Tips to Prepare Your Small Business for the Holiday Season

Tips to Prepare Your Small Business for the Holiday Season

At the end of this week the holiday shopping season will officially begin. Queue Christmas music. Black Friday, believed to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year, will fall, as always, on the day after Thanksgiving. You may have your shopping list planned, but is your small business ready for the rush?

Black Friday has proven to be incredibly lucrative for retail giants such as Target and Wal-Mart, but you don’t need to own a Fortune 500 company to benefit from the holiday buzz. Efforts have been made to give smaller businesses a seasonal boost, including Small Business Saturday which helps shift some of the attention away from large corporations. Here are some tips to help your business make the most of these busy shopping days:

1. Don’t Feel Intimidated by Larger Businesses

Even though larger businesses might have more to offer when it comes to holiday discounts and deals, don’t feel discouraged. You can compete without price-matching, which could prove to be detrimental to your business. Shopping malls and department stores will likely be packed and uncomfortable for much of the season, so make doing business with you as inviting, convenient, and stress-free as possible. Be appropriately staffed and ensure your employees are knowledgeable about your products and services. Workers who can educate potential customers, not just sell to them, will earn trust and respect. This will help build a loyal, returning customer base.

2. Update Your Website

Every year more and more holiday purchases are made online. The establishment of Cyber Monday, an online follow-up to Black Friday, is an attempt to capitalize on this trend. You, too, can get in on the holiday internet traffic by updating your website with your holiday hours (even if they are the same), any special deals or promotions, contact information, events, news, etc. Websites that are updated frequently will appear higher in Google search results: one of the most important factors in internet marketing. More traffic to your site provides you with more opportunities for purchases, so make sure your website is fully-functional and aesthetically pleasing. This, combined with online exclusive deals, will keep visitors on your site and lead to a higher conversion rate.

3. Show Your Employees Appreciation

The holidays can be an especially taxing time for workers. In the rush of a busy season it is easy to overlook the hard work your employees may be putting in to ensure everything runs smoothly. Holiday bonuses and parties are excellent ways to show them how much you appreciate them, but circumstances don’t always allow for these extras. Publicly recognizing individuals who have done well is a simple way to make them aware that you do notice their efforts.

4. Be Aware of Weather Conditions

If you live in an area with particularly cold winters, be sure to watch the weather forecast. If snow storms are on the horizon, closing for a day might be a good option. Business doesn’t have to halt when shoppers decide to stay home. Update your website and social media with an announcement of when you’ll be closed, when you’ll reopen, and a link to your product pages for those who want to make online purchases. Earlier this year, Boston saw a major blizzard that lead to a 50% fall in sales for retailers and restaurants. To prevent this from happening to you be sure to have an online backup plan.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/dylanellison/tips-to-prepare-your-small-business-for-the-holiday-season/

Investments that Won’t Break Your Bank

Trading used to be associated with high income households due to expensive brokerage commissions. Now with introduction of low cost online brokers lots of fairly cheap investment opportunities emerged. In this article we are going to review three least expensive ways people can invest their money and wait for high returns.

Forex

Forex is a market where world currencies are being traded. Although most people think that only national financial institutions and big corporate players are able to invest money on Forex, since recently everybody can try out their skills (and luck) by trading world currencies. Forex comes with plenty of benefits as a market and despite popular opinion, investors don’t need huge amounts of cash to make their investments profitable. This is due to high predictability of Forex, which makes it one of the least risky investment environments. Investors can control $100,000 with down payments that are as small as $1,000, because currency pairs move less than one percent per day. This makes the leverage very high, sometimes even 250:1, which was made into an industry standard.

When it comes to currencies, their exchange rates are mainly defined by supply and demand, without any additional factors, or artificial hypes. This is another fact that adds up to the Forex reputation of being one of the safest markets to invest. Here we listed some of the main pros and cons of Forex trading:

Pros

• Market is open 24 hours, when New York market closes, the one in Tokyo opens, after that the one in Europe and so on;

• Unlike equity markets, Forex traders can use ultra-high leverage;

• Forex comes with much less risk than other markets;

Cons

• High leverage can create volatility and act as a double-edged sword ;

• Forex is one of the least dynamic markets;

• It is very dependable on world politics, which can be very unpredictable;

Binary Options

These are the options that depending on supposed outcome can be paid in full or can lead to no payment at all. “In the money” and “Out of the money” are two important terms to remember when it comes to binary option’s outcome. First one means that the assumption on which binary option is based turned out to be true, in which case the option’s owner will receive $100, while the second term means that the assumption was wrong, in which case the owner won’t get anything. Price of one binary option can be anywhere from 0 to $100, depending on the possibility for “In the money” scenario.

When it comes to binary option, risk and reward are known from the beginning. This makes it easier for the traders to create elaborate strategies and employ their knowledge in statistics. Binary options are sold on over-the-counter markets, and they are much less regulated than most other options and equities. Here are some of the main pros and cons associated with this kind of options:

Pros

• Risk and reward are known from the start;

• In most over-the-counter brokerage firms, there’s no commission on buying binary options;

• Binary options can deal with many different asset classes from around the world, and it is easy for the trader to choose an assumption from the industry he/she has good knowledge of.

Cons

• Binary option is not an asset, which means that its owners don’t own anything before the option becomes “In the money” one.

• There is not a lot of regulations when it comes to binary options trade, which makes it little bit shady at times;

• Reward is always less than a risk, which means the trader must be right for the high percentage of binary options to cover the losses made by “Out of the money” ones.

Penny Stocks

Penny or the micro-cap stocks are shares of small public companies that are sold bellow $5 per share. These are traded over-the-counter on exchanges like OTC Bulletin Board and Pink Sheets. Although most financial magazines advise people to stay away from penny stocks due to very volatile market, as well as many frauds like pump-and-dump and short-and-distort schemes, there are many millionaires, like Timothy Sykes for example, who got rich by trading penny stocks. If you think about it, almost every startup company that decides to sell its shares, puts them on penny stock market, and since we are living in the world that provides opportunities for fast growth of companies in various industries, we can clearly see the model that enabled many penny stock millionaires to earn their wealth.

When trading penny stocks finding the right information about the company is crucial. Since these stocks are only loosely regulated by SEC. Because of this, traders sometimes need to search elsewhere for the right information and this can lead them to various online directories, forums, niche websites and even bars located in company’s neighborhood. Therefore creativity approach to finding the financial information about the company is one of the most important things that turns regular penny stock trader into a millionaire. Like with other two options from this article, we listed some pros and cons of penny stock trading.

Pros

• Penny stocks are cheap, which enables traders to make big and diversified portfolios;

• Since penny stock market is very dynamic, right investment can bring huge profits in short period of time;

• Startups tend to grow fast after getting their initial funding, same goes for penny stocks, since they are mostly associated with startup companies;

Cons

• Penny stock market is the most volatile market out there;

• There are lots of fraudulent activities on penny stock market;

• Lack of regulation by SEC, makes information about penny-stock companies hard to find.

