Data from Statista says the North American fitness market had an estimated size of more than $28 billion in 2015, of which 90 percent was attributable to the United States. The U.S. brings in more fitness and health club revenue than anywhere else in the world and has the most active members too.

According to Joel Libava of TheFranchiseKing.com, there are more than 60 different fitness-related franchise opportunities to choose from, as he wrote in an SBA.gov article earlier this month.

If you’re exploring the franchise world, owning a franchise in fitness could be a profitable choice if it’s already your passion. And “fitfluential” customer service strategies might be a key ingredient to long-term success. The word “fitfluencer” is exactly what it sounds like: an influencer (or an influential brand) with a focus on fitness.

In a market as big as this, there’s adequate room for niche specialties, franchises, personal brands and there’s even overlap if you get creative on social. While relationships are important in any business, one-on-one encouragement stands out in fitness and, for small businesses, it can be the difference between having a long-term customer who advocates for your brand and a customer who doesn’t want to renew.

Small Business Trends connected with Shannon Hudson of 9Round kickboxing to get a better sense of the brand and its niche as a fitness franchise.

Shannon “The Cannon” Hudson, founder and CEO of 9Round Franchising, LLC, is the former IKF Light Middleweight Kickboxing Champion of the World. Hudson began martial arts at the age of seven and has continued training ever since, including with legendary boxing trainer Xavier Biggs. He has a 5th degree Black Belt in Japanese Shotokan Karate and a 4th Degree Black Belt under Joe Lewis’s Fighting System JLFS.

After over 70 bouts inside the ring, competing in Canada and Europe, Hudson could not find a place where the average person could learn the training secrets of pro fighters. So, the vision for 9Round was born. Hudson decided to transform the grueling boxing and kickboxing workouts of the pros into a non-intimidating, convenient circuit workout format the average person could enjoy. Now, 10 years later, 9Round has more than 700 locations worldwide. Hudson is still fully involved in the day-to-day operations of the business and constantly works to bring the best support to 9Round franchisees and the best workout experience to 9Round members.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: How have fitfluencers and social media affecting the fitness industry?

Shannon Hudson: Both have helped the fitness industry grow by deepening the way we communicate with our audiences. We are now able to continually encourage and guide our community towards their goals both inside and outside of the club. This strengthens our relationships and allows members to see results at a faster pace. In addition, fitfluencers are providing authenticity and widening our audience reach by communicating real results and interacting with followers on their own social channels.

Small Business Trends: What makes a fitness franchise successful?

Shannon Hudson: There are two key elements to making a fitness franchise successful. One is motivation. It’s important our franchise owners are joining 9Round for the right reasons. Our owners must be motivated by their passion for fitness and not just seeking monetary reward. We want our owners to be able to share their health and fitness interests with the community, as well as dedicate their business to helping members reach their goals. Second is relationships. At 9Round, we focus on selling relationships, not just a gym membership, so it’s important our franchise owners love people and see the value in building strong relationships. By interacting with members on a personal level, 9Round sets itself apart from traditional gyms and allows owners to be fully invested in their business.

Small Business Trends: How do your national franchisees differ from your international ones? With over 700 locations worldwide, I assume there are differences.

Shannon Hudson: Typically, 9Round remains exactly the same no matter the country because the workout and business model are easy to adapt. The only subtle differences that may occur would be a result of a cultural or climate difference. For example, in the US, our clubs have a smaller footprint including the workout space, an administrative area, and a bathroom; in the Middle East, locker rooms for changing and showering are required. In Japan, since there is not an obesity concern, like there is here in the US, the program is marketed as a “30 Minute Stress Buster,” rather than for weight loss.

We anticipate small adjustments, like the ones mentioned above, to continue to be adaptations we will have to make as we expand to cultures that differ from our own. However, we plan to remain true to our core product and will not alter that, as it makes sense in every international market we enter.

Small Business Trends: If someone is interested in joining the 9Round franchise family, what are some initial things they should be aware of?

