure to follow some of the tips above, which will hopefully support you to effectively manage your expenses while you’re out traveling.

What Can You Do With a Self Directed IRA?

The prevailing belief towards getting wealthy and accumulating strong self-worth is through hard work. While this may be true to an extent, the real way to build wealth is by creating multiple streams of income and earnings. Investing is one of the quickest ways to start setting your future self up for bigger gains and a better life.

The best way to be able to retire comfortably is by building a retirement portfolio through income investing sooner rather than later. How exactly do you start investing? Well, one of the safest options around is a Roth IRA, which works as a retirement account of sorts, but obviously, it is a little more complicated than that. There are also self-directed IRAs that have their own unique advantages, and here are some of the things you can do with a self-directed IRA.

More Portfolio Diversification 

Investing in many different retirement plans or other investing portfolios limits you to a select few assets. Common ones include mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and bonds. While these are usually safe and proven ways to help build your money, there are so many more options out there to focus only on these few. Being able to diversify your portfolio with rare Earth metals (gold, silver, palladium, platinum), REITs, land trusts, start-ups, equity, and emerging assets like cryptocurrencies helps create a much broader and potentially more lucrative long term investing. Self-directed allows you more freedom to choose what to invest in.

Investing in gold, in particular, can be a valuable addition to your diversified portfolio. It has long been considered a hedge against economic uncertainty and inflation. Additionally, one of the advantages of investing in gold is its liquidity. Gold is recognized globally as a valuable asset, making it relatively easy to sell, and you can often get good money for it, especially during times of economic instability when its value tends to rise. This liquidity and stability can provide investors with peace of mind, knowing that they can easily convert their gold holdings into cash when needed.

More Control Over Investing

Just like you have more control over how to diversify your portfolio, you can expect to be able to grow your knowledge of investing and financial literacy regarding assets as you continue to grow your self-directed IRA. Learning the basics is always important for opening a Roth IRA, but you also need to understand that you have to do it yourself eventually. Financial advisors are great at what they do, but the information is out there, and learning while you invest is always an option that is available.

As a word of caution, investing is not a game, and people can lose a lot of their money when they take risks that are emotionally driven instead of backed by knowledge. It can be incredibly hard to build wealth when you are investing without knowledge, so self-directed lets you have more control over what you do and how you learn, but it does not mean your investments will always go up.

Long Term Wealth Planning

Back to the beginning, making your money solely through income will be able to sustain you, but it will never get you rich unless you are earning a doctor’s salary, so for that, you need to invest. The same applies to building wealth that you can pass down. Generational wealth, as it is called, is lost after just two generations because there is no educating the youth of a family on the power of things like compound interest. Being able to set up your grandchildren one day with a strong portfolio of investments should be something to consider now while you have the time, or at least pass it down to your own children eventually.

Building generational wealth can be done with other types of investing accounts, but a self-directed IRA has an interesting benefit. There is a provision that allows the tax-free gains from the IRA to be passed down, which helps set up your beneficiary with the growth you made. Over a long period of time, the right assets can lead to the planning that helps a family become sustainable and self-dependent with their money.

Also Read: What is the difference between a Roth 401(k) and a Roth IRA?

Better Protection of Assets

It is somewhat of an oxymoron to say that a self-directed IRA provides better protection for your assets, but there is a reason to make that claim. While you are in charge of your investments and there is no hand-holding from a financial advisor or brokerage firm to help you, you are able to move around your assets to protect from downturns much easier than some other types of accounts.

During an economic downturn, your stocks may be stuck losing value, and selling them would be a bad way to reposition yourself. With a self-directed IRA, having a diverse portfolio that allows you to shift your assets around provides some extra protection against volatility. Of course, it requires savvy investments in the first place, but having multiple exit strategies is better than being funneled into net losses for your assets.

Using a self-directed IRA is not for everyone, but it does allow you to do some interesting things with your investments to grow your wealth and your future generation’s wealth. Now that you know some of the things you can do with a self-directed IRA, you can make a better choice on what type of investing account to choose.

Should you Buy the New iPhone 12 or Wait for the Samsung Galaxy S21?

With the recent release of the new Apple iPhone 12, many personal tech connoisseurs are wondering if this year might be the year to actually wait on their new iPhone purchase, in favor of the Samsung release in several months. 

Just released in October, the iPhone 12 is a spectacular device. The Samsung S21 has a (possible) January 2021 launch date, rather than mid-February as is usually the norm and promises to be beyond even what we’ve come to expect from Samsung.

Apple users and Android users tend to belong to loyalist tribal camps, making it difficult for users to change devices after years in one tribe — but, could this be the year? The year 2020 has thrown everything else upside down, so why not your phone preference too?

Let’s take a look at the specs of both and see if the S21 is worth waiting for.

