May Brings Voting for Small Business Book Awards

The month of May is almost bursting with great small business events. There’s an expo in Atlanta plus other great events in New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Miami.

But before you do any of that stuff, why not take a minute to pop over to the Small Business Book Awards page and vote for your favorite book or small business resource. Only about a week and a half remains. See details below.

Then go and explore all the small business events on the list below to see what they have to offer.  For a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

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Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Small Business Book Awards – Voting Begins April 28!
May 11, 2016, Online

Voting for Small Business Book Awards begins on April 28, 2016 and runs through May 11, 2016 11:59 am PT. Voting is fast and easy. Once the voting period begins, simply visit the Business Book Awards site and click the red vote button. You can also visit on the “Categories” tab and select the categories you’d like to see. Then simply place your votes for the books you would like to see win!

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Small Business Market Expo
May 21, 2016, Atlanta, Ga.

Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with small businesses, market your organization and tap into a network of entrepreneurs, service providers, financial organizations, business coaches, and franchises.
#SBMExpo
Discount Code
VIP (25% off)

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DREAM BIG Small Business of the Year Award
June 14, 2016, Washington, D.C.

The DREAM BIG Small Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Sam’s Club®, celebrates the success of small business and honors its contributions to America’s economic growth. The Small Business of the Year, 7 regional finalists, and 100 Blue Ribbon winners will be honored on June 14 during America’s Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. There are two ways to participate: 1. Nominate a local small business that’s making a big impact in its community. 2. Apply directly if you are a small business that’s committed to your community, employees, and customers.

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More Events

• Risk Americas 2016 | America’s Premier Risk And Regulation Convention
  May 3, 2016, New York, N.Y.
• Essentials of B2B Marketing
  May 3, 2016, Charlotte, N.C.
• OPIC Expanding Horizons: A Workshop for Small Businesses Entering Emerging Markets
  May 3, 2016, Atlanta, Ga.
• WordPress Website Training Evening Courses Evening Classes
  May 3, 2016, Miami, Fla.
• Webinar On Time and Task Management – Working Smarter Every Day
  May 3, 2016, Online
• Experiential Marketing Summit 2016
  May 4, 2016, Denver, Colo.
• INTERNET MARKETING WORKSHOP,Minneapolis
  May 4, 2016, Minneapolis, Minn.
• INTERNET MARKETING WORKSHOP, MINNEAPOLIS, MN – FREE Ticket
  May 4, 2016, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Get Motivated! Anchorage
  May 4, 2016, Anchorage, Alaska
• Breakfast & Business Networking Event (Pelham, NY)
  May 4, 2016, Pelham, N.Y.
• Raleigh Entrepreneur Simplified Business Workroom
  May 4, 2016, Raleigh, N.C.
• Content Creators Get Together and Learning How To Leverage New Media
  May 4, 2016, New York, N.Y.
• QuickBooks for Business – Wednesday, May 4, 2016
  May 4, 2016, Doral, Fla.
• Webinar On How to Facilitate High Quality Meetings
  May 4, 2016, Online
• Leadercast Live and Leadercast Labs 2016 – Atlanta
  May 5, 2016, Duluth, Minn.
• Franchise Your Business – Insights and Ideas
  May 5, 2016, Online
• 2016 Florida Business Boost Conference (ATTENDEES)
  May 5, 2016, Coral Springs, Fla.
• Webinar On New Guidelines for Business Writing- “How to Meet the Expectations of Today’s Reader”
  May 5, 2016, Online
• Results Now International – Atlanta – May 6th
  May 6, 2016, Atlanta, Ga.
• 2016 SOAR Community Summit: Advancing Legacy Driven Leaders
  May 6, 2016, Online

More Contests

• #YoKart100Startups
  May 5, 2016, Online
• How To Create A Full-Time Income Online?
  May 13, 2016, Online
• Conversion Conference Las Vegas
  May 19, 2016, Las Vegas, Nev.
• Chicago Innovation Awards UN-GALA 2016
  June 23, 2016, Chicago, Ill.
• The Ultimate Small Business Leadership Conference
  September 23, 2016, San Diego, Calif.

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.

Vote Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "May Brings Voting for Small Business Book Awards" was first published on Small Business Trends

10 Tips for Online and Content Marketing

Marketing a business online is no simple task. There’s a lot that goes into it. And members of our small business community have plenty of experience dealing with online and content marketing. Here are some of their top tips for online and content marketing.

Top Tips for Online and Content Marketing

Focus on Epic Content

You’ve probably heard the popular saying that content is king. But that’s not necessarily the case, if you’re talking about creating short, generalized content. Instead, John Jantsch recommends in this Duct Tape Marketing post that you focus on creating content that is long and useful and epic.

