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20 Awesome Tech Gifts for the Small Business Owner On Your List

November 7, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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In addition to purchasing gifts for your team and other business contacts, the holiday season can also be a great time to find deals for all the tech you may want to use throughout the year.

2018 Tech Gifts

Whether you’re looking for business gifts for other small business owners or just trying to buy something for yourself, here are 20 tech products that may pique your interest.

Echo Dot

The Echo Dot is a device that gives users access to the Alexa voice assistant in any room. It can be useful in both home and office settings.

iPhone XS

If you’re looking to purchase any smartphone business gifts this season, the iPhone XS is one of the most popular models currently.

HP OfficeJet Printer

If you know someone who needs a new printer, this OfficeJet model is a solid option for personal use or a home office.

Multi-Device Keyboard

A keyboard can make using a tablet, smartphone or other device much easier. This version can connect to multiple devices via bluetooth, providing a convenient way to work from anywhere.

Chromebook

A Chromebook is a small version of a laptop that is easy to transport and relatively inexpensive. It can help you or another gift recipient stay connected even when not in the actual office.

Ring Video Doorbell

Improve home or office security with this high-tech doorbell. This version from Ring includes a video feature that shows you who is at the door when someone rings the bell.

Apple Watch

For those interested in smartwatches, the Apple Watch integrates with iPhone and includes a fitness tracker and other advanced features.

VR Headset

Virtual reality tech is becoming more and more advanced. This headset can connect to iPhone and Samsung smartphones to experience gaming, video content and more.

Ring Light

Fix all those poorly lit selfies or make those livestreams look a bit more professional with this ring light. It illuminates the face evenly and is a must for any entrepreneur with a serious social media presence.

Charging Station

Entrepreneurs have tons of different devices to keep charged all the time. This charging station provides a way to get power to all of them at once.

Drawing Tablet

For any designers, hand letterers or business owners working on new branding, a drawing tablet can really come in handy. This model is compatible with software for everything from logo creation to animation.

Wifi LED Light Bulb

For a smarter way to light the home or office, this wifi-enabled light bulb can be controlled using Amazon’s Alexa from anywhere.

Portable Projector

To share presentations or even enjoy entertainment from anywhere, this mini projector can connect to your smartphone or a variety of other devices.

Dog Camera

If you need a clever gift for any dog owners on your list, this camera is meant to help you keep an eye on your furry friends even when you’re away from the house.You can also use it to give them treats from afar.

Bluetooth Speaker

To listen to music anywhere, this speaker connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and provides a crisp and clear sound with easy volume controls.

Wireless Headphones

For an easy and convenient way to listen to music or podcasts while working out or taking care of business tasks, these headphones are specifically made to be comfortable and convenient.

Gaming Mouse

For any gamers on your list, this mouse has an ergonomic shape perfect for long gaming sessions and seven buttons to make controls simple.

Roomba

An automatic vacuum can be helpful for any business owner or individual. The original Roomba from iRobot can work with your smartphone and work on a variety of flooring styles.

Portable Photo Printer

To easily print photos for marketing materials or personal use, this portable device connects to your smartphone and prints on sticky back paper.

Mobile Wifi Hotspot

Small business owners often need to be able to work from anywhere. This mobile wifi hotspot enables you to bring a connection with you anywhere you go.

Photo via Shutterstock

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Small Businesses Shouldn’t Be Impacted by Tariff Battle, White House Spokesman Says

November 6, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Small Businesses Shouldn't Be Impacted by Tariff Battle, White House Spokesman Says

In a recent discussion on the state of small business, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow insisted the impact of the current trade war between the U.S. and China on small businesses would be minor. Kudlow went as far as to say the economic growth would remain strong.

Kudlow and Bluemercury Co-founder and CEO Marla Beck discussed the factors that matter most to small businesses at The Washington Post’s The State of Small Business recently. Small Business Trends attended the event to find out more about the current state of the big things on the radar for small businesses like wages, taxes and hiring.

Kudlow is the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council. He began by making it clear he didn’t see the current tariff battles between China and the United States as particularly worrisome for small businesses calling any possible effect on the economy “very modest.”

Economic Growth of 3% Expected

In fact, he even went on record forecasting the current rate of economic growth at 3% was something they could expect into 2019.

