Overseeing a small business can be challenging on a number of fronts. Not only does this role entail recruiting and supervising dependable team members, but it also involves meeting with prospective clients and drumming up a new business in order to stay afloat. In light of all their other responsibilities, small business owners often put cybersecurity on the backburner or overlook it entirely. However, boosting your business’s defenses against doesn’t have to be difficult or costly – and it stands to save you a considerable amount of hassle in the long run. Small business owners on the hunt for smart cybersecurity solutions should consider the following tips.

Invest in Top-Tier Security Software

When working to protect your business from hackers, malware and other cyber threats, dependable security software can be an invaluable ally. For starters, comprehensive threat detection software from Trend Micro can prove tremendously helpful in keeping assorted threats off your office network. Furthermore, any computers, tablets or smartphones that are regularly connected to your network should be outfitted with reliable antivirus software. Since a single infection can have far-reaching consequences, no business can afford to overlook the importance of security software. Solidly designed software will provide your business with real-time threat detection, consistent security updates and incredible peace of mind.

Protect Network Hardware and Work Devices

In addition to investing in good software, you’ll need to place equal importance on protecting assorted hardware. For example, your router should be placed in a secure location, and people who have no business making adjustments to it should be prohibited from touching it. Furthermore, every piece of computer hardware that belongs to your business should be equipped with password protection and taken out of the office sparingly, if at all. If certain devices leave the office on a consistent basis, the odds of them being lost or stolen increase exponentially. As such, discouraging employees from leaving the office with work devices unless absolutely necessary may be a wise course of action.

Require Employees to Install Pertinent Updates Posthaste

Most cybersecurity programs and operating systems provide users with near-constant updates. More often than not, these updates contain components designed to combat new and emerging threats. Failing to install these updates in a timely manner leaves devices vulnerable to viruses, malicious software and hackers. With this in mind, all employees should be required to install pertinent system and software updates as they become available. While this can prove slightly cumbersome – particularly if you happen to be on a roll with work-related tasks – it’s a necessary step in staying protected.

Educate Your Workforce

An enterprise is only as strong as its weakest member – and the same is true in the case of cybersecurity. If a member of your team doesn’t recognize the severity of certain threats or understand how to combat them, your entire business may suffer as a result. For this reason, it’s imperative that you educate your workforce on prominent threats and security measures and encourage them to come to you with any questions or concerns.

Enact Consequences

Since it’s only natural to want employees to view you as a peer instead of a disciplinarian, few business owners relish having to reprimand team members. However, if one of your workers is regularly found to be in violation of established security guidelines, there may not be any way around imposing consequences on them. This isn’t to say you should fire them or suspend them without pay, but putting your foot down in such circumstances can dramatically reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence. For some people, simply being told not to do something isn’t enough. When dealing with this type of employee, actionable consequences can mean the difference between repeated behaviors and total compliance.

As any experienced entrepreneur can attest, small business ownership is fraught with challenges. Managing a team, researching effective avenues of promotion and securing new clients can wear down even the most resilient small business owner. Needless to say, worrying about cybersecurity on top of everything else is liable to make many entrepreneurs feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Fortunately, keeping your business safe from a bevy of digital dangers doesn’t have to be a drain on your time or financial resources.

The way businesses thrive in a highly competitive market has completely changed in recent years. More companies are needing to adapt and implement the latest technological advancements, and one of these is the mobile app.

While mobile apps have been around for some years now, they have advanced incredibly. Businesses are now discovering that they need to utilize them to grow to a higher level than ever before. If companies choose not to use them, they could be losing thousands of dollars in profit every year.

Here are five ways how they help grow and scale your company.

Mobile Apps Attract More Customers

Every business wants to attract more customers, but the challenge is getting them to use your product or service consistently. In 2020, people are spending more time online than five to 10 years ago. With more than three billion people having access to smartphones around the world, it’s crucial to understand how your prospective customers get information.

Customer service has now moved to a digital world too. A mobile app allows the continual engagement with your customers, regardless of your operating hours. Many times, a customer could inquire about your business when a live person is unavailable to speak to them. A mobile app is a perfect solution, and it can serve much like a chatbot on a website.

Mobile Apps Can Increase Brand Awareness

Mobile apps allow you to build a long-lasting, trusting relationship with your clients. If the consumer has an awareness of your brand, it’s far more likely they’ll commit to your services down the line.