Screen

It looks like the S21 Ultra will have a display between 6.7 and 6.9 inches, and will measure 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm (10.8mm if you include the extra camera bump), making it slightly smaller than the S20 Ultra before it.

When it comes to valuable screen real estate, the iPhone 12 Pro has 6.1 inches, falling slightly behind the Galaxy S20 and far behind the sew S21 model. Unfortunately, the iPhone 12 is also outstripped by Samsung’s unbelievable 120Hz screen refresh rate, giving the Galaxy S20 (and presumably the S21) a super smooth visual experience.

You can test the quality of the new screens by playing the vibrantly-colored games and your other favorite mobile games too. It’s a good idea to try each out for yourself but if I had to bet, I’d put my money on the S21 being the superior mobile gaming phone for sure. 

Camera

For the amateur photographers and selfie-lovers out there, the camera specs of both phones are probably not going to be different enough to sway you one way or another. The iPhone 12 and S20 (previous model) were so darn close that they’re pretty much matched for quality.

The Samsung S21 Ultra has a rectangular camera array to accommodate four camera lenses. The Ultra also has a larger camera bump, presumably to provide space for the increased hardware. This makes sense since there have been rumors among the leaked images that the S21 will possibly offer two optical zoom lenses, offering 3x (S21) and 10x (Ultra) zoom.

The Secret Weapon

Samsung has just announced a major breakthrough in the development of RAM for mobile devices, and it could make it into the Galaxy S21 due out in the early part of next year faster than any of its contemporaries.

The company says it’s begun the mass production of its new 10-nanometer 16GB LPDDR5 RAM chips, built using a new technique called extreme ultraviolet technology. According to Samsung, these new chips are so fast that they can transfer 51GB of data in as little as one second. Incredible.

Historically, despite less RAM, iPhones have outperformed Samsung smartphones, even with 4GB or less. The new iPhone 12s are anticipated to have to feature 4GB of RAM and the iPhone 12 Pro models are rumored to be equipped with 6GB of RAM. This new ultraviolet technology might be what finally pushes Samsung over the top and changes the equation.

Naturally, you can expect to see this kind of technology in rival smartphone makers popping up in the near future but for now, it appears to be the secret weapon that Samsung has in store for its January product launch. 

Overall Design

These two phones are excellent pieces of hardware and will do everything (and more) that you might need a phone to do. The easiest way to decide which route to go is to compare the two side-by-side with the most popular data points. 

  • The Samsung S21 has a larger screen size than the iPhone 12.
  • The cameras on both devices are comparable (although the S21 Ultra might have some tricks up its sleeve).
  • The RAM on the Samsung S21 is more than double what the iPhone 12 offers.
  • The Samsung S21 offers incredible 120Hz screen refresh, far above the iPhone 12.
  • The prices of both devices are very similar, even as you scale up in storage, features, etc.

It definitely looks like the Samsung S21 is a winner, although it hasn’t yet been released and there could be some kinks that still need to be worked out.

The Verdict

Buying a new smartphone has become a very personal endeavor. We carry these devices with us everywhere, we stare at them for hours each day, and some of us even have minor panic attacks when we think we’ve misplaced them. Smartphones are almost another limb for some of us. 

That’s why the decision of which phone to get has to be left up to personal preference and based on the specs that are important to you. If January 2121 seems too far away to wait and you need the new iPhone now, however, you should definitely keep the S21 on your radar for next year’s upgrade. 

Why Monitoring The News Helps You Trade Stocks Better

The negative connotation that people have with TV and news is not unfounded. There is a lot of misinformation, propaganda, and ‘empty calorie’ content that’s constantly being introduced to watchers. But amongst all this, there are still things that are worth watching the news for. Taking things a notch further and predicting how the stocks will turn out is the sign of a successful trader. Watching things randomly on the TV is not going to be helpful, which is why accurate monitoring is required. We’ll be mentioning a few reasons that make monitoring the news a key player in improving your stocks trading game.

Understanding the News Effect on Wall Street

News isn’t just used for understanding the new trends in a market, but it can be used as an indicator that can actually sway public opinion more than many people think. If stock traders have been expecting a considerable rise in the stocks of a certain company then a rise has been reported, there are two scenarios that are expected to happen. The first one is if the stocks have risen but not to the level that the market was expecting, which will actually cause the stock price to drop a little bit, and traders may wait for its price to reach a lower level before purchasing again. If it has risen to a level that pleased the traders, it may continue rising as investors start purchasing its stocks. News can help traders in picking certain stocks, but they are not the final indicator that should be used to make the final decision. Picking good companies and sticking with them is a good strategy when a trader has faith in the stock they’ve chosen.