Good investments are always better than regular savings and with the introduction of online brokerage firms, forex brokers and binary option traders, even households with small incomes are able to invest their money earn from trading and dividends.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/marcusjensen/investments-that-wont-break-your-bank/

How business security camera systems prevent theft

Business owners know that part of being in retail involves protecting their inventory from theft. It is not just customers off the street who pose an issue, but employees, contractors, and delivery people. Basically, anyone who has access to your business poses a threat. While security guards are a good measure to deter shoplifting, nothing can replace a CCTV system for keeping thieves at bay and for providing a visible record in case there is a need to prosecute.

While some owners might implicitly trust employees with their inventory, there are no guarantees that even the most faithful, long-term worker will not have a moment of weakness when they decide to take advantage of their employer’s good nature. Police officers will testify how, on more than one occasion, a trusted employee was caught stealing from their employer, simply because they knew there was an opportunity to capitalize upon the company’s lack of security. Tools, inventory, office supplies, and even commodities like fuel, are all easy pickings for a thief on your payroll. However, once they realize they are being watched by a professional-grade CCTV system, you will notice a positive impact upon your bottom line as your company’s assets no longer mysteriously vanish.

Yet, knowing that a security system helps to ward off employee theft is one thing; finding the best CCTV system for your business is another. Next, we will discuss the basics of how to place your AVM or DVR system for maximum effectiveness.

Choosing a security system for your business

Whether you run a small restaurant, a manufacturing facility, a school, or a multinational corporation, your goal should be to monitor the most secure and vulnerable areas of your business. Cash points, entrances and exits, stockrooms, and break rooms are popular areas to keep an eye on as they hold the most potential for crimes. Theft prevention measures are needed throughout a business because criminals are quick to capitalize upon gaps in any system.

AVM systems (Advanced Video Management) allow business owners to avoid the tedious fast-forwarding through hours of irrelevant footage by letting them scan through an entire day’s events. This allows owners to hone in on peak hours for evidence of theft, physical altercations or sexual harassment, employees who arrive late and leave early or who take too many breaks. According to Platinum CCTV, There are a range of AVM systems to choose from (Analog CCTV, HD-SDI, and HD-IP) based upon need and budget.

Standalone DVR security systems are good for business owners who want a basic system that provides motion detection recording and the ability to monitor the cameras via a smartphone or PC.

For large, enterprise systems requiring up to 250 cameras, like those found in warehouses or manufacturing facilities, business owners can also use a SMART security system to receive alerts when someone enters a restricted or sensitive area and get text updates when pallets of inventory are moved from one place to another. This is invaluable data, especially when shipping bays might otherwise provide an opportunity for employees and/or carriers to engage in inventory theft.

Preventing losses in your business is your responsibility as an owner, and by having the right security camera system installed, you can ensure that nothing will escape your watchful eye.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/nick-chalker/how-business-security-camera-systems-prevent-theft/

Current Trends in E-Security

Data security is at the heart of the modern digital landscape. In the current environment, the rapid changes of the digital landscape taking place opens the door for new vulnerabilities, which ends up creating a daunting task for companies to keep their data secure. Now that everything is mobile, this introduces far more opportunities for hackers, malicious apps and viruses to make their impact felt. It is a problem that has people asking what modern approaches to data security exist and which ones truly work?

Returning to Basics

In order to keep control of sensitive data, some basic protocols need to be followed to ensure that PC’s and mobile devices remain secure for the purpose of harboring sensitive data. Beefing up firewalls and properly deleting files reside at the heart of ensuring that there is a first line of defense in place to keep data out of harm’s way as well as the wrong hands. Experts from major antivirus companies recommend updating to latest malware and virus detection software – latest virus databases help to bring added data security to your Internet ready devices. Although this is a great first step to ensuring that data remains secure, the general consensus is that data security should take a more multi-layered approach.

Intelligent Data Monitoring

According to this source, new software-based intelligent data analytic models exist which help to better identify which data from which applications is actually sensitive data. With this determination in hand, creating methodologies for diverting resources to protect the most sensitive data on Internet ready machines and platforms becomes a much more resource-based, cost effective approach to ensuring that important data remains secure. One area where this is much needed arises in the increased use of Big Data. Because Big Data is such a large repository of data to handle, it ends up being a huge drain on resources to have to safeguard irrelevant and unimportant segments of data. Being able to more intelligently narrow down which type of data deserves the most resources for security purposes decreases the drain on data security resources across the board. Additionally, as better A. I. Data security solutions emerge, this rapidly increases a system’s ability to respond to a cyber threat. Simply being able to cut a hacker off early on is often enough to prevent a serious data breach.

Encryption Is a Must

Encryption, once the exclusive study of math geeks, has become an entrenched part of any truly comprehensive modern data security strategy. Data encryption works off of an encryption key and a data encryption algorithm called a Cipher. The goal of data encryption is to turn otherwise straight forward looking data into an unintelligible mess to obscure the meaning of the data prior to cyber attacks. In this sense, even if a hacker gets a hold of personal information, this does not mean they will know how to decode it. According to article posted here, one of the major vulnerabilities of encryption methods results from people using weak passwords for their encrypted data. To augment your data’s safety, it is recommended to employ an alphanumeric string of characters that is a minimum of fifteen characters in length and case sensitive. Where in the past 8-character passwords seemed fairly secure, computers today have faster processing power. This processing speed increase makes it easier for hackers to quickly figure out shorter passwords. Also, using the same password for all accounts where a person has sensitive data stored, rather than using a separate password for each account, makes it possible for a hacker to get lucky by cracking only one password to have access to all accounts a user possesses. Because numerous software-based encryption products exist, it is critical to learn what products are keeping up to date with improved data encryption standards and trends.

 

Conclusion

The new frontier of data security is filled with numerous layers of security methods which, when used in conjunction with one another, offer a person many layers of functional data protection. Gone are the days when a single layer of data security sufficed to ensure that PC’s and mobile devices were safe on which to harbor data. Modern hackers, malware, and viruses prove to be far more resilient to protection methods than in the past. As more intelligent data security methods hit the market, so do more intelligent cyber attack methodologies. It is essential to always remember that a hacker or piece of malware only has to be right once to compromise sensitive data on any device.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/twitter-epicninjadaboss/current-trends-in-e-security/

Content Marketing and Fantasy Football: Develop a Strategy That Gets Results

Winning at content marketing — and fantasy football — depends on having a winning strategy. You can’t predict everything that will happen, but with a solid game plan, you have a much better chance of winning.

If your content marketing strategy involves no more than randomly creating and sharing content, it’s time to put it on the bench. Start developing a content strategy that gets results.

Identify the Goal

Content marketing isn’t a Hail Mary endeavor. It’s designed to accomplish specific goals for your company. Just like in football, you can get points by scoring touchdowns, but you can also get points from field goals, safeties, extra points, and two-point conversions.

• Touchdowns are sales directly related to the content you created. Usually, people see a lot of different types of content before you score a touchdown.
• Field goal. A field goal isn’t a touchdown, but it’s a good score nonetheless. In content marketing terms, it could be a sales appointment, a direct inquiry about your services, a request for a quote, or a referral from a happy client.
• A safety is a score that gets you on the board. Think of safeties as blog subscriptions, email signups, or content downloaded in exchange for an email address.
• Extra points. Extra points are add-on sales in addition to your defined touchdown. It could be an upsell in the original transaction, like a warranty or added feature, or something the client chooses to add later.
• Two-point conversion. Two-point conversions are additional transactions with recurring customers. You get more and more touchdowns plus the added benefits of customer loyalty.

