In this week’s roundup, I am joined by Laurie McCabe, co-founder of SMB Group at HubSpot’s Inbound Conference in Boston.
We started our conversation going over the article by Annie Pilon titled, “10 Facebook Ad Best Practices for Small Businesses”
Top Small Business Stories This Week
With Facebook now an essential marketing tool for businesses that are online, Laurie said, “Facebook is the number one social channel for a lot of small businesses” when her organization does its surveys.
She goes on to say for B2C businesses, “Facebook is a great way to get your brand out there and interact.”
One of the tips I liked from the article is to use humor — which always gets your attention whether it is funny or not. And Laurie replied, “You want to use things that get someone’s attention in an authentic way and a genuine way.”
We then moved to the other articles I chose for this week dealing with POS systems and how 30% of small businesses feel they are overpaying on taxes.
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For the rest of the articles in this week’s small business news roundup, you can take a look below.
Economy
Small Business Leaders Praise Potential Mexico Trade Deal
In a phone conversation with Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Employment
InfoMart Introduces New Employee Background Screening for Small Businesses
The tight labor market is making it much harder to find the right talent, but this doesn’t mean you can relax your due diligence in vetting potential candidates. A new screening platform launched by InfoMart will give startups, growing small businesses, and mid-sized organizations a solution for simplifying the background check process.
Management
Master the Art of Creating a More Productive Workspace with these 5 Tips
Good employees are productive employees — but it’s not all just about motivation and work ethic. It can sometimes also be that they don’t know how to create a productive workspace. Managers, supervisors, and company executives should always be striving to increase the productivity of their companies and their individual employees.
68% of Employees Would Purchase a Group Life Insurance Plan If Offered to Them
A survey conducted on behalf of OneAmerica by Harris Poll revealed 68% of workers would be somewhat or very likely to purchase voluntary group life insurance if it was offered by their employer. The survey comes as Life Insurance Awareness Month is being recognized in September, which highlights the need for this type of coverage.
The Truth About Good Business Practices vs Bad Business Practices Revealed by Experts
If you want to run a successful and sustainable business, you need to create regular practices that support your operations and growth. But you also need to cut out any practices that don’t serve your business. To separate good business practices from bad business practices, here are some lists and expert tips to consider.
Pzizz App Aims to Give Entrepreneurs Better Sleep
Pzizz is an app which uses the science of psychoacoustics to ensure you get the sleep you need so you can be the best version of yourself. The app has a patented technology which plays dreamscapes to help users fall asleep, sleep, and wake up feeling refreshed.
Marketing Tips
7 Amazing Email List Marketing Hacks
Email is far from dead. In fact, it’s alive and well with around 269 billion emails being sent and received daily in 2017, and that’s expected to rise to more than 333 billion by 2022. Tips for Better Email List Management So, instead of declaring email an outdated technique, take the time to update your lists and strategies.
Apply These 11 Techniques for Getting the Most Out of Cleveland’s Content Marketing World
During the first week in September, more than 4000 content marketers from all over the world descend on Cleveland, Ohio for Content Marketing World. They network with other content marketers, learn the latest content marketing strategies and check out content marketing tools and platforms that will help them build and grow their brands.
Product Lists
8 Best Evernote Apps for Small Business Users
Since launching in 2008, the task organizational app Evernote has proven to be an invaluable tool for small businesses, helping them organize and access business content with greater ease and efficiency.
Best 2019 Trucks for Small Contractors
Whether you’re bouncing around a construction site with it or shuttling drywall in the back for a client’s basement renovation project, contractors need good trucks. Here’s a list of the best 2019 trucks for contractors. Best 2019 Trucks for Contractors 2019 Ford Transit Connect Cargo Van Ford is a name that every contractor knows and these vans have long been a mainstay.
10 Best Dropbox Apps for Small Business Users
Providing storage backup, convenient file sharing, easy access, and other collaborative features, Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX) is a great tool for small businesses. Third-party developers continue to make one of the oldest and most popular cloud storage services even better, by providing fantastic apps designed to help users get even more out of Dropbox.
Retail Trends
96% of San Antonio Restaurants Open on Labor Day – Just 53% in Phoenix
Labor Day is just around the corner and for restaurant owners, the question of staying open for the holiday is a weighty one. For Labor Day 2017, restaurants in San Antonio had the highest open rates at 96%, with Phoenix delivering the highest close rate at 53%.
Small Biz Spotlight
Spotlight: How T.C. Elli’s Survived the Recession and Lived to Thrive Another Day
You’ve heard all the Great Recession horror stories — or experienced them as a business owner first hand. Now it’s time for a tale of fledgling brand tat weathered the storm and live to fight another day. T.C. Elli’s is one retail business that was able to make it through that difficult period due to a carefully crafted mix of in-store and online sales and marketing strategies.
Small Business Loans
As a Startup Can I Get a Small Business Loan?