Using the Anticipation to Your Favor

Professional traders not only monitor the news, but they try to anticipate them as accurately as possible. Since news outlets use known financial sources in the market, it is possible to stay ahead of other traders who always wait for the news to know what to do. You can use government reports, such as those released by the Bureau of Labor and the US Census Bureau. This process can take some time because you will need to be able to anticipate the news by watching a lot of them and tracing them to their sources. It is much easier to use software that is specifically optimized to help you stay on top of the news. Reviewers of Benzinga Pro swear by the useful tools that most types of traders can make use of on these kinds of platforms. You can utilize software to bring you news from the very same sources that the biggest financial outlets use.

The Impact of Good News and Bad News

The negative news is always an indicator that investors or traders will start selling their stocks before it reaches a non-profitable price for them. Similar to a sinking ship, people gradually start jumping off it unless it is finally miraculously afloat. Stocks aren’t necessarily sinking ships because it’s possible for a stock to easily make a comeback, but plunging down is usually followed by an unfavorable explanation and it’s more than enough for traders to stay away from it. Whether it’s a bad earnings report, a scandal, a shift in the executive hierarchy, political implications, or similar events that translate to potential uncertainty, they can cause a serious decrease in the price of stocks.

Positive news is often a good indicator of a company’s stocks. While it doesn’t always have to mean that the stock price is going to instantly rise, it can indicate good potential in the upcoming days. Individuals are going to hold on to their stocks and new traders will take up interest by purchasing stocks.

Knowing When Bad News is Good News

Good traders know not only the difference between good news and bad news but also when they aren’t being as straightforward as they seem. As a trader, your good news is probably the bad news of other traders. A hurricane can cause a sharp decline in the price of utility stocks, in addition to insurance stocks as well. On the other hand, home improvement and repair services stocks are going to rise for a while. You need to be able to know how to read between the lines to see which stocks are going to rise and which are going to fall instead.

Successful investors are constantly monitoring the news of the world and different industries to gain insight into the right stocks that they can invest in or trade. There is no doubt that this stage comes after being able to read the market carefully and accurately. Give yourself some time to understand the market to be able to analyze the news and use it to your favor.

Top 5 Best Online Businesses to Start during the worldwide lockdown

There have certainly been few other years since 2020 in living memory, with people across the globe having to adjust to previously unfamiliar phrases. Social distancing. Lockdowns. Or new working concepts, like meeting via zoom rather than in person. But this situation hasn’t all been an imposition. Many have taken advantage of the break from the nine-to-five routine to consider other options. The necessity of going online has inspired entrepreneurs to spring up everywhere. Here are five ideas for Internet businesses with terrific potential.

Online dating

It may not be the easiest business to set up, but it certainly has the potential to be the most lucrative. Online dating has taken the world by storm since the first commercial sites were launched a couple of decades ago. The key to making a success out of this venture would be identifying gaps in an overcrowded market. How about mature dating niche? Refer to a review platforms of dating sites for over 50s to get an impression of how typical outlets operate. If you can bring panache, originality, and creativity to this area of dating, perhaps targeting this niche area in a way that introduces a unique twist, it could prove successful. The key ingredients should be well-designed pages, a strong brand, a fully-realized monetizing aspect, and harnessing social media for free advertising.

E-commerce

There are many virtual retail outlets already, with obvious examples like Amazon or eBay. Rather than just digging out the occasional item from the garage or loft to put on eBay auctions, you could strive to make this more of a formal enterprise. Do you have a particular hobby or passion that you could transform, setting up an online shop to attract worldwide customers? All you need is imagination and dedication. Whether you’ve been stashing football programs or collecting DVDs or albums over the years, most of which are gathering dust, if you can put an online shop together with engaging and well-written content, this could grow legs.

Affiliate marketing

The beauty of affiliate marketing is this is an online business where you don’t have to invest in stock or advertising. Becoming an affiliate involves identifying a product that is already being sold, then offering yourself as a third-party platform to shift these products. Services like Amazon are always looking for mini-marketers to collaborate in selling their products on intelligently-designed platforms. Or identify an area you are keen on blogging about anyway, using your expertise to draw in customers. You’ll get a percentage of sales through commission.

Vlogging

Most of us have read headlines about Vloggers or YouTube stars – individuals who have accumulated huge followers simply by discussing particular topics with authority, then plugging products. This is a difficult area to get into, but if you can crack the unique attributes that make Vlogging such a mesmerizing spectator activity, there’s no reason why you couldn’t go on to carve your own slice of this pie. As with any web enterprise, the key is having captivating content. There are little overheads. All that is required is imagination, a degree of charisma, and perhaps some luck, too!

Freelance writing

A huge side-effect of the worldwide lockdown is more and more people going online. New websites are popping up all over the place, but no matter how competently-designed these might be, they will survive or expire solely based on the strength of their content. So sites will always be looking for content providers, and you can charge accordingly. You could easily set up your own freelance writing business when demand gets high enough.

