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How to Create Short-Form Videos With Instagram Reels

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6 min read


This story originally appeared on PCMag

Social media app TikTok has turned short, shareable videos into an art form. Now Instagram is getting in on the craze with Instagram Reels, which allows you to add music and fun visual effects over looping video. 

Once your 15-second clip has been recorded, it can be shared with your Instagram followers. If you have a public account, you can also distribute your video to the greater Instagram community. Let’s see how it works.

Open Reels

Open the Instagram app and tap the camera icon in the upper-left corner, or simply swipe the main screen to the right. At the camera screen, you should see three options at the bottom: Live, Story, and Reels. Tap the one for Reels.

selecting Reels option in Instagram

By default, the app uses the front-facing camera, but you can also tap the camera icon in the lower-right corner to change to the rear camera. Tap the flash icon at the top to set whether the flash is on, off, or automatic. 

Add music and effects

You can either use the audio from your video or add music from Instagram’s library. If you add music over the video, the video’s audio will not be included in the recording. To add music, tap the Audio icon on the left. From here, it will work like it does when you add music to a Story.

Scour Instagram’s library for songs in the For You and Browse sections. Under Browse, choose a specific genre, mood, or theme to see songs in that area. To search for music, type the name of a song or artist in the Search field at the top. If you spot a song you like, tap the Play button to hear a short clip.

Selecting music in instagram

To add the song to your video, just tap its name. You’re then returned to the video screen where Instagram picks and plays a certain 15-second section of the song to include. You can change to a different section of the song by moving your finger along the slider bar at the bottom. At the same time, the lyrics to the song appear on the screen so you can choose your section that way. When you’ve found a section you want, tap Done at the top.

choosing song length in instagram

If you want to change the speed of the video, tap the Speed icon on the left-hand side under the Audio icon. This option lets you set the speed at which your video is recorded and played. Choose .3x or .5x to play the video in slow motion, or speed it up with 2x or 3x. Your chosen song still plays at the correct speed.

Choosing zoom settings in instagram

Next, tap the Effects icon. You can scroll through the different effects and preview each one. Swipe all the way to the right and tap the Browse Effects button to see all of the effects available in Instagram. Find an effect you like and leave it in place.

changing effects in instagram

You can manually set the length of your video by tapping the Timer icon. Drag the right edge of the slider bar to the right to lengthen the video and to the left to shorten the video. 

changing video length in instagram

If you have added music, the song will play so you can time your video to certain lyrics or a melody in your music. After you’ve chosen your preferred length, tap the button to Set Timer.

Record video

Tap the shutter button to record your video. A three-second countdown goes off, and then your recording starts. If you want to pause the video, tap the shutter button again. After you’ve paused it, you can then change certain attributes, including the AR effects and speed. 

recording reels video

If you see an Align icon pop up on the screen, you can tap the option to straighten your video. Tap the shutter button again to resume the recording. Your video recording ends at 15 seconds. After the video is finished, it automatically plays so you can view it.

If you wish to change the music, tap the left arrow at the top. Make your change, and then tap the right arrow at the bottom to replay the video with the music change you made.

Add text, stickers and emojis 

After your video is recorded, you can spruce it up further by adding text, stickers and emojis, or by drawing something. Tap the smiley icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen to add stickers or emoji. Some stickers display the location or time; tapping them may change the color or style. 

adding stickers

Select the sticker or emoji you want and place it on the screen. You can move the item around by dragging it, or make it bigger or smaller by pinching with two fingers. Tap the Pin option to pin the item to the screen so it moves around when your video plays. If you don’t want to keep the sticker or emoji, press it and drag it to the trash can icon.

drawing on video

You can draw on the video by tapping the pen icon in the toolbar on the top of the screen. The drawing toolbar allows you to choose the type of pen you want to use, the thickness, and the color. If you don’t like what you’ve drawn, you can remove it with the Eraser tool or tap the Undo button to remove your last drawing.

adding text

Tap the letters icon in the top toolbar to set the font and color of the text. As you type, the font size shrinks to accommodate the text. You can move the text around by dragging it and change the size even further by pinching it.

Share video

When your video is finished, tap the right arrow at the bottom to share it. By default, your video is shared through Reels. If you also wish to share it in your feed, make sure the switch is on for Also Share to Feed. You can also share it to your Story, or selectively with any of your friends. 

sharing video to reels

If you have a public account, your video will be shared to the Explore section, so any Instagram user can see it. Tap share to finalize.

Reels in Ecplore page

View the Reels other people have created from the app’s Explore page. Tap the Search icon at the main feed page and scroll down the search results. Certain videos will be marked as Reels.

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How One Homeschooling Professional Has Leaned Into the Era of Remote Learning

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9 min read


When Michelle Parrinello-Cason and her business partner, Blair Lee, launched SEA Online Classes (the acronym stands for Secular, Eclectic, Academic) in June of this year, there was still no way to know whether schools would reopen. But they knew their model had to accommodate not only their core community — secular homeschooling families — but parents and children first navigating how to augment, or temporarily substitute, traditional K-12 education with remote learning.

For Parrinello-Cason, the endeavor was an extension of her work running Dayla Learning, a resource site for families homeschooling their kids in the humanities, since 2018. She soon found a kindred spirit in Lee, who had been overseeing SEA Homeschoolers (of which SEA Online is an offshoot) as of 2015.

The goal of SEA Online is to provide homeschooling families located anywhere with easily accessible, secular curricula that’s been selected and vetted by Parrinello-Cason, Lee and other experienced academics. The goalposts shifted slightly, however, once the duo realized there’s a greater demand for — or at least more inquiries into — their services and homeschooling methods writ large than ever before.

Parrinello-Cason, who is a mother of two herself and has also taught in on-campus environments, caught up with us from her home in St. Louis about ramping up SEA Online to meet the moment, changing preconceptions about homeschooling and how parents of any background can use this period as an opportunity to explore all options.