“We will put out our budget and while I don’t want to give away the family jewels, three percent is a good number to think about,” he said at the discussion held at the newspaper’s offices on Nov 1.

Tariff Battle Impacts Small Business

Despite these reassurances, the current trade war between the two countries has been a concern for a number of American small businesses like farmers and those in other industries like manufacturing. In response to the tariffs they see as a drag on their operations, groups like Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, Farmers for Free Trade and American For Free Trade have sprung up.

Job Surge Seen As Evidence of Optimism

However, Kudlow cited a Washington Post article on the current job surge for blue collar workers and the fact the wages for the group were growing faster than their white-collar counterparts.

“That suggests to us that the business tax reforms and tax cuts are working,” he said. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act came into effect this year.

Kudlow also took sides when it came to the idea of implementing a federal minimum wage, calling it a terrible idea and saying it would damage small businesses particularly.

Healthcare and Technology Also Discussed

On the healthcare front, another area where there’s been some uncertainty for small businesses, while the administration has taken steps toward replacing Obamacare, Kudlow said there were no plans to touch the larger entitlements, namely Social Security and Medicare.

Co-founder and CEO of Bluemercury Marla Beck was another panelist. She stressed, among other things, the importance of technology to small business success generally and how critical social media had been to her niche specifically.

“For beauty, Instagram provides a marketing opportunity that didn’t exist before,” she said. “It’s very democratic and you have a lot more diversity in terms of what’s available. It’s fundamentally affecting the categories of business.”

Instagram Creates Whole New Business Models

She also pointed to facial masks and lipstick as two of the categories that have been fundamentally changed by this social media tool. Beck also said Instagram has created whole new business models for entrepreneurs to take advantage of.

“There’s even a brand called Winky Lux that built their whole business via Instagram and now they’re turning the retail model on it’s head. They have a store in New York City where they charge you $10 to get in but every room is Instagramable,” she said.

Social Media Streamlines Customer Feedback

She says that because Instagram gives access to customer feedback right away, it’s even sped up the pace for changing her merchandising.

“It used to be we’d go into the stores and talk to our customers, interview them and even email them and now you can look everyday to see what’s trending,” she told one of the moderators.

Image: Washington Post

This article, “Small Businesses Shouldn’t Be Impacted by Tariff Battle, White House Spokesman Says” was first published on Small Business Trends

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5 Ways to Help You Boost Your Conversions on Instagram

November 6, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Some 74 percent of millennial Instagram users have made a purchase on the platform. If you’re not thinking about conversions for those users, you should be.

November
6, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Instagram isn’t just for sharing selfies, brunch photos and cute pics of your cats. This popular social media platform can actually drive sales for your business. In fact, according to a study of 2,000 Instagram users by Dana Rebecca Designs, 74 percent of millennials surveyed, 63 percent of Gen Xers and 54 percent of baby boomers said they had made a purchase based on Instagram.

Related: 6 Ways to Convert Your Instagram Audience into Customers

Still, if you have an ecommerce business, you can’t just slap a photo up on Instagram and expect to make a bunch of money. So, how can you improve your posts and convince users to buy your product? Here are a few simple tips to help you become a selling-sensation on Instagram.

Create a business account.

If you haven’t switched your regular Instagram account into a business account, you’re missing out on a ton of features that will boost your conversions. Not only are you able to measure your results and learn more about your followers and what types of posts they like but you also get features that are designed for selling. For instance, business accounts have the ability to add a link to their Instagram Stories so that users can “swipe up” to buy.

Standard Wines uses the “swipe up” Story feature to lead its followers to its website to shop.

Image Credit: Sprout Social

Some 15 percent to 25 percent of Story viewers,, according to the Brandwatch blog, swipe up to follow a link and engage directly with a brand’s website. That’s a ton of potential new customers you can attract using this convenient and engaging feature. Don’t forget, though, that not everyone is aware of the feature, so occasionally include a call-to-action telling people to swipe up to buy.

Related: 10 Instagram Tools to Help You Build Your Following in 2018

Add a link in your bio.

Not only does your post need a stunning image, but it also needs a caption that will speak to your audience members and a call to action to lead them to take your desired action. If you want to increase conversions on Instagram, tell people where to go and what to do next — don’t leave it up to them to guess.