Backing Up Your Data? Here are Your Options

Here’s the thing, if you are using a computer for storing pretty much any sort of information, you must ensure that your data is being safely stored and backed up. This doesn’t mean that you are paranoid or anything like that, just that you are aware that an unexpected event like hard drive failure, a virus, or file corruption could wipe out some really important things.

All of that being said, you really shouldn’t overlook backing up your data, but you should also be aware that there are some dos and don’ts, as well as a lot of different options that can easily get you overwhelmed. That is why, in this article, we are going to explain different options, as well as their pros and cons that are going to make backing up a lot easier.

Cloud Backup

Storing your data in the cloud is pretty much the latest trend when it comes to backup technology, and for good reasons. Data that you store on cloud services is always at the tip of your fingertips, wherever you are, it’s going to be accessible from any device. That is connected to the internet.

There are a lot of benefits that backing up via cloud offers, one of the most prominent ones being accessibility and safety. Most of the cloud backup services are heavily encrypted, offering two-factor authentication as well as usage of the personal key. Another great thing to consider is the fact that having your data on a cloud means that it’s offsite – ensuring that your data doesn’t get lost due to different disasters.

The only downside with online backup is that it tends to be slower, especially if you are backing up a lot of data.

External Hard Drives

External hard drives are one of the most common storage mediums for a long time. These drives are extremely easy to set up, they are relatively cheap, provide multiple different storage size options, and are portable – all of these are great assets. Also, one of the best properties of external hard drives is the fact that they can store a lot, and we mean a lot of data. 

However, just as all the hard drives in our computers, they are prone to failure over time and extended use, which is something that you don’t need to worry about if you are backing up on a cloud. 

Also, such drives always pose a risk of being lost or damaged, and eventually, they are going to run out of storage space because their size is fixed. External drives, like any type of equipment that is stored on-site, can also be destroyed in a disaster like a power surge, a fire, or a flood.

Network Attached Storage (NAS)

A NAS device utilizes an array of storage drives to create redundancy and, ultimately, larger combined storage space for you to back up your files. A NAS device is connected to the network for shared access between different individuals, which makes it a great option in case you want to share files with different people around you.

The storage drives that are used in NAS are usually sold separately from the device itself, so it may be a bit more costly and inconvenient to set up. However, NAS devices offer better data redundancy, as well as drive failure protection in real-time and performance using RAID configuration. 

It should be mentioned though, some NAS manufacturers tend to provide inferior software that can be buggy and just not efficient. This can easily lead to different issues during backup, like storing files with the wrong modification date/time stamp on them, making it harder for you to find what you are looking for afterward.

USB Flash Drives

There are a ton of options out there, and yet, USB flash drives don’t seem to be getting out of fashion even after all these years. This is mostly because, well, they are great at doing what they are intended to do – store and transport data. Even nowadays, some people prefer USB flash drives for storing their most important data.

USB flash drives are portable, inexpensive, and really durable. They are good for transporting your data between different locations manually but efficiently. However, you should have in mind that they are also prone to being lost or stolen, so plan accordingly. It should also be mentioned that they have a low storage capacity when compared to other backup options.

In the end, different people have different preferences, and that is completely fine since there is no one right answer when it comes to things like this. Even if you end up trying different things before settling for the best option, that’s also fine. The only imperative thing is that you take the time to do your research to make as informed a decision as possible.

Where to Start Data Privacy Planning

If you are an organization and you have a lot of data to protect, then you have to implement a data privacy strategy and ensure that your data is secured all the time. This may not necessarily mean that it is an easy task. However, with the correct planning and strategy from the best data securing companies around, you should be assured of the best data protection. Your company should therefore acquire the best data privacy software so that you can rest assured there will be no data breaches.

What Is a Data Privacy Plan?

A data privacy plan is a directive of an organization, and it states how that organization will protect the personal data of its clients and customers. This is more so an internal document that is meant for the consumption of the organization. This is unlike a data privacy policy that is a description of how an organization collects and uses data from external sources.

Steps A Company Needs To Follow When Starting Data Privacy Planning

A data privacy strategy has to be planned for it to be successful. For your company to implement a successful data privacy plan that will work for the long term, here are brief steps that should be followed for this purpose:

1.    Gather the support of the upper executives of the company. This issue of data collection and storing cannot work without the right support.

2.    A Data Protection Officer (DPO) should be appointed to make the process much formal and smooth. However, this will be guided by the size of your organization.

3.    Know the data you need to collect. Once this is clear, a team should be formed to create a data inventory of the company.

4.    Know your data requirements. What kind of protection requirements does your data need? What sort of data will the company be storing and processing?

5.    Analyze the privacy risks of the data you have. What are its vulnerabilities, threats, and possible impacts of such risks?