Make Your Website a Better Salesperson

Your website can be a major factor when it comes to making sales. So you need to make it really work for you. Here, Joe Peters shares some tips for making your website a better salesperson in the Cirrus Insight blog.

Learn About Marketing Automation

There are plenty of different ways you can automate your marketing efforts to save time and make them more effective. Brent Csutoras shares some thoughts in this Search Engine Land post and Marketing Nerds podcast with James Loomstein. The BizSugar community also comments further on the post here.

Utilize Dynamic Remarketing

Remarketing campaigns can be incredibly effective when it comes to attracting customers who have previously bought from you or at least visited your site. And it’s not just for ecommerce businesses anymore either — as Laura Collins explains in this Marketing Land post.

Don’t Overlook the Power of Social Media

You’ve already heard about how businesses can use social media to interact with customers. But you might not be grasping just how big of a boost social media can provide. Mandy Edwards makes the case for social media marketing in this SteamFeed post.

Use the Crystal Effect to Unlock New Content Ideas

Coming up with a constant stream of ideas is essential to any good content marketing plan. To unlock all of those new content ideas, Jason Quey recommends using the crystal effect in this post on the ContentMarketer.io blog. And BizSugar members share their thoughts on the post here.

Solve Your Email Marketing Challenges With These Tools

Email is a great way to market to and communicate with customers. But you’ll likely need some of the tools outlined in this Exit Bee post by Vanhishikha Bhargava in order to really get the most out of your email marketing strategy.

Make More of Your Content

When you’re utilizing content marketing, you need to be very intentional when it comes to planning, creating and sharing that content. Here, Nick Davies shares some ways that you can make the most of your content in the Pretty Pragmatic blog.

Use Kindness to Make Your Content More Successful

When creating content for your business, you have to consider many different factors. You want it to be relevant and valuable. But you can also use kindness to really make your content stand out, as Sara Wachter-Boettcher explains in this Content Marketing Institute post. You can also see conversation surrounding the post over on BizSugar.

Don’t Believe These Misconceptions About Remote Workers

Businesses today don’t necessarily need teams that all work out of the same office all the time. Whether you’re considering hiring some outside marketing help or just letting your team telecommute from time to time, you might have some misconceptions about remote workers, like the ones outlined in this Redbooth post by Lisette Sutherland.

If you’d like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to:  sbtips@gmail.com.

Online Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "10 Tips for Online and Content Marketing" was first published on Small Business Trends

Onewheel Skateboard Replaces Hoverboard in Weird Toy Category

There are some really weird products out there. But if you think that toys like the trendy “hoverboard” are as weird as it gets — you’re wrong. A new toy item that has recently hit the shelves is adding a whole new level of weird to the boardsport category.

Onewheel Skateboard, Weird Or Trendy?

Onewheel is a skateboard-type item. But as the name suggests –- there’s only one wheel. It’s a rather large wheel that sits at the very center of the board and even comes up above the board itself in the middle. It uses inertial sensors and a hub motor to balance the board around the one wheel in the center. And like hoverboards, it’s completely handsfree.

However, unlike hoverboards, you ride it facing sideways the way you would a skateboard. So, you just lean forward if you want the board to move forward. You move back if you want the board to stop. And you press with your heels or toes if you want the board to turn.

There’s also a mobile app, available for both Android and iPhone, which you can use to monitor your Onewheel and even customize parts of the handling experience to really fit with your particular riding style. For example, you can set your Onewheel to Extreme mode if you want to go a little faster. It also has LED lighting controls and battery status updates.

The Onewheel skateboard certainly seems to fit into the growing category of weird products. And while being weird can definitely help a business grab a customer’s attention, it’s not necessarily a recipe for success on its own. There have been plenty of weird products that have succeeded, and even more that have failed.

In recent years, these weird products and services have included everything from potato greeting cards to eye massages. But one of the major factors that can separate the weird successes from the rest is whether these weird products also provide something that people can actually use. For example, the idea of an eye massage sounds strange, but it’s a thing that some people actually find to be useful or even necessary.

On the other hand, you have weird products that provide value simply in the form of novelty, like potato greeting cards. Sure, you can send regular old paper greeting cards. But where’s the fun in that? However, there’s a limit to how much people will pay just for that novelty.

And since Onewheel retails for $1,499, it’s likely that this product will need some broader appeal in order to succeed. In addition, the product has to compete with the growing popularity of hoverboards, as well as competing with cheaper products that do essentially the same things, like the regular old skateboard.

It’s still too early to say whether the Onewheel skateboard will be a big hit. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if it was, given the growing popularity of weird products and high-tech versions of classic items. But it has plenty of competition and other obstacles to overcome.

So what do you think? Is Onewheel here to stay or just a passing fad?