Businesses from all sectors are now starting to utilize this technology to their advantage, including healthcare. Boosting patient engagement is now seen as a priority in the field. Remote services such as teledentistry and teledermatology give clients the feeling that they have 24/7 healthcare service.

Teledentistry is even more helpful to patients who might live in rural environments that don’t have access to nearby dental clinics. Remote healthcare services are expected to grow substantially in the coming years and teledentistry companies might as well look at having an app developed for their business.

Mobile Apps Can Generate More Income

Wouldn’t you enjoy a seamless way for your company to generate more revenue? That outcome is possible with a well-integrated mobile app. More specifically, it allows your business to function more effectively. A great example is the restaurant industry. A mobile app could allow customers to book a reservation, order take-out, or even request more information on catering services. The possibilities are limitless. A sales-ready website and mobile app can be the perfect weapon to help your business reach the next level.

Mobile Apps Give Value To Your Customers

One aspect of your business that customers will love is the feeling that they get more value using your mobile app. One thing many companies big and small do is offer loyalty rewards for using their app. One example of an excellent restaurant loyalty app is the McDonald’s app. If you use the app to buy coffee, you are rewarded with a free one after purchasing five of them. A simple strategy like this will keep your customers coming back for more. You can even have them pay directly via your app, and this makes the sales process more convenient than ever.

Mobile Apps Are A Powerful Marketing Tool

Did you know that mobile apps are easily integrable with social media powerhouses like Facebook and Twitter? These social media sites serve as a marketing tool for your business. Your product or service can become well-known quickly across a large population of people. Useful mobile apps also use push notifications that act primarily as a text message. These messages allow customers to know about upcoming deals or exclusive savings that are available with the use of your mobile app. Again, they’ll always be wondering what the next hot sale might be.

As you can see, mobile apps are a powerful tool that businesses should use to help grow substantially. They’ll be an essential part of any marketing tool for the foreseeable future. If you want more productivity for your company, it can be a wise investment to look further into.

In today’s world of business, social media marketing is a huge part of growing your business and reaching a new market. Whether your business is entirely based online or you have a brick-and-mortar store, too, internet marketing is essential because it’s a major outlet for advertising. Online marketing has a lot of advantages as well because it can target a more specific audience instead of putting out blanket marketing campaigns that may not even reach your target demographic. Social media platforms allow for targeted ads that are displayed to users based on their expressed interests.

However, other forms of social advertising exist as well, particularly influencer marketing. You’ve probably heard the term “social media influencer” before. These are popular users who have gained a strong following and use vlogger kits or high-quality photography equipment to create unique and engaging content. Learn more about how you can capitalize on influencer marketing to help grow your own business.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Before you can truly understand the way that influencer marketing works, you need to have a solid understanding of what an influencer does. Social media influencers are people on specific platforms who have a very large following. This may just sound like an internet celebrity, but this is usually not the case. Most influencers have gained popularity based on their authority within a specific industry or area of knowledge. For example, some social media influencers are also models, so they promote clothing and makeup brands through their influencer marketing. Followers tend to trust these accounts more so than company accounts because their promotions seem to be more genuine.

Influencer marketing is based on the fact that word-of-mouth advertising is the most trusted type of marketing for consumers. People trust the reviews of other consumers more than a brand because they feel that a brand is simply advertising its products for its own profit. Influencers usually have a specific niche that they work in, so working with one in your own industry is a great way to specifically target an audience that is interested in your products.

Why Is Influencer Marketing Beneficial?

Aside from spreading the word about your brand and products, influencer marketing can also benefit your company in a number of other ways. When people see an influencer promoting a product, it tends to build credibility as consumers feel like they are getting valuable and truthful information from a reputable source. The more credibility your business has, the more likely people are to buy from your brand.

Influencer marketing can also greatly grow your own social media following. When people see your company mentioned and tagged in a post, they are probably going to click the tag and visit your page. If they’re interested in your products and like your content, it’s likely that they will start following your account. Although followers do not necessarily equate to customers, the more people who follow your account, the more exposure you’ll receive. People tend to trust brands that they recognize and if your company is regularly appearing in their newsfeed, they will probably remember your name and visit your site when looking for the type of products that you sell.