Related: 6 Distance-Learning Resources for Working Parents

Michelle Parrinello-Carson (l) and her business partner, Blair Lee.

Image Credit: Michelle Parrinello-Cason/Blair Lee

When schools first shut down last spring, did you anticipate bracing for new inquiries about the fall?

I don’t think it was immediate. Back in March, we were still thinking, “Oh, you know, by the time that fall classes roll around, things will be back to normal.” But when it became pretty apparent that things weren’t going to be back to normal, it did really impact the way that we thought about that platform. We recognized the demand was a lot higher than we were expecting and that there were a lot of people in our community new to homeschooling who we’re looking for options they hadn’t been before. So we did grow faster and launched bigger than we had expected to.

What were the biggest challenges in adjusting for that growth?

When we were going to do a very small pilot, we were trying to keep our expenses really low. We ended up going with Teachable, which has an existing LMS platform, but we [initially] were going to create something in-house and maybe use something like with WordPress plugins and create our own LMS system. But having done that would have required more time and trial-and-error. Because we recognized how quickly we needed to scale up to meet the demand of our audience, we went ahead and budgeted for the expense of using a platform that was already in existence.

Have you had to be emphatic in your messaging about how homeschooling can be for anyone, not just families from more religious communities?

Absolutely. That was already the work — advocating for the secular homeschooling community and making sure that we had high-quality curriculum options out because most of the curriculum that has been available for decades in the homeschooling community has been very religious. The influx of new homeschoolers has largely been people who are looking for secular materials because they’re coming from public schools where that was already the norm. To know we can assure them that there are high-quality materials out there that do meet those needs is an important part of this.

Is your ultimate goal to market your model as a permanent alternative to traditional schooling, or is it more about introducing it as something supplementary for the uninitiated?

It really is a pretty different approach than the traditional classroom, but we also know that a lot of people use homeschooling in periods of transition in their own lives, so they might only do it for a year or two. And in those situations, if they are expecting to go back to a brick-and-mortar traditional classroom, it really can just be a supplement. So we have tried to create classes and materials and resources that meet families where they are and help them get to where they want to go, and we let them know that there is no one way to do homeschooling. You can always adjust it as you do some trial-and-error.

What about all the studies suggesting kids needs to be back in school for the social development as much as anything?

I understand that. I was there too when I was an unexpected homeschooler. When I first was entering into this world, I was like, “Oh my gosh, my kid’s not going to have any friends. What am I going to do?” But there is a very robust homeschooling community. It may not be the majority of parents, but it certainly is a very active and supportive community. And even traditional homeschoolers are struggling this year because our co-op can’t meet in person and our field trips can’t be in person. So we’re also trying to find ways to have social activities through virtual opportunities and adjusting to that kind of thing too. But I think that we are already used to that flexibility and being able to adapt on the fly in a way that gives us an advantage in this position.

I take it, then, that SEA Online is doing well so far?

Yeah. Because our platform is new, we don’t have numbers to compare it to, but it is certainly up from our expectations because we were expecting maybe six or seven classes with two or three teachers. And instead we now have six teachers 30 classes and two book clubs that offer nine books each. So it’s 48 classes really, and they’re almost all full. Now we’re trying to figure out, “What is that going to look like in the spring?” Because hopefully a lot of brick-and-mortar schools are back in session. We’re trying to figure out how to make sure we’re meeting the needs of our audience when our audience isn’t sure what their needs will be in the next step.

So you’re prepared for the likelihood that when schools resume, this surge of interest in SEA Online might dip a bit.

If we lose a lot of people who are just here temporarily, we have a passionate, really connected audience who is going to want these online classes and experiences for their learners for the long term. We’re trying to make sure that we’re walking that balance of really tuning into that specific need that is going to remain. It might not be quite as robust, but I know that those people are still going to be there. And a lot of the investments that we were planning to make some time down the road, we were just able to make them a lot earlier because of this surge. Not everybody is going to continue on this path, but I do think that some people will have found it accidentally and decide that it does work best for their families.

To be honest, it sounds if you’ve been quicker to innovate than a lot of the brick-and-mortar schools. What do you think has been the biggest obstacle for traditional educators right now?

I really feel for teachers and administrators in brick-and-mortar schools, because a lot of this has just been uncertainty. I have the benefit of certainty. I know that students signing up for my classes are going to have stable internet access and microphones and cameras that work and a quiet place to do their work because people who come seeking out my classes do so with that understanding in mind. [Public school] teachers and administrators making these choices don’t know that all of their students are going to have those things. They don’t know that all of their families are going to be interested in that. And so I think that the uncertainty is what has really caused some bumps in the road for them. If we had known in April, “Hey, we are 100 percent all going virtual in starting August 20,” I think teachers would definitely have been able to rise to that occasion. Instead, we’ve gotten a lot of, “Well, maybe we’re doing a hybrid model. No, nevermind, now we’re doing all virtual. No, nevermind, now we’re meeting in person.”

Do you view the trend of independent homeschooling pods popping up in suburban areas as a threat to your business model?

We’ve been approached by some people who are in small pods asking, “Hey, can we get our group into one of your sections?” So I don’t think that it’s a threat to us, because those individuals meeting in person in those small groups still need a curriculum. They still need the expertise and the content to deliver really great classes. And especially if those pods are going to have students across mixed ages and mixed abilities, they’re going to have to differentiate for a lot of different needs. The kinds of classes and experiences we’re offering probably compliment those more than they compete with them. There’s eventually going to be a normal on the other side of all of this, but there’s always going to be a need for individualized education that meets learners’ unique needs. That’s what we’re trying to deliver. We were doing it before this happened because there was already a demand, so I feel like that demand is definitely still going to be there.

