How to Leverage the Power of Unified Communications for Remote Teams 

Unified Communications (UC) has emerged as a powerful tool to enable teams to collaborate, communicate, and work together more effectively and efficiently, even when they are not in the same physical location. With UC, remote teams can stay connected quickly and easily no matter where they are located. This article will explore how you can leverage the power of unified communications to help your remote teams collaborate more effectively and increase team productivity.

The percentage of American workers who work remotely has increased four times since 2012 to 26% as of 2022. Up to 36.2 million Americans may be working remotely by 2025. And there are several advantages to this kind of work. Instantinfo Systems gives you the power to keep your remote team connected by leveraging the capabilities of unified communications.

Advantages of Using Unified Communications for Remote Teams

Unified communications provide numerous advantages for businesses that have distributed teams working remotely. Here are a few:

1. Improved Collaboration

Unified communications can help remote teams collaborate in real-time and make decisions faster. With UC, teams can integrate audio, video, and online meetings into their workflows to increase team collaboration and engagement. Moreover, UC solutions allow team members to share documents and other data securely.

2. Increased Productivity

UC helps to reduce time spent on mundane tasks like scheduling or sending emails and allows teams to focus their energy on more important tasks. UC also helps remote teams to be more efficient and organized, which can help them become more productive in the long run. According to some research, remote employees are tend to be more productive than those working in an office.

3. Improves Accessibility to Team Members

With UC, it is easier to connect with team members in different locations quickly and easily. This helps remote teams stay connected and improve communication between team members. You can share files, join meetings, and more in just a few clicks and you can access the same information from any device.

4. Better Security and Compliance

UC systems provide a secure platform for remote teams, ensuring all data is stored in the cloud securely and helping to protect against cyberattacks. Additionally, UC helps businesses comply with various industry regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS.

5. Cost Savings

Unified communications can reduce overall costs for businesses by eliminating the need for expensive office space, travel expenses, and other overhead costs. UC solutions are also usually much more cost-effective compared to traditional phone and communication systems.

These are just a few of the advantages that unified communications provide for remote teams. By leveraging the power of UC, you can ensure your remote team has the tools they need to collaborate, communicate, and work together more effectively and efficiently.

In Conclusion

Unified communications provide numerous advantages for businesses that have distributed teams. With UC, you can help your remote team stay connected quickly and easily no matter where they are located. This also provides a secure platform for remote teams, helping them protect their data from cyberattacks and comply with industry regulations. Additionally, UC can reduce overall costs for businesses by eliminating the need for expensive office space, travel expenses, and other overhead costs.

Samsung “Galaxy Note” Permanently Discontinued – Is the S23 the New Note?

The rumors are true. Samsung has announced that they are permanently discontinuing the Galaxy Note series. For many, the news does not come as a surprise since the company hasn’t released any new Galaxy Note since the last Galaxy Note 20 series in August 2020. Samsung even stopped the production of the Note 20 series in 2021. So, why Samsung suddenly stopped its flagship phone after years of success? Let’s explore it in this article and also see whether S23 seems the ideal replacement for Galaxy Note. And if you want to learn more about mobile apps and software setup, check Thoughtsoncloud.

The Rise of Galaxy Note

Samsung Galaxy Note debuted in October 2011 and started the trend of big phones. Since 2011, Samsung has kept releasing the new series of Galaxy Note with bigger screens, more functional S Pen, and plenty of other customized features. The Galaxy Note series even once faced huge criticism due to design errors in Note 7 (released in 2016), which caused Samsung to recall 2.5 million phones due to complaints of exploding batteries and overheating. Despite that, Samsung released Note 8 series in 2017 and kept launching new Note models until 2020.

Why Samsung has Discontinued Galaxy Note Series

The unique element of Galaxy Note was its big screen, S Pen stylus, and high-end hardware. But almost all the emerging smartphones also started coming up with similar big displays and features. So, the interest of users in Note started to decrease. It was even reflected in the Galaxy Note sales, as the company shipped 12.7 million Galaxy Note devices in 2019, which reduced to 9.7 million units in 2020.

Samsung decided against launching Galaxy Note 21 in 2021 due to the shortage of semiconductors. Afterward, a report by ET News also revealed that the company might suspend the production of the Note 20 series by the end of 2021. The company only assembled 3.2 million units of Note 20 in 2021, which was also significantly less than 9.7 million in 2020. Finally, Roh Tae-moon, Samsung smartphone chief, confirmed at the Mobile World Congress 2022 that Samsung has permanently discontinued its Galaxy Note series.

Is S23 the New Galaxy Note?

Samsung Galaxy S23 is set to release on February 2023. So, the question is whether S23 will be the new Galaxy Note. The answer is very well addressed by looking at the Galaxy S22 series, especially the S22 Ultra.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S22 series on February 9, 2022. S22 Ultra is the top-end model in the series, which resembles a lot with Note 20 Ultra. For example, it provides rounded sides similar to Note 20. From the height and width perspective, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra size is 163.3 x 77.9 mm, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra size is 164.8 x 77.2mm. So, there is not much difference in terms of size.

S22 Ultra has a dedicated S Pen slot with 70% lower latency than S Pen shipped with Note 20. The display of the S22 Ultra is 3x times more responsive to S Pen. In addition, S22 Ultra also includes all the other Note 20 features, such as Samsung Notes, AR Doodle, Smart Select, AR Doodle, etc. In short, S22 Ultra has all the capabilities we see in Note 20 and even more.

Galaxy S23 is set to release in the next few days and promises more enhancements than S22. So, if S22 Ultra was fulfilling all the needs of Note 20, we can expect S23 Ultra to offer more improved and new features. Therefore, we can say clearly and loudly that S23 (especially the S23 Ultra) is the new Galaxy Note.

If you are looking for a reliable and efficient solution to recover lost or deleted data from your Samsung device, then the product offered by PITS Data Recovery is the perfect choice. With their specialized Samsung Data Recovery software, you can confidently retrieve your precious files, regardless of how they were lost. Whether it’s due to accidental deletion, system crashes, software malfunctions, or even physical damage to your device, this product provides a comprehensive and user-friendly solution.

Samsung Looking Future in Foldables

Other than the decrease in users’ interest and the same big-size alternative models, another reason behind the end of Galaxy Note is Samsung’s emphasis on foldable phones. The company believes that its Galaxy Z Flip and Fold are the future because smartphone users need some new changes and are getting tried with the same minor changes in the specs of existing smartphones.

The interest of consumers and the sales of Galaxy foldables are gradually increasing with every passing year. The Korean tech giant shipped around 10 million foldable phones in 2021, which is more than Note phones shipped in 2020. In addition, Samsung has also made S Pen compatible with its Z Fold models. S Pen is also supported by Samsung’s flagship tablets, such as Tab S8, Tab S8+, and Tab S8 Ultra.

Besides increasing consumer interest, the high price of foldable phones also helps Samsung generate more revenue. So, although Samsung has ended its flagship Galaxy Notes series, it is becoming even strong in the market with foldable phones.

Wrapping Up

Samsung Galaxy Note had brilliant, successful years when it was considered the big and powerful phone no competitor offered. Its dedicated slot for S Pen lifted the game very high and resulted in millions of sales from 2011 to 2021. However, the Korean tech giant is very smart and smelled the downfall of Galaxy Note before it could become a problem.

Samsung’s move to foldable phones and S22 Ultra with a dedicated S-Pen slot have further cleared the company’s priorities. Therefore, the permanent end of the Galaxy Note series is not going to cause any harm to Samsung but will even drive more revenue with the sales of foldable flagships, which is the market Apple still has to explore.

Top 10 Social Media Trends for Small Business Marketing in 2023 and Beyond

For small businesses, social media marketing is the best way to have effective marketing in a cost-friendly way. However, social media marketing is influenced greatly by social media trends. Therefore, this article explores the top 10 social media trends worth knowing for small business marketing in 2023. So, let’s jump right to it.

There are over 4.6 million social media users worldwide, and the figure is going to increase with every passing year. With the growing number of social media users, businesses are also increasing their social media spending. It is projected that social media spending will reach up to $384.90 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 9.4% from 2023-2027.