Shannon Hudson: 9Round franchises are a popular investment due to the low startup cost and winning fitness concept. The average total investment is between $91,600 and $133,200, compared to traditional gyms, which typically require expensive equipment, such as treadmills and weight machines. In addition, 9Round only requires a max of four-five employees and operates in a low rent space of 1500 square feet. 9Round appeals to young professionals, fitness enthusiasts, parents and anyone looking for a fast and effective workout. 9Round eliminates class times and time constraints, allowing members to walk into the club whenever they find time and engage in a full-body workout in just 30 minutes.

Images: 9Round Franchising

With mobile browsing now surpassing desktop browsing, you should attend the next Verizon Business Markets Small Business Webinar Series presented by Small Business Trends CEO and founder Anita Campbell.

Aptly titled, “How Mobile Ate the Web — and 7 Ways Small Businesses Can Capitalize,” the webinar will take place on August 15, 2018 at 2 PM ET (11 AM PT).

Cambell will be exploring ways in which you can make your business more accessible on mobile devices. Including looking at the latest trends such as AMP (accelerated mobile pages), Progressive Web apps vs. true mobile apps, mobile templates vs. responsive websites, and much more!

Campbell brings years of experience as an online publisher and entrepreneur running a website with 2.5 million monthly visitors and will share her knowledge with those attending.

Register Now

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

WEBINAR August 15, 2PM ET (11AM PT): How Mobile Ate the Web – and 7 Ways Small Businesses Can Capitalize
August 15, 2018, Online

Browsing via mobile devices has overtaken and now exceeds desktop computer browsing. Sadly, most marketers and business owners still look at their company web presence using desktop devices – but that’s not what most of their visitors are seeing! Visitors are seeing it through mobile devices. In this webinar we’ll explore how users find and get to businesses using mobile devices. We’ll look at the latest trends, and whether your business needs them or should ignore them, including:
AMP (accelerated mobile pages), progressive Web apps vs true mobile apps, mobile templates vs responsive websites, the search engine “knowledge panel” for your business, the mobile-first Google index, leveraging third party reviews and their impact on mobile visitors, and much more. Join us on August 15, 2PM ET (11AM PT) by registering today!

Growth & Success Con
September 17, 2018, Online

This small business virtual conference is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs at all stages who are stuck in the daily grind of building their businesses and struggle to get solid advice and guidance. An amazing panel of experts in various disciplines and business coaches will share tips & tricks on topics including Growth, Marketing, Management & Business Building for Success. Register today!

More Events

• Boost Your Brand Power through Your LinkedIn Profile
  July 12, 2018, Sunnyvale, Calif.
• 2018 Annual City Club Business Tech Conference and Expo
  July 18, 2018, Los Angeles
• 5 Keys To Successful Influencer Marketing
  July 19, 2018, Online
• Business & Entrepreneur Networking Mixer
  July 25, 2018, New York
• WASHINGTON DC BLOCKCHAIN CONFERENCE 2018
  July 26, 2018, Washington D.C.
• NEW YORK FINTECH WEEK 2018
  July 31, 2018, New York
• 2018 #FlipMyFunnel B2B Marketing and Sales Conference
  August 08, 2018, Online
• Small Business Expo 2018 – SAN FRANCISCO
  August 09, 2018, San Mateo, Calif.
• SILICON VALLEY FINTECH WEEK 2018
  August 13, 2018, Online
• Nashville Lifestyles Women in Business
  August 14, 2018, Nashville, Tenn.
• TECHSPO Singapore 2018
  August 19, 2018, Singapore
• National Ergonomics Conference and ErgoExpo – August 2018 – Paris Las Vegas
  August 21, 2018, Las Vegas, Nev.
• TECHSPO Sydney 2018
  August 22, 2018, Sydney, AU
• DigiMarCon New Zealand 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  August 22, 2018, Sydney, AU
• DigiMarCon Australia 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  August 22, 2018, Sydney, AU
• The Sales Development Conference San Francisco August 30th 2018 Tenbound
  August 30, 2018, San Francisco, Calif.
• TECHSPO London 2018
  September 05, 2018, London
• DigiMarCon Europe 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  September 05, 2018, London
• DigiMarCon UK 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  September 05, 2018, London
• HR Technology Conference and Exposition
  September 11, 2018, Online

More Contests

• Public Vote to Crown America’s Most Unique Small Business Underway
  November 08, 2018

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.