Related: The 6-Figure Tutor: Jay Veal of INC Education

Any last words of wisdom for fellow parents pulling their hair out?

I would say nothing is permanent. Don’t feel like any choice that you make right now is a choice for forever. And that kids are more resilient than we give them credit for, and learning happens in ways that we don’t expect. I know it’s extremely stressful right now, but put a little more trust in our learners to be able to get a lot out of situations that aren’t ideal, because kids really can rise to the occasion if they’re given materials and opportunities that will help them get through this.

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Mobile Technology and Today’s Consumer (INFOGRAPHIC)

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Almost 70% of consumers would rather use their phone to find something out than approach an in-store employee. This statistic was unveiled by Soprano and its ‘Power of Mobile Messaging’ infographic.

Soprano Design is a provider of intelligent and secure business mobile messaging software solutions. Its ‘The Power of Mobile Messaging’ infographic explores how consumers’ reliance on mobile technology has escalated during the pandemic.

The pervasiveness of messaging is highlighted in the infographic, with 85% of smartphone users preferring messages to emails or calls.

The Power of Mobile Communications

Even before the pandemic struck, most consumers preferred text messaging over other marketing formats. In the wake of the health crisis, mobile communications are more important than ever.

For small businesses, being aware of changing consumer trends is important. With such knowledge on-board, small businesses can modify marketing campaigns to cater for the demand for mobile communication.

Allan Thygesen, President of Americas at Google, reiterates consumers’ dependence on their mobile phones.

“When we want something, we expect our phone to tell us where the product is being sold at a store nearby, and even tells us if it’s in stock this very moment. And when we are ready to transact, we expect it to be frictionless and fast,” says Thygesen.

98% Open Rate for Text Messages

According to Soprano’s research, 90% of people open a text message within three minutes. Text messages have a 98% open rate. This compares to emails, which have a 20% open rate.

Text messages response times are also significantly higher than email. Texts are eight times more likely to be responded to compared to emails. Texts and emails have response rates of 45% and 6%, respectively.

In terms of response times, text messages have just a 90-second response time. This compares to emails which consumers respond, on average, within 90 minutes.

Contact-Free Economy

The research shows how consumers want information about a business before they arrive in person. 60% of consumers feel more confident and prepared about a brand when using a mobile to find out information.

During the pandemic, retailers have been using text messaging to update customers on safety policies and changing store hours.

According to the study, brands are picking up on the demand for mobile communication. Businesses are refocusing marketing strategies from email to SMS, introducing mobile-only discounts and special offers.

Escalating Demand for Curbside Pickup

Due to the pandemic, curbside pickup has doubled since 2019. Consumers have grown used to the convenience of collecting items safely on the curbside. The infographic shows that almost 60% of consumers plan to continue to use this method of pickup.

One in three retailers who weren’t offering curbside prior to the pandemic are doing so now.

Bot or Human Being?

Such is the modern consumer’s yearning for mobile messaging that they don’t care if they’re messaging a bot or human. According to the infographic, 40% of shoppers are ambivalent about whether they message a bot or person. Furthermore, 27% can’t even tell the difference.

Despite the rising prevalence of mobile messaging among consumer, businesses are failing to capitalize on the demand. One in three consumers have sent messages to a business and have not received a response.

Consumers believe businesses that message customers show respect to their time. Using this method of communication makes customers likelier to choose that company. It also increases the chances of them recommending a business to others.

The infographic provides some food for thought to small businesses about the importance of using mobile methods of communication. Being proactive with mobile messaging, small businesses will deliver consumers’ demands and expectations Subsequently, they will be likelier to win and retain customer loyalty.

The-Power-Of-Mobile-Communication FINAL 081920

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10 Accessories Entrepreneurs Will Use Daily, Save More During This Labor Day Sale

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4 min read

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.


Life has gotten a little strange for entrepreneurs these days, as they’ve been forced to adjust to working from home and managing remote teams. But entrepreneurs are resourceful, so when things get weird, they adapt and push on. Sometimes, though, you need a little help to get the most out of new situations. We’ve rounded up some accessories that can help you thrive in the new normal, all of which are now on sale.

HyperSonic Lite True Wireless Earphones

HyperSonic Lite True Wireless Earphones

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Entrepreneur Store

Getting into the zone is important for entrepreneurs, and music can be a great way to do that. With 4.3 stars on Amazon (out of 5), these earphones are a great option. They offer immersive HD sound, Bluetooth 5.0 connection, and IPX6 water resistance.

Get the HyperSonic Lite True Wireless Earphones for $42.50 (Orig. $79) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10″ Ring Light & Tripod

U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10" Ring Light & Tripod

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You’re spending more time than ever on video calls—shouldn’t you look your best? This home streaming studio includes a ring light and tripod to get the perfect setup for all your calls. Whether you’re presenting important information or just facilitating a conversation, U-STREAM will help you get your point across.

Get U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10″ Ring Light & Tripod for $42.50 (Orig. $99) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Aduro Sport Elite Recovery Massage Gun

Aduro Sport Elite Recovery Massage Gun

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Entrepreneurs need to break a physical sweat sometimes, too. But maintaining a great workout routine is easier said than done. This high-powered massage gun will provide deep, percussive massages to all of your pain points to help you recover faster.

Get the Aduro Sport Elite Recovery Massage Gun for $68 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller

Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller

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Comfort is everything when you’re trying to do your best work. Don’t get up to change the thermostat, just use a Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller instead. This clever device lets you change the temperature, schedule airflow, and much more.

Get Sensibo SKY Smart AC Controller for $84.15 (Orig. $149) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Urbanears Rålis Portable Bluetooth 5.0 Speaker

Urbanears Rålis Portable Bluetooth 5.0 Speaker

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With 20 hours of wireless playtime, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and a weather-proof design, this is the perfect speaker to take between home and the office. You can also share DJ duty by pairing two devices simultaneously or using an AUX connection to connect a third. It’s a budget-friendly way to introduce surround sound to your home or office.