Instagram doesn’t allow you to place links in your posts (only in your stories if you have a business account), but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a call to action. Add a link to your website in your Instagram bio and remind people in your posts to check out your website by clicking on the link in your bio.

Use Instagram Live.

Instagram Live is a great strategy to use if you want to boost your sales. Instead of just posting a photo of your product on Instagram, you can use Instagram Live to show off your product in action.

Sephora uses Instagram Live to show off what it sells. It does live demonstrations of the product so that make-up fans can see exactly what they’re getting before they buy, which helps ease the mind and makes it easier for them to click that “Add to Cart” button.

Image Credit: Later.com guide to Instagram marketing

Instagram Live is also a great way to connect with your followers and customers. Users can comment and ask questions in real-time, which helps them build a trusting relationship with your brand. The more users feel connected to you, the more likely they’ll be to become a customer.

Run Instagram retargeting campaigns.

Many businesses are missing out on the opportunity to convert users who previously visited their site and expressed interest but left without buying. Usually, those potential customers would be lost forever, but with Instagram retargeting, you can “follow” those users who abandoned you and show them targeted ads on Instagram to convince them to return.

Not only does Instagram retargeting keep your brand top of mind, but it allows you to show highly-specific ads to users at the perfect time. For instance, if a visitor is browsing the shoe section of your website, but leaves without buying, retargeting can follow that user to Instagram and show him or her an ad for your shoes. Instead of users abandoning your site, or their carts, for good, they’ll be reminded to return to you and place an order.

Share user-generated content.

Connecting with Instagram influencers is an awesome way to show social proof and increase conversions. But, if you want a completely free social proof strategy to drive sales that’s just as effective, share user-generated content.

Secret Wood, a handmade jewelry company, regularly reposts photos from happy customers showing off their beautiful new piece.

Image Credit: Secret.Wood Instagram page

When you share photos from your satisfied customers, other users on Instagram who were previously curious, or perhaps hesitant, will be more willing to buy from you after seeing how others are using and enjoying your product. Bonus: Your customers will love that you featured them on your Instagram; just be sure to give them appropriate credit.

Related: 7 Easy Ways to Win More Conversions on Social Media

Over to you

Now that you know how to rock Instagram with posts that convert, this social media platform will be your new favorite place to win sales. Don’t wait any longer; start using Instagram now and watch users and followers transform into loyal and frequent customers.

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Is It Causing Damage to International Trade?

November 6, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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The US-China trade war has done more than just ruffle a few feathers in recent months. For Asia-Pacific traders and producers, the idea of an ongoing long-term trade war is becoming a reality. Moreover, the situation is unlikely to ease off for at least a few years. So we spoke to Deepesh Patel at Trade Finance Global (TFG) to ask him what this trade war means for international trade. We wanted to know how trade flows could change.

Patel explained that global markets are now preparing for a full-blown trade war. Initially, banks did not feel the effect of trade tensions. However, the World Trade Organization, or WTO, recently reported softening trade flows as trade tensions continue. These trends appear to be driven by a decline in export orders.

WTO Indicator, 2.10.18. Source: WTO

What Is Happening?

The current trade war between the United States and China began in January 2018. At that time, the US imposed a tariff on solar panels which the US was importing from China. Beijing responded in kind with similar but opposing measures. As this trade war continues to escalate, both countries are prepared to raise tariffs a further 25% in January 2019.

China tends to work with manufacturers and suppliers of the smaller developing Asian economies such as Bangladesh and Taiwan. As confidence in the market slips, traders in those countries have become more cautious, slowing procurement in China. In domino fashion, South Asian suppliers are beginning to suffer from a dearth of orders as producers see lower prices for their goods.

Nonetheless, US consumers would be hit by increased costs. That’s because many US-based hardware companies source their components from China. In early September, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook wrote about his opposition to these trade tariffs in a letter to the United States trade representative.

China has little room to negotiate. That’s because there are only a few goods China could impose new tariffs on. However, it could look at increasing tariffs on some other goods. And it could place unfavorable taxes and charges on US companies that are based in China.

