Managing your small business website can be a complicated process. But this week, several companies including GoDaddy, Google and Wix announced new tools to help make managing websites easier, even while on the go. You can read about these updates and more in this week’s Small Business Trends news and information roundup.
Technology Trends
GoDaddy Says Its Latest Feature Will Make it Much Easier to Launch Your WordPress Site
WordPress is used by 26.9 percent of all the websites in the world, and GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) just announced a new service called WordPress Website that will make launching more of those websites on WordPress even easier. The New GoDaddy WordPress Website Wizard GoDaddy said this will be the easiest way for small businesses to build their own WordPress website.
Google Releases Tool Kit to Speed Up Your Mobile Small Business Site
Simply having your website load on mobile devices is no longer enough. Mobile sites have to also be fast, interactive and relevant. With this realization, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) recently announced a mobile web speed toolkit that should help all publishers build a faster mobile web experience.
Newest Wix App And OS Enable Small Business Owners to Manage Websites on Mobile
Managing a website has gotten easier with mobile, but the new Wix (NASDAQ:WIX) app has gone a step further. You can now manage, create and market your small business anytime and anywhere on your mobile device. This means being able to interact with your customers in real-time to provide superior customer service.
5 New iOS Dropbox Features Let You Work from Wherever
A new version of the Dropbox iOS app is now up for grabs in the App Store. The app includes five new features that are designed to make working with files on iPad or iPhone a breeze. This update quickly follows the July launch of new features for Dropbox Enterprise and Dropbox Business administrators.First National Drone Delivery Service Launched — in Rwanda
Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday launched the world’s first national drone delivery service at a ceremony in Kigali. This comes at a time when U.S. regulatory agencies are yet to clear any kind of commercial drone delivery service here in this country.
Shutterstock Officially Launches Editor With Four New Features to Make Design Easier for Small Business Owners
The Shutterstock image editor launches this week with four new features to make design easier for small business owners and marketers. Stock images can provide an easy way for businesses to add interesting visuals to websites, content marketing and even ads. But personalizing and sharing those images can sometimes be a bit of a hassle.
HP Elite x3 Phablet May Be Pricey for Budget Conscious Small Businesses
The HP Elite x3 phablet is one device that functions as two. While it has features that back up that claim, the $799 price tag may be a bit much for some small businesses. The new x3 phablet is part of HP’s continuing effort to blur the lines between mobile and desktop computing with modular designs.
Brother Introduces More INKvestment All-in-One Printers for the Home Office
If you’re looking for a new all-in-one printer for your home office, you just got a few new options. Brother (TYO:6448) just introduced a new line of all-in-one devices that are designed specifically for small businesses as part of its INKvestment line of printers.
Economy
Trump Assembles Small Business Advisory Panel – Identifies 5 Issues
Presidential candidate Donald Trump announced the formation of a Small Business Advisory Panel this week. The panel, consisting of 17 business leaders, says it will give advice on small business issues. According to the announcement on the Trump website: “The Council is geographically, gender and ethnically diverse. It represents a cross section of the Small Business Community.
Small Business Lending From Big Banks Hits All Time High in September, Biz2Credit Says
Loan approval rates at big banks and institutional lenders improved to all-time highs in September 2016. That’s according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, the monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. Approval rates at small banks, alternative lenders and credit unions, however, saw a decline.
Marketing Tips
Starbucks Demonstrates Influencer Marketing with YouTube Star Coffee Taste Test
As social media continues to infiltrate virtually every aspect of daily life, global brands are bending over backwards to gain easy publicity by converting the web’s biggest influencers into de facto representatives — and no one is doing that better than Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).
Tiger Woods Reboots Career Launching TGR Ventures Brand
Tiger Woods has one of the most recognizable personal brands in the world. But now, as health and personal problems have caused him to fall off the top golfer slot, he’s launching a business brand apart from his personal brand. Called “TGR Ventures,” the new brand has a logo with three tiger stripes forming the shape of a W.
Retail Trends
A Third of U.S. Merchants Now Accept Chip Cards, Says U.S. Payments Forum
An increasing number of businesses are switching to chip cards, but at a slower pace. That’s according to the U.S. Payments Forum’s fall 2016 market snapshot. The report has found approximately a third of U.S. merchants now accept chip-based credit and debit cards. The U.S.
The Marijuana Industry is Booming – Even Without Banks (Watch)
The marijuana industry is booming in states like Colorado, where recreational use is legal. And as more states consider legalizing marijuana use, the industry is likely to continue growing. But jumping into this booming industry isn’t easy. Since marijuana use is still illegal on a federal level, banks are wary of working with marijuana companies.
BigCommerce, Magenta, Prestahop Sellers Can Now Promote Products on Google Shopping
Google Shopping has announced a new partnership with three major ecommerce platforms — BigCommerce, Magenta and Prestahop — to allow sellers on these platforms to easily promote their products via the Google Shopping service this holiday season, and beyond.
Small Biz Spotlight
Spotlight: Primaseller is a Swiss Army Knife for Small Retailers
There’s a lot that goes into running an online retail business. And all of those tools and resources can be costly and complicated for small businesses. But that’s exactly what Primaseller is trying to simplify. The company provides a number of different solutions for retail businesses, online and offline.
Small Business Operations
SimpleBusiness Gives Small Companies Buying Power of Large Firms
SimpleBusiness is a brand new community that offers small businesses discounts and best pricing on many of the products and services you purchase regularly. Founded by Scott Gerber and Ryan Paugh, the duo behind Young Entrepreneur Council, SimpleBusiness aims to help small businesses get the same type of buying power that large firms and corporations enjoy.
Social Media
Don’t Be Fooled, Facebook Privacy Hoax is Again Making the Rounds
By now, you must have come across the copyright and privacy notices that have been making rounds on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). If you haven’t, then you probably have intelligent friends that are not easily fooled. The dreaded paragraph-long Facebook privacy hoax is not entirely new as some have been circulating on the social media site for years now.
That’s Pintastic! Pinterest Crosses 150 Million Monthly Users
Pinterest has surpassed 150 million monthly active users, with more than 75 billion ideas shared. That’s a 50 percent increase from last year when it crossed 100 million monthly users. But more than the big milestone, the company is excited about the diverse group of people using the site.
New Facebook Events App Could Also Be Helpful for Marketing, Appointments
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) recently launched an all new app that’s solely dedicated to events. The standalone app, creatively named ‘Events from Facebook,’ is designed for events seekers — and business people in a way. The app is available in iOS for U.S. users and will soon be available on Android too.
Mobile Technology
Acer Liquid Jade Primo Demonstrates Trend of Business Phones to Replace your PC
As phablets look to replace PCs altogether, cost is becoming a barrier for small businesses with limited budgets. The Acer Liquid Jade Primo is a more affordable option than the HP Elite x3, which has powerful features but comes in at $800. However, the Jade Primo doesn’t sacrifice on the specs and it has features that more than meet the use cases for small business.
$50 Amazon Phone Makes It Easy to Go Mobile — But With Lots of Ads and Clutter
The number one seller in the unlocked cell phones category on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the $50 Blu R1 HD, which is sold out as of this posting. This is an Amazon phone made by Blu, a US based company that offers the phone for $100, but with Amazon Prime you only pay half the price. For this subsidy, Amazon has tweaked the operating system to load the entire suite of Amazon apps.
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