Get the Urbanears Rålis Portable Bluetooth 5.0 Speaker for $93.50 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

AURA Band Fitness Tracker

AURA Band Fitness Tracker

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Entrepreneurs can’t thrive without knowing their skill sets. Likewise, you can’t reach your fitness goals without knowing your body. AURA Band uses bioimpedance technology to measure your body composition, hydration, sleep, activity, and heart rate, tracking it all in an app so you can have a comprehensive understanding of your health.

Get the AURA Band Fitness Tracker for $137.70 (Orig. $179) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

EvaSMART 2: Smart Personal Air Conditioner

EvaSMART 2: Smart Personal Air Conditioner

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Staying comfortable is a crucial component to doing your best work. Fortunately, you don’t have to shell out hundreds on the electric bill every month to keep cool. This personal air conditioner uses natural evaporative cooling to cool off your area to a comfortable temperature.

Get the EvaSMART 2: Smart Personal Air Conditioner for $153 (Orig. $269) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Mobile Pixels TRIO: Portable Dual Screen Laptop Monitor

Mobile Pixels TRIO: Portable Dual Screen Laptop Monitor

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Got used to a dual-screen setup at work? You can still have that dual-screen, and even a triple-screen, while working from home with the Mobile Pixels TRIO. This clever device clips onto your laptop, adding two more screens to work from.

Get the Mobile Pixels TRIO: Portable Dual Screen Laptop Monitor for $215 (Orig. $249) with promo code: SCREEN44. 

Ultraloq Combo Smart Lock & Key Fob

Ultraloq Combo Smart Lock & Key Fob

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Keep your important documents secure and accessible with this smart lock. Ultraloq uses a deadbolt and latch and has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to use your phone to open it whenever you need. It also has fingerprint access, supports eKey sharing, and much more.

Get the Ultraloq Combo Smart Lock & Key Fob for $280.50 (Orig. $369) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Jetson Eris Electric Scooter

Jetson Eris Electric Scooter

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Why drive to work or take public transit when you could scoot? The Jetson Eris Electric Scooter is the perfect machine for urban commuting. Reaching speeds of up to 14mph with a 12-mile range, you’ll be able to get from A to B in no time.

Get the Jetson Eris Electric Scooter for $425 (Orig. $499.99) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

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Which Is Better? – Technology

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Featured image by ar130405 from Pixabay 

When starting a website or a blog, one of the critical decisions you have to make is where to host your site and what hosting plan to choose. Two of the most popular hosting plans are shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Which of these two you choose will ultimately depend on your needs.

Apart from that, you will also need to decide where to host your website. This, however, you can do without much hassle by using HostScore’s test reports and reviews.

But before choosing your hosting service, you need to understand the two popular hosting setups. This understanding will allow you to make better-informed comparisons.

RELATED ARTICLE: PRACTICAL TIPS FOR CREATING AN ENGAGING BLOG FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Shared vs. Dedicated Hosting

Both shared and dedicated hosting plans store your website data in a single server. Therefore, users will not be able to tell which one you are using. However, the type of server that stores your data is different depending on which plan you’re using.

In shared hosting, your website lives in a server that also hosts other websites. In dedicated hosting, your website is hosted on its own physical server. Both of these setups have their own pros and cons. These differences are critical to choosing your hosting plan.

Differences between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Hosting

Server Resources

In shared hosting, resources such as data, CPU time, memory, and disk space are usually limited. This is because other websites share the same server. In most cases, the host will charge you more or even penalize you if you exceed your disk space. When you get to that point, you will need an upgrade to the next plan.

With dedicated hosting, all the resources of the server are generally available should you need them. Since they are dedicated to your website, there’s no resource sharing. This means there are few if any limitations. If you reach your bandwidth limit, you only need to order more bandwidth.

Required Technical Skill

When it comes to shared hosting, you do not need to have specialized skills. This is because the host provider takes care of the maintenance, administration, and security.

In dedicated hosting, your organization needs to have staff with IT and webmaster skills. In other words, your staff will be responsible for setting up the server, installing software, administrating the server, and generally managing it.

Security

With shared hosting, the hosting provider is responsible for ensuring a safe and stable operating environment. This means that the task of setting up firewalls and other security measures lies with them. However, there’s a higher risk of exploitation by other users in shared hosting.

In dedicated hosting, the responsibility for ensuring the security of your dedicated server lies within your organization. This means you need to have a highly skilled IT team to ensure your server security is airtight and reliable. But since you will be able to control the programs that will be installed, the risk of exploitation is low.

Website Performance

When using shared hosting, performance can sometimes be low due to unexpected bursts of web traffic. This can happen when a neighbor suddenly gets popular. It usually leads to slow response and loading times.

Such a scenario is highly unlikely when using a dedicated server. This is because you won’t be sharing resources with anyone.

Cost

In shared hosting, several users usually share a single server. This means the overall cost of running and maintaining the server is divided among many users and makes it more affordable.

In dedicated hosting, your company alone will be responsible for the costs, making it more costly. On the other hand, dedicated hosting offers more flexibility.

Which is the best?

Should I Choose Shared or Dedicated Hosting?

Choosing between shared and dedicated hosting basically depends on your needs and resources. If you are expecting a lot of traffic and you have the technical staff, choose a dedicated server. But if you are just starting out, you can confidently choose shared hosting. Then you can scale up as your traffic grows.

For more fresh ideas for starting and running a business, be sure to bookmark our site and visit us often.

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1 in 3 Employees Believe Their Company’s Cybersecurity is a Moderate or Major Problem

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With 1 in 3 employees believing the cybersecurity of their company is a moderate or major problem, decision-makers must do more to reassure them. Especially since remote work is now a big part of the workplace. And as more people work from home, digital security will become even more important for employees.