Influencer Marketing

Ever since the pandemic, the number of social-media celebrities or influencers has increased immensely. TikTok has helped many new everyday influencers to emerge. Businesses are also benefiting from influencers greatly, as such influencers help reach a large audience in the easiest way.

Influencer marketing has remained one of the key focus of marketers in 2023, and this is predicted to be the same in 2024. You can claim your share if you boost TikTok followers using established partners. However, it is likely that micro or nano influencers are seen as more beneficial because their audience trusts their opinions. Influencers who specialize in excellent narration related to your brand industry are the best fit. Therefore, it is believed that targeting a few micro-influencers and running marketing campaigns for a few months with them will help small businesses see a boom in their sales.

TikTok Marketing

TikTok became popular during the pandemic, and now it has over 1 billion monthly active users. It is highly popular with the young audience, so it seems best to target the millennial and Gen Z audience. The popularity of TikTok does not seem to slow down in 2023, and so does the marketing spending and the need for a top TikTok Ad Agency.

In fact, 85% of e-commerce brands are going to increase their advertisement spending on TikTok in 2023. So, if your small business is targeting the young generation, then TikTok is best for creating and marketing short-form videos of your brand.

Dominance of Video-Form Content

According to Cisco, 82% of consumer internet traffic will be in video form by 2022, which is almost a 73% increase from 2017. But the dominance is getting more towards short-form of videos, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc.

In addition, many brands are now opting for live-streaming for more engagement with a targeted audience. The live streams often demonstrate a product, promote an event, tell a story, or share other brand news. Therefore, video-form content will dominate social media in 2023, so social media marketing should be focused more on video content.

Growth of Social Commerce

Instead of visiting brands’ websites, social media users now prefer buying products directly from the social media platform. For example, Facebook now provides a separate tab of “Marketplace”.

As per Accenture, social commerce is likely to become a $1.2 trillion channel by 2025. Therefore, small businesses should emphasize on more friendly social commerce experience for users. They can market a few main products instead of the whole store and help consumers complete the purchase with minimal clicks.

Customer Service via Social Media

Customers no longer like to call or email brands for their queries. They intend to have more direct interaction with the brands via social media. As per Microsoft’s report on the Global State of Customer Service, 54% of the participants had a favorable opinion of those brands that address requests/complaints of customers directly from social media.

Customers like to have a feeling of relationship with brands, which is a key marketing tactic for small businesses. Therefore, they should tend to make customers feel more valued and provide them with direct top-notch customer service via active presence on social media.

Behind-the-Scenes Posts

Customers like brands that are transparent and open about the behind-the-scenes work environment. 53% of consumers say that the transparency of the brand attracts them to make the next purchases. Many brands show very formal behind-the-scenes posts, but if they create funny or interesting posts, it can engage consumers more. For example, you can place a camera at the entrance door of your office and record when employees reach in the morning and show the lazy ones in a fun way. Similarly, you can share a video about office pets if you are a pet supply brand.

According to the Facebook survey, 62% of participants acknowledged that they are attracted to brands’ products after seeing them on Facebook and Instagram stories. Therefore, small businesses can create unique and funny behind-the-scenes posts and share them as stories for more engagement from the targeted audience.

Social SEO

With the growing use of social media, users are now also using it for searching brands and products. As per Google’s internal research, 40% of 18-24 years of age users use social media as their main search engine. In fact, Hootsuite’s internal research showed that SEO posts (keyword-optimized captions) resulted in a 30% increased reach compared to hashtags.

Other than the young generation, all other generation groups are also seen using social media actively to search for brands and products. Therefore, it is important for small business brands to focus on more social SEO-optimized content to maximize their chances of winning the top search slots and increasing their reach.

Local Marketing

Social media users are also getting more attracted to brands that are closer to them. Moreover, considering the growing competition, brands are emphasizing more on location-based marketing to grab local consumers.

Geo-tagging in content is the best way to target a local audience. For example, small businesses can use Facebook to boost a post under targeted locations to reach a specific audience. So, small businesses that believe the local audience can bring in more sales must involve local marketing in their 2023 marketing strategy.

The Use of AI

AI is just booming today. There are tons of AI software that are turning hours of manual work into click-based instant solutions. For example, Jasper, ChatGPT, CopyAI, and similar others are now helping brands to create engaging and smart posts and content for their products. Forrester even predicts that AI-based software will grow 50% faster compared to the whole software market in the next two years.

Without any doubt, AI will be a big thing in 2023. Many brands will test out AI capabilities. Moreover, small businesses might seem to even more actively use AI for social media marketing owing to the cost benefits it offers. Therefore, the use of AI in marketing will be another social media trend worth watching in 2023.

Podcast Marketing

The podcast is an emerging video content on social media. Every influencer is either starting his/her own podcast or going to others’ podcasts. And the best part, social media users are actively listening to podcasts. There are globally over 460 million podcast listeners today. The podcast industry is also an excellent place for brands to market. In fact, Nielson surveyed 7,000 U.S. consumers and showed that 78% of the participants said they were not annoyed with sponsored messages in podcasts.

Wrapping Up

Over the past few years, the use of social media has skyrocketed. For small businesses, social media is the best marketing channel to reach a vast audience with minimal marketing capital. The above social media trends are some of the likely ones to influence in 2023. Therefore, as a small business owner, consider the above trends in your marketing strategy and set up rewarding social media marketing campaigns for 2023.

Top 16 Services to Buy YouTube Views

For years now, YouTube is becoming more famous. Thus, the number of users is increasing. There is a rise in content creators making a living through YouTube. However, you require views and likes to gain popularity. Let us look at the top 16 best services to buy YouTube views.

1. Tube.biz

Tube.biz ensures that your needs are prioritized. Once you hire the company, they provide to listen to your goal and help you achieve IT. Further, customer care support is available 24/7. You can also chat with live agents via the website. Tube.biz offers several packages. Once you settle on the required package, you pay via any payment method provided. Afterward, concentrate on creating unique content as you watch your views increase.

2. View.biz

Artists or content creators wish to acquire views and likes upon posting their content. When your content goes viral, you gain fame, which generates more ideas and likes for your YouTube account. Vibe.biz is one of the best platforms to ensure your content goes viral. View.biz has existed in the business for a period, which equips them with the experience to deliver real YouTube views on your YouTube account. The prices offered are favorable to suit your needs.

3. SMO.PLUS.

Smo. plus is a famous company that has changed the lives of musicians, bloggers, and content creators. The platform generates real followers and avoids using bots. YouTube has Terms of Service where accounts using bots are suspended. The platform offers several packages with fare pricing. It is advisable to get the minimal package to see how it works and, if impressed, move to more extensive packages.

4. Rex SMM

Rex SMM has gained popularity after working on YouTube account promotion for several years. The platform claims to deliver real views and subscribers. Before working on your account, the company investigates the type of content you make. Afterward, they drive people with similar tastes to your content on your YouTube platform.

5. Viewsta.com

Are you looking for a platform with genuine services? Viewsta.com is the company for you. The views delivered are real and will serve you for as long as you post your content on YouTube. Viewsta.com website is easy to use, and the team takes over upon payment and placing your order. You are required to share the account’s URL only, with no passwords.

6. SMO.AGENCY

Smo.Agency has an easy-to-use website that offers several YouTube views packages. You can select one of the services you wish to use. The prices range from $1.46-2.25. You can also buy YouTube comments to enhance your account. Customer service support is available 24/7 to help you with the booking process and solve any challenges you experience.

7. Jarvee

Jarvee has been in the social media account promotion industry for an extended period. Thus, it has enough experience on how to deliver quality services. The platform ensures to work with automation services to provide outstanding services. The views offered are from real accounts and will exist for a lifetime. With Jarvee, you can focus on creating quality content without account management worries.

8. UseViral

UseViral provides its customers with organic services that drastically grow your YouTube account within days. The services provided are premium acquired through the use of intelligent technology. The platform provides numerous secure payment methods to protect the client’s safety. The company offers two packages for YouTube views. There is the premium package with 2000 views for $6 and high-quality views with 2000 views for $17.