Image: Onewheel

This article, "Onewheel Skateboard Replaces Hoverboard in Weird Toy Category" was first published on Small Business Trends

The Three Box Solution: Innovation in 3 Little Boxes

The constant call to innovate can infuriate even the most tech-savvy business owner out there. Not only do businesses have to maintain an online presence. They are expected to constantly monitor the market and correctly use those insights to amaze, delight and capture their future customers (who are already inundated with other businesses trying to do the same).

As a business owner, how do you make sense of this? How do you balance the need to stay competitive now with the need to stay competitive in the future?

What The Three Box Solution is About

The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation offers a surprisingly simple answer to business owners who are tired of the “You need to innovate” call — three boxes. These three boxes are a mental framework the book offers to help owners strategically manage innovation. The “three boxes” represent three separate but interconnected principles:

• Box 1: Forget the past
• Box 2: Manage the present
• Box 3: Create the future

The Three Box Solution highlights companies that, like GE, were able to use the principles from the above framework to pivot their product-based business to a leading service powerhouse for a new market. The book also highlights companies who failed to use to use the three boxes correctly, like IBM. IBM became hyper-focused on their strengths while failing to adapt to the “weak signals” (the changes that could drastically change the future). As a result, they declined, while a little company named Microsoft began making history.

The Three Box Solution points to the principle of nonlinear innovation as the key to success in a rapidly growing world. Business, as presented in this book, does not exist in a predictable world. Business owners have to become comfortable with managing the uncertainty of the future while maintaining the core and avoiding the mental traps of the past.

Vijay Govindarajan (www.3boxsolution.com) (@vgovindarajan) is an author and professor at Dartmouth College and a Harvard Business fellow. He began working at General Electric where he developed the concept of “reverse innovation.” One concept, $300 house, received an overwhelming amount of support and became a global initiative.

What Was Best About The Three Box Solution

The best part of the book is the breakdown of “Your business needs to innovate more” into realistic conceptual models. (This is in direct opposition to another book on innovation The Digital Transformation Playbook by David Rogers).

This breakdown is accompanied by Govindarajan’s insight into the nature of innovation. He repeatedly points out the bigger principles (like his emphasis on rapid low-risk experimentation) rather than getting bogged down in unnecessary details. This is needed for business owners who want to know the “Why?” behind nonlinear innovation.

What Could Have Been Done Differently

The downside to The Three Box Solution is the overemphasis on the “three box” solution as the solution for innovation. First, the book is enamored with its own procedure. Right from the beginning, the book discusses the mystical connections of the “three-box solution” without really taking the time to explain what should be in the three boxes.

Overall, the book is great and insights can be gleaned but readers may be left with “Well, how do I even start using the three box solution?”

Why Read The Three Box Solution

The Three Box Solution is good for business owners who have read a little bit about innovation and need some kind of guide forward to action. While the book doesn’t detail how to start using the “three-box solution”, it does provide detailed examples of activities that would fit into each box and by extension into your business.

This article, "The Three Box Solution: Innovation in 3 Little Boxes" was first published on Small Business Trends

How to Utilize Technology to Grow Your Small Business

All business owners begin their venture with a focus on growth.

With the rapid advances in technology, new and effective opportunities are opening up for businesses to quicken their progress. Small businesses, nowadays, are increasingly tapping into the many resources that technology has rendered accessible. This is because, technology can provide a competitive advantage to businesses worldwide.

Technology brings forth innovation. These innovations have the potential to empower businesses and help them stand out from among the competition. However, it is crucial to devise strategies that can optimize the usage of these technologies in order for these to be effective for your business.

Let’s take a look at how you can utilize the boon of technology to your business’s advantage.

Using Technology for Small Business Growth

Utilize the Power of the Cloud

For businesses worldwide, ‘Cloud’ is the buzzword. Cloud is a global network of online servers that allows you to carry out a number of business activities over the Internet. Most of us are already using the cloud to conduct our online banking transactions. In fact, you are already using the cloud as we speak, to read this article. The primary appeal of the cloud lies with the fact that you can manage your business operations from anywhere, any device and any time.

The benefits of the cloud are immense. Shifting your business to the cloud not only eases the workload but also increases productivity and coordination, facilitates mobility and reduces expenditure. Additionally, the multiple backups reduce the chances of loss of important data significantly.

With businesses migrating to the cloud, business clouds have evolved to accommodate the requirements. However, many businesses feel that safety is a concern while shifting to the cloud. Therefore, it is always wise to take proper precautions to keep your data secure.

Harness the Potential of Social Media

The number of active social media users has been found to be a whopping 2.307 billion. This number is expected to grow to 2.55 billion by 2018. That’s where your business’s expected traffic is. Therefore, you need to tap into the realm of social media to attract customers for your business.

