Social Media Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Should Avoid

As small business owners begin marketing their company on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and the like, it’s easy to go overboard when attempting to build your fan base and convert them into customers. Sure, social media platforms are powerful, they have hundreds of millions if not billions of potential customers congregating on them, and they’re excellent platforms to build your brand and find loyal customers.

Social media marketing

It’s unfortunate but many companies still make big mistakes with their social media accounts. Since three quarters of the people online use social networking in one form or another, using these accounts wrong could have a negative impact on your business.…

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Attract Talent With Affordable Benefits

As a business owner, you probably already know you’re in a race to attract the best talent. Large, multinational corporations can deploy enormous resources to keep highly-educated professionals working for them, while startups can sell big dreams and lucrative options plans to get people to stay on board. That might leave small and medium sized businesses pressured to find and retain the right talent.

Hiring

Employees consider perks and benefits a key part of their career. Getting rates on insurance, and offering dental care is simply scratching the surface. To attract the right professionals you need to offer something special. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should try to replicate Silicon Valley-style indoor slides and in-house chefs.…

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5 Excellent Ways to Foster an Innovative Team Collaboration Environment

When you have a superstar team heading your startup or established enterprise, there’s nothing that can really stop your business from pushing forward, on an upward trajectory.

Unfortunately, so many businesses still miss this fact, instead sticking to accepted office traditions, and relying too heavily on management to put their stamp of approval on everything. Fostering a more innovative environment is as easy as changing things up a bit and considering new ways of running your team.

Team collaboration

Here are 5 excellent ideas for bringing your team closer together, to push the business to greater heights:…

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Top Tips for Ensuring Your Company’s Payment Processes Are Secure

While procurement officers are obviously focused on ensuring that payments are made on time at all stages, it is also important for the security of transactions to be considered too. Unfortunately, in this digital day and age when we constantly use our computers to complete tasks, and where hackers find ever more sophisticated ways to gain access to networks and systems, companies are at more risk of digital attacks than ever before.

IT security

Thankfully though, there are numerous things you can do to protect your organization when transactions are finalized. Read on for some top tips you can follow today to ensure payment processes are secure as possible.…

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Need to Get Cash Flow Back on Track? Here Are Some Tips to Help

With so many funds going out of a business bank account to pay for procurement and other costs, it is easy (and very common) for organizations to often struggle with cash flow as a result. However, cash flow is the life blood of all ventures, and needs to be kept track of closely if a business is to steer clear of financial woes, staff layoffs and even closure. If you need to find ways to get your organization’s cash levels more even, read on for some tips you can follow today.

Stressed out business leader

Track Cash Flow Closely

The first step to take if you want to get on top of cash flow is to consistently track it.…

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The 5 Biggest Cybersecurity Threats to Home-Based Businesses

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Just because you have a small business doesn’t mean that you are immune to hacking or other cyberattacks, or that you can let your guard down when it comes to cybersecurity. These days, small businesses, even home-based micro businesses, are just as vulnerable to attacks as major corporations, and the effects can be devastating.

Ransomware attack risks

Unfortunately, despite this reality, many home businesses aren’t adequately protected against the biggest threats to their livelihood. While your business may have protections already in place, such as powerful internet security software, firewalls, and encryption, there are still risks of which you should be aware.…

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Taking Action on Customer Survey Data the Right Way

There are a variety of uses for survey data, and there are a myriad of ways to collect it. As far as survey data tools, you can get your feet wet with a simple online Google Doc survey or expand into the robust data extraction game with Qzzr or Qualtrics.

Customer survey

The following are the six data points that are incredibly important to business owners and decision makers.

1. Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation is dividing customers into distinct groups. Doing so allows you to develop a deeper understanding of your customers. If you don’t have any knowledge about your target market, it’s like trying to shoot a target at the shooting range blindfolded.…

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Bankruptcy Is Unexpected, Preparing Now Can Help You Later

Peaks And Valleys

The best times can become the worst of times quickly, and such economic downturns aren’t always predictable. Even if someone’s finances are well managed, their FICO score is honorable, and they do their best to live within their means, financial hardships can strike at any moment. It’s never an expected occurrence, and often leaves us feeling as if our lives are spiraling out of control.

Facing bankruptcy

It isn’t often talked about, but it is far more common than most realize. Bankruptcy happens to more than 1 million Americans every year. If you should find yourself looking into bankruptcy attorneys, then it is important to know that you are not alone.…

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The Different Parts of Branding – Explained

We live in an age where customers are not always going to be happy just going to the cheapest option, especially in certain areas. Instead, branding is becoming more and more important.

Apple Macbook Air brand

It doesn’t matter if you are a small business, large business, online company, B2B, or anything else. If your brand isn’t on point, customers will be more leery of turning to you in the long-term. Sometimes, this is money you can’t afford to leave on the table.

Of course, this doesn’t answer the question—what is branding exactly? Learn not just what branding is, but all the different ways it seeps into your business’s operations, and how to make sure you’re doing it right.…

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4 Pricing Strategies That Can Boost Your Online Sales Fast

When sales are low there are various things that can be done. You can use many strategies and make so many site modifications. A part of the strategies that can be used are connected to pricing.

When your storefront is attractive and sales are slow, although traffic is good, you can use various pricing strategies to increase sales. It does not matter if you sell textbooks online or if you sell something more expensive like refrigerators.

Try these strategies.

1. Cover All Price Ranges

The customers that visit the online store have different price points and objectives. This is why you want to offer both the low end products and the high end products.…

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