It can be incredibly difficult for entrepreneurs to secure small business startup loans. An unproven business model and an entrepreneur with little to no experience in their new role represent huge risks to lenders. In fact, some do not offer startup loans at all. However, funding can be incredibly important for businesses at every stage — especially those just getting started.
Where to Get Free Grants for Small Businesses
When your business needs money for capital investment, employees, marketing and more, what options do you have. Free business grants can be one of the most sought-after ways for small businesses to secure the finance they desperately need. And, unlike business loans, they don’t accrue interest and the money doesn’t have to be paid back.
Small Business Operations
3 Reasons Every Small Business Owner MUST Maintain the Books
Last week in a discussion with a business coaching client, I asked if she had updated bookkeeping and accounting records that would help her make the best business decision for a big question about her business. “No,” she replied, she didn’t have updated books.
5 Simple Steps the Pros Use to Manage Employees – and You Can Too
It’s not easy starting a small business. Over half fail in the first four years and only 3 percent make it to year five. Small Business Trends spoke with Bob Cerone, CEO of CognosHR, to get his small business management tips. Cerone says new businesses and even more established ones underestimate the time they need to manage employees.
5 Creative Ways to Save Your Small Trucking Business In A Challenging Industry
American trucking companies are responsible for 71% of all the freight moved in the US. Trucking.org reports there were upwards of 50,000 unfilled jobs in the industry in 2017 alone. Small Business Trends spoke with Brian Fielkow, CEO of Jetco Delivery, about what he sees as the solutions to this critical persistent gap.
Social Media
10 Facebook Ad Best Practices for Small Businesses
Facebook has more than 2.2 billion monthly active users, making it a great place for businesses to reach consumers. Your business probably already has a Facebook page, but changes to the platform’s algorithm over the past few years has made it increasingly difficult to reach people organically. Luckily, Facebook also offers plenty of advertising options for businesses.
Startup
3 Easy Methods to Keep Track of Freelancer Income
Freelancers have a plethora of options to keep track of income throughout the month, but if you took a poll of freelancers you would probably find many don’t know the state of their finances. While it is common, operating without knowledge of your financial situation is a big risk and puts you on track for a major cash crunch.
Apply These 5 Lessons from Airplane Pilots to Get your Small Business Off the Runway
Airline pilots have a long list of tasks before each flight, but getting to the pilot seat is a feat in its own right. Through hard work, discipline, and a systematic approach, American aviation continually sets records for flight safety. Much of this success rests on the shoulder of the pilots who gracefully navigate massive structures across the skies.
Taxes
30% of Small Businesses Think They’re Overpaying on Taxes
The complexities of the US tax code are notorious, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when a new Clutch survey indicates 30% of small businesses think they are overpaying. Even though close to a third of businesses believe they are paying more than their share of taxes, 95% said they are confident about the accuracy of their financial records.
Technology Trends
Acer Touts New Lightweight Laptops with Real Computing Power for Business
Acer has just announced a host of new devices, including the Swift 5 and Swift 3 laptops, the bigger of them claimed as the lightest 15-inch notebook in the world. Acer Swift 2018 Models In addition to the Swift 5 and 3, Acer also announced what it calls the thinnest laptop in the world with the Swift 7.
How to Be Your Own Amazing Graphics Department
Every business needs to place a major emphasis on building brand awareness, and the visual nature of the Internet makes it necessary to utilize eye-catching graphics. This is especially true on social media; in fact, 75 percent of consumers report that their desire to purchase an item is positively impacted by seeing a video or photo of it on a social networking site.
Latest Lenovo Android Tablets Offer Basic Connectivity at a Business Friendly Price
The newest generation of Android Lenovo tablets could possibly make your small office a better-connected environment. And they seem priced with the budget conscious small business owner in mind. Lenovo says the new tablets, six in all, were designed for sharing and entertainment. They focus on home connectivity, but this can easily translate into small office connectivity as well.
6 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Retail Point-Of-Sale System
When was the last time you upgraded your phone or your computer? Chances are, it’s been within the last couple of years so you can keep up with the latest technology. Now, when was the last time you upgraded your point-of-sale system (POS)? If you have to think about it — and especially if you can’t remember — it’s time to make a change.
Secrets No One Ever Told You about Sending Business Faxes Online
Believe it or not, many businesses still rely on traditional fax machines. It’s time to bring your business to the future and learn how to fax online. On the other hand, many offices have changed gears and adopted online faxing. Online faxing has become a more efficient, easier, and clearer way to send and receive documents.
AuthPoint from WatchGuard Upgrades Small Business Security on a Budget
With the launch of AuthPoint from WatchGuard, the company is looking to dispel the myth many small and medium-sized businesses believed about multi-factor authentication technology.
Whaling Email Scams Target the Company Boss – That’s You!
When it comes to online scams, no one is exempted. Any person on the internet can become a victim of con artists, if they are not careful. The latest email phishing scams are targeting high-level business executives and managers.