6.    The next step is creating a Data Privacy Policy. This is a document that has guidelines formulated after you have analyzed all the external and internal factors that can affect the plans, operations, and objectives of the company.

7.    Implement the right data privacy controls. Your risks should be organized according to the impact they may have on the company. Set data controls based on this.

8.    Initiate data privacy awareness and training for all people involved. Some staff may require advanced training on the handling of certain data. Ensure this is done.

9.    The last step is monitoring and compliance with the data. However, data monitoring and privacy is a continuous process and there need not be the last step as such. In this regard, data that is processed and stored by the organization should be checked all the time. Ensure this data is protected all the time and that all people comply with the data requirements.

In conclusion, data issues are legal issues. As such, when handling data privacy management for the company, ensure you are always following the rules that govern data collection, processing, and dissemination.

Why Your Business Needs Cloud-based Telephony

Cloud-based telephony, or cloud calling as it is more popularly known, is a form of unified communications as a service (UcaaS), which can either be web-based or application-based. It allows communication between two entities through the use of a third-party host. More and more business entities leverage the use of this service because of the benefits that it can provide, and as a business owner, you should too.

Integrated Business Communication System

One of the primary benefits of cloud calling is that it can be seamlessly integrated with all your other business processes. This means that you can access your business phone system through the same interface that you use to access the rest of your business processes in your customer relationship management (CRM) tool. As a result, you will have a consolidated work pipeline that yields a smoother business flow.

Cost-Effective

Another reason why your business needs cloud-based telephony is to be able to cut down on your business costs when it comes to your communications budget. Cloud calling is one of the most cost-effective communication solutions for your business because the subscription that you have to pay is fixed regardless of the number of calls that you make. Even international calls are charged less compared to traditional telephony solutions. This means that you will be able to make necessary calls to your staff and clients altogether without having to think about the amount that you have to pay for those calls later on.

Easily Scalable

You may not have a problem with traditional telephony in the beginning when you were just starting with your business venture because you only needed to make a few calls. However, as your business grows, it is most likely that the calls you need to make to various individuals will be tripled or even quadrupled. Instead of having to maintain various phone lines, it is more viable to implement cloud calling or virtual phone systems, which are highly scalable and tailored to grow as your business grows. The great part is that cloud calling even has various features that prove to be more beneficial for large-scale businesses.

Location Independent

Traditional telephony depends on the location of your business. Cloud calling frees you up from this limitation because it will work regardless of the location of the person using it. Thus, even if your employees are working remotely, or even if you are located in different countries, you will be able to call each other seamlessly. In this case, all you need is a stable and reliable internet connection because the phone features are already accessible using the browser on your desktop or mobile device. This paves the way for higher mobility and flexibility in your business.

In conclusion, there are several reasons why your business needs cloud-based telephony, and the ones listed above are only some of them. Rest assured that when you leverage cloud calling, you will be able to make your internal and external communication process more seamless. Alongside this, cloud calling can even give you a competitive edge in the market, allowing you to generate greater revenue.

Simple Ideas To Help Your Business Save Money

All businesses want to save money where they can, but it’s not always easy to see how it’s possible to do so. Often the best idea is to look for a multitude of ways you can save a little bit of cash over time, rather than holding out hope for one big change to save you thousands immediately. Here are a few suggestions in that vein to get you started.

Shop Around

Before signing up for any kind of service, be sure to get at least three quotes from different companies to see what kind of deals you can get. Many businesses offer to match prices, so you might not even have to go with your second choice just because they’re cheaper. It also pays to review the services you’re using regularly to see if you could make savings by switching suppliers. Another idea is to find out whether discounts are available for making early payments, or paying in a specific way.

Have a Water Audit

Business water bills are an expense that’s often overlooked, so a water audit can be a great way of figuring out if you’re being overcharged for your water supply. It can also help you to find ways that you can become more water-efficient, which is another effective method of cutting down on your spending. Unlike residential homes, you may also be able to switch your water supplier and save money that way.

Go Environmentally-friendly

Going green isn’t just good for the environment, it’s also good for your wallet! There are lots of simple steps you can take as a business to reduce your spending through becoming eco-friendly. For example by switching to double-sided printing instead of single-sided, you can save money on paper. Cleaning up your mailing list is another great way to do this, and also reduce the amount you spend on postage.

To save on electricity costs, ensure that your employees turn off all their electrical equipment at the wall socket when they leave the office. If you can engineer your workspace to get as much natural light as possible, you could also save on lighting costs as well as making it a more pleasant space to work in.

Go Virtual

Working from home has become far more common as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, but it can also be a great way to save money. By having fewer workers in the office you don’t need to rent such large premises, and can also reduce the costs of lighting, heating/cooling, and other utilities. You may also find that your employees are more productive as a result.