When Amazon launched its Alexa for Business (AFB) initiative last year, one of the launch partners invited early on was Tact.ai — a startup focused on changing the way sales people interact with their CRM systems using their voice.  In fact, they launched the first conversational CRM skill for AFB. And just last week Amazon, along with Microsoft and Salesforce, were part of Tact’s series C funding round of $27 million.

Since I’m pretty all-in when it comes to CRM and voice assistants and the potential the two have to change customer engagement, I was glad to speak with Tact.ai’s founder and CEO Chuck Ganapathi to hear his thoughts on these subjects.

Below is an edited transcript of our conversation. To hear even more of the conversation, check out the video below. You’ll notice in the video it’s just Chuck answering the questions. There was a little trouble on my end with audio, but thankfully, and most importantly, Chuck looks and sounds great, so check it out!  

* * * * *

Small Business Trends:  Tell us about the platform shifts you see taking place today that is driving the move to voice interfaces into business applications?

Chuck Ganapathi: The amazing thing about the world we live in today is that it’s a perfect storm of two major platform shifts. The first one is the shift to edge devices. We’ve spent the last couple of decades bringing enterprise software applications from on premise data centers to the cloud and that’s created massive value for companies and built great companies like Salesforce.com. I think what we’re seeing now is that computing is now moving back into the edge because there are these devices that are with us every day. Whether it’s your phone, which is now a computer, your watch, which is now a computer, your alarm bell, your camera, your car is now a computer.

All of these devices bring computing right to the edge and I think that has allowed us to do things that we couldn’t have thought of before. Case in point, Uber. Think about how Uber has removed friction from your day-to-day life of just hailing a cab, but using the edge device called your phone, and the sensor called your location to be able to find a car and a driver that’s closest to you. The second major platform shift that’s happening is the one that we call artificial intelligence, of course, but more specifically inside of that, this major wave called artificial intelligence, is the way we interact with computers.

We’re going into an entirely new way of interacting with computers that’s just lowering the bar. For example, my three and a half year old son can just ask Alexa to play his favorite song and Alexa will play it. He can’t even read or write. Forget about using Windows. I think that is a transformation that’s happening right now. We’re seeing it. It’s already here. People have Alexa’s in their homes. We have Siri on your phone and this notion of using voice and other more natural ways of interacting with computers, as opposed to forms on a database, I think is a major shift.

You take these two things and put them together, I think you have the perfect storm to reimagine what CRM should really, really be. This has been a problem that I’ve thought about for many, many years, because as you know Brent, I’m a product guy, and it hurts me to no end when I find … When I talk to salespeople and they say, “Chuck, you’re a really nice guy, but I got to tell you I don’t like the products you build.” It’s because we’ve never really focused on the end user. If you think about the birth of CRM, which really happened with Tom Siebel coming out of Oracle and starting this whole industry, it’s the first time that we were able to take what was on paper, which is a Rolodex or a forecast report, and bring it into a database.

Small Business Trends:  It seems like voice assistants would be helpful for creating higher CRM adoption for sales folks.

Chuck Ganapathi:  I agree. I don’t think any salesperson wants to be sitting in front of a computer imputing data. I think there’s an opportunity to fundamentally reimagine the relationship between the seller and the systems that they have to use. Voice is critical. It really started with Siri and the ability to dictate messages and we all started doing that. With an SMS, you could just tap on your dictation icon, the mic icon on your keyboard, and start dictating a message.

In 2012, when we released the first … Or 2014 when we released the first version of Tact on the mobile app, we allowed our users to leave voice notes. You come out of a meeting, the assistant will remind you that you just finished a meeting with Brent Leary and it’ll ask you if you want to record any notes, and you can just tap on the microphone and leave notes. That was an amazing achievement for 2014, but we’ve come a long way since then. 2014 was also the year that the first Echo device was released.