The first step is to build a compelling social media presence for your business to increase visibility. The next step is to utilize these platforms as marketing campaigns. On social media, you can:

• promote your services and products
• provide personalized offers and deals to your consumers based on their online behavior
• build channels with influencers
• engage your customers through various activities like quizzes, contests etc.
• enable buying options directly from social media platforms
• gather customer feedback

That being said, it is important to keep in mind that most social media users access these platforms through their smartphones and tablets. Ensure that your website’s design is responsive to facilitate a seamless experience for your customers.

Leverage the Scope of WiFi

The scope of WiFi usage in businesses has expanded recently owing to the scores of benefits it provides. Nowadays, everyone wishes to stay connected wherever they go. Therefore, offering free WiFi to your customers can prove to be an effective marketing tool.

Providing free WiFi to your customers opens up the opportunity to build quality networks and accumulate valuable data regarding your clients’ online behavior. This can help you devise effective and customized strategies to promote the services and/or products that your business provides. Increased client satisfaction could mean further customer acquisition prospects for your business and, consequently, increased profit.

The right strategies to harness the power of WiFi can help you expand your business in no time.

Keep Track of Your Progress

The reach of technology has penetrated the domain of monitoring a business’s growth and productivity. Scores of business productivity software are available in the market that can track progress during each stage of attaining a goal. Numerous technology tools can help boosting the performance by identifying what doesn’t work and providing the right reinforcement to keep things up and running.

You can also monitor business performance by using tools to analyze the metrics in real time and make tweaks accordingly. You can utilize these reports to devise foolproof strategies.

Technology for small business growth is booming. It is important to be aware of the tools and the latest trends that can benefit your business and invest in the right tech-implementation techniques to optimize your benefits.

Cloud Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "How to Utilize Technology to Grow Your Small Business" was first published on Small Business Trends

Periscope Adds New Feature, New Video Streaming Service Announced

Fans of livestreaming have received some welcome news. Not only has Periscope started testing a new doodle feature, but a new platform is beginning to gain traction as well, giving live streamers even more options.

Read on for more small business headlines like these in our weekly Small Business Trends news and information roundup.

Social Media

Periscope Tests New Doodle Feature on Your Live Stream

Periscope, Twitter’s live streaming video app, is now testing a new Periscope Sketching feature that allows users to draw and doodle on top of live-streamed video.

Launch Your Own Movie Channel With Unreel.me Video Streaming

YouTube’s got some new competition. Social video streaming company Unreel Entertainment has launched a new platform called Unreel.me, which provides all the tools businesses may need to instantly launch their unique, rich online video hubs. Not only that, they can monetize the content they create.

Employment

Ace Those Summer Hires with Best Practices from ADP

Summer is just around the corner. And for many businesses, that means there’s an opportunity to hire seasonal help. Division Vice President and General Manager of HR Solutions for ADP, Aldor Delp, has some insights to share with small businesses about making the most of your summer hires. Below are some top tips for summer hire best practices.

My Experience With Transgender Bathroom Issues In the Workplace

What I am about to tell you is a true story of my experience as a business leader dealing with a transgender bathroom issue in the workplace.  It’s a challenging issue but one that, in many small business situations, can have a practical solution. Nothing in what I’m about to tell you involves breaking any confidences.  This was all public knowledge in our company.

Your Employees are Stressed Out About Their Financial Futures, Study Says

A vast majority of American workers are worried about their financial future, according to a new study by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The latest Workplace Benefits Report has revealed that American workers’ stress about their finances has increased, while confidence in their financial futures has decreased.

Finance

New Santander Select Adds Bells and Whistles to Personal Banking

If you maintain a high balance for your personal banking, there’s a new program from Santander that might be of interest. The Santander Select program aims to provide a more personalized experience for clients with high balances.

Bank of America Reports Earnings Drop in Q1, Stock Dips

Bank of America has announced its first-quarter results and the outcome is not very positive. The multinational banking corporation has reported a 13 percent decline in first-quarter profit. On a positive note though loan growth and expense cuts have prompted investors to be hopeful about the future.

Franchise

Virginia Governor Vetoed House Bill 18, Franchise Industry Fumes

As the battle continues between National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the International Franchise Association (IFA) — a battle that started in August last year — Virginia is still struggling to push back a major NLRB ruling that redefined how the relationship between a corporation and its franchisees is viewed.

Marketing Tips

Adaptive Medias Merges With AdSupply, Touts Anti-Adblocking Product

When one company acquires or merges with another, one of the goals is to improve its current product line while seamlessly integrating the solutions from the new organization. In the case of AdSupply, which is acquiring Adaptive Medias, the fit seems to be perfect.