According to a recent survey and report from Nulab, 76% of employees say there is some degree of a problem. And only 24% say there is no problem at all. This means more than 3 in 4 have an issue with the cybersecurity protocol the company they work for has in place. And it affects companies of all sizes.

Employee Worries About Cyber Security

The cybersecurity issue is difficult enough for large enterprises, but the problem becomes even more challenging for small businesses. So, how are small businesses with fewer resources managing the problem? The question is a timely one for the current environment. However, it is important to point out small businesses have always been a favorite target for cybercriminals.

The Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) says 28% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. And because it does not make the news like the security breaches of large companies, people, including business owners, wrongly assume they are not under a major threat. But this could not be further from the truth. And when you consider small businesses make up 99% of all firms in the U.S., the problem is that much more distressing.

image: Nulab

The Survey

The Nulab survey spoke to more than 1,000 full-time employees about their perceptions of workplace cybersecurity. These are people who spend at least four hours each day using a computer. They were then asked about the cybersecurity conditions of their company. The respondents were made up of 53% male and 46% female participants.

Results

In addition to the above data points, 42% of employees confronted their employees about poor workplace cybersecurity habits. Furthermore, employees also believe the digital information of their employer is not secure. In companies with 1-50 employees, 23% believe this to be the case. It goes slightly down to 19% for companies with 51-100 employees and down even further to 10% for those with 101-500 employees.

Overall, 15% of employees believe the digital information of their employer is not secure. But for small businesses, it goes up to 23%.

Another key takeaway from the survey is the lack of responsiveness by employers when it comes to employee cybersecurity concerns. The number is particularly high from small business employers. In companies with 1-50 workers, 44% of the employees say their employer is slightly or not at all responsive to the issue. For the next tier with 51-100 employees goes down to 33% and 25% for those with 101-500 employees. But it remains almost the same for companies with 501-1,000 and 1,001+ employees reporting 29% and 27% respectively.

Awareness and Reporting

Business owners must establish a culture in which employees can freely report any perceived threat to the company. If they are chastised or ignored, the likelihood of them reporting a threat next time goes down dramatically.

The report says 58% kept perceived cybersecurity risks to themselves instead of confronting their employer. This the report says is because few employees were listened to when they brought up their concerns.

Considering the threat, this should be a very frightening data point for any business owner. This is because the cost of a security breach is getting more expensive by the year. The 2017 Better Business Bureau says small businesses lose $80K on average to cybercrime annually.

The key to fully addressing cybersecurity is changing company culture and behavior.

Changing Behavior and Putting Cybersecurity First

The fact of the matter is data breaches are a very real threat to everyone. Whether you are an individual or a small or large organization, everyone faces this threat. For employers addressing the issue starts by changing the culture and behavior in the company regarding cybersecurity.

If you put cybersecurity first and establish a culture in which your employees are heard, you can catch a security breach or an attempt much earlier. After all, it takes an average of 191 days for companies to realize there has been a breach. And these slow responses are especially harmful to small businesses.

Regular cybersecurity training goes a long way in making everyone in the company more aware and reducing their exposure to cyberattacks. The training also stops decision-makers from disregarding a concern an employee brings up.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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10 Productivity Apps an Entrepreneur Will Use Every Day, Now on Sale During This Labor Day Weekend

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Productivity is crucial for an entrepreneur. Getting the most out of each day is absolutely vital when you’re trying to grow a business. Whether you’re having a hard time managing your to-do list or you need help with certain aspects of your business, we’ve rounded up ten top apps that can help your business thrive. Check them out.

FakeClients Design Brief Generator

FakeClients Design Brief Generator

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Starting your own design business? This Product Hunt–featured tool is made for beginning logo designers to practice their skills. With “fake clients” prompting you to create logos, you can add them to your portfolio, share them, and start growing your business.

Get more clients today with FakeClients Design Brief Generator for $17 (Orig. $600) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

 

VideoProc

VideoProc

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Video marketing is growing in popularity and will continue to do so in the coming years. If you want to jump in on the craze but don’t have the skills to do it, you’ll love VideoProc, the #1 fast video processing software. You can edit, convert, resize, and adjust large and 4K videos quickly with this program.

Make editing videos for your business a breeze with VideoProc, now $25.50 (Orig. $119) with promo code: GOFORIT15.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited

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One of the top-rated VPNs on the market, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited offers a lifetime of AES 256-bit encryption to protect your browsing. They have a strict no-logging policy and offer unlimited bandwidth so protecting your browsing connection won’t slow it down.

Keep your online data secure with the help of KeepSolid VPN Unlimited for $33.15 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Speechify Audio Reader

Speechify Audio Reader

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Love multitasking? Speechify Audio Reader will facilitate multitasking by reading any webpage, document, or whatever else you put in front of it out loud. Whether you need to read a deposition but also have to make dinner or you’d just like to read an article while continuing to work, Speechify Audio Reader has you covered.

Get more done by turning text into speech with Speechify Audio Reader just for $34 (Orig. $390) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

DarwinMail Professional Plan

DarwinMail Professional Plan

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If you suffer from Gmail overload, DarwinMail will be a lifesaver. With bulk actions and bundling to remove mass amounts of emails, this web app can quickly clear out your email. Plus, it offers reminders, keyboard shortcuts, and more to make sending emails easier and communication more seamless than ever.

Make the most out of your Gmail with DarwinMail for just $34 (Orig. $300) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator

My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator

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Every business needs a logo so that people grow to recognize your branding. But why pay a graphic designer thousands when you can get a professionally designed logo automatically generated? With My Brand New Logo, just enter a little information about your business, and it will generate you a new logo in just minutes that you can customize to your liking.

