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4 Simple Hacks for Your SME to ‘Go Digital’

Having a digital presence in 2018 is essential for any company that wants a lucrative slice of the global online marketplace.

But for smaller firms with limited budgets, marketing effectively can be challenging — and owners who aren’t ‘digital natives’ completely at ease with the latest technology can find the process bamboozling.

Business owner going digital

So if you’re a small business owner taking your first tentative steps into the sphere, here are four simple hacks for your SME to ‘go digital’.

Google My business

Google is gargantuan, but you don’t need to spend big bucks to have a presence there.

Google My Business is probably the world’s most powerful local directory — and you can grab your own page for free, and a spot in Google’s influential local three-pack results, after a brief verification process.…

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5 Ways Cloud Services Help Lower Your IT Budget

Cloud computing is the future. There’s no doubt about it. The cloud computing market continues to grow at a staggering rate, and just about every company is using cloud services – whether in public, private, or hybrid implementations.

Buisnessman using cloud services

So if you’re interested in lowering your IT budget and becoming more competitive in the modern business world, investing in cloud services is a great choice. Not sure how cloud services can help you save money? Take a look at this list of 5 ways that cloud services can help you lower your IT budget!

1. No Investment In IT Infrastructure

Investing in IT infrastructure such as servers and databases can be extremely expensive – and even in best-case scenarios, this equipment will likely have to be replaced every 3-5 years.…

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How to Avoid Customer Service Disasters

A sad recent business trend has been small business owners and mid-size companies trying to implement as “reverse customer service” technique. Instead of abiding by the old adage of “the customer is always right,” these companies attempt to gain viral notoriety by being rude to customers and breaking all the customer service rules in existence.

Angry customer

This strategy is good if you want your 15 minutes of fame. However, if you actually want to have a successful company, this strategy will get you nowhere. These companies never go on to be successful and usually end up closing within a few year.…

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Is Cold Calling Dead or Should It Still be Part of Your Sales Activity?

Cold calling for sales appointments has for decades been the foundation that successful sales careers were built on, but no longer according to some in the sales industry.

‘Cold calling is dead,’ state the many obituaries on social and business media. ‘Long live the new electronic, multi-channel approach,’ proclaim the adverts, articles, email shots, and media posts.

Cold calling - dead?

So is it true, do sales people no longer need to make cold calls to arrange sales appointments with prospects?

If it is true there will be a huge sigh of relief from the multitudes of great presenters and closers that hate making cold calls to get in front of buyers.…

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How to Organize Travel and Events for a Business Trip

A well-organized business trip for your team can transform your business. It will not only pick up everyone’s spirits because it’s always fun to go on a shared adventure to a new location, but it will lead to new connections and strategic partnerships.

It’s even better if you can organize the trip around an event, either one that you’re attending or one that you’re hosting. This will help structure your trip around a clear outcome.

Business team travel planning

Here are all things that need to be done to make your trip and event profitable and fun:

Arranging the Use of a Virtual Office

Many major cities have virtual offices.…

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How College Students Can Start Their Very Own Small Businesses

As a college student it probably seems like you have little time to do anything but study and work. The free time that you do have, you probably have to spend studying, doing homework, doing laundry, or grocery shopping. Even when you do find the time to hang out with friends or spend an evening out on the town, you probably don’t even have that much money to burn. It takes money to have fun in college and with the cost of books, tuition, and other living expenses it probably seems like you will never get ahead financially.

College students

With all that being said, you might be surprised to learn that there are a variety of different ways that college students can start their very own small businesses to help supplement their income.…

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How Does a Business Cash Advance Loan Work?

In recent times, Merchant Cash Advances (MCAs) have continued to grow in popularity. This loan product began as a solution to loan future sales of credit cards. It would later evolve into a solution that allows organizations to finance future sales of many other things. A business cash advance is probably the best way to define it. With this type of cash advance loan, you can sell off your future sales and get financed quickly.

Business loan

This is a short-term financial solution whose payback time occurs in months. The repayment process starts almost immediately. The lender can either choose a part of your continued sales or debit your business bank account on a daily basis.…

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Ecommerce Entrepreneurs: Reduce Chargeback and Stop Fraud Using FraudLabs Pro

One of the single most crushing problems facing ecommerce entrepreneurs today is fraudulent transactions. Out of control fraud in the shopping cart will inevitably lead to the termination of a business’s merchant account, in addition to untold financial loss including: costly chargebacks, fraud investigation costs, court fees, and the cost of lost (stolen) goods shipped out to fraudsters.

Ecommerce entrepreneurs collaborating

The toughest hurdle to overcome when trying to eliminate shopping cart fraud is that it’s very hard for a business owner to distinguish criminals from legitimate customers without help from fraud experts. Misidentifying a legitimate customer as a fraud is a sure way to not only lose their long term business, but also a surefire way to destroy your online reputation.…

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5 Reasons Outsourcing Your Call Center Needs is a Good Idea

Are you thinking about outsourcing your call center related tasks to a provider instead of doing things internally?

An experienced call center service provider can offer several benefits including significantly reducing capital costs, improving efficiency and service, and lessening your involvement in the entire process, so you can focus more on growth oriented tasks that will take your business to the next level and beyond.

Call center outsourcing staff

Here are 5 smart reasons to outsource your call center needs, rather than dealing with the headache of running your own facility:

1. Fewer management resources

Consider all the managers, supervisors, trainers, HR, IT, and more needed to keep a call center going.…

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5 Small Businesses Hit Hard by Hacking

When you think of hacking, you never think it’s something that can happen to you. Hacking sounds too much like a distant headline or a plot line from a show like “Robot.” However, contrary to what you might think, small businesses and startups are actually the ideal target for hackers.

Small business hacker

According to the United States National Security Alliance, 60% of small businesses that fall victim to an online attack are out of business within six months. On average, those small businesses have to pay $690,000 just to clean up a post-hack mess.

Small business website security is often ignored. It’s not uncommon for these companies to focus more on revenue than getting the right protection, especially when running a business with the “it could never happen to me” or “I have nothing valuable to steal” mentality.…

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