RELATED ARTICLE: GO GLOBAL: 6 KEY BENEFITS OF EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY

Globalization, Nationalism, and Internationalism

Therefore, companies around the world are beginning to prepare for what looks like a gloomy winter ahead. That’s because trade animosities are not limited to only China and the US. Earlier this year, Singapore announced trade tariffs on more than 900 goods in an attempt to prevent a weakening of the rupiah, its local currency. This is despite the fact that Singapore is often hailed as a beacon of free trade among the Tiger economies.

In May 2018, loan books showed positive growth. Moreover, investments in projects and infrastructure were booming. Favorable interest rates and credit availability completed the positive outlook. However, fast forward just a few months and we see a market preparing for a storm. This is particularly true within the commodity finance space. Here we see a slowdown in larger, longer-term contracts.

The New Normal

Navigating the stormy seas of trade and supply chain finance in a new era of trade wars is no easy task.

Tariffs will certainly affect the supply chain of the debtor. Here, it’s likely that both financiers and insurers will look at the effect this trade war could have on a business before they make any decisions about lending. Additionally, the effect of the wider trade war could affect global growth. Moreover, when growth weakens, insolvencies will probably increase. This means credit limits could decrease while the cost of capital increases.

Therefore, if you are a business owner or treasurer in a business, consider the effect of these new tariffs on your company’s profits and losses. You might also want to identify alternative suppliers across different markets. Additionally, consider and begin to plan for the potential effect on your business of financing your future operations.

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5 Ways This Veteran Used His Military Experience to Grow a $3.5-Million Beard Grooming Business

November 5, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Charlie Moyer’s Badass Beard Care is the culmination of a lifelong obsession.

November
5, 2018

4 min read

Credit Charlie Moyer’s father for sparking his interest in all things beard-related. “I was really just curious if I would look like my dad, because I had never known him without a beard,” says the military veteran and founder of Badass Beard Care, maker of all-natural beard grooming products. “I’d wanted to grow my beard out since I was able to grow facial hair.”

Moyer’s dreams of growing what he calls “god-like facial hair” were put on hold when 9/11 happened, and he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. “I grew my beard out whenever I could,” he tells Entrepreneur, “while underway on our ship, or on leave. But the longest I was ever able to do it was about two weeks.”

Related: The Most Successful Companies Led by Entrepreneurs

After being medically discharged in 2014 due to injuries sustained while serving, Charlie was finally able to start on his personal beard journey. He quickly realized, however, the products out there weren’t quite good enough, and he began making his own oils and balms. Today, Badass Beard Care offers premium beard oils, balms, waxes and washes in 13 scents, deodorant, tools and more.

Image credit: Badass Beard Care

How did Moyer go from experimenting at home to forming a business that grossed $1.5 million in the first year and is projected to gross $3.5 million in year four? Thank the time he spent in the Coast Guard. As we celebrate National Veterans Small Business Week from November 5 to 9, learn how Moyer’s military experience helped define his entrepreneurial journey.

1. He listened to his commanding officer.

“My wife was not keen on the idea of me growing my beard out, so she insisted that I get some kind of product to make it softer and look well groomed. I couldn’t find anything in the stores, and online products had hit-or-miss reviews, so I decided to make my own.”

2. He shared his product with fellow vets.

“That’s really how this turned into a business, sharing samples at the local veteran’s center. A little product goes a very long way, so I was happy to share. Soon after, they started asking to purchase some for friends and family, and even their roommates who tried the samples started asking to make purchases. I eventually put the products online so that I could just mail the products, which made it easier.”

Related: How to Start a Business With (Almost) No Money

3. He knew how to adapt.

“The ability to adapt and overcome is something that I attribute to my military service, and that has been a big help with learning everything there is to know about running a business. I think it also helped me to gain a sense of self-accountability, which is extremely important in the success of a small business.”

4. He utilized federal programs.

“A lack of experience in retail, business or entrepreneurship can be a hinderance. However, there are several local and federal programs designed to help vets transition into the civilian workforce, and even to start a business. There are also reduced or waived fees in some cases that can help get the business off the ground.”

Related: 22 Qualities That Make a Great Leader

5. He understood the two keys to success.

“A good product and great customer service. Businesses grow with word of mouth more than anything else, and reviews can make or break you. Customer service is the key to making people want to talk about and share your product or service. It shows in reviews and repeat purchases. And remember, a well-groomed beard invites confidence, and people see that confidence. Any beard can be badass; all you really need is to believe it yourself.”