Select a Roster

The players on your roster are the types of content you decide to put into play, and you have many options from which to choose. Certain content types, like certain players, work for accomplishing certain goals. Try these suggestions when creating your roster:

 

Blog posts Videos Images Webinars Case studies Memes

White papers Infographics E-books Worksheets Checklists GIFs

How-to guides Buying guides Podcasts Reviews Interviews Research reports

 

Develop a Play

Every type of content — like every type of player on your roster — isn’t suitable for every type of play. For instance, you wouldn’t expect readers to give their email addresses just to read one of your blog posts, which means blog posts aren’t your go-to-players for lead generation. It’s fair, however, to ask for contact information in exchange for a free webinar or white paper. Use your blog posts as a setup, send in your webinar or white paper, and use an effective call to action to score the download.

Lighter fare like memes, short videos, GIFs, or infographics can build brand or message awareness. They’re great for earning social likes and followers, attracting influencer shares, or anchoring guest blog posts. Reserve your best players for scoring real points, especially when it comes to lead generation and lead nurturing. For example, offer a free buying guide in exchange for giving an email address and subscribing to your blog, or share an exclusive video link to reward your email subscribers.

Keep Score

Track the kinds of results you get from different plays and different players. Then, send in the players that get results, and deploy them in a way that lets you score. Here are a few questions that will help you keep score when it comes to content marketing:

• Did the content do what you wanted? Did it reach a certain number of people? Generate a certain number of leads? Allow you to collect important data?
• How well did it do what you wanted? Does one type of content or strategy work better than another? Is it worth investing more in the same content or trying something new?
• Was it worth what you spent? Did you stay within your budget and meet certain financial goals, such as cost per lead? Did you invest too little, get content of lower quality, and sabotage your own efforts?

Build a Winning Record

Many football teams play season after season with losing records — we’re looking at you Tampa Bay — but ultimately, every team wants to win. Develop a good playbook, review your game footage, and study the competition. Don’t be afraid to lose a few campaigns while you figure out what you’re doing. If you’re still losing after a few games, it’s time to pivot and rethink your strategy. With time and experimentation, you’ll get measurable content marketing results.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/admin/content-marketing-and-fantasy-football-develop-a-strategy-that-gets-results/

Cloud Security Techniques Know-How

In recent years clouds became one of the most popular storage solutions, with an ability to host everything from simple textual data, to multimedia, apps, and other different kinds of software that can became instantly accessible on users demand. This and some other benefits of cloud computing made it almost irresistible to big companies with massive data storage requirements. In 2015 more than 82% of companies were using cloud storage, which is an 8% increase from 2014 figure.

Since the introduction of cloud computing, security has been one of the biggest concerns, which is why plenty of myths concerning cloud security are still circling around. Clouds offer the same level of security as regular server or hard disk storage spaces, just the process of securing data in the cloud is much different from the other two mentioned environments.

In this article we are going to inspect certain security issues that can influence clouds and cause problems. We will also share some of the most common techniques for securing cloud environments and stored data, from both provider’s and client’s side.

Security Issues

There are several types of security issues that can cause problems in cloud environments. Some of these issues are regular on all types of networks (including internet itself), while others are more specific to clouds.

Client-Server Technology Issues

Cloud servers are targeted by several kinds of malicious attacks from the users. Some of these are:

• SQL Injections– Attacker might insert malicious code into SQL query in order to gain unauthorized access to databases and change or steal stored data;
• Man-in-the Middle– This type of attack is done by intercepting and modifying communication between client and server, while leaving both parties unaware of malicious activity;
• Cross Site Scripting– Attacker places malicious code (stored or reflected XSS) on the website in order to attack client’s machine.
• Denial of Service– This practice involves overloading cloud servers with messages, which makes them vulnerable to hacker’s attacks and can cause a system crash.

Data Storage Issues

These issues are mainly caused by weak protection in public clouds and untrusted cloud providers. To secure data that’s being stored in or being in transition through the cloud, providers need to secure three important criteria:

1. Confidentiality– Data access should be strictly authorized;
2. Integrity– Data upload shouldn’t be tampered by anyone;
3. Availability– Data should be available to all authorized users;

Common Security Techniques

To make clouds and stored data more secure cloud providers use several different techniques.

• Moving Target Defense– By constantly changing configuration of network layer, providers make understanding system vulnerabilities much more complicated to the intruder. This is usually done by network address hopping techniques and there are two ways this security technique can be implemented, by homogenous or heterogeneous target defense moving.  Difference between these two ways is that in homogenous moving all nodes on the network are employed in the process, while in heterogeneous the moving is deployed on the network, together with combination of static and regular nodes.
• Message Authentication Code– Technique that includes algorithm that accepts or declines symmetric key and produces message authentication code. Symmetric key is agreed by both sender and receiver and they need to verify it on each retrieval.
• Symmetric Encryption– Encryption technique that uses one generated security key in decryption and encryption process.
• Asymmetric Encryption– Technique that uses two different security keys for encryption and decryption, one private and one public.

Image source: Flickr

Other than these common techniques, there are also security measures that should be implemented by cloud clients, in order to secure their data in the best possible way. Some of these measures are:

 

• Carefully read cloud service user’s agreement;
• Introduce stronger passwords– Passphrases are always a good option;
• Encrypt files yourself– You can add compressed files protected by passwords;
• Always choose an encrypted cloud service;
• Do your own backups;

 

Consumers and companies have a lot of great cloud packages to choose from. We explained some of the most common techniques in this article, but you should be aware that due to tough competition in this niche, cloud providers are constantly improving their security protocols. pCloud for example uses Crypto client-side encryption and there are lots of other companies that are introducing new security measures almost on monthly bases.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/marcusjensen/cloud-security/

Career & Parenthood: 7 Things You Need to Consider

Building a successful career and raising a child can both be hard at times, but a career and parenthood combined can really drain all of your energy in no time. However, sometimes we can’t afford to make a choice between these two, and that is when it’s necessary to develop certain superpowers.

Thankfully, there will be no need for divine intervention here – you just need to change your mindset a bit. Well, that’s a lie – not a bit, a lot. In fact, your whole lifestyle needs to be turned around, but if you do it right, you won’t have to give up anything.

Leave Work in Your Office

I know you must be exhausted because of all the hard work you’re doing day after day, but it’s time to become a pro and leave your work-related thoughts where they belong – in your office. If you don’t know how to do this, you won’t be able to devote your attention to your child.

You should start by learning how to clear your mind. Obviously, meditation is a great choice, but you need to implement it into your daily schedule. Maybe you should start by taking a 15 minute break somewhere quiet after work hours. That way, you’ll be fresh and positive when you get back home.

And the Other Way Around

Raising a family isn’t easy. There’s always something going on, and whether it’s good or bad, you mustn’t allow those events to follow you to work. In order to have a fulfilling career that’s also profitable, you need to be able to devote your time and effort to it day in and day out.