Anchor Audio App Lets You Broadcast to Your Followers Via iPhone

Launched back in February 2016, the Anchor audio app introduced an exciting new medium to the world of social media – your own voice. That’s right. Using the Anchor audio app, you can record a short segment and then share it with the world. The world can then talk back, using recordings called replies.

Google Busting Publishers Using Clickjacking

Google has always been known to safeguard its applications to thwart anyone from using them for fraudulent activities. Recent developments in this regard have had Google defending its ad systems to prevent something known as clickjacking. What is Clickjacking? Clickjacking has emerged as a recent threat to cost-per-click display ads.

Google Home Service Ads Expand, Add Electricians and HVAC

After Google’s phenomenal success in connecting home services owners to local residents in the San Francisco Bay Area last year, it has now taken a new step in this direction to include Electricians and HVAC Services in its Google Home Service Ads Program.

Retail Trends

Millennials Want To Visit Your Store, Not Just Your Website

For retailers, PWC’s Total Retail 2016 study (PDF) has a wealth of useful information about shopper behavior. But one statistic stood out for me because it’s so surprising: Millennial customers actually shop at physical stores more — not less — than other generations. Of course, that’s not to say that Millennials don’t shop online.

Shopify Acquisition of Kit CRM Introduces Conversational Commerce

Shopify has just recently announced that it is all set to acquire Kit CRM, a virtual marketing assistant that leverages messaging to help businesses market their online stores. The acquisition of Kit CRM will will add yet another feather in the crown of conversational commerce.

Small Biz Spotlight

Spotlight: PeeqSee Offers an Interactive Social App

There’s no shortage of social media platforms for people to choose from these days. So it can be difficult to get one to stand out from the rest. That’s why PeeqSee focuses on creating an experience that’s truly interactive. Read more about the app in this week’s Small Business Spotlight. What PeeqSee Does Provides a social media app and site with interactive content.

Startup

5 Startups Participate in Prestigious Constant Contact Innovation Program

Constant Contact recently announced the newest class of startups participating in its prestigious Small Business Innovation Program, an accelerator that supports entrepreneurs as they refine and grow their early-stage companies, and develop and solve issues for small business owners and nonprofits.

Technology Trends

Outbrain Launches Content Bots for Chat Platforms

The online content discovery platform Outbrain has launched Outbrain for Chat, a new service that will help online publishers to launch content bots or applications across leading Messaging platforms. You may not have heard of Outbrain yet, but you most likely have come across some of their work online.

43 Percent of Cyber Attacks Target Small Business

Cyber crime is on the rise and small businesses are increasingly becoming the target of hackers. New data from Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report shows that small businesses have become a big target for phishers. Last year, phishing campaigns targeted small businesses (PDF) 43 percent of the time.

Feds Urge You Uninstall QuickTime from Windows Computers Immediately

As much as we all love the digital world we currently live in, the issue of security is an annoyance we could all do without. One of the latest security risks was announced by the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) with an alert urging customers to uninstall QuickTime from Windows.

New Priv by BlackBerry Apps Aimed at Small Businesses

Ever since BlackBerry joined forces with Google on the company’s latest phone — Priv by BlackBerry —  life has become considerably easier. That’s especially true for small business owners who use BlackBerry’s apps available on the Play Store to manage their businesses.

Is the Flyboard Air Real or Just A High Flying Stunt?

A new product has been sweeping the web since early April – and most aren’t even sure if it’s 100% legit. Zapata Racing, a French company, announced on April 8 that it has “achieved the dream of all men” in creating an alien-like hover board, which they have dubbed the ZR Flyboard Air. The hover board claims to be the result of four years of hard work and planning.

Image: Periscope

This article, "Periscope Adds New Feature, New Video Streaming Service Announced" was first published on Small Business Trends

Donald Trump on Small Business Issues (In His Own Words)

Businessman and presidential hopeful Donald Trump has talked a lot about business over the years but not that much about small business. Yet small business owners seem to be favoring him as the candidate who best represents their interests.

A Manta poll of 2,527 small business owners who plan to vote in the primaries found that 60 percent think Trump is the best Republican candidate for small business.

“Entrepreneurs relate to Donald Trump because, like him, we write our own narrative. We turn conflict into opportunity,” said Cherie Corso, owner of G2 Organics, in Manta’s report of its findings.

Where Donald Trump Stands on Small Business Issues

A survey of small businesses by Sage also found Trump to be the heir apparent when it comes to representing small businesses.

From these surveys, it’s clear that small business is casting its vote for Trump, but what are the candidate’s views on issues of concern to small business and entrepreneurs? Here is what he has to say, in his own words. Some of what he says come from position statements on his website and some from other sources.

It should be noted that Small Business Trends reached out to Mr. Trump’s campaign but did not receive a response.