9. StormViews

StormViews specializes in YouTube account promotion, offering 100% real likes, views, and subscribers. The payment system is encrypted to prevent hackers from acquiring customer details that may lead to fraud and other malicious activities. The company offers affordable and quality services. You can earn 500 views at $3.99.

10. YTMonster

If you are a newbie and need to learn the necessary steps to take when buying YouTube views, YTMonster is the right platform for you. It ensures to help you make the right decision. The company starts working on your account immediately. Therefore, you can observe changes in your account within a few hours. YTMonster reduces the account management burden you have.

11. SMM-World

SMM-World offers specific services to help you deal with any YouTube needs. The website is user-friendly to allow easy navigation when placing orders. The company further enables you to acquire actual engagements for your YouTube account. The services offered are quality and will last for a lifetime.

12. Views4You

Views4You is one of the most trusted sites by content creators due to the level of security provided and reliable services. Views4You offers some free tools for public use, which makes it popular. You get packages designed for different target audiences and budgets upon purchasing YouTube views.

13. ViewsGeek

ViewsGeek offers YouTube services such as buying views, likes, subscribers, and comments. The views, likes, and subscribers acquired are from real account users that will remain loyal to your account so long as you post quality content. The company focuses on delivering account users from your region to ensure that your content is effective.

14. Voogen

Voogen provides high-quality services at affordable prices. The company incorporates Google ads to acquire real viewers by showing your content to people who could be interested in viewing it. After a while, the viewers become subscribers who offer higher engagement to your content as time goes by.

15. SidesMedia

Are you looking for a platform that delivers organic services? SideMedia is here to help you. The website has an excellent reputation from happy clients who claim that the services offered are genuine. The company provides a variety of services delivered to verified YouTube users. Place your orders via the website and watch your YouTube likes increase within days.

16. YouTubeViewsBuy

YouTubeViewsBuy offers the best services to help you acquire a broad audience base globally. The company offers safe and accessible services. After paying, you need to provide them with your account’s URL and observe the growth as you make quality content.

Conclusion

Finding the right platform to buy YouTube views relieves content creators and artists. Ensure to purchase views from trusted companies to ensure your account is safe from hacking or closure when bots are used. More YouTube views ensure that your content reaches more people. Also, consider platforms with favorable prices and a wide range of packages.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

How to Create a Small Business Website: 5 The Best Business Website Builders

Today’s businesses need to be adaptive and tech-savvy to stay ahead of the competition and survive in the business world. In the current pandemic, many businesses have reverted to technology, especially the internet.

The initial step towards becoming a tech-savvy business is to create a business website. Building a good business website in the past seemed like an expensive and time-consuming job that required a specific set of skills. However, today website designing has become an easy job with the help of website builders for small businesses.

Following are the Top 5 website builder platforms for small businesses:

Shopify

Shopify has been gaining attention recently and is known as one of the top website builders for small businesses. Shopify has been in the market since 2006, and to date, it has been used by many businesses to go online and especially start an ecommerce store. Shopify lets you start with a free 14-day trial plan starting from $29/month (Basic), ranging to $299/month (Advanced).

Opportunities:

  • The drag-and-drop interface is so easy that less tech-savvy people can use this platform.
  • A wide variety of front page themes, categorized by the industry of business, to make an attractive website that will retain the customers.
  • The Shopify engine minimizes the transactional processing time and website loading time.
  • Inbuilt integrations to payment services such as PayPal, Amazon, Apple Pay, etc.
  • Abandoned cart recovery option informs the customers of the forgotten items left in the cart.
  • Shopify app store has tons of plugins and apps that can be integrated with the website to help you manage the inventory and market your products.
  • Shopify has a dedicated support team that provides technical support 24/7.

Obstacles:

  • Customizing a theme is challenging as it requires expertise and special coding skills.
  • Customers can not gain multiple discounts on shopping.
  • Most of the apps in the app store and features need to be purchased and are expensive for small businesses.
  • Email hosting or email marketing is not included in the Shopify plans.

WordPress

WordPress is one of the leading names in the industry when it comes to blogging and small business website building. An estimated 40% of the websites on the internet are designed and run on WordPress. You can create a website free of cost, but you get a lot of premium features for a price. 

Opportunities:

  • WordPress is an open-source platform that can be downloaded from any hosting website or the WordPress website itself.
  • Lots of free themes and templates are categorized according to the industry.
  • Highly customizable and drag-and-drop interface
  • WordPress websites are SEO friendly with an option to install plugins that let you control and manage your website.
  • Almost every possible platform and marketplace can be integrated with your website.

Obstacles:

  • After the website has been made, maintenance of the website needs to be done manually.
  • Sometimes, the plugins might conflict with each other, resulting in your website’s halt or the page speed slowing down.
  • You will need to go through a learning curve before completely understanding WordPress.
  • The website remains vulnerable until a premium plugin is installed for anything, including SEO to backup.

While building your business website with these efficient builders, it’s also important to ensure your business is legally set up. If you’re in the Sunshine state and need guidance on legal aspects, check out this guide on how to get an LLC in Florida. Having your LLC in place is an important step in setting up a successful small business.

WIX

Wix is a considerably new and emerging platform with an in-built ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) that helps you create a good business website within a couple of minutes. Just like WordPress, it is a beginner-level website builder. The pricing plans are distributed into two categories: The website plan (ranging from $4.5/month to $24.5/month) and the Ecommerce/Business plan (ranging from $17/month to $35/month).

Opportunities:

  • It often is considered the best website builder for small businesses as it is straightforward to use and customize.
  • ADI website design wizard asks you a couple of questions and helps you build your website.
  • This builder is instilled with many features such as SEO, email marketing, social media integrations, and much more.
  • Wix creates automatic backup so that you won’t lose your website even if you haven’t saved it.
  • Most comprehensive apps and templates library so that you can create a website according to your business.

Obstacles:

  • Once the website is live, you have to stick with one template that you have chosen previously.
  • Wix site is for Wix only and cannot be transferred to any other platform.
  • Free Wix sites have annoyingly long URLs and contain irremovable ads.
  • Ecommerce/Business pricing plans are relatively costly.
  • Wix doesn’t have a responsive design which means the elements don’t adjust according to different screen sizes.

Squarespace

Squarespace is another option for business owners looking to create a business website. Squarespace is known for its stylish and modern website design templates. It is a good platform for businesses that want to develop portfolios around Marketing, Design, Photography, Fashion, etc. The price starts from $14/month (Personal plan) and can go to $49/month (Advanced Commerce plan).

Opportunities:

  • Squarespace helps create visually appealing websites for fashion, Design, and marketing industries.
  • It has many tools that help in SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, and video making.
  • Drag-and-drop interfaces with a variety of customizable options.
  • Has many unique features for e-commerce businesses, such as scheduling appointments, store/inventory management, and members’ area.
  • It has a reliable option for restaurants and the hospitality industry, where you can manage reservations, takeouts, and events.

Obstacles:

  • Its e-Commerce solutions cannot compete with the likes of WordPress and Shopify.
  • The prices are higher in comparison to other platforms.
  • There is a lack in the support department as you get no support if you are stuck.
  • The tools provided are not as advanced and lack some features required for an e-Commerce business, such as A/B testing.
  • Adding new content and editing is always a tiresome job.

Weebly

If you are scouring for an excellent web hosting service for a small business website, Weebly is amongst the best online gateways for local or casual retailers. It offers affordable pricing, an excellent app store, free stock images, and an option to create for e-commerce. The premium plans for online stores are very competitively priced. Plans are Pro ($12/month), Small businesses ($25/month), and Business plus packages ($38/month).

Opportunities:

  • Weebly is considered a freemium type of website builder for small businesses.
  • The interface is user-friendly and designed for a beginner.
  • The themes and pages are highly customizable that can be edited any time after the website goes live.
  • Weebly themes are highly responsive and adjust to any given screen size.
  • The individuality of Weebly is its acceptable range of e-commerce features, such as an unlimited number of products, a tax calculator, and multi-level pricing of the products.

Obstacles:

  • The main downside of Weebly is its limited design flexibility for those who want uniqueness in their website image.
  • With Weebly, you get average customer service as it costs a lot of money to get support depending on what plan you have opted for.
  • You will not get good blogging options on Weebly.
  • You have to use Square for payment solutions in Weebly, which doesn’t work offline and otherwise is usually non-responsive.
  • You have to pay for more e-commerce options, and it is notably overpriced.