Small Business Trends:  What role has Amazon’s Echo and Alexa played in moving adoption of voice assistants into business?

Chuck Ganapathi   What I think the Echo did for people was move the conversation, no pun intended, from dictation, which has been around for some time, to voice commands. Because now, you can just say, “Hey Alexa,” without looking at your screen, without tapping on the microphone icon on your keyboard on your iPhone or Android phone.

You can just say, “Hey Alexa, turn on the lights. Hey Alexa, play a song,” and it’ll do something for you. I think that’s the next evolution of where we’ve come with voice and it’s … We were one of the first ones to recognize it. I still remember the first time I saw the Echo device and immediately I said, “We’ve got to get Tact on this.” I went to my engineering team and I put an Echo device in the conference room and I said, “Folks, how do we get Tact working on this?” They were inspired by it and it was actually right before … It’s when I was doing some Christmas shopping, and I found the device, and brought it into work, and a couple of our engineers actually got so inspired that they worked right through Christmas break, and early January they showed me a prototype. That was the beginning of our journey.

For the last two years, almost three years, we’ve now been perfecting that platform and evolving that platform, because it’s not just about going from dictation to voice commands, which Alexa’s very good at, but it’s moving to the next level that we call voice intelligence which is really about conversations.

What we promise to our users is we’re going to give you a digital assistant, an AI assistant that’s the next best thing to having a human EA, or a personal assistant. You obviously can’t afford one for every salesperson, but what if you could give them an AI assistant? That’s what we promise. In order to fulfill that promise, that assistant has to be human friendly. You don’t want it to be too human-like. But you want this to be human friendly.

You want the assistant to be able to understand the mistakes that I make in my conversation. Understand my context and if I say, “John Hancock,” I don’t mean the person, I mean a company called John Hancock that I’m speaking to. I think that is really about using AI, artificial intelligence, not just speech recognition, but really artificial intelligence and conversational flow to be able to do that. We think we can use AI to make the human a super human and allow them to do these kinds of things with the help of their assistant. For sellers, I think it’s the best product that has come out in the market since probably the Blackberry, right? You remember how much they fell in love with the Blackberry. Our goal is that every salesperson in the world, just used to be a Blackberry or a crackberry addict, we want them to be using Tact and selling in a frictionless way.

Small Business Trends:  Will business app vendors have to eventually add voice interfaces to their applications?

Chuck Ganapathi: I certainly think so. I think especially as consumers get more and more comfortable with voice experiences in their personal lives they’re going to demand that. If you don’t have the ability to provide that, I think you’re going to be at a disadvantage in the marketplace. I do think companies will be under increasing pressure to provide voice experience, but also like we talked about, the messaging experience. That’s something … To me, they’re just two sides of the same coin.

We talk a lot about messaging and they’re a lot of messaging companies that talk about internal collaboration, and water cooler, and increasing transparency in the organization, and all of that is great. But at the end of the day, messaging should also be about getting things done. If it’s a customer that wants to check on their balance, or do a transaction with you, to be able to do that through voice or through sending a text message, your employees want to be able to do that as well. At the end of the day, what people really want is to get deals done, get work done, not just be having a water cooler conversation.

Small Business Trends: Look out a year or two from now. Where do you think we’re going to be with voice, particularly when it comes to sales, CRM in the enterprise?

Chuck Ganapathi:  Well, I think voice, especially in CRM and in salesforce automation, is going to become one of the primary modes with which people will interact with systems. It’s not just about CRM, one thing that we’ve learned from our experience is that when you’re trying to become a digital assistant, an AI-powered assistant for your salesperson, you have to think very differently about what that is. It’s not about adding a voice interface to your database. Look, every enterprise software vendor, I can guarantee you, is thinking about how to introduce voice interface to their app, right? Every enterprise software vendor has currently got a project going on, “How do I add voice layer on top … A voice assistant, or a voice interface on top of my app?”