Tax Reform

While not mentioning the tax burden faced by small business owners specifically, Trump’s attitude toward taxes in general will likely resonate with small business owners, as this recent Tweet attests:

Signing a recent tax return- isn’t this ridiculous? pic.twitter.com/UdwqF4iZIZ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2016

Though Trump’s statements on business are general applying to very large and very small companies — and all businesses in between, in a Position Statement on Tax Reform he explains:

“No business of any size, from a Fortune 500 to a mom-and-pop shop to a freelancer living job to job, will pay more than 15 percent of their business income in taxes. This lower rate makes corporate inversions unnecessary by making America’s tax rate one of the best in the world.”

“This lower tax rate cannot be for big business alone; it needs to help the small businesses that are the true engine of our economy. Right now, freelancers, sole proprietors, unincorporated small businesses and pass-through entities are taxed at the high personal income tax rates.

“This treatment stifles small businesses. It also stifles tax reform because efforts to reduce loopholes and deductions available to the very rich and special interests end up hitting small businesses and job creators as well.

“The Trump plan addresses this challenge head on with a new business income tax rate within the personal income tax code that matches the 15 percent corporate tax rate to help these businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers grow and prosper.”

Healthcare

On the topic of healthcare, particularly the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Trump’s attitude also seems in sync with many small business owners. He tweets:

We will immediately repeal and replace ObamaCare – and nobody can do that like me. We will save $’s and have much better healthcare!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2016

“On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare,” Trump explains in a position statement on healthcare.

“We will work with Congress to make sure we have a series of reforms ready for implementation that follow free market principles and that will restore economic freedom and certainty to everyone in this country.”

“I would end Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, for far less money for the country and for the people,” Trump told KCCI.com.

Regulations and Regulatory Reform

In the area of government regulation too, Trump seems to be in agreement with many small business owners that fewer regulations are better. Though again not speaking directly about small businesses, Trump explains in a quote carried by the Washington Times.

“Right now, government regulations cost us annually $1.75 trillion. They constitute a stealth tax that is larger than the amount the Internal Revenue Service collects every year from corporations and individuals combined. In just three years, Mr. Obama has added hugely to the annual regulatory bill.”

In a support document for the so-called Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, Trump is quoted as saying:

“I will sign the REINS Act should it reach my desk as President and more importantly I will work hard to get it passed. The monstrosity that is the Federal Government with its pages and pages of rules and regulations has been a disaster for the American economy and job growth. The REINS Act is one major step toward getting our government under control.”

U.S.-China Trade Relationship

When it comes to trade with China, small business owners are sometimes divided. While some small businesses are hurtg by overseas cmpetition others benefit from lower costs and outsourcing. So it becomes hard to sort out how Trump’s vision of a new trade relationship with China will impact small businesses in general. In a position statement on trade reform, Trump will only say:

“If you give American workers a level playing field, they will win. At its heart, this plan is a negotiating strategy to bring fairness to our trade with China. The results will be huge for American businesses and workers. Jobs and factories will stop moving offshore and instead stay here at home. The economy will boom. The steps outlined in this plan will make that a reality.

“When Donald J. Trump is president, China will be on notice that America is back in the global leadership business and that their days of currency manipulation and cheating are over. We will cut a better deal with China that helps American businesses and workers compete.”

Immigration

A nation WITHOUT BORDERS is not a nation at all. We must have a wall. The rule of law matters. Jeb daf.  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2015

While the tweet above may sound great, immigration is an area where some small business owners may differ with Trump. Like tech startups, some smal businesses are beginning to count on a global talent pool from which to recruit, especially for freelancers. So it’s unclear how Trump’s policies might affect them. In a position statement on immigration, Trump says:

“When politicians talk about ‘immigration reform’ they mean amnesty, cheap labor and open borders. The Schumer-Rubio immigration bill was nothing more than a giveaway to the corporate patrons who run both parties.

“Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first — not wealthy globetrotting donors. We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of our own. That must change.

“In the year 2015, with 92 million Americans outside the workforce and incomes collapsing, we need companies to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed. Petitions for workers should be mailed to the unemployment office, not USCIS.”

In a talking points memo, he adds:

“I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.”

For more on where Donald Trump stands on small business issues and policies regarding small business, we recommend that you visit the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council website.

Trump Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Donald Trump on Small Business Issues (In His Own Words)" was first published on Small Business Trends

Ciara Viehweg of Facebook: Over 1.5 Million Small Businesses Posted Videos in the Last Month

Small businesses are leveraging Facebook more and more to engage their customers and prospects. A growing number of SMBs are posting videos on Facebook, and millions of them are advertising on the platform. And small businesses are investing more in Instagram’s advertising platform as well, which leverages Facebook’s targeting tools to help them connect with the right prospective audience.