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SBA and VA Celebrate National Veterans Small Business Week

November 5, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Did you know a military veteran owns 1 in 10 small businesses in America?

In total, that comes to 2.5 million small businesses across the country. That’s 5 million jobs in the U.S. and more than $1 trillion in sales every year.

National Veterans Small Business Week

It’s impossible to ignore the impact our military veterans have on our business community. That’s why the U.S. Small Business Administration celebrates National Veterans Small Business Week, this week from Nov. 5-9, 2018, just ahead of Veterans Day on November 11.

“As we approach Veterans Day and National Veterans Small Business Week, I encourage all Americans to thank those who have served our country in uniform – and to support their continued success as civilians,” SBA Administrator Linda McMahon wrote in a recent blog post.

To honor NVSBW, the SBA is hosting scads of events across the country. You can check out events close to you or being hosted virtually by checking out this listing.

The SBA has several programs in place to help veterans adjust to civilian life by guiding them to start their own business.

Last week, McMahon and Dept. of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie announced a new 7-month pilot program that takes those programs a step further.

“The SBA and VA will develop and launch an intensive entrepreneurship training program for veterans, helping them improve their management and executive leadership skills. The two Agencies will work together on shaping and scaling this new, in-depth program, and I look forward to our collaboration,” McMahon says.

She also thanked President Donald Trump for OK’ing the funding for this pilot program.

“During their military service, these veterans defended the Nation at home and abroad, protecting our freedoms and very way of life with courage and tenacity,” Trump said in a statement released by The White House this morning. “As small business owners, they continue to contribute to the strength and prosperity of our Nation with their entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas, achieving tremendous success in industry.”

Here’s a look at what programs and services the SBA and VA are partnering to bolster with this new pilot program:

SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development: This office, and the 22 Veterans Business Outreach Centers across the U.S., provide resources to military veterans and their spouses who are interested in starting their own business.

Boots to Business: The Boots to Business program runs educational classes at military facilities across the country and around the world throughout the year. There are about 700 classes hosted any given year, according to the SBA.

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business program: This program is designed to help small businesses owned by military vets who are disabled due to their time in service. It helps these entrepreneurs get their businesses certified to qualify for federal government contracts.

In addition to these programs from SBA and VA, there are plenty of other resources for military vets and their spouses wanting to start their own business. Check out:

20 Resources for Veteran Business Owners

And if you’re already a business owner and would like to hire a military vet to be part of your growing team, don’t forget that there are many unemployed military vets. Check out this great list:

15 Benefits of Hiring Military Veterans

“This week in particular, we honor the critical role that veteran-owned businesses play in the success of our economy and of our Nation as a whole. The contributions of our veterans in the Armed Forces and in business have helped to build and preserve America’s greatness, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never repay,” The White House says.

Photo via Shutterstock
Image: Small Business Administration

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Best Business Books 2018: s+b’s Top Shelf

November 5, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Articles published in strategy+business do not necessarily represent the views of the member firms of the PwC network. Reviews and mentions of publications, products, or services do not constitute endorsement or recommendation for purchase.

strategy+business is published by certain member firms of the PwC network.

© PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. Mentions of Strategy& refer to the global team of practical strategists that is integrated within the PwC network of firms. For more about Strategy&, see www.strategyand.pwc.com. No reproduction is permitted in whole or part without written permission of PwC. “strategy+business” is a trademark of PwC.

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Are They Truly a Fit?

November 5, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Image credit: StockSnap on Pixabay

WordPress was first released 15 years ago as a free and open-source content management platform. At the time, it was targeted mainly to bloggers. These days, though, it is almost perfect for every kind of website. However, do WordPress and e-commerce work well together? Let’s take a look and find out.

Did you know that WordPress is home to 60 million websites? What’s more, 31% of the top 10 million websites are based on WordPress. Astonishing isn’t it?

Meanwhile, WordPress rivals in the e-commerce sector continue to improve. The best-known among them are Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. Of course, there are many others. For an interesting read and to find out more, check out ecommerce stats. They will stun you.

Overall Reasons to Use WordPress

There are many reasons why you might use WordPress for e-commerce. The first reason would be the impressive statistics mentioned earlier. If so many people are already using it and their websites are successful why shouldn’t you use it? WordPress is entirely free and open-source. Therefore, tech-savvy people can easily edit it whenever they want. What’s more, it contains thousands of plugins and pre-made themes that are quick and easy to use.