3 Things to Consider Before Taking Your Business International

Doing business in a different country means that you have to understand the corporate climate there first. Bureaucracy might be a bit more bloated than where you are too and some of the things you can do easily on the home front can be very difficult to do overseas. You also can’t expect to connect with a foreign clientele without knowing a thing or two about their culture.

Let’s take a look at a few things you’ll have to consider before taking your business international.

Where Will You Mainly Be Working from?

One of the first things you need to consider is where you’ll be spending most of your time as an owner. You may decide to spend most of the time in the new market so you can have more control over the operations and know exactly what’s going on while you appoint someone to take care of home operations.

If that’s the case, then you don’t only need to prepare for expansion, but also for living in a foreign country for a long period. You can take advantage of glamorous location, for instance, finding monthly rentals in Paris, or you can enjoy the tranquility of the countryside.

Wherever you choose, you’ll need to learn about visa requirements and check if there are special visas for entrepreneurs looking at expansion. You will also need to build a solid support system around you to cover things in case of emergencies.

You never know what could happen when working in another country, and even if you generally feel safe there, you cannot put your guard down. You may also have to deal with a lack of access to certain resources. This is why you need ready access to tools that will allow you to receive and send money online easily and fast, and have people you can contact in case you get into trouble. Also, make sure that you have someone who can take care of everything for you if you can’t attend to the business for a prolonged period.

Moving your business abroad is a natural part of growing a business if it has the potential to span different markets. But expanding overseas comes with many challenges that you may have not considered.

Hiring a PEO Organization

You might also have to hire a third party to handle some of the parts of the expansion, like finding employees and managing payroll, for instance. Some countries have incredibly complex tax systems and employment rules and violating them could be disastrous for your company. So, you have to be very careful there.

Working with a reputable PEO will solve most of these issues for you. They will be able to find and train top talent and will assume part of the liability in case something happens. So, start looking for a few PEOs covering your sector before you decide to leave so you can focus on what matters the most.

Try to find PEOs that specialize in your state such as an Arizona PEO.

The Cultural Specificities of the Local Market

You have to know what is offensive and acceptable both for business relations and relations with the public before you move to any market. So many companies have sunk because they failed to account for cultural sensibilities and made crucial mistakes that ended up ruining their brand. Be very careful and consider working with a cultural consultant before leaving to avoid faux pas.

Expanding into new markets is a major step for any organization and one that you cannot do on a whim. So, make sure that you’re ready for the move and know as much about the market you’re about to move into before you do anything.

What is Virtual to Virtual (V2V) Migration?

As data storage and utilization become more virtual, whole systems are now being migrated without the use of hard disks. The process is known as virtual migration. Virtual migration can take place either from a physical machine (a process known as P2V migration), or from one virtual platform to another (V2V migration). 

This article will describe in detail how these processes take place, what steps to take to make them happen, and what you can do if you need assistance in the process.

What is a Virtual Machine and What is Virtualization?

A virtual machine is the virtualization of a computer system. What virtual machines do is simulate the architecture of computers in order to reproduce the same results without hardware. Virtualization, as the name suggests, is the shifting of data/servers/blocks from physical form to virtual form. The virtualization process could involve the use of both hardware and software. An excellent tool for carrying out the virtualization process is a V2V converter. V2V converters enable the conversion of physical machines into virtual ones, using different hypervisor servers.

Virtual Hardware

The virtualization process runs on guest machines, or guest virtual machines. Guest virtual machines are the software utilized on a virtual machine, the virtual equivalent of software that would be used on a physical machine. The operating systems that guest virtual machines use to function are called guest OSes. The virtual machine, in turn, may or may not involve the use of a hypervisor, or a program to carry out its functions, and a host (which takes the place of the processors/networks that would enable a physical machine to function).

Hosted Virtualization Versus Bare-Metal Virtualization

Even within the realm of virtualization, there are different types of products that people utilize to undertake migration processes. There are two primary categories of virtualization that run on guest machines:

  • Hosted virtualization – Hosted virtualization is a type of virtualization that runs on host OSes, or endpoint computers and hypervisors. Hosted virtualization is carried out when two or more virtual machines are called for, often involving different OSes. Hosted virtualization is preferable when multiple systems are being used because the hypervisors allow for greater flexibility in the process.
  • Bare-metal virtualization, on the other hand, eliminates the need for the operating system by utilizing a tool that acts as a hypervisor and carries out processes directly on host hardware. Bare-metal hypervisors are also known as Type 1 hypervisors. 

Types of VM migration – Cold and Hot

Cold Migration

The first major type of VM migration is called “cold” migration. Cold migration takes place while a system is off. This type of migration is preferable for situations in which virtual data (or other OS parts) are being either re-registered or copied to a new place. When ESXi hosts (virtual representations of the computing resources of physical computers that utilize ESX, or Elastic Sky X servers) utilize different types of CPU architectures, they cannot undergo live migrations because of the incompatible nature of their architectures.

Another reason that cold migration might be preferable would be in cases in which there is concern about data loss or corruption during the migration process. If, for example, certain mail servers involve frequent updating of data, it would be advisable for the user to undertake a cold migration so that incoming data is not lost in the process. Once new data enters the system, it will appear when the machine is powered on.

If migration is taking place between hosts, it is not critical whether or not they belong to the same cluster as there shouldn’t be any potential compatibility issues at stake.

Hot Migrations

Hot migrations are conducted when systems being migrated are static and not subject to frequent change. It is also known as live migration. Hot migration is preferable, when possible, because the entire process takes only minutes to complete as it does not require any down time. Hot and cold migrations utilize different types of data and network types.

Things to Keep in Mind

As much as virtualizing your data will benefit you, there are a few things that you should be aware of as you manage your virtual sphere. First of all, VMs can be more complicated to manage than physical servers, so extra skills are required. Also, there are additional costs included in the virtualization platform. Clouds aren’t free, of course, and they are coveted spaces these days as everyone wants to go virtual. So this is something to make a note of.

In conclusion, your own virtualization process and V2V migration process will depend on your own personal (or business) requirements, what systems you utilize, the amount and frequency of your data transfer, and how important time and security are to you. You should think carefully about each aspect of the process and what method makes the most sense to you.

In the end, having completed these processes will make your computing life a lot easier, more streamlined, and more efficient. The world is moving quickly towards virtualizing data that is considered important; you shouldn’t let yourself or your business stay behind.

Metaverse Announces Legs AR for Company Meetings for Avatars – Is This What We Have Been Waiting For?

metaverse avatar on the left has her knee up, mark zuckerberg's avatar on the right is jumping in the air

Mark Zuckerberg held the first public conference in the Horizon Worlds metaverse of Meta on October 11, 2022, during Meta’s Connect event. At this conference, there were many main announcements, including the new $1,499 Quest Pro headset, Meta’s partnership with Microsoft to bring Office apps into the metaverse, and many more. However, the most-talked announcement is about legs coming to virtual avatars.

Till now, Horizon Worlds users had legless avatars that float in the metaverse without any legs. During the Connect conference, Mark Zuckerberg and his Meta exec Aigerim Shorman’s avatars showed a demo of kicking and jumping off their avatars with legs. This was meant to narrate that Horizon Worlds is soon providing users with legs to have a more lifelike experience in the digital space. However, things don’t look as simple as they seem. So, let’s discuss in detail the metaverse legs announcement and see how things are shaping up currently.

Why Legs are so Important for Meta?

It is almost a year since Mark Zuckerberg changed the company name to Meta and revealed his grand metaverse ambition. Zuckerberg believes that VR/AR is the future of the internet and is spending billions to take on a lead in it. Due to this ambition, Meta is under severe criticism that the plans are quite unrealistic or seriously lack lifelike experience currently.

In fact, Zuckerberg was mocked heavily when he shared his avatar on Facebook for the announcement of the launch of Horizon Worlds in Spain and France.