If you need to have people in the office, features such as motion-sensitive lighting and smart thermostats can save on energy costs. You can also use virtual meeting tools in the workplace to reduce travel expenses incurred by visiting other branches or client companies unnecessarily. If you’re really feeling generous, why not give staff an extra day off a month? You’ll save money when the office is closed, and be giving your workers a great productivity incentive!

Buying Guide: What to Look for in a Laptop

Thanks to the continuous advancement in the world of digital technology, the market is now flowing with hundreds of laptop models, and the options are seemingly endless. Considering how many laptops there are, you’ll find it extremely difficult to make up your mind. Every laptop has its own unique features, so unless you know exactly what you’re going to use that laptop for, choosing the best one will pose a challenge. To overcome this, you can use the guide below to narrow down your options.

Choose an Operating System

One of the very first considerations to take into account as you purchase a new laptop is the operating system (OS). You may have already heard of the decade-old debate between macOS and Windows OS enthusiasts, but now you will find more competitors on the market, like Google Chrome’s OS for example. Windows is well known for its versatility and array of options, which is why many people gravitate toward it. So far, Windows has proven to be far more open-ended than any other operating system and is ideal for game development and business-related programs. MacOS is comparatively user-friendly and easy to grasp. Additionally, Apple provides a resourceful support network, which will help you with any minor technicalities. Google Chrome OS, which only powers Chromebooks, can only run google chrome-based programs, which makes it a great option for those who need a laptop only to read their emails and watch Netflix, for example.

Pay Attention to the Hardware

It’s crucial that you research the hardware of the laptop you’re about to buy, as this will determine what it is capable of doing. You should also take the brand into account, as this can determine the quality of the hardware. If you take a look at these top laptop brands, you’ll know how the brand can drastically affect the performance of the laptop, irrespective of its specs.

With that said, you must look for an adequate processor, something between Core i3 and i7 would be ideal if you’re getting an Intel core processor. Ryzen processors are also great, but they can be hard to find. Graphics cards will also vary in performance. Seeing as they can make a laptop quite expensive, look for one with a graphics card that will suffice your needs. NVIDIA and AMD are the main two vendors for Graphics cards, with RTX 20-series being the latest and the 30-series coming soon. The GTX 10-series is also capable of running demanding programs. The buying guides on laptop circle are a great resource.

Know What You’ll Use It for

Laptop prices can be as low as $600 to more than $1000. Assuming that you have a budget and certain usage in mind for your new laptop, you can make your choice fairly easily. Manufacturers produce great laptops that cost $600 or even less for those who’re looking for laptops only for word processing and internet browsing. Mainstream laptops can have higher specs and will have better hardware than their formers. However, if you want a high resolution and super-powered graphics card, you can try laptops that will cost $1000 or higher. Ultrabooks and business laptops are a great example of this, as they both have intriguing features even for the average user. You can buy a gaming laptop that practically packs in the best specs there are, like a high-performing graphics card, an excellent processor, and enough RAM to run taxing programs.

Look for Long Battery Life

If your laptop will remain stationary, you won’t have to worry about battery life. However, if you need a portable laptop, the battery life should be a concern to you, as you won’t always find an outlet outside to charge your laptop. Thus, an ideal battery life, in this case, must extend to 7 or 8 hours. To know how long battery life can extend to, make sure to check out online reviews.

Pick the Right Size

No matter what specs you’re looking for, your laptop can come at a large size, which will defy the purpose of portability. While it is generally great for laptops to be small and compact, the display size must be at least of a moderate size if you’ll use design programs. Generally speaking, laptops display sizes will range between 11 and up to 18 inches. The 11 to 12 inches accompany the lightest systems, which will make them highly portable. Display sizes of 13 to 16 inches are quite common and still are moderately portable. 17 to 18 inches are designed for laptops that stay on desks all day. These laptops are created for demanding games and workstation-level productivity.

Choosing a laptop for your specific needs requires serious research and consideration. This means that you’ll have to check several online reviews, compare different models, and even try the laptop of your choice at the store. Lastly, be sure to buy your laptop during a sale season to get the best price. 

9 Benefits of Using CRM Software for Business

Finding new customers is complicated work. And once you have found them, you should build close relationships with them. Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools helps organize, center, and simplify communication with your customers. We are going to define the main benefits of a CRM system for business development. This article is extremely useful if you are willing to integrate CRM tools. 

Why CRM Is Important

Companies in any sphere utilize social media websites and count on the metrics from such programs. For instance, Google Analytics is a powerful instrument employed by many enterprises to track their website traffic. But relying only on these tools is not sufficient. A properly utilized CRM tool has significant value for companies. It monitors and manages all client interactions and communications with your representatives. It can also effectively single out certain disadvantages and points which need additional improvement.

1. Targeting and Establishing Connections with New Customers

Whenever somebody buys something in your online shop or clicks on one of your ads, it gives you essential information concerning your target customers. When you keep that information in a CRM, you can define who your target audience is and how to reach them.