But that’s the wrong way to think about it, is our belief. When you’re trying to be an assistant, you have to be thinking about the user’s entire workflow. My job as a salesperson doesn’t start and end with one database, whether it’s your CRM database. It cuts across your email, your calendar, you may be prospecting on LinkedIn. Yes, of course, you’re looking up information in CRM and you’re entering information in CRM, but you’re also looking for insights coming from another third-party analytical engine. One example is our customer Dell uses us as an interface layer on top of an analytical data warehouse, because that’s where all the customer insights are. Because the reality in large enterprises is that customer data is spread across multiple systems. Just adding a voice interface to one of those systems doesn’t solve the problem. You have to think about it from the user’s standpoint and be persona-centric.

If I’m an assistant for a salesperson, you first have to understand what is the salesperson’s life look like, day-to-day work life, what systems and what people does it touch, and you have to be able to weave all of them together into one single experience. That experience has to be available on voice, has to be available through messaging, and of course and sometimes an app is a better experience. I can’t use my voice, if it’s crowded. I’m in an elevator. I don’t want to talk to it. I just want to be able to look at my calendar and see I have three meetings coming up. Because vision and your eyes are very good at processing information and sometimes faster than using voice. You have to think about a multi-model experience, between touch, text, and talk. That’s what we call it, right?

An app experience, or a screen experience, a voice experience, and sometimes a messaging experience. Your assistant should be able to operate on all three so you can just talk to your assistant, you could send a message to your assistant, or you can look at your assistant through an app and get things done.

Small Business Trends:  When will they have to do this?

Chuck Ganapathi: Oh, I think you’ll see almost all enterprise apps will come out with some sort of a voice announcement this year. That’s my prediction. Every single one of them, right? Mark my words. Will have a voice announcement this year. But like I said, like I said, this is a problem that is not a vertical problem. It’s not adding voice to one database, one system, one vertical silo. It’s thinking about it horizontally as a layer of assistance, as a layer of experience that cuts across multiple systems where it really automates my workflow as a human being and makes me do my job better.

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.

As the number of shipments by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) continues to grow, the company is looking to outsource the delivery of those packages. Amazon just announced a new program called Amazon Delivery Service Partners so it can address this demand.

And the new program offers an opportunity for small businesses to be part of one of the most successful ecommerce companies in the world by launching their own delivery service. Amazon is looking for hundreds of entrepreneurs to join the venture.

The program goes hand in hand with Amazon’s plan to make individuals and small businesses part of its ecosystem. Small businesses make up a large percentage of the company’s e-commerce merchants, and extending this concept to the company’s logistics could be an interesting move.

Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, explains this thinking in a recent press release. Clark says, “Customer demand is higher than ever and we have a need to build more capacity. As we evaluated how to support our growth, we went back to our roots to share the opportunity with small-and-medium-sized businesses. We are going to empower new, small businesses to form in order to take advantage of the growing opportunity in e-commerce package delivery.”

Amazon Delivery Service Partners Program

Amazon will offer entrepreneurs full support to ensure you succeed as an owner.

It all starts with a three-week comprehensive training. From the time you start your application until you get your business up and running could take anywhere from one to six months, Amazon says. This will depend on your availability and the number of opportunities in your area.

The setup process includes exclusive deals Amazon has negotiated for startup assets as well as business management services as you move forward. This includes top-in class third-party providers for everything from Amazon-branded vehicles customized for delivery to discounts on vehicle leases, maintenance, fuel, insurance, professional uniforms, accounting services, legal support and more.

Amazon says individuals can start their delivery service with as little as $10,000. And if you are an eligible military veteran, the company has set up a $1 million fund with $10K reimbursements.

As far as earning potential, owners can make anywhere from $75k to $300K in annual profits. This, of course, will depend on the number of vehicles you operate.  Owners can expect to oversee 20 to 40 Amazon-branded vehicles responsible for delivering packages to customers from one of 75 Amazon delivery stations.