Right after criticism, Zuckerberg ensured that more enhanced graphic updates are coming to its metaverse avatars. So, the recent announcement of legs coming to the metaverse is one important step to improve the graphics of the avatars and make users feel a more lifelike experience.

“I know you’ve been waiting for this. Everyone has been waiting for this,” said Zuckerberg’s avatar in the Meta’s Connect Event. “But seriously, legs are hard, which is why other virtual reality systems don’t have them either.”

The emphasis Meta is putting on legs shows that visual problems are the biggest concern currently for the company because users don’t want to see floating avatars in outdated graphics. Therefore, the company is trying its best to show that it touches reality, as it will excite the people about the metaverse, which is much needed to stop the declining tech giant’s stock and gain investors’ trust in the future of the company.

How is Meta Going to Detect Legs?

Meta was not able to introduce legs earlier because VR/AR headsets can only detect the movements of upper body parts, such as hands, head, face, etc. When the view of your legs is blocked from the headset due to your arms or if your legs are inside the desk, then the headset is not able to detect their position. So, there is no simple way to detect the movement of legs from the existing headsets. In fact, the new $1,499 Quest Pro headset is also not coming with legs.

Microsoft has also faced complications with introducing legs in its metaverse. Moreover, some other VR experiences that are showing virtual legs are not capable to track the movements of legs in real time.

Despite all challenges with detecting legs, Meta has announced to bring legs first to its metaverse, Horizon Worlds, and then to its other products. As per Zuckerberg, they will set up different predictive AI models that will guess the orientation and movement of legs based on the movement of upper-body parts. In short, they are trying to build a smart AI model that can accurately predict the complete body position.

How Real are Zuckerberg’s Avatar Legs in the Demonstration

The demonstration of Zuckerberg and his Meta exec Aigerim Shorman’s avatars during the Meta’s Connect event seemed to be the actual legs of their avatars that are accurately reflecting their legs’ movements. However, that was just the animation made for the demonstration.

Meta told UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton that they used animation for the legs. “To enable this preview of what’s to come, the segment featured animations created from motion capture,” the Meta told the publication.

This clearly narrates legs are not coming to Horizon Worlds right away. If it was so, then why would Meta do the demo with animations? Most likely, we will see the legs in Horizon Worlds somewhere in 2023, but they are surely going to come into the metaverse environment very soon.

Other Avatar Updates

Meta is not just focusing on adding legs to avatars, but a lot of other visual refinements are underway. For example, the new Quest Pro headset now comes with inward-facing head sensors that can accurately track facial expressions and eye movements. Similarly, Meta is also updating the appearance of avatars with more realistic looks and is also diversifying skin tones, clothing styles, facial features, etc. Meta is also going to launch a Meta Avatar Store next year that will allow users to make their avatars look fancier and buy other digital goods.

Five people standing as avatars

Wrapping Up – Are Legs going to make any difference in the Public’s Perception of Metaverse?

Zuckerberg believes that VR is the future, and it’s true somehow considering the exponential growth in the development and use of VR technology. That’s why Meta is risking a lot with $10 billion annual spending on the metaverse. However, what Meta and other tech giants are struggling with is convincing the general public to show excitement and use the metaverse.

Currently, VR headsets are costly, while the metaverse is used more for gaming and virtual experiences, so even legs alone cannot contribute much to the public perception of the metaverse. Once the graphics become better, more business/corporate-related features of the metaverse come into action, and headsets become cheaper, more people will get attracted to the metaverse. To sum up, Meta will definitely get some appreciation once legs get integrated with Horizon Worlds, but there is a long journey to bring the metaverse to the level that people actually start loving it.

8 Steps To Secure Office IT Equipment

Offices nowadays are packed with critical data that requires the highest level of security. As cybersecurity threats continue to rise in recent years, prioritizing the security of IT equipment in the workplace is a must. Collaboration among all employees can greatly reduce the possibility of security risks occurring.

Remember that if you want to make the most of the security measures, it may be best if team effort is present. Security and safety in the office are crucial, so taking the necessary measures to include the workforce in creating a secure work environment is important. If you want to enhance the security in your organization, consider information on reliable managed IT services from sites such as https://powerconsulting.com/managed-it-services-manhattan/

If you want to ensure office IT equipment stays secure, it may require a combination of physical measures and digital practices. Here are several crucial steps to keep in mind when ensuring the security of your office IT equipment.  

1. Physically Secure The Network Hardware  

Implementing physical measures to secure the network hardware should be a priority. The hardware shouldn’t be accessible to the public and should be kept in a secure area. It may be best to store hardware in a controlled space or an office with locks, with an employee assigned to keep watch. Additionally, an additional safety precaution is to monitor the hardware by installing a security camera. 

2. Maintain Timely Updates  

If you want to ensure the security of your workplace, it’s crucial to stay up-to-date with the software updates for your operating system. Make it a priority to install the latest security updates for all devices. Additionally, switch on the automatic update feature for your operating system. 

3. Invest In The Latest Cybersecurity Measures  

As everything shifts to digital, cybersecurity should be your priority to ensure the highest level of protection for your company’s data. Doing so will come in handy in preventing hackers and malware from accessing sensitive data, which can negatively harm your organization.  

While you’re at it, consider investing in dedicated IT support. It may be a good decision as it’ll help secure your workplace. Enforce the company protocols so that your workforce will always do their part in keeping company data safe. 

4. Invest In Superior-Quality Routers 

Most businesses usually have a basic router with a mediocre-level firewall. If security is your priority, consider switching to a business-grade router with a stronger firewall. Some are even equipped with intrusion detection or protection features that make them good investments. Generally, superior-quality routers tend to have better network performance due to their capability to accommodate more devices.  

5. Observe Good Password Management  

The passwords you’ll use should be difficult to guess to lower the risk of hackers accessing your credentials. Consider using a password management program to help you maintain concrete passwords. Some even come with reminders to update your passwords regularly. 

6. Backup All Data  

One of the crucial considerations to ensure office equipment security is to back up all data. Having a reliable backup system is the key to keeping your company’s assets protected at all times. Consider backup as a precautionary measure if unforeseen events lead to data loss, such as natural calamities, power outages, or cyber threats. When your data is safe, your company will not end up on the sidelines and will continue to operate as usual.  

The 3-2-1 rule is the key when backing up your data. In simple terms, ensure you have three copies of your data on at least two devices and one in an off-site location. The rule is a good starting point, but always look for ways to boost protection. 

It may be time to invest in external hard drives as storage for documents or shift to cloud technology as a storage solution. Most of the latest backup options enable updating files automatically to keep them up-to-date at all times. 

7. Provide Regular Employee Training  

If you want to ensure superior security in your workplace, the involvement of everyone is crucial. Make it a priority to provide your workforce with training on the latest security protocols and procedures. In most cases, it can be related to the operation of equipment or machinery or knowing what to do in emergencies.  

As part of the training, it’s best to include security measures such as protecting passwords, being familiar with the latest cybersecurity threats such as phishing or ransomware, and securing documents. 

8. Deactivate The Ports On The Router  

In most cases, Ethernet or USB ports on the router aren’t in use. Make the right choice by deactivating these ports to limit intruders’ chances to plug a device into your network. Remember that these ports serve as entry points when it comes to LAN security. Turn them off to decrease the chances of infiltration.

Final Thoughts 

Make the security of office IT equipment and the data it holds a priority. As both cases of cybersecurity and physical threats continue to rise, consider investing in measures to keep your organization safe. These insightful steps will be useful in keeping IT equipment and data safe for years to come.

How To Do Crypto Bot Backtest Correctly?

If you trade cryptocurrency often, you probably know that there is a lot of useful and perhaps crucial data that would take too long to analyze manually. This is where backtesting comes into play. It is a great tool to speed up and simplify your analyses. 

This article will explain the concepts of backtesting and forward testing, guide you through backtesting on a trading bot called Cryptohopper, and help you understand whether backtesting really gives better trading results. 

What is Backtesting? 

Backtesting is defined as executing a trading strategy across historical market data before activating it in the future market. The results are analyzed for trading signals and profitability, and the strategy is then kept for real trades or discarded. This data can be mapped manually, but it is mostly done by offline or online trading software because of greater speed and efficiency. 