Forgo hiring an expensive designer use My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator for just $34 (Orig. $12,500) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Slides Pro Plus Plan

Slides Pro Plus Plan

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Presentations are a great way to get your point across, but not all of us are very good at them. Entrepreneurs who need to raise money for their ventures, however, need to be. Fortunately, Slides Pro Plus Plan makes it easy to create beautiful pitch decks, regardless of your ability or tech savvy.

Create the perfect marketing deck for clients with Slides Pro, now $41.65 (Orig. $540) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

Provify Premium Plan

Provify Premium Plan

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Social proof is an important element of getting sales for your products and services. Provify makes it easy to gather and surface that social proof to your site visitors. With simple surveys and widgets, you can get feedback fast and show new visitors just how much people love your product.

Surface the things people love about your product or service with Provify Premium Plan for $67.15 (Orig. $299).

Zuitte 50+ Tools for Entrepreneurs

Zuitte 50+ Tools for Entrepreneurs

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Why spend money on 50 different programs to do 50 different business tasks? Zuitte offers you more than 50 tools for one low price. From Facebook Messenger bot builders to marketing tools, SEO tools, email marketing, a CRM, and much more, Zuitte gives you everything you need to run your business efficiently in a single suite.

Get all of the tools necessary as an entrepreneur with Zuitte 50+ Tools for just $169.15 (Orig. $9,480) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

MindMaster Mind Mapping Software

MindMaster Mind Mapping Software

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Whether you were spitballing ideas or something in the middle of the night pops up, making an idea into a reality doesn’t have to be difficult. Mindmapping can breakdown problems into solutions. MindMaster allows you to visually map out structures to ultimately innovate your business. 

Start laying out your ideas and processes in order with MindMaster Mind Mapping Software for $41.65 (Orig. $129) with promo code: GOFORIT15. 

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BrainStation Discusses Content Strategy with Industry Leaders

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Content Strategy

Growing your digital presence now requires the right content mix to both attract and retain your audience. BrainStation is going to be holding a webinar to discuss content strategy with industry leaders.

The panel discussion, titled, “The New Rules of Marketing: Creating Stand-Out Content” is going to bring digital marketing leaders from LinkedIn, Chobani, La Colombe, and Unbounce together so they can share their expertise. They will address:

  • Tips for creating branded content in a digital-first era

  • Brand building vs. performance marketing

  • Top performing content types

  • What new platforms are worth experimenting with

  • How to match channels/tactics with your marketing goals

  • How to use data to inform and measure campaigns

This free event will take place on September 17, 2020 from 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm GMT+3. So click the red button and register to get some valuable insights from digital marketing experts.

 

Register Now

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Educational Webinar: Elements of Website DesignEducational Webinar: Elements of Website Design
September 9, 2020, Online

Join us to learn about fonts, color schemes, and gain a basic understanding of visual hierarchy.

Educational Webinar: Converting Visitors to LeadsEducational Webinar: Converting Visitors to Leads
September 16, 2020, Online

Learn best practices for optimizing webforms and CTAs in order to maximize the number of visitor conversions on their site.

Free Webinar | New Rules of Marketing: Creating Stand-Out ContentFree Webinar | New Rules of Marketing: Creating Stand-Out Content
September 17, 2020, Online

Join us for a panel discussion with digital marketing leaders from LinkedIn, Chobani, La Colombe, and Unbounce on their content strategies, the ideal content mix, and their top tips for finding, growing, and engaging digital audiences. #BrainStation

Getting Started with Zoho OneGetting Started with Zoho One
September 23, 2020, Online

In this presentation, we will walk through an overview of Zoho One using real case studies from Zoho customers to demonstrate different ways Zoho One can support your business.

Small Business Expo 2020 - PHILADELPHIASmall Business Expo 2020 – PHILADELPHIA
October 28, 2020, Philadelphia, PA

Small Business Expo is a FREE one-day event to attend for small businesses to network, attend great business-growth workshops, build new business relationships, exchange ideas, shop from new vendors and learn from leading industry experts. If you are serious about starting or growing your business, Small Business Expo is a “must attend” event. Small Business Expo is the #1 Business to Business Networking Event for business owners, entrepreneurs, start-ups, decision-makers or anyone who works for a small business or is interested in starting a Small Business.

LinkUpConferenceShowLinkUpConferenceShow
November 12, 2020, Online

LinkUpConferenceShow (LUCS) is a digital networking conference that merges the incredibly dynamic worlds of tech and comedy to provide informative and personalized networking opportunities designed to help executives, entrepreneurs, business leaders and tech professionals grow and scale their businesses. LUCS is the tech conference that combines Silicon Valley insights with New York’s nonstop energy to bring the technology community a totally new virtual experience designed to inspire, engage and entertain.

More Events

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    September 10, 2020, Online
  • Advancing Integrated Project Delivery 2020
    September 14, 2020, Online
  • SERENDIPITY 2020 – VIRTUAL SUMMIT for entrepreneurs, business leaders and Start Ups
    September 14, 2020, Online
  • DigiMarCon Asia Pacific 2020 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference
    September 15, 2020, Online
  • Indegene Digital Summit Virtual 2020 | Sep 25, Oct 2, Oct 16
    September 25, 2020, Online
  • The Marketing Analytics for Brand Survival Virtual Summit
    September 30, 2020, Online
  • Small Business Expo 2020 – PHOENIX
    October 1, 2020, Phoenix, AZ
  • Transform USA 2020
    October 1, 2020, Online
  • VEGPRENEUR Summit
    October 3, 2020, Online
  • The WFH Virtual Conference | Remote Work Event
    October 8, 2020, Online
  • World-Famous HR Technology Event, Oct. 2020
    October 13, 2020, Las Vegas, NV
  • Creative Operations San Francisco 2020
    October 14, 2020, San Francisco, CA
  • Building Business Capability Virtual 2020
    October 19, 2020, Online
  • Miami’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
    October 20, 2020, Online
  • Small Business Expo 2020 – CHICAGO
    October 20, 2020, Chicago, IL
  • Atlanta’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
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  • Houston’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
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  • Austin’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
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More Contests

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.