Shop Online

This is a real time and money saver. Instead of driving for half an hour, spending time on selecting groceries and waiting in line to pay for them, you can simply order them online. You can do this with everything else as well – find new toys for your child, get new work-wear for your office and even some furniture and appliances. Your life will definitely change for the better when you start doing this.

Stick to Your Schedule

This one is quite important. In order to find the perfect balance and manage to do everything on your daily to-do list, you need to be very disciplined. So, when you have a dilemma about whether or not you should go for a drink or two with your coworkers, and your schedule doesn’t really allow for it, just don’t.

Don’t Deny Help

It’s not a question of whether or not you can do it all by yourself. No one doubts your skills and devotion, but why should you exhaust yourself when it’s not necessary? Instead of practically passing out every time you finally go to bed, you should simply accept help when it’s being offered to you.

So, the very next time when one of your friends or members of your family asks if there is something you’d like them to do for you, just say yes. Look at it this way – you’ll have more time to rest and recharge your batteries, which directly affects the quality of your work and the quality time you spend with your children.

Write It Down

You should do everything in your power to make things easier, even when it comes to minor details. That is why you shouldn’t overwhelm your mind by trying to remember everything – simply write it down. A mall hack such as this one might seem irrelevant, but you’ll be able to see a significant change as soon as you start applying it.

Stay Positive

No one said this will be easy. You will need a lot of strength and willpower, but as long as you keep your spirit up and are always able to remember what’s important in life and why are you doing all of this, you’ll be just fine.

This routine is like any other, and it will take time for it to sink in. Try not to exhaust yourself, and be sure to occasionally find time for yourself and your friends – it’s quite important to talk your problems out with people you love and trust. The bottom line is you can do this, you just need to get used to it.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/ivandseo/career-parenthood-7-things-you-need-to-consider/

Managed Services: The New Normal for IT Delivery

Over the past few years, PCs have become cheaper and more affordable, changing the economy around computers both for personal and business use.

This change has created a challenge for IT providers, as labor costs for fixing broken equipment began to exceed the cost of a brand new PC.  This equation led the IT industry at large to adapt a new trend for PC support, in order to stay in business.

Enter: Managed Services

In response to the financial issues affecting the longevity of IT companies, programmers have developed Remote Management Software for providers.  This software gives IT providers a powerful tool for diagnosing and remediating issues with PCs, and moves the company into the Managed Services Model for IT Delivery.

Through Managed Services, labor needs by tech companies are reduced, and troubleshooting time for issues at many times are eliminated.  Additionally, issues are identified oftentimes before the PC becomes symptomatic.  The Managed Services model replaces the Break/Fix model, and labor costs no longer weigh as heavily on the company’s bottom line.

Reduction of Labor

The use of the Remote Management Software greatly reduces labor from troubleshooting, remediation, and monitoring.

With the introduction of 24x7x365 monitoring of critical devices within each PC, troubleshooting is eliminated from problems that arise from hardware.  Instead of waiting for a PC to become symptomatic, the moment a hardware event is logged, the IT provider is alerted to the issue along with the diagnosis.  This means that if a Hard Drive, Power Supply, Fan, or one of many other internal components fail, technicians know the problem immediately.  Additionally, monitoring of temperatures, fanspeeds, and other critical working systems lets techs know if there may be some dust build-up in the PC, or if the PC is in a poorly ventilated area.

Additionally, once a problem is identified, the labor needs to fix the issue can also be reduced significantly.  Under managed services, techs can push out scripted tasks to any of the PCs that are managed either on a schedule, on an event, or manually.  For example, a script that cleans temp files and defrags hard drives can be run once per month in the early morning hours – the remote management software can even power on some PCs in order to get the job done.

More complicated scripts can also be run, such as removal and installation of antivirus software, pushing any third party software, or performing any task that can be scripted in either a batch or script file.  Simply write the script or use one from the remote management software, and it is ready to push out automatically to all of the managed PCs whenever it needs to run.

Finally, the addition of full monitoring to IT support saves a lot of time in diagnosing issues.  Usages for CPU, memory, processes, disk space, performance, temperatures, etc., are all gathered and placed into readable graphs.  This helps immensely when diagnosing a recurring issue with a client.  You can effectively go back in time to look for any patterns, click on the part of the graph that you are interested in, and find out what processes are doing what, and how many resources are being used.  The event logs are tied into this graph, making diagnostics incredibly powerful.

Contracting your Support

The Managed Services model has a very low cost compared to the labor that would be needed to support your clients.  When you are starting out as a Managed Service Provider, each device may cost $2 – $3 per managed device per month.  That’s a very low overhead for such a powerful solution.  Consider adapting this model to your IT company, and offering contracts to your clients for full remote support.

Many IT companies bundle in services such as Antivirus, Cloud/Local Backup, Email Hosting, and more into their managed service contracts.  By incorporating all of these services into your contracts, you are able to provide a high value service at a much lower cost than the standard break/fix model of IT delivery.

Under the model of Managed Services, IT providers are given the tools they need to thrive, and support is streamlined making the service hold a high value for clients.

 

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/twitter-dminetworking/managed-services-it-delivery/

The Only Search Engine That Matters For SEO

It’s no secret that an online presence is essential to growing a business. Regardless of what category your company falls into, an easy-to-use, interesting, and attractive website helps people find out what they need to know about your products or services. If they can find your site, that is. Chances are that you have heard about Search Engine Optimization and how important it is to have your business’ name listed relatively high in search results. But despite what you might read elsewhere, it’s not important to optimize your site for all search engines. In fact, there is only one that you need to focus on. And I’ll give you one guess which one it is.

 

Google is king. If you use Bing or Yahoo you are definitely part of the minority. Google’s brand is ubiquitous. They’ve become a verb synonymous with their service. Everyone has used Google. They are the search engine of choice for 67% of online searches. Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL combined add up to less than half of that.

(Image by University of Alabama at Birmingham)

 

Why Google?

 

People trust their results, and for good reason. Google has a complicated algorithm that rewards sites with better content, more incoming links, location relative to the searcher, and mobile compatibility. Sites rank lower if they contain spam, pornography, or use shady SEO tactics known as black hat SEO tactics. These include all the annoying hidden links, stuffed keywords, and sneaky redirects you remember from the internet of the early 2000’s. And Google frequently updates its algorithm to provide ever-better and relevant results for users. This is why Google grows it’s average number of daily searches by at least 500 million each year.

(Image by University of Southern California)

Why It Matters

 

Ranking on the first page for a Google search result means more than just an enormous boost in traffic to your site, but a higher conversion rate too. This means more people who click on your site will follow through and become a customer or client. Google achieves this by having the most relevant search results, so more people who click through to your site are looking for your products or service specifically.

 

Doing well on Google will also help elsewhere. Since Google has the most strict set of ranking guidelines, there is a very good chance that if you rank high, you will also rank fairly well on other search engines. It’s a win-win.

 

This, of course, can be a challenge. It’s important to stay informed on Google’s algorithm updates. As SEO-experts MOZ point out, “Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500–600 times.” These updates are typically pretty inconsequential, but more significant changes have the potential to bring your ranking up or down in a major way. The best way to prepare for these updates is to ensure that your site has an abundance of great content, quality backlinks from respected sites, fair and realistic descriptions of what your company is, accessibility from all platforms, and an absence of black hat SEO tricks.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/dylanellison/the-only-search-engine-that-matters-for-seo/

Why Students Choose to Go College Before a Beauty School

A lot of students who have a passion towards cosmetology think it would be wise to complete their college first. There are a lot of factors involved in the process that ultimately leads to this decision. However, there are also a few things most of them ignore.