Backtesting software can run far into the past and read data from more than 10 years back. This is a great feature by itself, because you have a lot of testing ground for a variety of tactics and strategies without investing your money or having to use simulations. 

What is Forward Testing? 

Yet, backtesting is not perfect and there is always the risk of “curve fitting” or overoptimizing and falling for false conclusions and losing in the market. This is why forward testing should also be done to complement it. Forward testing is basically a trading simulation of your strategy in a real market, to see how it would perform without investing money yet. This is why it is called paper trading. Your results are documented and noted down as if you traded. 

This is a good way to put your strategy to the test. Just remember that you always need to avoid logical fallacies when analyzing, which is one of the top skills needed for profitable trading.  

How To Do Trading Strategy Backtesting on Cryptohopper? 

Cryptohopper backtests a combination of your strategy and other configuration parameters. It is an automated trading bot with a TrustPilot score of 4/5 and a verified status. You can learn more about it in a Cryptohopper review by Scammerwatch

To start backtesting, go to your Cryptohopper dashboard and select Backtesting from the left-hand menu. Select your currency and then open the “strategy” drop-down menu. Here you can see a list of your custom strategies, as well as Cryptohopper’s built-in strategies. Under this are the parameters for stop-loss, ”take profit at”, and so on. If you want to fill your current configuration automatically, click “load existing config” at the top. The last step is to enter the period in which you want to perform the test; don’t forget that longer periods mean longer waiting times. 

If you like the results, you can click “deploy this configuration” and apply them instantly to your current strategy. Finally, all your tests appear in your backtest history, where you can take the time to analyze and learn from the tests you have done.  

Does Backtesting Make You a Better Trader? 

Yes and no. No, because backtesting does not increase your trading skill per se, and it does not guarantee more successful trades. To get better at trading, you need to practice active trading as much as you can. Each currency behaves differently and you can start by reading day trading online guides for Bitcoin. 

However, there are a lot of benefits of backtesting which can indirectly make you – better. For example, when you find positive results in a strategy, this means that it is more likely to work in the future. This boosts your trading confidence in general and may help you make better moves intuitively. Secondly, backtesting improves your mindset psychologically. When you see a winning streak in history, you will learn from it, and when you see a losing streak, you will not be discouraged because you can learn the end of that streak and see if the overall results were still a plus. 

Finally, with backtesting, you can pick up better markets that suit your trading style and routine. Markets have slight differences, which can only be seen with historical analysis, and if you select a better market for yourself, you consequently improve your results and can be considered a better trader than before. 

Conclusion 

If you have years and years of data and a coin seems to go up every year, that does not necessarily show the coin’s future performance. We can’t predict what will happen in the future and backtests are also not able to do that. 

What we can do is see how our strategy did over a long period in the past, and that can be an indicator of whether it will work again. Just don’t forget to analyze deeper and understand why a particular strategy has worked. All in all, backtesting is a training simulation that is a good starting place and can save you a lot of time for analysis. 

Author Michael Klias

Crypto enthusiast with over 7 years of professional experience. Passionate about blockchain, finance and technology. https://twitter.com/KliasMichael

Small Business vs Startup: What is the Difference?

Startup seems to be the new buzzword in the world of entrepreneurship. Startups have brought all sorts of new technology to various industries and are being backed by Venture Capitalists and angel investors for millions of dollars. The disruption to markets such as fintech, biotech and countless others has been inspired by the growth of startups in recent years. 

What is a Startup?

However, some of us are still trying to wrap our heads around the idea of what a startup actually is. Isn’t a startup just a new, fancy way of saying a small business with scalability? Is there really a difference between the two, or is it just the millennials in Silicon Valley trying to put a new spin on what is ultimately a tried and tested entrepreneurial concept? 

Well, for those of us who really are befuddled at this relatively new concept of a startup, we have explored and identified the differences between a new startup and your traditional small business.

Growth

One of the main differences between a startup and a small business is the intent for growth. To put it simply, startups have the intent of growing to a point where they can achieve the goal of disrupting the market. On the other hand, small businesses are created purely with the purpose of serving a local market with a piece of entrepreneurship and therefore, typically won’t be aren’t concerned with growth on such a large scale that they’d disrupt the market they find themselves in.

The main point is that all types of business must have some kind of development strategy, whether it is a startup business plan or the expansion of services, products, goods, because without it, sooner or later you will run into a certain barrier, – says Slava Vaniukov, expert and CEO of Softermii.

“When we first set-up, we had the discussion about how we would set ourselves apart from the competition, and ultimately how we could scale up and grow to serve as many potential borrowers as possible”, commented Richard Allan, co-founder of fintech startup, Capital Bean. “We don’t just intend to serve a small community, we want to disrupt the market, and we feel that is what gives a startup its name”.

Scalability

As well as the growth intent and scalability of the startup versus the ‘old school’ small business, the founder of a startup is usually looking to disrupt the market with their scalable and impactful business model, grow as quickly as possible, beat out competitors, etc… This is often why startups don’t stay ‘startups’ for such a long period of time with some success. Founders are, more often than not, looking for investors to get on board to bring their product or service to international markets and become disruptors of said markets. 

On the other hand, a founder of a small business is not necessarily looking to disrupt the market or break into a new market; instead, a small business owner simply needs to have the desire to start their own business and find a market that they can reach effectively. As long as he or she can do so while earning revenue, they will successfully be able to run a small business.

Conclusion

Finally, although there are other points of difference between a startup and a small business, the last main point of interest that you should be aware of is funding. Though this is not set-in-stone and can vary depending on the size and interests of the business or startup, typically speaking, where a small business owner may turn to a bank for a ‘small business loan’, or to a family or friend who believes in their idea, a startup founder will typically look for equity financing.

With equity financing, startups can look for VCs or angel investors who are willing to offer large amounts of capital in exchange for equity, or ownership, in the company. Typically, these investors offer minimum amounts of capital in “rounds” and then with each series of funding, the startup gives up equity.

How to Start a Fintech Company: a Step-by-Step Guide

The FinTech industry is one that has continued to grow from strength-to-strength, regardless of the world economic outlook or major events.

Many regard the birth of FinTech to have come in 2005, when online peer-to-peer lending was popularized with Zopa, but it has come on leaps and bounds since then. Almost any financial product or service can be accessed online and remotely, to the point where brick-and-mortar establishments could soon become a thing of the past. 

By the end of 2021, Fintech investment reached $210 billion in the United States, and there’s no exclusivity when it comes to having a good business idea in the field of fintech. As mentioned above, due to pure accessibility to the internet, simply anyone can start a fintech business.

So, if you think you have a good business idea in the fintech industry, this step-by-step guide should help you to get it off the ground:

1. Understand your industry and its regulations

The first thing to note is that fintech and the general financial services industries are highly regulated, and for good reason. 

“In our niche, predatory lenders are big exploiters of vulnerable Americans, and so it is our job to ensure that our lenders are fully compliant with both state and federal regulations”, commented Ben Sweiry, co-founder of online fintech startup Dime Alley.

In order to keep your fintech business on the right side of the law, you need to know the ins and outs of what is a highly complex sphere, including the regulatory authorities, laws – both state and federal, legal limitations and requirements.

2. Discover your USP or niche

Fintech may be a relatively new term in a lot of peoples’ vocabularies, but that’s not to say it’s a small field; quite the contrary. There are lots and lots of different fintech-based services that you could provide and so it is crucial that you find your USP – what will set you apart from the competition?

To be competitive and have a chance of being successful, you could start by researching the new products or services which can be developed or perhaps try to analyse the problems that consumers are facing, and how your service or product can alleviate them.

3. Make a business plan and identify how much capital you will need

As easy as it may seem to start an online fintech business, getting a startup off the ground isn’t cheap, especially if you want to be successful, and so it is essential that you make sure you are financially ready to start a company.

A good way to start is to write a business plan – it will help your fintech startup get organized. Do not hesitate to ask for help from experts to write a good business plan, as they often have been-there-and-done-it.

There are lots of different ways that you could raise capital for your fintech startup; from bank loans to crowdfunding to venture capital, etc… You could even look into borrowing money from your family or friends if they believe in you and your idea.