Types of Influencers

There are a handful of different types of influencers, and it’s important to know the difference in order to help you select the right type of influencers to help promote your business. Celebrity influencers are probably the most obvious type and also the most difficult to secure unless you own an already highly successful business. Celebrity influencers run social media ads that are similar to endorsements—promoting a specific company in exchange for payment. However, for small businesses, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to secure a celebrity influencer deal.

Focus on trying to build a connection with local, authority or network influencers. These are regular people with social media accounts who have garnered attention and respect based on their expertise. If much of your business is based on customers in your region, look into local influencers as they probably have a large follower base in the area that you are targeting. They also have a solid understanding of the area and the market. Authority influencers are people who spend a lot of time and energy building their reputation as an expert in their field. They probably give lectures and write articles or books on their given subject. This is a great option if you’re looking to reach a large audience and build credibility. Networking influencers are focused more on other connections that they have and may have the ability to connect you with other important people in your industry.

How to Start Influencer Marketing

1. Research Influencers in Your Industry

Before you can begin any type of partnership, you need to identify which influencers will be the best for your business. Conduct some research and review the pages of influencers who have clout within your field. Create a list of potential influencers whom you’d like to work with based on whom they follow and the other types of products they promote. Keep in mind that some influencers may be difficult to partner with if they are extremely popular. Micro-influencers tend to have between 1,000 to 10,000 followers and may be easier to work with while still having an influence over your target demographic.

2. Reach Out to Influencers

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of influencers, it’s time to connect with them and try to strike up a partnership. Most influencers will note in their profile bio whether you should contact them via email or direct message on the given platform about potentially working together. If they do have an email listed, it’s best to reach out this way because some of the most popular influencers’ DM inboxes may be flooded with other messages, causing yours to get lost in the mix. But, if not, a detailed message should get the point across as well.

3. Kickstart Your Influencer Partnership

Influencer marketing can help grow your business and attract new customers. Your partnership arrangements may vary based on how your chosen influencer decides to work. In most cases, actual money isn’t exchanged, though this isn’t always true. Most businesses will send influencers free products to allow them to try and accurately review each. If you’ve selected a vlogging influencer, he or she will likely use their vlogger kit to create an engaging video that informs their followers about your product, directing them to your site and creating new customers in the process.

We’ve always depended on technology to help improve our way of life. There are many modern conveniences that we would not be enjoying without technological developments. The automotive industry is no exception. After all, cars are some of the best examples of our technological prowess.

But there is a buzz in the air. We are about to make a leap in technology in the form of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. These two pieces of technology are bound to change the way we live. So, how will technology shape the landscape of the automotive industry?

Predictive Vehicle Technology

Both artificial intelligence and machine learning have a vital role to play in the automotive industry when it comes to learning a user’s behavioral patterns in order to improve a user’s driving experience. This can also help make a vehicle’s safety features more effective by making more accurate predictions on an imminent accident. This technology can also be used to operate a vehicle’s various functions.

Self-Driving Cars

While there is a lot of debate over self-driving cars and if it’s alright to completely entrust our lives to computers, there is a gray area that allows us to use self-driving cars to assist rather than replace human drivers. This could mean that a self-driving car can help a beginner learn how to drive properly and safely, or it can help a disabled person drive better by handling those aspects of driving that the person cannot handle himself.

The Internet Of Things And CAAS

Cars as a service (CAAS) functions like your typical ride-hailing app, except that the cars are fully autonomous. These cars will be able to operate within safe parameters through their connection to the Internet of Things, where all the cars that are connected to the network will be able to detect each other and adjust accordingly in order to not only avoid accidents but to also ensure that traffic will be flowing as efficiently as possible.

Consider the convenience of being able to operate your car through your smartphone, and how you could also control other devices as long as they are connected to the same network. You could potentially prep dinner with the smart appliances in your home while you’re driving from work.

Greener Cars

Electric vehicle technology allows cars to use a different mode of power in order to function. By using electricity as a power source, hybrids and electric cars lessen the need for fossil fuels, thereby preserving these valuable resources. And while there are indeed limitations to current iterations, there are many companies that specialize in the production of green cars, which means that the technology will only keep getting better.

Not only does technology influence what functions are built into cars, but it also impacts how they’re designed. There is a recurring design trend in most modern cars, whether it’s the aggressive details, a more aerodynamic frame, or even how the interiors are becoming more and more minimal. It’s these design elements that companies like XK Glow try to take into consideration when designing their products. Still, the biggest effect of technology on the auto industry will be, first and foremost, for the safety of all road users.