Your passion matters

Firstly, if you have a passion towards something, the chances seem really very slim of you being able to settle in any other industry. It seems that doing something against your passion may not help you go far, especially given that the fact that you may lack the required motivation to succeed in other fields.

However, we hardly see many take such advices seriously, as they seek more security than what the field of cosmetology seems to be offering them. A lot of times, their decision may also be influenced by their friends and family, who would usually advice them to go to college first and then consider an option such as cosmetology, simply because they think that it may not turn out to be a very promising career option.

Coming to the facts, however, they hardly know much about cosmetology, let alone the opportunities offered by the industry. So we will also take a look below at the various opportunities it offers, and why can you afford to avoid college and enroll directly in a beauty school instead.

Many opportunities to look forward to

Well, if you got what it takes to be a stylist, chances are that you will have a lot more opportunities to look forward to than you could imagine. After all, not many out there have the ability to make one look great simply by making a few changes in their appearance. Due to this, people are willing to spend big bucks, especially when they need to prepare themselves for special occasions.

A stylist also always has the option of starting their own salon. They may require some experience initially. However, after they gain the required experience and find people to look after the other aspects of their business, they can simply focus on making people look great, ensuring great growth opportunities for the business.

Furthermore, one has quite a few other career options as well. The growth the industry is witnessing now allows them to become a trainer at one of the reputed saloon chains and training new stylists. Then there’s also the fact that states that there the employment opportunities for cosmetologists, hair stylists, and hairdressers are expected to grow at a whopping 12 percent each year at least till 2022.

This means that there are also a lot of job opportunities out there. Hence, you simply don’t need to believe that being a stylist can be a tough career option without doing much research.

A final word

Wasting a lot of money, time, and more importantly, your talent, seems to be a really terrible thing to go about building your career. There are many people who even decide to go into another industry after completing college, only to end up regretting and hating their job. Some of them also come back to doing what they love to do, and enroll in a beauty school. However, the wrong decision they make initially damages their growth potential considerably.

Hence, if you are about to make a choice between college and a beauty school, you might as well want to invest some more time into researching your options and making sure that you go with the right one for you.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/brandonleibowitz/why-students-choose-to-go-college-before-a-beauty-school/

4 Hard Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting A Startup

Nine out of ten startups will fail.

 

Most of us are pretty familiar with this statistic. The truth is, while many people know someone who has attempted a startup – few people know someone who has been successful with one.

Surprisingly, the reasons why most startups fail can be bucketed into a relatively small number of categories.

Therefore, if you’re willing to ask the tough questions upfront and be objective about them, it will make a huge difference in the outcome of your startup.

 

Can you be in the top 10%?

 

I think you can, but first, you have to go through this checklist.  

 

Does Anyone Need My Product?

In a recent episode on Shark Tank, a father pitched the Sharks what he believed would revolutionize the world of potty training.

Here’s the full episode. Go to minute 16 to see the entire pitch.

Spoiler – it’s a toddler toilet seat, which is built into the adult toilet seat.

Mind you, the alternative to this is usually a separately bought child seat that the adult can wash and reuse as needed.

Honestly, at first it seemed relatively ingenious. Afterall, all you have to do is flip the lid and you’re ready to go.

However none of the Sharks invested – why?

As parents themselves, they felt that this was not solving a real problem.

 

Sure, it’s a solution, but a solution to what?

 

If you’re not solving a problem, then no one will pay you for your product.  

So how do you know if you’re solving a problem before you actually solve it? Mostly, you have to ask people, which the lean startup model calls customer development.

Spend time with your target market. Identify that they have a problem and that your proposed solution is something they would pay for.

Do your best to invest as minimally as possible to get the answer that you need, so you can save yourself resources for later down the line.

 

Is My Business Model Viable?

Alright, so you’re solving a problem, but are you solving it in a way that will make money for you, your partners, and to have enough leftover to grow the business?

In many cases, startups aren’t.

 

• They aren’t charging enough to turn a profit, or worse, they aren’t charging at all.
• They aren’t sure how they’re going to monetize what they have.
• Their addressable market is not large enough to build a sustainable business out of, even if they could monetize it.

 

All of these reasons speak to why solving a problem is simply not enough.

In fact, the first question you should ask yourself after you determine that you are solving a problem, is why has no one else solved it?

Often, it comes down to the fact that it isn’t economically viable to do so.

 

So how do you know if it’s economically viable?

 

The simplest view is the one proposed by David from ForEntrepreneurs, which is that the cost of acquisition must be less than the lifetime value of the customer.

 

Basically, are your customers worth more than it costs to acquire them?

If they aren’t, it should seem pretty clear why this will never work.

You can try testing for this on a small scale through some different marketing channels, such as paid advertising.

 

Do I Have The Right Team?

Once the first two questions are out of the way, it pretty much boils down to execution.

Having the right team to grow a startup is about having the requisite skills, dedication, and frankly, the ability to put your egos aside and act in the interest of the business.

Very few people can do this, and more often than not team conflict ensues.

Ideally, you can find partners from previous ventures, although that presents a bit of a chicken and egg problem.

Alternatively, friends and family can work, but you should always be cautious about mixing your business life and your personal life.

Inevitably, you should focus on finding partners that complement your weaknesses. This is why it’s so common for marketing and tech people to join up and go 50/50.

 

Do You Have Enough Funding?

Growing a business takes money, and it has to come from somewhere.

Often, you hear the term “runway” mentioned, which is effectively how long the business has before it runs out of money.

Now money can come from a lot of different places. You can self fund it, you can ask family and friends, you can crowdfund it, or you can get venture capital – to name a few.

It’s not so much about where it comes from, but about how much there is and how much you’ll need.

Consider that even a relatively “simple” startup can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

In fact nothing amazes me more than watching Shark Tank and seeing regular people invest six figures into a business. The thing is, after you’ve invested so much, what’s another few thousand?

That sort of logic can rack up a huge bill.

Typically, some of the major costs of a startup are:

 

• Prototyping
• Intellectual Property
• Legal Fees
• Technology Development
• Employees
• Rent
• Tools, Hosting, etc

 

To name just a few.

Don’t be caught off guard – think critically about how much money you will need to get the business to the point of being break even.

 

How To Apply This To Your Startup

If you’re just starting a startup, it’s simple – ask yourself these questions, now!

If you’re in the middle of a startup, it’s not too late to ask these question now.

If you find weaknesses in your business model, product, or capital – you can correct it. Many of the above is fixable, to some degree.

On the contrary, if you’re sailing on a sinking ship – wouldn’t you want to know while you’re closer to shore?

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/davidschneider/4-hard-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-starting-a-startup/

How to Find a Good Criminal Defense Lawyer in Victorville

If you have been wrongly charged with a crime, you may want to hire a criminal defense lawyer immediately. After all, such crime charges can get you in some serious trouble if not taken care of in time.