With next being National Small Business Week, Facebook is holding a small business event in Atlanta, GA. We caught up with Ciara Viehweg of Facebook as she shares with us how small businesses are leveraging Facebook’s platform to build deeper relationships with customers and prospects to grow their businesses. Ciara, who is part of Facebook’s SMB Community Engagement Team, also shares a few tools SMBs can use to get the most out of Facebook’s platform from a customer engagement perspective.

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Small Business Trends: Before we start talking about the cool event Facebook is going to be doing in my home town, Atlanta, maybe you can give us a little bit of your personal background.

Ciara Viehweg: I’ve been at Facebook for the last year and a half, which has been incredibly exciting. Both of my parents were small business owners, so I’m very passionate about working with small businesses and I absolutely love to get to speak to small businesses all the time. I’m originally from San Francisco so I haven’t moved too far at all. I’m still based in San Francisco today.

Small Business Trends: How many small businesses are using Facebook today?

Ciara Viehweg: We’re actually seeing really incredible momentum with small businesses using Facebook. There’s already 50 million businesses who have Facebook pages and 3 million of them are advertising on Facebook. What we’re really hearing from small businesses is that they’re on there because it works; it’s incredibly easy to use; and it’s mobile, which is where the world is today.

Small Business Trends: That’s a lot of small businesses. Does that provide Facebook with some interesting insights about what’s going on in general when it comes to small business today?

Ciara Viehweg: I would say there are three major trends that we’ve been seeing with small businesses using Facebook. The first is mobile; businesses are telling us there is no better place than Facebook and Instagram to reach their customers because it is a mobile-friendly platform and people are spending more time on their mobile devices. The mobile world is here and if businesses are not mobile-friendly, then they’re not where their customers are. 1 out of 5 mobile minutes are being spent on Facebook and Instagram so it’s so important for small businesses to be where their customers are, which is why so many of them are really leveraging Facebook to reach their customers.

The other really interesting thing about mobile is that it’s not just their customers who are using mobile devices. We’re actually seeing a lot of small businesses using mobile devices to reach their customers. There is over a third of active advertisers who are exclusively advertising using just their mobile device, which is a really cool trend to see.

I would say the other really cool trend we’re seeing is video. Businesses are telling us they absolutely love video because it’s providing them a really cool and unique way to show behind the scenes what’s going on in their business; invite their customers into their actual stores to see what’s going on. There are over a million and a half of small businesses that posted videos in the last month alone, which is really exciting.

I would say that maybe the third trend we’re seeing is Instagram. Some people don’t know that Instagram is part of Facebook. Small businesses have always been a really important part of the Instagram community. It’s where people go to get inspired and discover new things, including businesses. Now what we’re hearing is that they are pumped to be using Instagram advertising, which also leverages Facebook targeting, so it’s a really unique combination of using this great, visual platform and using Facebook targeting to find their exact customers on Instagram.

Small Business Trends: Are there some underutilized tools that SMBs could really be taking advantage of that they just don’t seem to be doing right now?

Ciara Viehweg: I would say measurement is a huge thing that is sometimes underutilized by businesses. We know businesses have very limited time and money, and our goal is to be the best marketing minute and dollars that businesses spend. It’s really important for businesses to ensure that they’re using the page insight and ad insight tools that we do offer. They’re free products and services that give them such a wealth of information of who are the people who are interacting with their page; the actual ROI they’re receiving on their ad. We’re finding that the businesses that are really leveraging these insights and targeting on Facebook are the ones that are having the most success.

Small Business Trends: Could you talk a little bit about Facebook Chatbots and how would a small business be able to take advantage of that kind of capability?

Ciara Viehweg: Facebook Chatbots, I can say, are incredibly early. Right now we’re really focused on getting the experience right for people. We do think that Bots can help businesses and people find the things that they are really looking for and connect with businesses in meaningful ways. Again, it’s incredibly early so we’re really looking forward to seeing what happens with it.

Small Business Trends: One last thing around video, you talked about how it seems to be getting adopted in really rapid fire. Is Facebook Live driving that?

Ciara Viehweg: We’ve seen businesses are absolutely loving Facebook Live. I actually had a couple of businesses just emailing me the other day because they were just so excited to use it. They’re using Live to connect with their customers in authentic ways. I think they love Live because it gives them the ability to bring their customers literally into the store and show them what’s happening right there in that moment. There is a business called the Chef’s Roll that’s based out of San Diego, California, and they always do these chef competitions with these really famous chefs from all around the world. Now what they’re able to do is they turn on their Facebook Live and suddenly, their 92,000 fans who follow them on Facebook have the opportunity to tune in and watch the competition happening live. It allows the fans to root on their absolute favorite chefs from all around the world. It’s been an incredibly exciting journey. We’re really excited to see where Facebook Live goes. Again, it’s really early but businesses have been very excited about it and jumping on it right away.