You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.

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Kelly Jones of CVS Health: We’ve teamed up with Salesforce to Make Going Back to Work Safer, Easier

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As we head into the Labor Day holiday weekend, many companies are focused on having their employees return to the workplace to accelerate efforts to get business back on track.   To help companies safely bring employees back, Salesforce and CVS Health are teaming up to integrate Salesforce’s Work.com workplace management platform, which allows for wellness monitoring and manual contract tracing, with CVS’ Return Ready offering, which offers tracking and insights on COVID-19 testing.

To learn more about the partnership and how it can make it easier for companies to bring employees back in ways that keep them safe while still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I recently spoke with Bill Patterson – Salesforce EVP/GM of CRM Applications, and Kelly Jones – Division Head, National Accounts Business Unit at CVS Health.

Interview with Bill Patterson – Salesforce and Kelly Jones – CVS Health on How to Bring Employees Back Safely

Below is an edited transcript from a portion of our conversation.  Click on the embedded SoundCloud player to hear the full conversation.

Small Business Trends:  Before we get into the partnership, maybe each of you can talk about what each of your companies were working on to help get people and companies safely back to work.  Bill, maybe you can tell us about Work.com.

Bill Patterson: It’s a solution that we built on the Salesforce CRM platform infrastructure to really help organizations come back to work. Plan coming back to work, plan their safety for their employees, and to operationalize new policies, new procedures, new focus around things like wellness that I think are really just such a critical function for businesses today to kind of reopen their operations.

But the other thing that Work.com did was it really inspired us to lean in with the health and medical expert community. We have great partnerships with the UCSF Medical Center, working with great data sets like the New York Times around just the rate of testing and progression of the COVID-19 virus as we think about around the world. And we wanted to also lean in with our partners. I could not be more excited to have our partner in CVS here today really to kind of talk about how the power of applications, and data, and ecosystems come together really to manifest this new era of safety. I think that’s really just kind of the inspiration that we had in creating this new product line.

Small Business Trends: Hey, Kelly. Maybe you could tell us about Return Ready.

Kelly Jones: Kind of similar to Bill, when the pandemic initially started, we realized we’ve got some amazing assets that we can leverage nationwide to really help the nation, our citizens, our employers out there in the economy. From the beginning just about, we’ve had our focus on increasing access and accessibility to testing for COVID-19. It’s evolved from community testing … just open to the public at our CVS drive-throughs… to now what we call Return Ready, which is really an offering intended initially for employers.

And then we realized there’s a need as well for universities to be able to offer COVID testing on their own outside of just the public option, so that they can really get either back to work or to help with business continuity as well. We offer testing now as well through our CVS drive-through sites. But additionally, we can essentially stand up a laboratory onsite at an employer or campus to be able to increase that local access to testing, and basically give folks an easy button to be able to get testing.

Small Business Trends: What brought you guys together? What brought the combination of what Salesforce is doing with Work.com, with CVS and what you’re doing with Return Ready?

Bill Patterson: I think both of us really are cultures of action. As you talk about and hear Kelly’s words, there was a lot of great innovation that CVS has in its arsenal to be able to help at this time. What we know is that the focus around testing, tracing, quarantine … these are kind of key primitives that we’ve proven to be successful to help economies get into a better position to be able to reopen. As we went forth with the Work.com announcement, I think it was May 6th, it was not long after that we had a great partner in CVS wanting to stand alongside us to really come in and make this ecosystem really something powerful.

Kelly Jones: Just as we think about testing, it obviously plays a really important role in COVID management, workplace management, campus management. But that’s not the only thing that needs to happen really to have a comprehensive view of what’s going on in a community. You need to be able to take action off of those test results as well. That’s really where we saw a partner, or an alliance, possible with Salesforce where we could complete that circle. Looking at wellness checking, as well as the contact tracing. And with testing kind of sandwiched in between, and being able to inform both of those or be informed by those tools in those solutions as well.

Bill Patterson: Yeah. Brent, just one other thing that kind of led to the orientation of this. In this time, given the state of the pandemic, the opportunity for the private sector and the public sector to work with one another … We leaned in very early with the state of Rhode Island and Governor Gina Raimondo to use the Salesforce platform to stand up rapid contact tracing for citizens of that state.

Rhode Island today is one of the most densely populated states in the nation, and has done an amazing job with their contact tracing experiences. Also, Governor Raimondo was very instrumental in making the initial connections between our organizations. It’s not often that a software company and a health company have worked together closely, but she was very instrumental in it, and also made those initial.

Walking through an Example of How to Bring Employees Back to the Workplace

Small Business Trends: Could you walk us through how a potential use case, or maybe a typical use case, would be for this partnership?

Bill Patterson: Yeah. I’m happy to start. And Kelly, maybe you can kind of add in … especially the employer-led testing scenario I think would be great here. But Brent, you’re totally right. Man, there is nothing typical here. I think we’re all experiencing a relative degree of newness around the comfort of coming back to the office. The one thing that we do know is that data, and access to data, and clear access to data is super paramount in terms of planning the operations about coming back to work. We leaned in very heavily with Work.com and our Tableau data hub around public and private data sets coming together giving that information to decision makers, whether that be HR directors, facility managers, operations managers who have to plan the opening of their facilities.

 

The first scenario is just clearly access to data to make those decisions more harmonized. The second thing we did was we built out a wellness surveying application. And this example would be in the event that you were going to plan, say, a reopening of a building let’s say in San Francisco like where I work here in Salesforce Tower, you would want to notify everyone that the building is open. But prior to coming into the building, let’s have you go through a wellness test in a wellness check at-home before you get in your car or hop on public transportation.

