Facebook Concerns Remain, While Snapchat and Instagram Offer New Business Services – Small Business Trends


This week Facebook founder and CEO  Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in Congress had many businesses that advertise on Facebook worried. And the fact that he said the fix would take years didn’t completely ease the minds of many.

In addition to his testimony, Facebook also admitted scanning Messenger data in another story in this week’s roundup. Related to social media, Snapchat added a new group video chat for 16 people, and Shopify and Instagram have come together to give small businesses global access. So should small businesses maybe be looking for other social platforms on which to connect with potential customers?

You can take a look at these and other stories in the news roundup covering a range of topics in small business news.



Social Media

Zuckerberg Says It Will Take Years to Fix Facebook, Will Your Customer Base Wait?

It will take months, even years, to appropriately and effectively address the concerns large portions of the public have with Facebook, the founder Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday. “Facebook is so complex” it will be a “multi-year effort” with “improvements made each month,” Zuckerberg felt the need to explain, concluding an extended conversation with reporters.

Facebook Admission About Scanning Messenger May Worry Business Users Even More

The crisis Facebook is going through doesn’t seem to be slowing down as CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed yet another practice users — and small businesses especially — will very likely find worrying at best and disturbing at worst. Zuckerberg told Vox’s Ezra Klein Facebook scans private messages and the content data sent between users.

Snapchat Adds Group Video Chat for 16 People Adding Another Way to Engage Your Customers

Two years after introducing video and voice chat in March 2016, Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) has announced Group Video Chat with up to 16 people at once. Anything over 16 participants, and it becomes voice chat with support for up to 32 people.

Reach a New Global Audience with Recent Update to Shopify Instagram Integration

For small businesses already using Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) and Instagram to market products online, a new update will let your customers shop on Instagram with Shopify in more places around the world. The “shopping on Instagram” feature allows businesses to tag products in Instagram posts.

Economy

61% of  Small Businesses Expect Demand for Their Products or Services to Increase in 2018

A new report says 61% of small businesses expect demand for their company’s products or services to increase in the next six months. This represents a substantial increase over the 51 percent of small businesses who said they expected more demand for their products and services in the fall of 2017.

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council Leads New Small Business Roundtable Coalition

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council announces the formation of the Small Business Roundtable, a coalition of small business advocacy groups including National Association for the Self Employed, National Association of Women Business Owners and others.

Employment

Vegas  Tops the List of Cities Where Millennials Are Seeking Work at Small Businesses

We’ve reported how Millennials are looking for something more than money and benefits from their jobs. These are areas where small businesses often fail to keep pace with larger companies. Those bigger employers are able to wave a little more cash around and offer things like health insurance and 401k retirement plans to new recruits.

Management

New York City Council  May Regulate whether Employees Must Respond to After Work Emails

The connectivity today’s technology offers means you can connect with your team anytime and anywhere. But remember your employees need off time too and a new regulation in New York City may see they can get it.

Marketing Tips

How Much Do Small Businesses Spend on Advertising and Marketing?

An often-quoted benchmark for small business advertising is to allocate two percent of your sales revenue for advertising. However, we asked Sageworks, a financial information company, if that figure was still accurate. We asked what is the average amount small businesses spend on advertising.

Sales

Experts Share How to Close Deals Faster and Get Paid Quicker

As a small business, simplifying each interaction with your customers, partners and vendors goes a long way to making the process more efficient and enjoyable. A recent webinar titled, “Make it Rain Money: Close Deals Faster and Speed Up Collections” provides some great insights into how you can make this happen. The webinar was moderated by Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends.

Small Biz Spotlight

Spotlight: Redcort Software Develops Virtual Time Clock for Efficient Businesses

The concept of a time clock for tracking employee hours has evolved quite a bit throughout the years. And for the last 20 years, Redcort Software has been highly involved in that evolution. The company develops software programs for helping businesses track employee time and attendance in a way that’s actually efficient.

Small Business Operations

MailTag  Chrome Extension Introduces Free Tracking and Auto Follow-up for Business Email

When you send an email for business, knowing the actions your recipient has taken provides valuable information about how you should follow up. The MailTag Chrome extension for Gmail and G Suite gives you unlimited email tracking, scheduling and auto follow-up, for free.

Technology Trends

New Skype for Content Creators Targeted to Live Streamers and Video Bloggers

Content creators have become an industry to themselves. And companies that provide communication solutions have been adapting their products to meet the particular needs of this growing user base. Skype for Content Creators is the latest feature, which will allow creators to record videos, podcasts, and live streaming calls.

Do You Need IT Support for Your Small Business?

Does your small business use some kind of technology to enhance operations? With all of the great opportunities and convenience that technology offers, it also comes with challenges. IT support can help you make sense of the various issues that come with your online and hardware resources. IT support comes in many forms and with many different costs and other considerations to think about.

46% of Small Businesses Use In-House Staff to Build Their Mobile App

The value mobile apps deliver to small businesses is undeniable, but a new survey by The Manifest points out there is not a uniform approach to developing the apps. Almost half or 46 percent said they use in-house staff to help with their mobile app.

ZTE Tempo Go Phone May Give Small Businesses an Affordable Option for Under $100

It was only a matter of time before some real sub-100 dollar smartphones started entering the US marketplace. And at $79.99, the ZTE Tempo Go is coming in well under $100. The question is, will Americans buy this phone? What makes the ZTE Tempo Go a tempting offer (besides the price) is the Android Oreo Go edition.

Google Plans Sunset of goo.gl Link Shortener, How Will Your Business Site Be Impacted?

Google launched its goo.gl link shortener back in 2009, but when March 30, 2019, rolls around the service will be shut down. The closing was announced on March 30, 2018, on the company’s official blog. In the same post, Google announced its much-improved replacement Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL).

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