Amazon expects its owners to set up their businesses, build their teams, deliver packages, create their team culture and grow their businesses.

Local Employment Opportunities

When fully operational, Amazon expects its owners to hire 40 to 100 employees. For local small business owners, this is a possible way to provide opportunities for their community.

You can download the full brochure here (PDF) or get started here.

Images: Amazon

After comparing 50 states across 25 key indicators of startup success, Wallethub was able to determine the best and worst states to start a business in 2018.

Best State to Start a Small Business Is…

This year, Texas is tops by providing some of the ideal conditions for business creation. According to Wallethub, some of these conditions included access to cash, skilled workers and affordable office space.

For small business owners, these conditions play a critical role in establishing businesses but also ensuring their long term success. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the survival rates of businesses is only 51.4% for the five year mark.

Wallethub looked at all 50 states examining business environment, access to resources and business costs, which were given 50, 25 and 25 points respectively. Additionally, these indicators were evaluated using 25 relevant metrics graded on a 100-point scale, with high scores representing the best conditions for new-business creation.

Everything from the average length of the workweek to job growth, financing, education assets, labor costs and more was evaluated.

Key Takeaways

Following Texas in the number one spot with a total of 64.4 points, Utah, Georgia, Montana and Oklahoma rounded out the top five in this year’s survey with 63.41, 60.21, 58.9, and 58.67 points respectively. Florida, North Dakota, California, Arizona and Colorado also completed the top 10, with totals of 58.09, 57.94, 57.61 and 55.58 respectively .

The worst states to start a business was Hawaii at number 50 after amassing only 37.16 points of a possible 100. Four other states making up the bottom 5 five include New Hampshire at 38.11, Rhode Island at 41.88, Vermont at 42.53, and Pennsylvania at 42.81.

West Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Alabama rounded up the bottom 10 worst states to start a business. See all the states scores below.

Options

The survey points out states may not have many of the best indicators to start a business, but still offer options individual entrepreneurs might be looking for.

For example, Iowa has the cheapest average annual rent for office space at $12.08 per square foot, but overall it ranks 39th on the list. On the other hand, New York has the most expensive rent for office space at $26.66 per square foot and it is 32nd on the list. Meanwhile in terms of business costs, New York is 49th, while Iowa is 30th.

At the end of the day, a host of different factors go into deciding on the best place to open your business. For example, you might be successful in Hawaii, even though it ended up near the bottom of this year’s list, and do badly in Texas, the number one state for startups.

The key is putting extra effort into your due diligence. If you do that, your business will probably succeed no matter where you open it.

Expert Opinion

Wallethub asked experts how national and state economic policies affect business creation. One of the questions was, “What measures can state authorities undertake in order to encourage entrepreneurs to start new businesses in their state?”

Professor of Practice at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, Melissa L. Bradley, answered, “States can look at tax incentives tied to job creation, and look at tax breaks for companies that employ the hard to hire, or provide skills training.”

She went on to say, “States can streamline the incorporation and certification processes to reduce the burden of time and money. States can re-examine zoning laws to allow for equitable dispersion of business development in a community, and allow for local hubs and networks to evolve organically. States can also identify a staff person to help coordinate and support business — almost like an entrepreneur in residence for states.”

Photo via Shutterstock

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.

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One of the challenges of being a freelancer is making sure you have a steady stream of revenue. And in order to make this possible, you have to market yourself effectively to the customers you are trying to serve.

A new infographic by Fiverr titled, “Embrace the Power of the Internet to Get More Freelance Clients” points out five ways to do this.

As one of the leading freelancing platforms, Fiverr has been providing new tools and services so its freelancers can be more productive. These include business tools for tracking projects, a service called Elevate for running a freelance business, and even some data on what makes a great Fiverr Pro candidate.

The latest guidance from Fiverr goes into the importance of marketing and how freelancers can use the power of the internet to generate traffic and get the attention of more customers.

Ways a Freelancer Can Market Themselves

1. Fiverr starts with blogging. This is a tool both freelancers and any other small business owners with a digital presence can use to drive traffic.