WordPress is continually updated to improve functionality and security. Additionally, most hosting companies provide one-click WordPress install possibility. This makes it a quick, easy, and inexpensive content management system. What’s more, you can customize the appearance of your website through coding as well as by using intuitive drag-and-drop builders.

There are plenty more good reasons to use WordPress, whether you have a business website, a blog, or an e-commerce store. Nevertheless, let’s now analyze it as an e-commerce platform.

WordPress and E-Commerce: Still a Viable Choice

WordPress is still a viable platform not only for generic websites but also for e-commerce. Here are some of the reasons why:

Plugins

WordPress currently has more than 55,500 plugins. Of course, not all of them have been tested with the newest version of WordPress. Additionally, not all of them are necessary for an e-commerce site. However, when you enter “e-commerce” into the plugin search bar, you’ll get 110 pages of possible plugins for e-commerce sites alone.

One of the most popular e-commerce plugins for WordPress is WooCommerce. This plugin currently has more than 4 million active installations. It’s a powerful plugin that turns WordPress into a perfect platform for e-stores and similar businesses. For example, if you would like to sell clothing such as t-shirts, you might want to try this clothing design mockup generator. It is suitable for WooCommerce and WordPress.

There are also various other plugins that might be useful for an e-commerce website. For instance, you could use the CaptainForm wordpress forms plugin to collect customer feedback. You could also use it for customer inquiries or to collect email addresses. In this same vein, you might also want to try MailerLite, a plugin for newsletters.

Themes

There are currently more than 10,000 possible WordPress themes. However, not all of them are well-built. What’s more, some are suited only for specific niches. All the same, many of them are free to use as well as highly customizable.

Supportive Community

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Another strong argument for WordPress is its community. There are multiple blogs and forums that will lend a hand if you encounter an error or a bug on WordPress. Likewise, there are lots of WordPress developers for hire on Fiverr or Upwork who can help you quickly. Some of them even work for fairly low rates.

Reasons Against Using WordPress and E-Commerce Together

Despite everything that’s good about WordPress and e-commerce, there are some arguments against using WordPress and e-commerce together. But never fear, you have plenty of alternatives to choose from.

RELATED ARTICLE: BEYOND WORDPRESS: CHOOSING THE RIGHT CMS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Constant Need to Upgrade

You are probably going to have several plugins installed as well as a custom theme on your WordPress and e-commerce website. However, WordPress gets frequent updates, and this might cause you some issues. That’s because your current plugins or your theme might not be compatible with the new version of WordPress. For this reason, you should always keep a recent backup of your site at hand.

Theme and Plugin Updates

Most of the popular plugins are regularly upgraded with new features. Therefore, in order to get them you will need to upgrade pretty often. Whenever you do, you’re bound to get some errors and crashes on your site. Additionally, your new upgrades could override the changes and customizations you have made to your site previously.

However, as we mentioned earlier, you can easily and quickly repair any problems by keeping your backups up-to-date.

WordPress Popularity Could Put You at Risk

Image credit: typography images on Pixabay

Popularity does not always lead to quality and security. We already know that WordPress is superb in quality, but is it secure enough for e-commerce? The answer is mostly yes. However, due to the large number of WordPress installations, it is almost constantly under attack by hackers. Of course, since WordPress is continuously updated, real threats to your website are fairly rare. All in all, WordPress is about as secure as an online content management system can be.

Final Thoughts

WordPress was not originally developed for use with e-commerce websites, and it is still mostly used for online magazines and blogs. However, its later developments and program overlays gave it good e-commerce compatibility. So if you’re wondering if WordPress and e-commerce work well together, our final assessment is a resounding “Yes!”

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Learn to Price Jobs and Services at this Upcoming Event

November 3, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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Contracting vs Full Time Jobs: 49% of Independent Contractors Say Their Work is More Secure

As a business owner, how you price jobs and services will dictate the long-term success of your company.

Job costing is the process which tracks the actual costs to deliver the jobs and services you provide.

The webinar Scott Gregory will be hosting on Nov. 6, 2018, will give you a basic understanding of job costing in QuickBooks Pro, Premiere, and Enterprise.