The wellness application for Work.com, we built in partnership with the CDC. We modeled all of the initial questions for CDC guidelines for just overall screening. Those questions also can be modified or tailored to the needs of any state, any geography, any sovereignty that has maybe different data requirements to capture in the moment. All that data is stored privately, and with high degrees of discretion in the Salesforce platform. It’s not shared. It’s encrypted. It’s something that won’t be used for marketing or sales reasons. But the wellness application basically says I’m eligible to come in, but that’s where that Work.com platform kind of stops. This is where really getting into testing as someone gets into the workplace is really paramount, and I think a great opportunity for Kelly to share how the CVS solution comes in.

Kelly Jones: That’s exactly right. If you’ve got the wellness monitoring upfront, somebody raises their hand through that monitoring application that says, “Hey, you know what? I’ve got a fever. I’m not feeling well.” What do you do at that point? That’s where an employer could direct them to Return Ready depending on which mode of testing that they chose to have available to their employee population, and give them that access and direction on where they could go get a test.

And then conversely if they’re already at the worksite, they’re feeling well, we have a lot of employers that are using testing more as a proactive surveillance tool to make sure that folks are remaining negative, that they’re not there potentially asymptomatic working onsite as well. It gives them that option … just one more risk reduction tool in their arsenal of workforce strategy and business continuity.

And then conversely if somebody does test positive, whether it’s because they were feeling ill and they got a confirmation, or just through that proactive surveillance testing, then that’s where our solution has really robust comprehensive reporting that the employer can access down to individual-level results. We get consent to be able to share that information back with their employer, but then what does the employer do with that information?

They need to do contact tracing. Especially if that individual had been in the workplace, we need to be able to be sure that if they are in a type of job function where they were interacting with other employees or might’ve passed through an area. That’s where that contact tracing and the tools Work.com offers can really fill in that gap, and give the resources, and the technological aspect to be able to do that contact tracing in a less manual way than what a lot of employers started out with, which was truly just an Excel spreadsheet trying to keep track of it. That got old pretty quickly. So, being able to really do that full continuum from symptoms all the way to contact tracing, and then that testing is so critical in the middle.

Small Business Trends: What do companies need to do to be able to take the most advantage of this partnership? Are there things that they have to make sure they’re organizationally ready to handle before they jump full into this?

Kelly Jones: I think from the Return Ready perspective, we’ve designed an offering intentionally that’s meant to be very personalized and configurable by employers. We have multiple different types of testing that they can make available to their employees. Really, it’s sitting down, having a conversation, and allowing us to be consulted with them to help them design a testing offering that really meets their specific needs. Whether that’s rapid testing that’s right there on site, if you’re taking advantage of the 1,800 and growing CVS testing sites around the nation, or doing an onsite collection event. A large scale collection event where we can get everybody at one of their facilities. We have samples collected all in one day.

Having just that consultation, and talking to somebody who understands what a lot of different employers are doing and trying to manage is how to really start the process at least from a testing perspective. And then once they’re up and running with us, that’s where that tie in to Work.com happens where they can allow the testing results to be available within Work.com. It’s an easy action on their part, but that’s certainly something that … we recommend taking action off of the data, and Work.com is a great place to do that.

Bill Patterson: Kelly just said the perfect word, which is action. What employers need to do is act. And what employers need to do is act in the spirit of what is right for their employees, what is right for their customers, what’s right for their communities around them. It’s more than just kind of investing in technologies. It’s really being willing to step into boundaries that maybe once were not clear. As you mentioned, Brent, companies now need to be respectful with data around the health of their employees. They need to help all employees understand the new policies and procedures that will come back into the workplace, meaning maybe I’m not allowed to have personal items on my desk anymore. That might be a new policy that you really see as a result of kind of this crisis coming full suit.

But at the end of the day, it’s really action. I think that what we need right now are not really those just to sit on the sidelines and watch as this game is unfolding, but really get in there. Take care of your employees. Take care of your customers. Know the role that we have to reopen business to get our communities back and thriving again. This is truly something I think we need to make sure that we have a culture of action hitting our business landscape around us.

Small Business Trends: Is this aimed at any particular kind of businesses, or sizes of businesses? Who is this for?

Bill Patterson: The virus doesn’t discriminate if you’re a big business or a small business, nor do our technologies. This solution really for Work.com can be used by the smallest of businesses and the largest organizations around the world. I think that our partner in CVS is also really excited at making sure that everyone has a chance to participate here as well.

Kelly Jones: Yeah, and I’ll echo what Bill said. Yeah. We’ve designed the solution in such a way that it’s really about what the employer needs to address their specific type of work that they do, the type of job functions that they do. And if they have enough need for testing given their business, we are happy to be a partner with them to be able to provide that for them.

Small Business Trends: There’s a lot of … each state could have different regulations or different rules. How do you help with that part of the process?

Kelly Jones: From a Return Ready perspective, we actually handle all of the regulatory reporting. When you see all those statistics out there on how many positive cases there are, if that test was performed by CVS Health staff, we are handling the reporting to those agencies that then report it out publicly. We make that easy on the employers and then take care of that for them.

Bill Patterson: Yeah. Same on our side. We have built it … is a really an open platform so that if there are different regulations. I just saw last weekend that maybe six feet is not the required distance that we need to now be spending, so maybe it’s now 10 feet. Well, those are variables that can be easily modified quickly inside the platform, and things like your shift scheduling, or your distance spacing for Qs can be accommodated appropriately. We find out new things about this virus every day. I think sometimes it’s a little confusing for businesses about what are the actions that need to be taken, or should we wait for more clarity here? But technology can facilitate so much good. Again, working in this open platform way is something that we definitely want businesses to have the tools they need to mobilize.

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This is part of the One-on-One Interview series with thought leaders. The transcript has been edited for publication. If it’s an audio or video interview, click on the embedded player above, or subscribe via iTunes or via Stitcher.

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