Small Business Trends: Is there any advice you would like to give any small businesses about how they can get started using Facebook from a business perspective? I think there are still a lot of small businesses out there that are still trying to figure it out and haven’t made the jump yet.

Ciara Viehweg: The first place, I would say, is our Facebook for Business page. There are tons of videos; great articles; lots of success stories that you can sort by vertical to see what businesses like yours are having success on Facebook. It’s a great place to also get support and ask questions, if you do need help.

I would also say Facebook Blueprint. There are over 50 courses that you can take that teach you everything you need to know about marketing on Facebook and Instagram, and every single course is absolutely free. It’s all self-paced so it’s a really great resource for people who are just getting started or even wanting to take the next step and learn a little bit more about some of our advanced targeting tools.

Businesses are telling us that they are so excited about Instagram, so we also have an Instagram for Business page, a great resource to see some of the trends; to learn a little bit more about hashtag; get some support; and see what other businesses are doing well on Instagram.

Small Business Trends: Next week is National Small Business Week and you guys are coming to my town, Atlanta, to have a small business event. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about that.

Ciara Viehweg: Small businesses are the bedrock of this economy and we thought what better way to celebrate them than during National Small Business Week. We’re finding that a lot of businesses we talk to don’t realize how many tools that exist on Facebook to succeed. The whole goal of this event is to really highlight a lot of these tools; put them at the forefront and give businesses the opportunity to interact with people from our team to learn more about these tools. For example, our Facebook Creative Shop Team will be there. They’ll be showing businesses how to find unique and easy ways to create really compelling content on Facebook and Instagram.

Our Facebook Blueprint Team will be there so that online eTutorial that I just spoke about, they’re going to be speaking to businesses and showing them how to take these learnings into their own hands and do them when they get home, as well as take courses right there at the event. Then, of course, we’re going to have Instagram there, which we’re very excited about. As I mentioned, businesses are so excited to get started with Instagram, so Instagram will be there to inspire and connect businesses and teach them more about how to use the power of visual storytelling to reach new customers on Instagram.

Small Business Trends: Where could people learn more about this event?

Ciara Viehweg: The event is actually sold out. But I would also say even if you can’t attend, using those resources that I talked about before is a great way to learn more about marketing; targeting; creating content on Facebook and Instagram.

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This article, "Ciara Viehweg of Facebook: Over 1.5 Million Small Businesses Posted Videos in the Last Month" was first published on Small Business Trends

Launch Your Own Movie Channel With Unreel.me Video Streaming

YouTube’s got some new competition.

Social video streaming company Unreel Entertainment has launched a new platform called Unreel.me, which provides all the tools businesses may need to instantly launch their unique, rich online video hubs. Not only that, they can monetize the content they create.

As part of the launch, the company has announced a $1 million Creator Appreciation Fund for early adopters allowing them to receive 100 percent of the platform’s initial revenue up to $1 million.

Unreel.me Video Streaming Features

When businesses create a free account on Unreel.me, they get a unified platform from where they can manage all content and distribute across platforms.

They also have the option of syncing content from YouTube or Facebook as well as uploading their exclusive content. To help businesses set their look and feel and meet distribution needs, Unreel.me offers several themes configurable with a variety of features.

Another feature of this platform is that super fans can interact with content creators by commenting within scenes, making highlight reels, creating GIFs/Memes and more.

But what’s most interesting about this platform is that it allows users to deploy their own streaming service across desktop, mobile and smart TV apps. Further, it lets them monetize their videos through advertising, subscriptions, merchandise sales, and paywalls, while keeping a majority of the revenue generated.

“Unreel.me gives the power back to the creators by avoiding losing huge cuts of revenue from working with too many partners,” explains Krish Arvapally, Unreel.me Co-Founder and CTO. “With Unreel.me’s automated content aggregation from several video sources, full customization/branding, built-in monetization capabilities, fan-social engagement features, and merchandise integrations, creators can truly build their video home on the Internet and keep more money.”

Using Unreel.me For Video Streaming Monetization

Several startups today are giving businesses and content creators new options to monetize their videos without falling back on YouTube. Take Wochit, for example. The platform allows users to become video creators by simply using the Wochit video library.

Another popular platform is Kaltura, which gives publishers more control over how they want to monetize their content. Their “Out of the Box Video Portal” comes with some advanced integration options with other CMS platforms such as WordPress. It also supports calls to action, email registration forms and video overlays.

Founded in 2015, Unreel.me video streaming provides services for video creators. Headquartered in California, the company specializes in multi-channel network, video discovery, video tagging, video search and more.

Image: Unreel.me

This article, "Launch Your Own Movie Channel With Unreel.me Video Streaming" was first published on Small Business Trends