Gregory is an industry expert who will bring over 20,000 hands-on hours working with the application and 30+ years of experience with job costing on QuickBooks.

Some of the topics Gregory will be addressing at the webinar include QuickBooks fields for tracking information unique to the job; buying materials for a job/tracking job-related expenses; using inventory for a job; creating a job estimate, and much more.

After the webinar Gregory is going to hold a Q&A to answer any questions you might have about this particular functionality of QuickBooks

The webinar will go on from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (EST), and if you want to save on the event you can use Coupon Code “20Off” by clicking the red button and registering.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Job Costing Basics for QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise
November 06, 2018, Online

Trying to figure out the basics of using jobs and job costing in QuickBooks Pro/Premier or Enterprise? If so, this webinar is for you! We’ll cover the basic setup, usage, and reporting of jobs in the Pro/Premier and Enterprise versions of QuickBooks. Topics include the difference between customers vs. jobs, adding a job, QuickBooks fields for tracking information unique to the job, creating a job estimate, buying materials for a job / tracking job related expenses and much more.
(Coupon Code: 20Off)

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November 28, 2018, Santa Clara, Calif.
3rd Annual Blockchain Opportunity Summit – New York City – Dec. 4 – 5, 2018
December 04, 2018, New York, NY
National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference – Las Vegas
December 05, 2018, Online
XLIVE 2018 Event Tech Conference in Las Vegas – December 9th-12th
December 09, 2018, Las Vegas, Nev.
Small Business Expo 2018 – HOUSTON
December 13, 2018, Houston, Texas
Women In Cloud Annual Summit 2019
January 26, 2019, Redmond, Wash.
Recruiting Trends and Talent Tech LIVE! 2019
February 20, 2019, Las Vegas, Nev.

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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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This article, “Learn to Price Jobs and Services at this Upcoming Event” was first published on Small Business Trends

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Advertising on Amazon: What SMBs Can Gain From the Transition from Google

November 2, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment

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There are a growing number of signs pointing to a shakeup in how marketers are allocating their digital advertising budgets. Now to be sure Google and Facebook are still the top destinations for those ad dollars. But more and more you’re hearing about big brands beginning to switch as much as 50-60% of their budgets to Amazon.

With Amazon having a lot of momentum in the digital ads business, I had to pull in my Watching Amazon partner and ecommerce expert John “ColderIce” Lawson to talk about what he’s seeing in this area, how teens shopping is changing the digital ad spending equation, and what impact this shift might have on small businesses.

Below is an edited transcript of our conversation. To see the full convo check out the video or the embedded SoundCloud player below.

Small Business Trends: It really looks like, and I’ve seen a couple of different reports around this, it looks like Amazon is starting to make a dent when it comes to digital ads, so much so that people are saying Facebook and Google are going to have to look out because Amazon is number three, but they’re number three with a bullet.

John Lawson: The deal is, Amazon is where people go to buy. When they start shopping for buying, they’re starting to go to Amazon to look, and if they’re there and they’re seeing ads now, obviously, the ads are converting. Look, it’s not enough to have an ad network, but an ad network that’s converting massively is really a threat.

Small Business Trends: Yeah, a couple weeks back, kind of along the same lines, specific big digital ad spenders, big brands, I heard as much as shifting 50% of their digital ad spend away from Google to Amazon. That’s huge.

John Lawson: So they’re shifting the money.

Small Business Trends: Yeah, it’s not net-new spending

John Lawson: Right, that’s crazy.

Small Business Trends: It’s just shifting, which, that’s got to make Google feel a little antsy, and Facebook feel a little antsy.

John Lawson: Yeah, yeah. It’s like they’re cheating on me.

Small Business Trends: Kind of. But I think a couple years from now, this will get to be real big news because, as you know I like to talk about-

John Lawson: Oh, God.

Small Business Trends: With Amazon Alexa, and the devices, and more interactions, and more attention spans being placed on these devices, Amazon stands a great chance of figuring out the best way to monetize and change the ad model to fit that. If it’s already starting to penetrate the traditional… voice search is going to be a big part of it. People already doing their product search for information – about 50, 60% starts with Amazon. But just think about if they change that model to fit these new smart devices, and the attention that people are spending on those. That could really accelerate the process.