Your blog will provide valuable information about you, your expertise and your business as a freelancer. By creating high-quality content on your blog, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, build awareness of your brand and give your potential customers a valuable resource.

If the blog does well, it can be a business in itself.

2. The next suggestion is email marketing. Email marketing, which is still one of the best ways to increase your customer base. According to Fiverr, it can bring in $38 for every dollar spent on an email marketing campaign. But if you don’t happen to have the money, you can start with a free MailChimp account and grow from there.

The free version of MailChimp will give you up to 2,000 subscribers, and 12,000 emails, which should be enough to begin.

3. Social media is an obvious choice. With billions of people using social media every day, it is no surprise Fiverr recommends freelancers use this tool to market themselves as well.

Fiverr suggest freelancers identify the platform their potential customers use most and start engaging with them. This includes sharing content such as videos.

4. Next, Fiverr recommends answering questions on Q&A sites such as Quora. This helps to establish your authority in your field. With 200 million visitors every month, Quora alone can significantly increase traffic to your site.

5. Finally, don forget SEO. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an important tool in marketing your freelance business. While SEO can get a bit complicated, it is essentially a way to optimize your digital presence online. The more optimized your site is, the easier it is for search engines and users to find you.

You can take a look at the infographic below for more details on how to market yourself online as a freelancer.

Photo via Shutterstock

For businesses that need help with IT but don’t have the resources to hire a professional full time, a managed service provider can help. HigherGround Managed Services is one such service provider. The company offers a full-service experience and consulting to meet the needs of their clients around the Chicago area. Read more about the company and its offerings in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Offers managed IT solutions to small and medium sizedbusinesses in the Chicago area.

CEO Brian Brammeier told Small Business Trends, “HigherGround is a full-service IT and consulting firm that partners with entrepreneurs and leaders of small to medium-sized organizations in the greater Chicago area — ensuring they spend more time managing their core businesses and less time worrying about their IT infrastructures. HigherGround provides managed IT services (MSP), managed security (MSSP), IT staffing including fractional CIOs and CTOs, application development consulting and management, and IT disconnect/reconnect for corporate moves and logistics.”

Business Niche

Helping companies reach their potential through IT.

Brammeier says, “HigherGround’s tagline is “We deliver on the promises that other IT firms make.” HigherGround helps companies that are growing fast use technology to fuel their growth, as well as companies that are struggling with growth and know tech is a limiting factor.”

How the Business Got Started

Because of a love of tinkering with computers.

Brammeier began taking computers apart decades ago, then realized he needed to learn how to put them back together. After honing his skills, he realized he could actually charge for his services. He originally started the company called Brammeier Computer Services in the late 90’s out of his bedroom in his parents’ house and then his dorm room. In 2015, he made the leap to the company’s current office and changed the name to HigherGround.

Biggest Win

Creating a successful hiring plan.

Brammeier says, “This has helped provide clients with consistent and above-and-beyond service from people who fit our culture.”

Biggest Risk

Separating from a key team member who wasn’t a good fit.

Brammeier explains, “This posed a risk since, separating HigherGround from this key team member, meant rebooting most of the Tech team. It was one step back to take two steps forward and, had it gone wrong, HigherGround would have disrupted and dissatisfied clients. With careful planning and staffing up ahead of the change, HigherGround was able to swap out a key position while keeping staffing issues mainly “behind the curtain” as far as clients were concerned.”

Lesson Learned

Communication is key.

Brammeier says, “Every week HigherGround has an all company meeting to discuss current projects, new clients, changes and updates. HigherGround is even now tweaking that process to share more real-time information flowing from weekly management meetings directly into these all company meetings so team members don’t have to guess at what the company direction is.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Growing the team or building out automation.

Favorite Team Lunch

Buffalo chicken pizza.

Brammeier says, “The HigherGround team loves Buffalo Chicken Pizza – everything from it’s spicy chicken tenders, drizzled bleu cheese dressing and mozzarella cheese. It’s a good one.”