However, finding a good criminal defense lawyer in Victorville isn’t an easy job, given that you need to look for quite a few things in order to ensure that the one you are looking to hire is capable enough of getting you out of trouble.

With that said, we are listing some highly useful info about how to go about choosing an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Victorville.

Asking your contacts                                         

It’s always a great idea to start searching for a criminal defense lawyer in your locality by asking your friends and family. There’s a good chance that someone you know have used one in the past, and it would be worth it to know about their experience. This is due to the fact that regardless of whether you would want to use the same lawyer or not, you still get to know a few important things to keep in mind while searching for one.

Also, if you find anyone you know who has used a criminal defense lawyer in the past, you may want to get all the information about them. This even includes the type of case they were dealing with, as it would help you find out whether it’s related to yours.

Taking a look at the list of lawyers in your locality

There seem to be quite a few well known criminal defense lawyers in Victorville that you can consider going with. There are a few sources that provide you with a detailed list of such lawyers, and other details such as their office address, contact numbers, and so on. Some may even go on to list their areas of expertise, and reviews of their past customers, which would definitely turn out to be quite useful.

Checking their websites

After going through such a list and finding someone you think would be able to handle your case well, or finding someone through your contacts, you may want to visit their website first. Most of the reputed and experienced criminal defense lawyers in Victorville have a website that provides a lot of useful information about how they operate. It may help you considerably in finding out whether they will be the right candidate for you.

In fact, you might as well choose three to four of them, and proceed to the next step.

Visiting them in person

You would obviously need to take an appointment and visit them in person in order to decide whether you would like one of them to handle your case. As far as the fee is concerned, they would usually charge an hourly fee, or a flat one-time one.

However, you shouldn’t let the fee be a major factor, unless you can’t really afford to pay more. Experienced and successful criminal defense lawyers usually charge more than most of their other less experienced counterparts.

Also, when you are visiting them, you might want to observe some things such as the quality of their staff, their behavior, and so on. A good lawyer would always hire people who are capable of being professional with their clients.

A final word

Though this is some general info, it should still help you find some of the better criminal defense lawyers in Victorville for you. Finally, we would also like to let you know that it isn’t a good idea to avoid a lawyer simply because they didn’t manage to meet you on a very short notice. Good lawyers tend to be busy.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/brandonleibowitz/how-to-find-a-good-criminal-defense-lawyer-in-victorville/

Advantages of Buying Gold Bars and Silver Coins Online

We know that most of us are still used to buying precious metals like gold and silver through jewelry stores, usually the ones based in our area. However, as the technological age really seems to be have set in, it has brought about some significant changes in almost every industry, the precious metals one being no different.

Nowadays, one has the option to buy gold bars and silver coins online from the comfort of their home. Against the popular belief, it’s also quite safe and secure, especially if you know the right place to head over to for shopping for such items.

With that said, let us take a look at some of the major advantages of buying gold bars and silver coins online.

Convenience

Convenience is a really significant advantage of shopping online for almost all types of products. However, little you know that shopping online for such precious metals too can be an extremely convenient option.

Besides not having to visit your local jewelry store, you are also free to shop anytime you want. There is obviously not going to be any location barrier as well, as you can shop from anywhere and still get a timely delivery of the items that you order.

Allows taking a more informed decision

It’s a rather common experience to get under some sort of pressure while shopping at your local jewelry stores. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the sales staff may get annoyed if you show a desire to know too much or see many items than their customers usually do. This can be especially worrisome for those new customers, who are buying gold bars or silver coins for the first time.

Such customers may want to know a lot of things as it would be their first purchase. However, as the sales staff would hardly have a reason to bother about it, they may want you to take a quick decision. This can obviously result in you ending up taking a wrong decision as well.

Secondly, these sales associates also seem to be getting a commission for the sales they make. Seemingly, it depends on the type of items they sell or their prices. In other words, the more profitable or expensive the items they sell, the higher the commission they might be offered. Hence, their top priority may be to sell you such items, regardless of what your needs exactly are.

These seem to be some common problems associated with shopping offline for such precious items, especially if you aren’t an experienced customer or don’t know the owner of the store personally.

Ensures a high level of privacy

Purchasing gold bars and silver coins online ensures that only you know about the quantity you are buying and storing in your home. On the other hand, while buying from a local dealer, this can be something to be worried about, especially if you buy such items too frequently.

After all, while going with the latter, many people may come to know about your buying activities, raising concerns about your safety. Similarly, the information you share with online companies tends to be extremely safe and secure, while it may get compromised in some way if you are buying from a local dealer.

Pricing

Unlike the local jewelry stores, online dealers don’t have many overhead costs, allowing them to offer a considerably cheaper rate. Furthermore, as they may even be generating a large amount of business on a regular basis, they would have the economies of scale benefit on their side. They would usually pass on a considerable part of this benefit to their customers, ensuring even lower rates.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/brandonleibowitz/advantages-of-buying-gold-bars-and-silver-coins-online/

Killer Basketball Crossovers from a Young Arkansas Sophomore – Kamren Roelke

To round out some of the categories on Feedster, I wanted to talk some about sports. While this is not directly related to business it is a topic of great interest. There are a ton of ways that basketball relates to life and growth as you are challenged to improve, play better with others, and yet we all enjoy watching others do it better than ourselves.

To bring that part of life into full view I made a post that is video based to showcase a player that I coach. He is pretty special and hopefully we will watch him one day in the NBA.

Kamren Roelke – Top Point Guard | Class of 2018 | Arkansas Sophomore

You may know Kamren from writing on Feedster – Feedster Profile of Kamren Roelke

You may also know him from working on Dominant Link SEO – Kamren Dominant Link SEO Post

Kamren Roelke is actually a top recruited basketball point guard in Arkansas.

https://future150.com/hs/basketball-profiles/kamren-roelke-pg-hot-springs-ar-2018

.@RcsSports Official Players Invite List for 3/15 our SW Region tryout in HOUSTON for #SuperSophCamp 2015 here –> https://t.co/g3rstS9oQO

— Super Soph Camp (@SuperSophCamp) March 2, 2015

Here is that invite: Invite to Super Soph Camp

Top Point Guard Class of 2018 Videos

So what I have started doing is just grabbing clips of his games and posting them on my YouTube. Obviously, this is in an effort to gain attention for him on the recruiting front. It is tough to become noticed when you play in a Christian School League so we are putting together a plan to find more and more outlets for him to gain exposure.

Kamren Roelke – The Person

I really enjoy coaching this young man as he leads his team and learns more and more about life through the game of basketball. The camps, coaches, and players all enjoy him and anyone that watches or plays with him realize he is a special athlete. He is my sons best friend and spends a ton of time at my house as well as working for me. I have really gotten to know him as a person and can’t wait to mature him into a business owner if his basketball career takes a side note.

Video Clips

Here are some of the videos I have posted so far:

Here is another clip from Kamren’s ninth Grade Season, This one actually went a bit Viral on Instagram as the young man guarding him was injured on the play:

Then you like to see growth in a player. Here he was as a younger seventh grader:

Basketball Recruiting is a Tough Business

While Kamren is maturing and growing as you can tell from the videos, we are really finding out how much work it is to video each game and get good footage and then editing that footage into usable bites to send to recruiters. This process is really something that would be great for someone to make an application out of.