John Lawson: I think it could, but it’s also going to accelerate the cost, which might slow the process. Look, if I’m asking for, if I’m doing a product search on a device, I’m not going to want ten results.

Small Business Trends: Yeah, so Amazon is going to have to change the way the ads are displayed.

John Lawson: Yeah.

Small Business Trends: They also have to change the way reviews and ratings work with all that.

John Lawson: Right.

Small Business Trends: But they stand the best chance to make it work.

John Lawson: Right. They do. What I’m saying is, the number one spot [on search results list] is going to be so competitive.

Small Business Trends: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

John Lawson: You know what I mean? That is going to be kind of expensive at some point.

Small Business Trends: It’s going to be real expensive. Does that price small businesses out of the market, you think?

John Lawson: Not right now. Here’s the key, small business, the advantage small business always has is being nimble.

Small Business Trends: First mover advantage.

John Lawson: First mover advantage. Get in there now, guys.

Small Business Trends: Start thinking about it.

John Lawson: Cool.

Small Business Trends: Alright, so this kind of leans to the second one we want to talk about. I saw this survey, and it’s posted on the Watching Amazon site, around sites that teens like to shop-

John Lawson: Yup.

Small Business Trends: Online.

John Lawson: Number two was Nike.

Small Business Trends: At 5%.

John Lawson: Number one was-

Small Business Trends: Amazon.

John Lawson: At?

Small Business Trends: 47%.

John Lawson: Do you see that? Number one’s here, number two is, you can’t even see it on the screen.

Small Business Trends: It’s like, yeah. It just goes down from there.

John Lawson: Yeah, everybody’s getting one or two percent.

Small Business Trends: I think, like you said is, you have a generation of folks that don’t know how to shop any other way.

John Lawson: Yeah. When they think of shopping online, the only thing they think about is Amazon because that’s all they’ve ever heard.

Small Business Trends: Those numbers just pointed out, that’s a tough road to hoe if you’re anybody else.

John Lawson: Right. If you just think, the way social media has grown. The first group of social media freaks were on Facebook, and we’ve grown with Facebook over time, even though other new things came up. I think this early adoption by these teens are going to expand as they grow. It’s not going to necessarily change that experience. You kind of hang onto what you know well.

Small Business Trends: You think about what we just talked about. These advertisers are already starting to switch. Teens have already … They didn’t even need to switch because that’s all they’ve known.

John Lawson: No.

Small Business Trends: So, as these teens, their spending power gets more and more, and greater and greater, that advertising shift is probably going to accelerate because the advertisers are going to want to make sure they’re connected with these teens.

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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2018 Tech Gifts

Echo Dot

iPhone XS

HP OfficeJet Printer

Multi-Device Keyboard

Chromebook

Ring Video Doorbell

Apple Watch

VR Headset

Ring Light

Charging Station

Drawing Tablet

Wifi LED Light Bulb

Portable Projector

Dog Camera

Bluetooth Speaker

Wireless Headphones

Gaming Mouse

Roomba

Portable Photo Printer

Mobile Wifi Hotspot

Economic Growth of 3% Expected

Tariff Battle Impacts Small Business

Job Surge Seen As Evidence of Optimism

Healthcare and Technology Also Discussed

Instagram Creates Whole New Business Models

Social Media Streamlines Customer Feedback

Create a business account.

Add a link in your bio.

Use Instagram Live.

Run Instagram retargeting campaigns.

Share user-generated content.

Over to you

WTO Indicator, 2.10.18. Source: WTO

What Is Happening?

Globalization, Nationalism, and Internationalism

The New Normal

1. He listened to his commanding officer.

2. He shared his product with fellow vets.

3. He knew how to adapt.

4. He utilized federal programs.

5. He understood the two keys to success.

National Veterans Small Business Week

Image credit: StockSnap on Pixabay

Overall Reasons to Use WordPress

WordPress and E-Commerce: Still a Viable Choice

Plugins

Themes

Supportive Community

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Reasons Against Using WordPress and E-Commerce Together

Constant Need to Upgrade

Theme and Plugin Updates

WordPress Popularity Could Put You at Risk

Image credit: typography images on Pixabay

Final Thoughts

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

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Biz Opps

Customer Focus

Entrepreneurs

Strategy

Supply Chain