A widely used instrument is marketing via social media like Instagram or Facebook. Most media websites or apps enable advertising based on some conditions, such as keywords, interests, and industry. If you already have all this data, your social media marketing campaign will become a huge success.

2. Improve Your Interactions with Current Customers.

Finding new customers is much more expensive and time-consuming than keeping the present ones. Of course, it is crucial to broaden your audience. However, keeping your existing customers involved and enthusiastic should also remain one of your aims. Using CRM for business helps you easily find out who purchases your products or services and participates in your advertising campaigns. You can define who needs a push or two to return on the path. 

With CRM, you may build excellent and customized marketing campaigns. Or you may create your own CRM to boost your company’s development. Just involve the content they are concerned about and thank them for being supportive for many years. Another option to promote your services is personalized offers based on their previous purchases.

Keeping your customer service at a high level is essential to remain competitive in the market.

3. Visual Data Presented with Dashboards

The best way to present data is graphical. Usually, this process requires a lot of time. You have to enter data, define the essential points, and then develop a visual way to manually present the data. CRM is a great time-saver, as it does most things automatically.

4. Maintaining a Central Sales Database

The next CRM benefit is the ability to store all the potential customer information from any period in a unified database. It allows fast cross-team accessing and easy data management via a shared location. Using CRM, you can avoid spending time searching for necessary client files and records to close a deal. Once you have adopted a CRM platform, you can use its great advantage – the dashboard. The highlight is that you can customize it for every company employee who has access to the platform. For example, the head of the marketing department is mostly interested in marketing metrics. The head of the sales department wants to see how many purchases are made per hour. It’s not necessary to dig or run reports; everything is on a dashboard right away.

5. Save Time Using Automation Tools

All data, such as calls, e-mails, meetings, and interactions, are automatically collected and aggregated in one location. Routine tasks, such as sending welcoming emails and notifications, are automated. Your staff won’t need to spend loads of time on it. Sending various emails and notifications are divided into specific segments based on individual customer performance. So you deliver the personalized messages to the right customers at the appropriate time. Managing drip campaigns becomes a piece of cake.

Besides, it includes updating the deals according to the stages and automatic management of such processes as summation and weighting. 

What is more, another trend is that chatbots are handling frequently asked questions. 

This all leads to enhancing team performance and concentrating on the core tasks.

6. Using Collaboration Tools

Some platforms involve built-in collaboration tools. The benefits of CRM platforms present an opportunity to operate on the same file or monitor the updates simultaneously. Many employees can file specific fields they are responsible for. However, these tools require good teamwork and seamless interaction between various company departments to avoid differences in data. The ways how to enhance communication inside a team via CRM will be described in the following point.

7. Boosting Team Communication

CRM can easily assist the interactions within a team. Quality of communication is crucial for sustaining a good brand image among all the representatives who communicate with potential customers. Additionally, it supports learning between team members and working together to achieve sales percentage goals.

With the CRM platform, employees can tag each other to various deals to notify and close the deal as soon as possible. This system also enables the reassigning of leads in the sales department with one click. Team members’ internal communication, such as writing and sending emails, is also easily facilitated with the platform.

8. Predicting Sales Performance

The ability to develop a strategic plan and make reasonable actions is fundamental for any company’s success. The process can be more straightforward with CRM. Its reports include such vital metrics as MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) or YOY (year-over-year) growth. This helps the heads of the sales department monitor the tendencies and make predictions concerning performance.

There is also an opportunity to see the most moneymaking sources and actions. Using this data, team leaders can develop sales forecasts and, if necessary, adapt the pipeline estimates.

9. Sticking To The Same Software

CRM grows together with your company. That’s the core feature of this platform. All its instruments, like lead tracking, contact information management, recording communications with potential customers, will all grow with you.

And this is not only about your sales department.  Marketing and customer service can also use the information to contact the potential customers, customize the content according to their requirements, adjust CTAs and product info according to their demands, and much more.

Final Thoughts

We have mentioned 9 key reasons why to use a CRM System for business. It’s not just about collecting customer data and monitoring their actions. This system can bring your company’s performance to a much higher level. It handles the majority of the calculating and analysis processes allowing employees to move on to meaningful actions. It is a big step towards your customers (new and existing) and enhancing their satisfaction.

4 Benefits of Investing in Software for Healthcare Providers

If healthcare providers want to get ahead and keep competing in their field, they have to embrace technology. There are so many software solutions available that will not only save you time and money, but they will allow you to provide a much better experience for your patients and even innovate where previously you wouldn’t have had the time.

It’s important that you do your research to identify the best software solutions for you, but if you put in this work in now you will reap the benefits later.