This lies the second problem. There are so many people that offer “recruiting” services for money that you don’t know who to trust. I still feel strongly that gaining mass media exposure would be great for his “brand” and image on the recruiting trail but we struggle knowing who to trust to make sure this happens.

If you have pointers on some things you have done, we would love to here from you.

 

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/admin/killer-basketball-crossovers-from-a-young-arkansas-sophomore-kamren-roelke/

RETAIL SOLUTIONS ADVISORS: FACTORS AFFECTING COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IN LAKELAND, FLORIDA

Commercial Real Estate refers to the property which is used only for business purposes. It is thus pretty clear that this particular type of property is not developed for residential purposes and the location has to be where there is ample scope for business or any other commercial activity. Offices, parks, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants etc. are various types of commercial properties and it is the quality and quantity of commercial properties that make a city truly developed.

Florida is the south-western state of the USA and being a peninsula, it is a wonderful tourist spot as well as business ground. Having Atlantic Ocean in the east and great connection with inland waterways, this place is ideal for the development of business and thus, the importance of Commercial Real Estate is supreme. Having the longest coastline among all the other states of United States of America, Florida possesses the best ports of the country and is favoured by most of the business organizations which are engaged in import and export sectors to have their offices here. But not all places in Florida are blessed with the coastline and Lakeland is one among such landlocked places of the state. Nearness to the capital is also another factor that enhances the Commercial Real Estate market of the place.

While talking about the factors which affect the real estate market and most specifically the Commercial Estate market, it must be considered that they are not much different from other parts of the world. But, Florida has its own specialities for having the geographical specification (i.e. being a peninsula) and nearness to the national as well as business capital of the country. There are several factors which affect the present as well as future market value of commercial properties. With the dynamic changes happening in the business sector these days, the future of commercial real estate market has turned out to be one of the most vulnerable fields.

Let us take a quick look at the basic factors which affect the Commercial Real Estate market in Florida:

1. Supply: This is perhaps the very first thing to consider in all business and real estate market is no exception. Florida is one of the oldest settlements in United States of America and thus availability of unused land is pretty less. With the growth of business, the demand for commercial properties displayed a steady growth but the supply was not as required. People having residential properties right at the heart of the major cities were reluctant to give up their hold on the land but gave up to the demand when high prices were offered. The basic feature thus became high priced commercial properties and that has been the general trend all over the state.
2. State rules: United States of America is characterized with different sets of laws for different states and Florida is no exception to this feature as well. The zoning and developmental rules which are to be followed in this state is pretty different from other states and thus the commercial properties have to abide by the specific laws. Business houses belonging to other parts of the country which are willing to have their office or business houses in Florida may find it difficult to adjust with the regulations prevailing here and thus their demand for commercial properties are affected.
3. Taxation: Tax is compulsory for all types of properties and it is a known fact that commercial properties are heavily taxed as compared to residential ones. Various counties in Florida have their own taxation models and property owners sell or rent the commercial properties according to those rules. The popular and commercially populated places are obviously highly taxed in comparison to the less important business locations. With the development of communication system, it is now seen that several business organizations are choosing less important spots just to get some cost benefits.
4. Location: Location of the commercial property has always been the most determining factor in this field and is the only factor that is considered in most of the cases. When a company is looking for space to start its new office, they will obviously look for the best location for the comfort of their clients and the property owners on the other hand will look forward to get higher prices for their properties.
5. Future market: There is no single business which can leave behind the factor of future prospects. With the growth of virtual market and office facilities (i.e. through internet) it is evident that the demand for big shops or offices will be facing a decline in future. But Florida being blessed with the longest coastline in the country will always have great demand for commercial properties as virtual business can never decrease the demand of transportation of freight. Thus, spaces will always be in demand for shipping and storage houses.

Having discussed the five major factors which affect the commercial real estate market in Florida, we can now conclude that people who are having commercial properties in Florida should not lose hope for enhancement of the market in near or even far future.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/shokhi_agarwal/retail-solutions-advisors-factors-affecting-commercial-real-estate-in-lakeland-florida/

Creating Your First Web Site: How To?

Today it is hard to imagine a well developed business or any other type of organization without a good looking website. That’s why we decided to release this step-by step guide to website building and show to entrepreneurs how easy it would be to build and run their company pages.

1. Choosing the Domain

Domain can be chosen on most hosting provider’s websites. If you are trying to make a company website, the domain should contain the company name or its abbreviation or it should closely reflect some of the most popular products or services, company is offering. Domain name should also be easy to brand, that is why long name like Careerbuildingtools.com is not as effective as some shorter ones that emphasize the sole essence of company’s business, like Careerly.com for example, although you should always be careful, avoiding odd misspellings. Be sure to always check your domain on copyright.gov, to make sure you are not infringing anybody’s copyright. When it comes to different personal blogs, websites or other types of online communities, the domain name should emphasize the core purpose, value and function of the page. It should tell people who hear about your website for the first time, what kind of content they will be able to find there.

One of the main doubts when it comes to domain names, is which domain suffix to choose. In an ideal world “.com” suffix should stand for “commercial”, which means for websites used for commercial purposes, “.org” is used for nonprofit organizations and “.net” for network providers. Businesses should always go with “.com” since its s the most widely known domain suffix.

2. Buying a Hosting Plan

Hosting plan purchase looks much more complicated now, with lots of different companies, prices and hosting plan offers. Hosting companies use several different gimmicks in order to attract new customers, such as:

• “Unlimited storage”– there is no such thing as unlimited storage, somewhere deep in the Terms of Service page, there is a paragraph that determines the maximum amount of storage one client can use.
• “Free Domain Name”– although the domain name is free for the first year, usually clients need to pay for domain name renewal, every year after that.
• “Special Discounts”– buying hosting packages on sales can result in much higher costs after the discount period is over.

Accept watching not to fall for these popular tricks, future web administrators also need to review several important parameters when buying their first hosting plan:

1. Is the hosting company’s customer base satisfied with their services?
2. Do they offer commission rebates or coupons?
3. Do they provide good bandwidth quotas?
4. How about disk space terms?

After evaluating all these criteria, you will be able to choose the perfect vps hosting provider. Hosting company will send you the user name and the password for you cpanel account, on which you will be able to install the preferred content management system platform and finally start building your  first website.

3. Choosing the Website Building Platform

There are several popular website builders to choose. They can be free and paid, and these are some of the most famous ones:

WordPress

This is the most famous website builder praised for its capability and open-source nature. It provides extensive amounts of themes and templates, both free and premium ones. Website administrators can go far and wide with WordPress and that is why it is important for them to learn as much functions as possible. Currently WordPress covers around 50% of all websites online.

Light CMS

This is one of the most favorite commercial website builders, that doesn’t have a dashboard, but allows website administrators to modify their website content while browsing the pages and posts. The platform comes with basic set of CMS tools and more advanced users can also implement CSS, JS, HTML and various other languages.

Joomla

This is another open source content management system that stores data in MySQL, uses software design patterns and includes features such ass: RSS feed, page catching, blog, search etc. It is the third most used content management system after WordPress and Drupal.