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Photos: HigherGround, Brian Brammeier
Group photo: From left to right: Team members Jemyio, Anthony, Richard, Frank, Ben, Craig, Earl, Sok, Mudassir, Gabby and Jerry

A critical part of running a successful business is managing customers. If customers are served properly and they leave your business premises happy and satisfied, your business can grow and continue to succeed. However, if customers leave upset, it can really hurt your business and bottom-line.

You probably already know this and have set up policies to ensure the highest standards of customer service in your business. But some customers can be difficult to handle. Some customers will be rude to you or your employees. Others will argue and demand they are served a certain way. Some may even be downright disrespectful and abusive. Whatever the case may be, you need to stay calm and handle difficult customers in a professional manner that protects your business and brand image.

So, how do you manage difficult customers and protect your business reputation?

How to Deal with Difficult Customers

According to online financing company for small businesses, Fundera, you can prepare for and navigate any situation coming your business’s way with the proper strategies and tactics.

“Identifying which customer type you’re dealing with is the first step to successfully handling the incident, writes Meredith Wood, Editor-in-Chief at Fundera, in a post on the official company blog.

The New York-based online lending company lists some common types of difficult customers a small business owner may encounter and offers handy tips to handle them successfully.

1. Indecisive Customer

This type of customer can’t seem to make a decision no matter how many questions they ask. The thing to do here is acknowledge the indecision. Avoid being pushy, says Fundera. Instead, help the customer make a decision by offering facts and possible best solutions for their needs.

2. Highly Critical Customer

Critical customers can be a huge challenge. They seem to know it all and are very critical of your suggestions. Be patient and attentive, advises Fundera. Don’t take anything personally. Use clarifying statements, weaving in new information and ideas about the product of which they are being critical.

3. Aggressive Customer

Now, this type of customer is angry and feels their needs should be prioritized above all others. Stay calm and don’t argue with them. Avoid responding to their outbursts or arguments in an agitated or emotional manner. Instead, show you understand. Then look for alternatives and offer other solutions.

More Tips on How to Deal with Difficult Customers

Check out more tips to manage other types of difficult customers and deliver superior customer service each time in the insightful infographic created by Fundera and shared below.

Remember, getting your customer service right the first time can give you an edge over competitors and drive more profits to your business.

Image: Fundera

The launch of Shopify Ping will allow merchants on the eCommerce platform to manage their business no matter where they are.

Ping is going to bring together customer conversations and marketing workflows on websites, Facebook Messenger or SMS along with an intelligent assistant called Kit on Apples’s iOS mobile platform. Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) is going after the mobile segment because half of its 600,000 merchants use the company’s mobile app.

These merchants are in the vast majority of cases small businesses who use the platform to process their eCommerce and in many cases also their retail payment system. With Ping, they will be able to communicate directly with their customers and respond to any demand request or issues on the spot to deliver a superior customer experience.

On the Shopify blog, the company said the goal of Ping is to provide a new way for merchants to run their business. It goes on to say, “Now you can spend less time shuffling between separate tools and more time on what matters most: serving your customers and growing your business.”

Conversations in One Place

With Shopify Ping, all of the conversations you have in your messaging apps will be available in one place under a single mobile app. This will allow you to quickly and easily respond to your customers and build better relationships. And best of all you can do it from anywhere because it is on your mobile device.

Currently, conversations you have on Facebook Messenger, Rep.ai, and Chatkit will be available in a single app.

What About Kit?

Kit is a built-in business assistant which will help you plan, create, and manage your marketing. According to Shopify, Kit will run your Facebook and Instagram ads, email marketing, retargeting campaigns and more based on the information you collect from the messages.

The virtual assistant can also execute complicated workflows including but not limited to product image touch-ups, find new products to add to your inventory and more.

Availability of Shopify Ping

Shopify Ping is available now for free on iOS, and you can download it here. If you have an Android device you will have to wait, but in the meantime, you can sign up here so you will be notified when it launches.

Image: Shopify