Your Patient Data Will Be Safer

As more and more of our lives are lived online, there are incredible advances in what we can do there. Unfortunately, the things that unscrupulous people can do to try and steal our data or our money are advancing at the same rate.

If you invest in software for storing your patient data, not only will you be able to access their records quickly and more easily, which allows you to provide better service, you will be keeping their data safer.

This is because companies who provide software are invested in ensuring that their products are always up to date and protected against the latest digital threats. By leaving this important piece of maintenance in the hands of a trusted software provider you can be assured that your patient data will be safe and secure, leaving you free to worry about treating them.

You Will Save Time

Investing in software allows you to automate processes that previously would have been carried out by hand. For example, introducing an online appointment booking feature on your website could save you a huge amount of time.

Rather than spending 10 minutes on the phone talking to your receptionist, who then has to manually record the appointment details, an automated appointment scheduling system allows your patient to go online and book an appointment without having to talk to someone or wait on hold. You can get software packages that then automatically update the relevant calendars, and even send out reminder messages.

With this time saved your receptionist can be talking with patients in person, or doing other tasks that add more value to your business and are more interesting for them to carry out. This means that the patient, your receptionist and your business all benefit!

A recent article by Forbes suggested that automation could save the average employee six weeks of time per year.

Increased Search Engine Ranking

Taking the time to invest in your website will pay off in the form of new customers and increased visibility to your existing customers.

Any work you do on optimizing your website for SEO is a greater chance that for any search conducted for healthcare providers in your area, you will be the one that pops up first when compared to a competitor.

It’s well worth checking out what a healthcare SEO specialist can provide for your business. For more information, take a look at clickintelligence.co.uk.

Better User Experience

Investing in software and SEO will ultimately mean that your customers have a much better experience when they are using your website or dealing with your company, which is what will keep them coming back to you rather than seeking out one of your competitors.

How to Successfully and Securely Work From Home

The world of business has taken a turn in the way it operates ever since the onset of the Coronavirus. Companies have tried and tested a number of ways to get the job done without having to put anyone’s health at risk. This is why you’ll find that the new normal for many people is working from home. While this has many advantages, it can be trying at the best of times, and since this is becoming the norm, it only makes sense that you take a more structured approach to setting up the way you work from home. This is why we’ve created a simple guide to help you have a perfect and productive setting to work from the comfort and security of your home.

Create a Dedicated Workspace

You might not think that this is too important, and that it’s okay to work on the dining table, or while you lay comfortably in bed. While this is not the worst thing that could happen, in the long run, it’s certainly not the best. There are a couple of factors that come into play here. First of all, your posture matters when you sit in one position for a prolonged period of time. So working in bed should be off the table for you. Secondly, you need to dedicate a space, preferably a room if you can help it, exclusively for work. You’ll find that by doing this, it will go a long way in providing structure not only to the way you work, but also affect your surrounding in a big way that will definitely help you focus and stay on track. 

Have a Strong and Stable Connection

This point is a given, but many people think that having a normal internet connection that the whole household uses will do. It actually makes a lot more sense to get a separate connection that you use only for work. Make sure that it is high speed because you will need to avoid having meetings interrupted or urgent and live work cut short just because you didn’t take the time to get yourself a proper internet connection. If you take the people living in Canada as an example, they have services that provide them with different internet connection options that they can pick from. Detailed descriptions from WaveDirect.net explain how each option works and how you can benefit from it. It’s crucial for you to contact a reliable service to ensure that you get the best possible uninterrupted speed set up for your work from home. 

Make a Schedule for Your Day

Initially, the prospect of working from home gives you a certain sense of freedom- besides the fact that some meetings are set up at specific times, you feel like you can do what you want whenever you want, as long as you’re meeting deadlines. While this is somewhat true in many cases, it is a dangerous path to take because you can easily fall off track and end up with piles of work collecting because you didn’t bother to do it on time. This is why it is imperative that you create a schedule on a weekly or even a monthly basis, if possible. By doing so, you eliminate the stress of the unknown. By setting exact times and dates for your tasks, you’re going to be able to have a much more structured day and you’ll actually end up having more time on your hands, and much less stress.

Put in The Effort

Don’t fall into the messy trap just because you’re working from home. Always stay organized and don’t drop the ball. Get stationery and shelving for books and paperwork as well. Ensure that you have sufficient lighting and surround yourself with plants and soothing artwork. The key is to create the perfect ambience, and by putting in the effort to create the perfect surrounding, you’ll find that you’ll be able to focus that much more. Another important factor is you need to cut out any kind of distraction during your working hours. Tell friends and family about your schedule and get a separate phone for work if you don’t already have one. 

Working from home can be a great success or could eventually be disastrous, and this all comes down to how you organize your space and your time. Make sure that you keep all the tips mentioned here in mind as you prepare yourself, and you’ll find that each point will make a world of difference to your work from home experience.