Regardless of your path, you should try and have something to show to your potential investors, hence why a business plan and perhaps even a visual prototype would come in handy.

5 Ways That Drive Sales to Your Online Business

Online shopping has been rising for some time and was dramatically boosted by the COVID pandemic. With the right strategies, you can benefit from this trend by increasing online sales and building loyalty to your company. Here are five ideas to drive sales to your online business.

1. Choose a Reliable Hosting Service

A hosting service provides rental space on a physical server that stores all the data and files needed for your website to run correctly. Unreliable servers leading to unstable network connections can push your site offline, denying you viewership and sales. Choose a web hosting service with uptime scores over 99.5 percent for better website performance.

Apart from less downtime, here are several other things a good hosting service provides:

  • Better security: All information going through your site is automatically encrypted.
  • Frequent backups: You can recover accidentally deleted files, resolve update problems, and receive hacking protection.
  • Faster load time: When a page takes too long to load, a user is likely to click away.
  • Better search engine rankings: Website downtime and slowness can significantly impact your rankings.
  • Allowance for Growth: As your business expands, increased traffic is easily accommodated.

2. Conduct a Website Audit

A website audit provides an analysis of your site’s effectiveness, pinpoints needed improvements, and helps discover if you are optimized to drive sales to your site. Here is what a thorough website audit assesses:

  • Site Health: A “health” check identifies the number of issues your website has, which may include URL structure, 4XX and 5XX errors, broken links, duplicated content, and page loading speed (including mobile page speed). Responsive design ensures that your site renders properly on different devices.
  • Technical SEO: Assesses crawlability and indexability.
  • Security: Having HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) that encrypts user data is critical to high Google ranking. Possible security breaches and Google penalties are also assessed.
  • Keyword Performance: A review of keywords and search queries you are already performing followed by new keyword research to pinpoint fresh opportunities to improve rankings. (Research found that search makes up 65% of all e-commerce sessions.)
  • Off-Site Presence: An examination of backlinks, reviews, and social media (Google ranking looks at social media performance).
  • Conversion Rate: An assessment of the effectiveness of lead forms, CTAs, checkout flow, etc.
  • Competitor Analysis: A look at websites competing in your target market.

3. Drive Sales By Improving User Experience

If site visitors are leaving without buying, it may be because of poor user experience. Note where users struggle or easily make missteps. Here are some ways to fix user experience problems:

  • Upgrade Customer Service: A survey found that 84% of respondents took customer service into account when making a buying decision. Your contact page should clearly show your phone number, email address, and chat. An FAQ page helps provide immediate answers. Important: When someone contacts you, respond promptly.
  • Provide a Chat Feature: Add one, monitor it constantly, and include an auto-response letting users know when you are available.

Note: Virtual Agent Technology (VAT) is a plug-in that immediately answers common questions.

  • Make Checkout Simple: Checkout can be a big sticking point for sales. Break up the procedure into several pages or an expanding page, so the prospective buyer isn’t overwhelmed with information fields. Provide a guest checkout option.
  • Keep Shipping Costs Low: Consumers don’t tend to think about shipping costs until they reach checkout. Many abandoned shopping carts result from extra charges like shipping. Build shipping costs into your prices so you can offer free shipping. If this isn’t feasible, offer free shipping for a minimum order or provide a flat shipping rate upfront.

4. Drive Sales by Understanding Your Target Audience

Good marketing decisions depend on an in-depth understanding of your potential customers that enables you to focus on qualified prospects, guide effective product development, and align work across all aspects of your business.

Create a buyer persona (a representation of your ideal customer) to provide you with an in-depth awareness of what your targeted audience needs and wants and enable you to create resonating messaging. Research data should include:

  • Age and sex.
  • Career path or professional background.
  • Goals – what do they want to achieve?
  • Where they live – cities, suburban, rural areas.
  • Hobbies/pastimes.
  • Role played in the purchasing decision.
  • Challenges – what obstacles are they trying to overcome?
  • Preferred method of communication.
  • Where they go for information.

You also should research how paying customers found their way to your site so that you can better focus your marketing efforts.

  • Examples: If lots of cookware sales result from a blog post about healthy eating, write more on that topic. If Facebook ads account for most sales, invest in more advertising.

5. Create Interesting Content

Content providing relevant and interesting information helps prospects find you through SEO. Search engines prioritize pages that provide consistent content, so write new posts regularly. Also, address ways to use your products or common issues related to them.

  • Example: If you sell dog toys, write about fun games to play with your canine friend or how to help dogs with separation anxiety.

Your content and messaging should highlight what you offer that no one else doesn’t. Understand what makes you different and shout it from the virtual rooftops. Include it in your tagline and home page, place it prominently in social media ads, and highlight it in your email marketing campaigns.

You also need high-quality pictures that highlight your product’s best features. However, photos should accurately represent a product to avoid a high return rate because the received item looks different than the photo. Include more than one product image – three or four is ideal.

Consistently sharing content on social media helps new customers find you and builds loyalty with current ones. Connect your online store to your social media accounts so users can easily make a purchase.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good ideas to select from, so choose those that work best for your online business and dive in!

Alycia Kuan is a digital marketer from WebRevenue. She has a passion for yoga, music and loves to share her thoughts on e-commerce. She likes exploring the latest trends in digital marketing and SEO. Say hi to her on LinkedIn.

List of Software That You Should Have for Gaming (Really Useful Ones)

What items make up a gamer’s must-have kit? Beginner online gamers will probably say that you must have a suitable device and a good internet connection. Meanwhile, experienced gaming lovers will provide a longer list. They will assure you that although having a device and a stable internet connection is important, it is equally important to take care of the necessary software, which can significantly improve the quality of the game.

What apps could it be? What are they good for? Why should they be used? We will try to answer these questions by discussing 9 of the most important softwares that every gamer should use. Let us take a look! 

Virtual Private Network

Virtual Private Network (VPN) service was the most reliable online security tool at the time. It encrypts your information and makes sure that any third parties can see it, even if you are using public Wi-Fi. What is more, VPNs also improve ping and it provides smoother gameplay when playing first-shooter, racing or multiplayer games where fast transferring data speeds as well as the server’s response is extremely significant. Finally, using VPN service allows you to avoid geo-blocked content – to reach any game that was inaccessible for you before.

F.lux

If you spend much time in front of the display, you might experience tired, dry or blurry eyes. The great news is that you may make things easier for your eyes by using the “F.lux” app. It adjusts your display contrast and color temperature depending on the time of a day as well as the light sources you use. In other words, it is a simple tool that reduces eye strain significantly. That is why it is so much appreciated by gaming lovers all over the world.

Equalizer APO

While for some online gamers the visual side is extremely important, for others the audio quality is the most important thing to take care of. “Equalizer APO” is valued a lot because it may significantly improve the limited audio options of a sound’s card in the device. Users may take advantage of different pass filters, VST plugins, loudness correction and many more. So, do you still have questions about the importance of this app?

KeyTweak

Many online game players are convinced that a high-end keyboard is the key to a great performance in gaming. However, it is not always true. Even though such a keyboard may improve your game, you may also try out another solution – “KeyTweak” app. It allows you to remap your keyboard layout according to your needs easily and significantly contributes to better gameplay results and greater satisfaction as well!

Razer Cortex: Game Booster

It would probably be difficult to find an online gaming lover who has not heard of this software. It is famous for its outstanding features such as scanning and removing junk files automatically in your system. As one of its users says, this app is wonderful for those who do not have a beasty PC. So, if you also miss a better performance of your computer, try “Razer Cortex: Game Booster” now!

CleanMyPc

The task to keep your computer clean might not be easy to cope with. That’s why “CleanMyPc” software was created. It allows you to clean out all unnecessary files that accumulate in a system so that the performance of your device would improve. Cleaning your computer has never been so easy – you may do it only in a few clicks! Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Bluestacks

That is the software that allows you to play mobile games on a Windows PC! In other words, the dream – to play Candy Crush Saga, Evernote, Temple Run 2 or any other mobile game using your PC – is now realistic! All you have to do is sync the apps from your phone! “Bluestacks” app gives you the opportunity to experience games in a new way – to monitor the image on a large display and improve your reaction speed using a mouse and keyboard.