 

4. Building a Website from Scratch

After downloading the preferred platform you will need to closely follow instructions found in the tutorials and edit different parts of your future website one after another. Some of the main areas you should focus on are:

• Header– It usually contains basic information about the company or the website itself. This part of your website should also include branded content, such as logos, company colors and fancy imagery.
• Menus– This is the main navigation of you website and it directs its viewers towards different pages or posts they wish to see. Menus should be simplified and easy to use and some of the most common pages that are linked to menus of company websites are: Home, About, Our Team, Services, Products, Prices, Blog and Contact.
• Blog– This is the part that makes your website interesting. Blog posts display content to website visitors and they can also be used as a powerful marketing tool, since lots of interesting content brings more viewers to your web  page and therefore more customers who will buy your products or services
• Sidebar– Great place to add some more navigation, banners or AdSense commercials that will make your website even more lucrative.
• Footer– Often used for disclaimers and links to Terms of Service pages, it can also feature some branding logos and company colors, same as the header.

With following these basic instructions and learning more about featured website building platforms from respected tutorials, you will soon be able to start your website and take part into competitive online market of goods and services.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/marcusjensen/creating-your-first-web-site-how-to/

5 Ways Businesses Can Cut Down on Their Development Costs

Businesses typically like to feel that every development project is based on constructing the most creative, solid and seamless product. Unfortunately, when it comes to its development, price does matter. When budgets are tight, your project is going to have some limitations. While you still want to come up with something out of this world amazing, the following key tips will help you get the most bang for your buck.

Put Together the Right Team

Marketing a business through social media and a good website are just the tips of a successful business. A company also needs to develop a solid product. Development costs are the expenses a business incurs from the start of a project to its implementation. When done correctly, the end results can generate revenue and profit for a company. However, in order to get to the money making stage of your business, you need to develop the right process. While it would be nice to have bottomless pockets to spend for each project, most typically come with a tight budget. You can begin reducing your development costs by assembling a team that can aid in your decision making process. The right project team should cover areas that includes marketing, analytics, content, and technical issues that concern security and hosting. When you’re manned with the right group of people, you won’t have to go back and recreate work or retool missing information that is centered round your project’s main objective.

Define your Project and Goals

Mistakes can cost a company a fortune, especially if you have to go back to the drawing board. However, having a clear vision of your work flow and end result can help prevent unexpected expenses. Once you know who is at the helm of a project, you can keep them on task by defining your project and its goals.

You can also take advantage of reputable and knowledgeable businesses that offer free services. For example, Wix website builder allows you the chance to create a stunning website while adding in your own creative touch. Whether you have something in mind or want to fine tune a template, this is the fastest road to a great website for your project. Plus, it’s easy to work with. Before building your website, you should also have the answer to some important questions ready such as: what would make for a successful visit to your site, who is your target audience and who will be doing the updates that are needed to keep it current. When you start with all of these questions in mind, you can prevent expensive mid-task pivots.

Have a Plan

In order to alleviate excessive costs in product development, you want to have the right plan. You also want to document the phases and document the costs associated with each stage. This allows your team to know what areas can be adjusted, and the others where you need to keep your costs the same. Performing periodic tests on the development of a product can help alert you to any necessary changes through the development stage. While it may be tempting to order in excess just to get a reduction in price, this could be a waste of money if the design needs to change somewhere down the road. You’ll just be left with waste that your company will eventually have to eat.

Prioritize features

Now that you have a good team and clear vision of what type of success your company is looking to achieve, your ideas are probably flowing. You can prioritize your growing list of wants by determining what features are most critical to your customer base and what content will be most useful to them. During this discovery phase, you’ll want to map out the various developmental phases in order to help focus on those that are most effective. Staying lean will allow your business to focus into putting your efforts into a successful execution plan.

Find a Unique Way to Tell Your Story

When money is tight, you want to make sure that every penny you spend is being put to good use. A good development team will find unique ways of presenting your story and a way to deliver conversion-centered results. 

 

You can save money by ditching custom built applications. Platforms like Wix are providing the scalable version of custom HTML and CSS design firms. So when you rely on code that has been thoroughly reviewed and tested by other developers, you’ll avoid wasting your hard earned money that should be used more for user management and content publishing. Content, that hopefully, will separate you from the competition.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/nick-chalker/5-ways-businesses-can-cut-down-on-their-development-costs/

RETAIL SOLUTIONS ADVISORS: REASONS WHY COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IS A HOTBED OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN 2016

Commercial Real Estate refers to any non-residential property that is used for the purpose of earning profit. It can be in the form of Office Markets, Industrial Markets, Retail Markets, Stores, Mall and Multifamily Markets. In spite of being one of the oldest industries in the US, the Commercial Real Estate Industry is the one that has been virtually overlooked and has lagged behind in innovation especially when it comes to adopting and advancing technology.

The Commercial Real Estate Industry is on the path of recovery and the following are the five reasons why it is a hotbed of Entrepreneurship in 2016:

1. Stronger Labor market and Increase in household formation: According to the Commercial Real Estate Forecast of the National Association of Realtors, there should be a gradual increase in the demand for Commercial real Estate Sector because of the attributes like the Stronger Labor Market and Increase in the household formation. As long as the jobs are added at a reasonable pace, there will be a gradual increase in demand for the commercial Spaces.

2. The Sheer Size of the Commercial Real Estate Industry: This is another major reason why this industry is a hotbed of Entrepreneurship in 2016. The sheer size of the Industry puts it in a strong position to develop and grow as the economy continues to stabilize. However, increased investment and innovation in technology is crucial to continue this forward progression.

3. The Improvement in the Process Management: When we talk about the Commercial Real Estate development, the real challenge lies with finding the right vendors to complete the projects along with keeping them on the right track. The improved process management has led to an increase in the efficiency of this sector by connecting the estate developers and owners with vetted vendors, contractors and architects. This will enable the businesses to choose better option based on past performance records, reviews, availability and price. Thus there will be a better insight in order to make better decisions with streamlined solutions.

4. Information Segregation and Sharing: Information Segregation and Sharing is perhaps the backbone of this industry. The real estate data is most of the times either hard to locate or hard to compile or is not at all available. With the recent trends of aggregating and sharing the real estate information, there has been an ease in collaborating on the deals in real time. Having an access to the information has not only helped the developers, brokers and the clients but has also been helpful in improving the commercial leasing workflow to the landlords and brokers with the availability of all such information.

5. Expected Drop in the Vacancy Rate: Any Vacancy rate that is below 5 % is generally considered a landlord’s market. A decrease in the Vacancy rate thereby states a rapid decrease in the currently occupied space thus, more demand justifying higher rent. The National Association of Realtors has forecast a decline in the Commercial Real Estate’s Vacancy rate in 2016. In its Commercial Real Estate Forecast, the NAR forecast the Vacancy rate to decline in all kinds of Commercial Estate properties whether Office markets, Industrial Markets, Retail markets or the Multifamily Markets. As the vacancy rate decreases, the need for more construction arises. Thus, providing enough room for development & growth across the industry.

from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/shokhi_agarwal/retail-solutions-advisors-reasons-why-commercial-real-estate-is-a-hotbed-of-entrepreneurship-in-2016/