OSB Studio

Bearing in mind that streaming is becoming an almost inseparable part of online gaming, it is important to mention the “OSB Studio” app as well. It is a very popular open-source streaming software that is used for producing various types of online video content. Even professionals admit the fact that it is the best free streaming software in terms of power as 

Steam

You can buy games, have them in one place, get the latest news from it and keep in touch with the community. What is more, it is free to install. Sounds too good to be true? Actually, that is what the “Steam” app offers. More and more often this software is called to be a must-have by online gamers.

Competitor Price Tracking and Monitoring Software

In modern business, there is fierce competition between companies offering similar services or products to consumers. This applies to both the real sector of the economy and IT technologies. Priceva Competitor price tracking and monitoring software will allow you to track the offers of other companies in time, adjust the indices and attract more customers. This portal is described in detail below with all the details and instructions for use.

What Are the Benefits of Priceva?

Priceva Competitor price tracking and monitoring software service is in high demand among representatives of all industries of large, medium, or small businesses, as it has a lot of the following undeniable advantages:

  • Quick registration in the system, without the need to fill out voluminous and complex forms.
  • The presence of a demo version allows you to understand all the intricacies of the platform for free.
  • Users are immediately offered four types of periodic subscriptions, which differ in the set of services, cost, and nuances, which allows each interested person to choose exactly the tariff plan that fully meets his requirements.
  • Each registered user receives system notifications about changes in competitors’ prices automatically after daily monitoring, which allows him not to miss important information.
  • A very simple interface that does not require special knowledge to use.
  • An integrated approach of artificial intelligence to the analysis of current indicators of current market prices with index adjustments depends on the period.
  • The innovative theology of artificial intelligence offers each half-table a unique system of interaction with databases, adapting to his needs in the process of primary work and based on the analysis of requests.

Thus, Priceva software is one of the most advanced on the market and also eliminates the need for users to independently monitor competitors’ offers or check the results issued by an automated system since they are based only on current data based on the market situation.

Priceva Competitor Price Tracking and Monitoring Software Capabilities

Each user who has registered and issued his tariff plan for subscribing to system updates gets full access to the following set of useful functions for tracking specific offers on the market:

  • The offer interface combines queries, automatic market diagnostics, as well as the issuance and reading of results with the compilation of statistics, comparison of optimal indicators with values ​​and parameters selected by the user, and this combination greatly simplifies the user’s work with the system.
  • A convenient system for searching for the necessary design parameters through the application’s own internal spreadsheet in Excel format. There is also a filter by categories and other parameters, allowing you to quickly select the desired position without any double results or the need for a long search.
  • Price monitoring can be done on request and constantly monitoring the results of an automated platform that will independently carry it out at selected time intervals.
  • Each user gets access to automatic commands, which eliminates the need for manual data entry. Priceva portal guarantees the absence of errors and the human factor, which allows you to get only the expected result.
  • A convenient and effective informative system of notification of current prices for each competitive enterprise of interest. The application is available on both PC and mobile devices, and the user is aware of price changes even when the system is offline.

Additionally, each user can register their current e-mail address in the system and receive a newsletter from the application about adjusting market prices immediately to their mailbox.

What Is the Software or Platform for Re-Evaluation?

The Priceva platform also offers each user many other possibilities, namely a universal algorithm for re-evaluating their offers, based on an analysis of the competitive market. This platform works according to the following algorithm:

  • The user sets boundary conditions, according to which, if the price of competitors goes down or up to certain values, his offers are automatically re-evaluated.
  • Based on the analysis of proposals from similar companies, statistics are automatically generated with a table in Excel format convenient for each PC user.
  • If necessary, the user can also activate the advanced price analytics function to collect competitors’ offers in more detail, which will allow him to always have advantages over each of them.
  • There are separate applications and settings for specific retailers, depending on the scope of their commercial interests, as well as convenient filtering of companies by brand.

In the application, it is possible to analyze both the maximum and minimum or average market prices from each competitive enterprise. Such information will always help you organize profitable promotions, and discount programs and be one step ahead of your competitors.

Services That Are Offered in the Most Affordable Plan

For those heads of companies or representatives of various business areas who have issued a paid subscription of a standard format, the following minimum set of useful functions is offered:

  • A service for tracking current market offers from competing companies, with an analysis of the commercial field of activity.
  • Comparison of selected products with the current pricing policy of the customer.
  • Registration of statistics in a readable format using standard text editors with the possibility of sending it to the addressee or printing information on paper.
  • Re-evaluation of own offers for the least popular products provided that they do not participate in the discount program or other promotions. This function allows you to accurately set the desired range, price ceiling, as well as parameters for their adjustment. As a result, the system will automatically compare the numbers with competitive offers and quickly adjust the retailer’s internal prices.
  • Diagnostics of the availability of goods that are of interest to the customer, namely, the analysis of its sales statistics after adjusting prices.
  • Checking each competitor for a dumping policy will allow you to keep the price on time and not lose the planned profit. Thus, goods from a particular retailer always stand out from the average market price, the cost of which is significantly lower for biased reasons.
  • The application analyzes the digital shelf with the most in-demand products since they often form the largest part of the retailer’s revenue and profit.

The Priceva application provides the customer with complete market analytics, allows you to adjust your business plan quickly, adjust to the average offers of competitors, and also not miss the expected profit, which will ensure the rapid growth of the company and other benefits.

Nucoin by Nubank – Introducing the New Cryptocurrency Backed By Warren Buffet Himself

The Brazilian bank Nubank will shortly launch a cryptocurrency rewards program. The latest foray into digital assets by a major financial institution will occur next year when the Brazilian startup for digital banking Nubank introduces its own coin.

Nubank said Wednesday it will launch the token, called Nucoin, in the first half of 2023. Holders of the token will receive discounts and other benefits, according to Nubank.

The digital bank, which is supported by investors such as Softbank Group Corp. (9984.T) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), led by Warren Buffett, reported having 66.4 million customers in Brazil, its primary market, up from 62.3 million at the end of June. A holding company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owns subsidiaries involved in a range of commercial endeavors, including manufacturing, retailing, freight rail transportation, utilities and energy, insurance and reinsurance, and utilities.

What is Nucoin?

In 2013, Nubank made its debut in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a purple no-fee credit card. Brazil is infamous for its high-fee, antiquated banking system. The company has accumulated 70 million users across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia since its start nine years ago.

The coin was created using the “Layer 2” Polygon network, which aims to reduce congestion on the Ethereum blockchain, where transactions can sometimes be expensive and time-consuming to complete. According to Polygon, its platform can handle hundreds of transactions every second. Companies like PayPal and Robinhood also provide cryptocurrency trading. While this is going on, the Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has its own internal cryptocurrency trading department.

About 2,000 customers will be invited to take part in a debate on the project’s specifics, including its Web3 features and decentralized method of product creation, starting this month.

In May, the bank announced a partnership with Paxos to enable its customers to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies through its app. This move aimed to improve access to crypto assets, reduce complexity and friction for users to buy, hold, and sell digital currencies through the bank’s app, and eliminate the need to open or transfer money using a new account.

Immediate Edge offers traders of all skill levels a comprehensive trading experience on a flexible but user-friendly interface.

What Makes Nucoin Different?

Earlier this year, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold off a portion of its interests in Visa and Mastercard and increased its exposure to Nubank by investing $1 billion in equities after selling $3.1 billion in shares of each of the two companies.

The new token launch coincides with a depressing period for cryptocurrencies. Many digital coins, including the biggest currency in the world, bitcoin, have lost more than half of their value since the beginning of 2022, and the market is currently experiencing a severe downturn that speculators are dubbing “crypto winter.” Its objective is to provide clients with advantages like discounts and rewards as they acquire Nucoins. The tokens can be exchanged for benefits and special prices on particular goods.

Conclusion

Governments in the United States, the European Union, and other countries have introduced frameworks for regulating the business, and regulators have since grown more cautious about digital currencies and the potential damages they pose to consumers.

According to Nubank, there is a chance that Nucoins might one day be tradable. Currently, the lender’s banking software lets its Brazilian customers conduct Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions.