WebProNews

Author: Brian Wallace

  • How Crypto Pairs Help You Maximize Benefits in Volatile Markets

    How Crypto Pairs Help You Maximize Benefits in Volatile Markets

    The crypto market is full of different crypto instruments. On average, there are at least 12k cryptocurrencies for a crypto investor to consider. Out of these, many people know a handful widely.

    Contrasting the figure with fiat, there are only about 180 fiat currencies. The differences in fiat value are the reason for the bustling forex currency market that invites many traders. While not so much talked about, the crypto market has its exchange market. The industry borrows heavily from the fiat currency market, where a person can easily exchange a Bitcoin for Ethereum and vice versa. 

    People seeking tips for cryptocurrency margin trading or any other type of trading often hope for straightforward answers that point them towards the perfect direction for maximum profits. The dynamics in the crypto exchange markets are hard to predict and often make investment positions in crypto highly risky. However, beyond day traders, crypto pairs work for people looking to use different blockchain networks. 

    Exchanging BTC for LTC

    The fiat market has some preferred fiat pairs, which dominate the trade. As of this writing, the Dollar and Euro dominate the forex markets in terms of volume exchanged. The reason for USD/EURO dominance is that the two pairs are the most preferred in the world for exchanging goods and services. 

    The Sterling pound dominates the currency market in the United Kingdom. The Yen has its dominance in the Asian markets. In a nutshell, a local currency will dominate the domestic market, alongside an internationally acceptable unit of currency, which is usually the dollar or the Euro. 

    Bitcoin is the Base Exchange point in crypto pairing. It is the most valuable crypto and has significant popularity in the crypto space. While Ethereum is the second most valuable crypto, only behind Bitcoin as of this writing, Bitcoin pairing with the dollar takes the lion’s share. Noteworthy, the latter is not a cryptocurrency. However, in pure crypto matters, the BTC/ETH pairing is what dominates the crypto markets.

    In matters BTC and LTC, the latter is a minor player in the currency market alongside over 10,000 other cryptocurrencies. People looking to own some LTC might have some difficulties using BTC to have a piece. However, to make the transaction a possibility, a crypto fanatic can liquidate their Bitcoin in an exchange, and then use fiat to buy LTC. 

    Some exchanges allow the trading of one crypto with the other, but since over 11K of them exist, some will require the dollar to buy them. 

    Why Is BTC The Base Crypto?

    Usually, the leading trading commodity by volume of trade is the base tool to standardize any market. In the currency world, each of the over 180 fiat is the base currency in an individual state, using the currency for local exchanges. For example, the Rand is the most useful exchange tool in South Africa. 

    However, when looking at things from an international perspective, the forex market becomes something entirely different. Smaller currencies have minuscule or non-existent reserves in other central banks. The reserves help local businesses trade internationally. 

    The dollar on its part has built a reputation over the years, coupled with US economic hegemony, which makes most central banks and countries use it as a reserve. Therefore, the dollar has become the base fiat currency, meaning that other currencies base their values using it when trading internationally.

    Other reserve currencies are the Euro, the Sterling pound, and the Japanese currency.

    The crypto exchange market is not far off from the ordinary forex markets. Bitcoin being the most valuable crypto has earned the right to base the value of other coins on crypto exchanges. 

    How Do Stablecoins Fair in Crypto Exchanges

    Stablecoins are already in parity with the dollar according to their definition. Using stablecoins in the exchange market is akin to making a BTC/USD pair. However, in their own right, stablecoins are not fiat, meaning that they work in decentralized exchanges. Therefore, a USDT/ETH pair is highly probable. 

    Closing Remarks

    A slight change in the price of one coin over the other makes crypto pairs a working investment strategy for a day trader. Many events crop up in the crypto markets that help make a coin more or less valuable. 

    For example, a BTC endorsement on Twitter will quickly shift the value of Bitcoin much higher against another cryptocurrency. A watchful crypto investor can quickly dump their BTC for the dollar. 

    Crypto pairs also help blockchain users change their crypto for the one that supports a particular blockchain.

  • Live Video Trends You Should Know

    Live Video Trends You Should Know

    Over the past few years, particularly since the COVID pandemic began in 2020, the use of live video has become something that is commonplace and integral to many facets of daily life. From business, to entertainment, to social interactions, and more, live video is no longer reserved for occasional use in lieu of physical interaction, but rather it has very much become the norm.

    Live Video Has Been on the Rise

    In fact, the growth of live video has become so rapid and widespread that global revenue is projected to reach beyond 180 billion dollars within the next few years. Of course, it’s easy to see how this speedy upward trajectory has evolved.

    Since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, remote interactions have skyrocketed. Where we once worked mainly in offices in a particular geographical location, and we once did most of our socializing in person, and we frequented theaters for new releases, now all of these things can and do happen from the comfort of our own homes or other remote locations.

    All of this new connectivity outside of larger, better equipped networks, such as those in place in a company’s headquarters, have given rise to an increase in connectivity issues and security vulnerabilities. Naturally, we’re seeing these problems with the use of live video as well.

    Live video is certainly not only used for business meetings. We’re using live video for marketing, brand engagement, gaming, B2B, webinars, healthcare, real estate, entertainment, social interactions, and more. Regardless of our intent and purpose, the problems we face are common among all uses.

    Live Video Issues

    The most common problems have to do with a variety of aspects such as bandwidth availability, internet connection, compatibility, encoding, privacy, and user interface. Having all of these things in place for every live video interaction is crucial to maintaining a quality live video experience.

    One of the main reasons why we’re experiencing the common challenges is that there are so many video platforms available, but the majority were developed prior to the pandemic, therefore their development didn’t intrinsically rise to the challenges which were relatively minimal at the time, but which have become quite pervasive three years into the sudden transition to remote.

    Although we’ve returned to the “old normal” in many ways, this trend of remote connection is not going anywhere and we must embrace every available technology to diminish the difficulties.

    Fortunately, there is a solution which needs to become as commonplace as live video itself. Single stream technology resolves all of the most common concerns surrounding every live video experience.

    Single stream technology takes data from any source, every live video stream, along with each participant, and merges them all together into a single interface, displaying a single live video feed. It can be used on any device and requires no infrastructure for clients or live video viewers.

    In Conclusion

    Single stream technology answers the challenges of bandwidth availability, complies with every new privacy law, smooths out any potential problem area for lagging or connectivity interruption, and ultimately produces a high quality live video every single time.

    The power of nimble live video
    Source: eyeson.com



  • Inflation Then and Now: How Gold Has Stayed On Top

    While nearly everyone is aware that inflation is not a new trend in the United States, it may still be surprising how much prices have changed over the past few decades. Did you know that $.06 in 1922 has the same buying power as $1 today?  While prices are soaring, it is clear the value of the dollar is declining, and yet gold has still remained one of the most valuable investments. 

    Price Increases Through the Years

    Over the last 100 years, prices for some of the most basic items have increased by hundreds or even thousands of percent. For example, in the last century the price of milk has increased from $.69 to over $6, an 825% increase. The 1960’s saw the first year where a gallon of milk cost more than a dollar, but now milk for a dollar is unheard of. An even higher increase can be seen in the price of a new car which rose 23,815% from $260 to over $60,000. 

    With all of these increases, the value of money is declining. As of today it is estimated that $1 will only amount to about $.65 in ten years due to runaway inflation rates. The 1980’s saw inflation hit an all time high of 14.5%. The value of the dollar diminished significantly into the 2000’s, and once the pandemic hit in 2020 it decreased even more due to the unconventional recession. In 2021 the US dollar depreciated 16% compared to the Australian dollar, 12% compared to the Canadian dollar, and 9% compared to the British pound. Even with the patterns of inflation and money decreasing in value, gold has remained one of the safest investments. 

    Why Gold Holds Its Own

    Gold is one of the few investments with 0% counterparty risk which makes it safer than other options. It also has a higher investment return rate of nearly 25% compared to the 18% return rate of the stock market.  Gold also has a set amount of 244,000 metric tons on the Earth. Paper money only loses its value further when it is overprinted which cannot happen with gold. Gold has also been where many investors turn to in times of past recessions.

    In the 2008-2012 recession, gold saw a 101% surge in interest. Investors saw the decrease of the value of currency and poured more money into gold which caused its value to increase.  Since investors found so much success in the past, there has been a stronger public demand in times of economic strife. In fact, 1 in 6 Americans bought gold in 2020 and overall demand jumped 80%

    In Conclusion

    Today, inflation continues to rise. In 2022, inflation rose 9.1% and it is not expected to slow down any time soon especially given the Russia / Ukraine conflict. The value of the dollar is continuing to decline, and if history continues to repeat itself we will see investors turning to gold once again. This should lead to yet another surge in interest and value and keep gold on top of all other investments To learn more about how gold holds its value in times of inflation, take a look at the infographic below:

    In An Era Of Inflation, Gold Still Reigns Supreme
    Brought to you by: usgoldbureau.com
  • SEO for Lawyers – What to Know

    SEO for Lawyers – What to Know

    In the legal field, there are many ways to stand out from your competitors. You can have a bigger office, more staff members, or even better marketing strategies than other lawyers in your area of practice. One crucial way to attract new clients is search engine optimization (SEO). 

    In this post, we will go over what search engine optimization for lawyers is and how you can use its tactics to help grow your client base and become more visible on the internet.

    What is SEO?

    Digital marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO) involve using search engines, notably Google, to drive organic (non-payment) traffic to a website and other online profiles. Using SEO, law firms can bring targeted traffic to their websites, directories, or blogs over the long term.

    Due to the type of services they provide, lawyers frequently use SEO as their primary marketing strategy. Instead of searching on social media (though it’s important to also have a good social media plan), prospective clients most frequently use Google to search for lawyers in their region.

    As a result, SEO is recommended for legal firm advertising.

    It is already clear that the majority of people search online for legal assistance. Despite the value of social media and verbal, online search frequently dominates the research process.

    Search engine optimization is the only marketing strategy your law firm can use to yield cumulative long-term returns.

    For instance, content creation offers the following three opportunities:

    1. Possibility of increasing traffic and keyword rankings
    2. Excellent content to produce organic link-building opportunities enhances your capacity to rank higher in Search results even further.
    3. The capacity to persuade website visitors to put their trust in you and get in touch with you.

    SEO’s Benefits for Law Firms

    For law firms, SEO is essential for the following reasons.

    1. Find clients in your area looking for the service your law firm offers. 
    2. Get a weekly, monthly, or yearly flow of organic traffic to your website. 
    3. Amplify the brand awareness of your law firm. 
    4. Obtain backlinks that will increase authority. 
    5. A better and more engaging website experience

    Why Do I Need an SEO- and Conversion-optimized Website for My Law Firm?

    Since search engines like Google are the primary source for people to find businesses to hire, attorneys must have a search-engine-optimized website.

    All of your efforts to develop and market your company and position yourself in front of your ideal target market should be founded on SEO.

    Your website’s design is crucial as well. Having a high-ranking site with a poor design will reduce lead generation. It should be developed to increase understanding, promote trust, and motivate action.

    How SEO Compares to Other Legal Marketing Channels 

    Legal SEO versus Google Ads and PPC

    If your marketing visibility is primarily from pay-per-click and sponsored ads, it vanishes once you stop paying for it. SEO for law firms is an investment. 

    Your content and backlinks have a long-lasting, evergreen effect; in other words, their rankings continue to pay off for years. Conversely, good SEO tells Google that your law firm is the authority of your specific practice areas.

    Social media marketing versus SEO

    On desktop, search traffic converts ten times better than social networking traffic.

    Search engines, especially Google, are increasingly used on the internet to filter out the noise because they have gotten better at deciphering the meaning of the words we type into them.

    Given the prevalence of search, it only makes sense for lawyers who market themselves online to make sure their sites are designed and set up to be simple to use.

    Conclusion 

    SEO is a powerful tool to help lawyers stand out in search engine results. To get more clients, you should focus on generating quality content for your website and using SEO strategies to drive traffic back there. This will help you connect with people who may one day need legal representation.

  • The Mandela Effect: Dangers of False Memories

    The Mandela Effect: Dangers of False Memories

    Human memory is a complicated thing. We remember relatively little of what we experience on a day to day basis, largely because a lot of information we encounter is repetitive or irrelevant. Despite that, humans rely on their memory for everything from brushing our teeth (muscle memory) to following current events. We want our memory to provide us an accurate account of the past; it does so less often than we might like. For one, we forget information often. Beyond that, we can be made confident we remember false information. In a recent memory study, 76% of adults failed to recall information accurately. 

    Introducing the Mandela Effect

    This is a problem at the individual level. What are we supposed to do when we realize we don’t remember something correctly? It is most likely we will ask another person. What are the chances everyone in a group remembers something the same wrong way? Higher than one might think. In 2009, paranormal expert Fiona Broome started a website to describe a strange phenomenon; despite Nelson Mandela assuming the South African presidency in 1994, a significant group of people still believed he had died in 1980. Today, the Mandela Effect is recognized as an umbrella term for any instance of a large group misremembering a specific detail or event.

    How common is the Mandela Effect in everyday life? More common than most people would be comfortable with, that’s for sure. In popular culture alone, many people remember Rich Uncle Pennybags (the “Monopoly Man”) as wearing a monocle. The branded character has never been illustrated that way in an official capacity. Movies and TV shows are misquoted frequently, to the frustration of their fanbases. Perhaps the most famous example after Mandela himself is The Berenstain Bears. Named after author Mike Berenstain, readers around the world insist the correct spelling is “Berenstein.” Some go as far as saying they possess books with the misspelling in print. 

    Most of the examples above are innocent. It doesn’t harm anyone to remember the Monopoly Man as monocled. More concerning is the implication of the Mandela Effect. Large swaths of the population can be confident (and even combative) regarding their recollection of falsehoods. Recent studies suggest that up to 1 in 2 people may not be able to distinguish between false memories and real ones. In our modern era, the internet makes it very easy for misinformation to spread. Individuals with the right skills can create deepfakes that seem to be indistinguishable from real video footage. How is society supposed to function when different groups experience alternate versions of reality?

    In Conclusion

    How can individuals avoid the Mandela Effect in their own life? As an emerging memory science, there is a lot about the Mandela Effect scientists still don’t understand. However, fact checking goes a long way. Endeavor to get news from a wide variety of sources, especially when details appear to be in contention. Be careful to avoid mob mentality, as the pressure of group conformity is one of the ways false memories spread.

    Mandela Effect
    Brought to you by: Online-Psychology-Degrees.org
  • How to Increase Sales in Online Marketplaces

    How to Increase Sales in Online Marketplaces

    If you’re not selling online, are you really selling? This is a question you likely asked yourself in the beginning stages of building your business. And if you’re an executive of a company who has been selling online for a while, you may be trying to figure out how to sell more online. Even if you have the most revolutionary product lineup, getting into the hands of your audiences is not easy. 

    As the pandemic demonstrated, nearly everything is available online and ready to ship to your door instantaneously. From toilet paper to milk, bedding to televisions, everything you could possibly want, need, or desire can be found online. This fact is mindblowing when you think about how shopping used to be strictly done in-person. Now you can pre-order your groceries from the comfort of your couch and order school supplies for your kids at the same time. 

    The online marketplace is cluttered with literally millions of brands competing for the same consumers. Differentiating yourself as a brand can be tricky, no matter if you are a small business or a large retailer. If you’re looking to increase your brand’s sales online, then you’ve come to the right place. Below are three ways to boost your sales and get consumers coming back for your products time and time again.  

    1. Make Friends with Amazon

    Despite your personal feelings toward Amazon, the truth is, selling on Amazon can be extremely beneficial. Consumers who are willing to try a new product will likely first search on Amazon to see if it’s available. Free, expedited shipping for Prime customers is a gamechanger for consumers in this must-have-it-now landscape. And while buying on Amazon may be simple, selling on this e-commerce site is a different story. 

    Before you start selling on Amazon, be sure to read all of its rules and regulations. Skipping this step may lead you to a suspended amazon seller account. This often happens due to lack of performance, like policy violations or a lack of sales. It can also happen, however, if you have multiple selling accounts or you are selling something prohibited by the site. Having a suspension can be a frustrating experience, and it can take days if not weeks to get your account restored. 

    Your best bet to selling successfully on Amazon is to do your homework. Make sure your business is set up with proper documentation. Once you’re on the e-commerce site, be responsible to your purchasers. If something is delayed due to inventory, communicate this with your buyers. Also, if you receive a negative comment, be sure to respond to the feedback on the site directly. These small tips will boost your Amazon seller profile and hopefully keep you far away from a suspension. 

    2. Be Active on Social Media 

    Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are making it even easier for users to stop what they’re doing mid-scroll and purchase products. As a business, you want to capture users’ attention when they are most vulnerable and most likely to purchase. You can do this by being an active brand on social media. This can look like creating funny or memorable Instagram Reels or having an enticing giveaway. 

    If you aren’t socially savvy, that’s alright. There are plenty of tutorials online to get you started and inspire you to create buzzworthy content. If you’re still at a loss, you may consider hiring a social guru either as a full-time employee or contractor. Having a dedicated social media person on your team can ensure your business is at the forefront of latest trends. This will pay off quickly when you see how many new customers are finding your brand through social apps. 

    Another thing to note: make sure your checkout experience is simple. The more seamless the checkout experience, the more likely someone is going to buy right away. If the process is tedious or laborsome, users will click back and continue scrolling. The likelihood of them coming back to your site to purchase is slim to none. Monitoring your consumers’ purchase journey is one key way to ensure they are completing their orders quickly and efficiently. 

    3. Manage Your Inventory

    This last tip is especially relevant today. Shortages have become relatively normal since the onset of the pandemic. Currently, everything from baby formula to tampons to Sirarchia is in low supply. The reason for these shortages stems from a weak supply chain. Raw materials are limited, human labor is varied, and shipping or transportation is unstable. This can lead to your business suffering from less or delayed inventory. 

    As a business, being upfront with your customers is key. If you are facing inventory shortages, it’s important to let your customers know before they checkout. This can look like putting a banner on the top of your website communicating this to them. Nobody wants to be surprised after they’ve already paid to find out the new item they bought will be shipped weeks from now. The sooner you communicate issues with your consumers, the more they will trust you as a brand and repeat business. 

    If you are selling on multiple platforms — like your website, Amazon, and social — then keeping up with your inventory is key. You may want to look into an inventory management system to help you and your team keep track of what is available. Moreover, implementing this system can help you track what items are in demand and when you need to order more. 

    Takeaways

    Selling online isn’t as simple as selling lemonade at your neighborhood block party. You have to get in front of the right audience in the moment they are looking to buy. You also have to create a seamless shopping experience and communicate openly to increase customer satisfaction. While you will definitely face hiccups from your online marketplaces, remember that honesty is always the best policy. Represent your business and show up for your customers with respect to become a favorable brand in their eyes. 

  • How to Eliminate – or at Least Reduce – Risk in Your Business

    How to Eliminate – or at Least Reduce – Risk in Your Business

    Part of any business plan includes managing risks. At any moment, a company’s reputation and financial sustainability can be put on the line. Everything from emerging competitors to natural disasters requires strategies that help stakeholders lessen or avoid the impacts.

    While risk management should be a top priority for executives and owners, it can get put on the back burner. The demands of day-to-day operations sometimes supersede a list of what-if scenarios. However, a lack of planning can lead to poor decisions and exacerbate crisis moments. Here’s how to get ahead of business risks by eliminating or mitigating them.   

    Use Holistic Methods and Tools

    Every organization has a unique way of operating. Internal processes, procedures, quality standards, and acceptable behaviors work to form a distinct culture. At the same time, these norms and guidelines help ensure a business accomplishes its goals and uses resources effectively.      

    Potential risks are forces that could prevent a company from successfully achieving its objectives. Managing threats involves relying on internal processes to determine what they are and how to respond to them. Alongside this are rules and laws businesses must follow to comply with government and industry standards. When put together, these separate pieces form what’s known as governance, risk, and compliance, or GRC.

    GRC is a way to treat risk management as part of a holistic approach. Establishing strong guardrails against potential perils is difficult if processes and standards become disjointed. For instance, laws and industry guidelines influence how a business should protect consumer data and privacy. But if executive management isn’t 100% aware of the IT team’s procedures, it’ll be challenging to implement checks and balances.

    And without good oversight and visibility, poorly designed procedures expose a business to more cybersecurity threats. A preventable data breach means legal liabilities and industry standard or certification violations. Plus, there are reimbursements for consumer damages and the loss of future revenues. Fortunately, a GRC tool can increase visibility and transparency about risks and insufficient processes. Stakeholders can correct deficiencies before they lead to disaster.  

    Include a Contingency Plan

    To make a contingency plan, you have to anticipate worst-case scenarios. Think of a tornado striking your production facility, an employee embezzling millions, or a ransomware attack shutting everything down. While it’s not likely all of those threats will happen simultaneously, it’s conceivable. Good risk management assesses the probability of worst-case scenarios and develops response plans, including contingencies.

    When disasters strike, small and medium-sized businesses tend to be more susceptible. About 40% of SMBs never reopen after a natural disaster. Another 25% close up shop within a year of reopening. Contingencies like insurance and disaster recovery procedures can help prevent this.

    Contingency planning is meant to put tools and solutions in place that allow companies to bounce back from worst-case situations. These backup plans can also buffer the negative effects of disasters and manifested risks. Maybe you have other facilities you can easily convert into production floors if your main location is out of commission. Or perhaps you keep a vendor on standby that can jump in and temporarily take over.

    Making contingency plans builds redundancy into your organization and its processes. As long as you list out each threat and its likelihood of occurring, you can determine a workaround or response. While you hopefully never have to use them, you’ll at least have blueprints for action.

    Diversify as Much as Possible

    If you invest, you’re familiar with the practice of diversification. Putting all your money into one stock is a bad idea for a reason. You increase your risk of loss because your investment depends on a single stock’s performance. When that stock underperforms, your money could be wiped out within days or weeks. But you reduce your investment portfolio’s chances of losing value if you put your money in multiple stocks and bonds.

    Similarly, businesses with one product or service are more vulnerable to loss. The same goes for companies that sell to a single market or customer. These organizations become dependent on one revenue stream, increasing the chance of failure should that stream go dry. The impacts of disruptions and competitors also become more severe.

    For example, global supply chain disruptions are touching nearly every business today. However, some industries and companies may be more susceptible because of a lack of diversification. For instance, a shortage of semiconductors caused a 2.3 million shortfall in North American auto production in 2021. Other products that use semiconductors, like smartphones and HVAC equipment, have also been in short supply.

    Businesses that sell these items can’t meet revenue targets if sufficient product isn’t available. In the meantime, what some of these companies can do is pivot. Heating and cooling contractors could shift toward selling services, such as maintenance and protection packages for existing HVAC units. Cellular carriers could also put more effort into selling services, or they could lease the use of their towers. The more options you build into your business model, the less likely you’ll bear the full brunt of disruptive forces.

    Dealing With Risk

    Opening a business is inherently risky. There may be plenty of rewards in store, but you must overcome obstacles and ward off threats to achieve them. Holistic management approaches and tools, contingency plans, and diversifying business lines are ways to remove as much risk as possible. While risks will always exist, these strategies can help businesses avoid or reduce their negative effects.

  • Handy Tips For Ecommerce Success

    Handy Tips For Ecommerce Success

    If you’re an e-commerce store owner, you know the challenges of running an online business. There are so many moving parts to keep track of that it can often feel like your business is constantly in flux. In order to avoid feeling overwhelmed by all the different responsibilities that need to be taken care of, here are a few tips for keeping your e-commerce store successful:

    Choose your e-commerce platform wisely

    Choosing the right e-commerce platform is one of the most important things you can do to prepare for your store’s launch. As an entrepreneur, you have limited resources and time to devote to your business. You don’t want any part of your e-commerce project to be a burden or drain on any of those precious resources; you need it all directed towards maximizing sales and increasing revenue.

    To ensure this happens, select an e-commerce platform that’s easy to use and integrates smoothly with other services like email marketing software (MailChimp) and social media marketing tools (Buffer). The more seamless these experiences are, the better customers will feel about their experience interacting with you as a brand!

    Another thing to consider is whether or not this platform will scale as sales grow—and if so, how easy will it be? Some platforms offer plugins that make scaling much easier than others—so make sure it’s one of those before committing long-term!

    The last thing worth mentioning here is that platforms that allow for quick updates also help manageability for staff members who might not be tech-savvy but still need access to run their teams efficiently.

    Invest in quality images

    If you want to create an engaging brand, then you need to invest in your visual assets. The best way to do this is through consistent, high-quality photos of your products. A good picture will help your customers visualize what it would be like if they owned that item, which will likely make them more likely to click “Buy Now!”

    Having a solid tech stack with the best tools for e-commerce will help you keep up with such needs and more.

    Optimize for mobile

    Mobile is the future of e-commerce, and if you want to be a part of that future, you need to make sure your site is optimized for mobile.

    Make sure your site is responsive.

    Responsive design means that the layout of your website adapts based on how it’s being viewed. The full version will load if accessed from a desktop computer. If it’s accessed from a mobile device (phone or tablet), then smaller images will be shown, and text will be easier to read. It’s important that whichever way someone accesses your site, it looks good and works well at all times, so they have an enjoyable experience every time they come back!

    Use social proof

    Social proof is a great way to build trust with your customers. To demonstrate social proof, you may include reviews, testimonials, case studies and product ratings—all of which will help customers decide about buying from you.

    Another great thing about social proof is the positive results it can have on your Ecommerce store’s conversion rate. You should create a strategy to get more reviews from happy customers on your website. Not only does this help increase trustworthiness, but it also gives potential customers an idea of what they can expect when they make a purchase from your store.

    Conclusion

    Ecommerce is an exciting venture, but it can also be challenging. You need to invest time and energy into your business, as well as have a clear plan for what you want it to accomplish. These tips will help you get started on the right foot and give you some ideas about where to go next once you’ve got your feet wet with online sales.

  • Why Businesses Should Be Using Git for Software Development and Releases

    Why Businesses Should Be Using Git for Software Development and Releases

    Git is the most popular version control system (for software development) globally. It is a dependable option for collaborative development, as it does not only reliably monitor the changes in the project files but also enables the reversion to specific older versions of a software project. These already make Git an excellent option for collaboration, but it also offers several other features developers love.

    However, it’s not going to be all fun and games with Git. Businesses that decide to adopt it, should also be ready for the potential problems. Issues are inevitable, although the benefits clearly overwhelm them.

    Veering away from unnecessary complexities

    While some may argue against the claim that Git is easy to use, many would respond that Git is indeed intuitive, especially in simple use cases. Using it gets harder as systems become more complex, but not to an extent that would make developers abandon it without second thoughts. Noted developer Mislav Marohnić admits that his view that “Git is simply too hard” is unpopular, a minority opinion.

    To be intimidated by Git is counterproductive. Most of the issues that emerge when using it are unlikely to be as overwhelmingly complicated as some think they are. For example, when encountering the common error “fatal: remote origin already exists” upon running the git add remote origin command, the solution is simply to check if the “origin” handler already exists. If it does exist, running the command “git remote remove origin” will get rid of it and restore normal functions. The handler may also be renamed, or its pointing URL updated.

    If the errors are appearing more frequently and in greater numbers or instances, organizations can use an automated troubleshooting solution that provides advanced features including in-depth visibility, change intelligence, and insights into service dependencies. This solution can serve as a single source of truth (SSOT) for all troubleshooting processes and ensure greater efficiency. It takes away the unnecessary complications in processes and supports more efficient development and releases.

    Building strong development teams

    Git can be great for recruiting and nurturing strong development team members. On GitHub, in particular, developers readily present their credentials and accomplishments together with details on their website projects, open-source development projects, and repositories forked. Companies can look for remarkable talents by examining the candidates’ involvement with Git.

    Also, Git is a great place for honing junior developers to become strong and confident development team members. It provides a safe and empowering environment to work on projects, where members do not have to be worried about messing up or crashing a system. They can freely proceed with their experiments and pursue novel ideas that can help them enhance their skills in the long term while developing something that can potentially become big in the future.

    Enriching design skills and experiences

    Another excellent advantage of Git is its featured branches or feature branch workflow, which is highly suitable for rapid prototyping. With this, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designers get a sandboxed environment where they can try out their ideas and look back at the chronology of the project.

    Git is primarily built for developers and IT teams, but designers benefit from it as they create mockups and prototypes that would be submitted to developers. It is useful in implementing design changes to a product that is already being produced or has already been launched. Additionally, Git helps in providing guidance to developers regarding the development of specific design elements crucial to creating good user experiences. Also, Git can create a shareable workflow for the benefit of both the developer and design teams.

    With Git, designers and developers can see all the changes and progress they have made over the life cycle of the project. They can see how everything will look and play out without having to worry about breaking existing product functionalities. This sandboxed environment is a great way to present UI/UX project updates to the management or stakeholders.

    Enhancing marketing and product management

    Git has marketing and product management benefits, which are based mainly on its ability to speed up releases and enable developers to work faster and respond more quickly to changes. With Git’s collaboration-supporting features and ability to plug into other systems, companies can rapidly make their products available to clients or customers and allocate more of their time and effort to other important tasks.

    The shorter development cycles afford more time for marketing initiatives and ample opportunities to discuss product changes or explain new product features to a broader target audience. At the same time, since Git supports version incrementing, companies also have the option to focus their marketing efforts on specific feature rollouts. They do not have to wait for feature upgrades or updates to be accumulated first and then rolled out in a single major release. This flexibility in marketing software products is definitely an advantage for organizations making do with their budgetary, time, talent, and other resource limitations.

    On the other hand, Git provides product management benefits because of the frequent client feedback. Since product releases can be done frequently and for specific feature updates or function upgrades, development teams do not have to wait for weeks to get actual user reviews. They get to promptly troubleshoot problems and improve functions based on user feedback.

    Providing competent customer support

    Software customers are meticulous when it comes to technical assistance. They know they are supposedly dealing with technical experts, so they expect nothing but top-notch customer support. Git allows companies to provide the kind of pre- and post-sales customer service customers are expecting by providing a comprehensive reference for everything that has happened with the development of a software product.

    Git streamlines the development cycle, so bug fixes and enhancements are well-documented and promptly implemented. In turn, the software vendor can easily inform its customer service arm on what they need to know about their software products. This allows them to be knowledgeable enough to address customer questions proficiently and to resolve customer concerns satisfactorily.

    Improving experiences for everyone

    The numerous advantages and benefits of Git are not exclusive to developers or development teams. Businesses engaged in software development and sales, as a whole, can see palpable improvements in their operations with Git integrated as part of their development process. The efficiency this popular version control system provides also has the advantage of reducing operating costs and cutting down processes that slow down product development and release.

  • Email Syncing: What is it and Why You Need it

    Email Syncing: What is it and Why You Need it

    The world is in an era where technology is changing fast and affecting the way people communicate. The business sector is one of the industries that has been changed by technological advancements. Big amounts of data are generated daily from different sources, such as email communication. 

    To respond better to emails and enhance customer satisfaction, companies must sync their devices across the board. Enterprises use emails across different platforms, and syncing them on the business’s daily functioning improves accessibility and response time. Email syncing avails both current and historical email communications in a company. 

    What does email syncing mean?

    To sync means to back up data from multiple sources or devices and to avail it on multiple devices at the same time. The data can be in various forms, such as calendar events, emails, videos, or photos. When emails are synced, it is availed from different platforms or servers into a single platform. 

    Syncing helps streamline a company’s email processes. The top beneficiary of email syncing is the sales or marketing team because they can manage all incoming and outgoing emails from one place. It helps improve the team’s productivity and boosts sales in a company. 

    The syncing process combines different sets of tools, software, and systems that create a seamless marketing strategy. One of the main tools used in email syncing is the Salesforce plugin for Gmail integration. Revenue Grid automatically updates your Salesforce by capturing all activities from your Gmail inbox. Its auto-capture feature allows your marketing team to collect all information from the meetings, emails, and tasks and update them in the Salesforce records at the same time. 

    Why is email syncing in a company important?

    Email syncing provides an instant update of your inboxes in real-time. Bringing your emails into one place provides the marketing team with multiple benefits. 

    All communication can be viewed from one place

    It is harder to track communication when it is coming from different sources or devices. The sales/marketing team has to keep switching from one device or platform. It takes more time to check all emails and respond to each, which could lead to lost business opportunities. 

    Syncing brings all your communication to one place, making it easier to view different communications from clients. The sales team can easily respond to emails according to priority and customize responses according to customer needs. 

    It is easier to develop detailed email lists

    Building email lists is beneficial to marketing teams in different ways. It makes it easier for them to segment customers and create marketing content unique to each segment. This type of content can be newsletters, marketing videos, and product suggestions. The syncing tool integrates all emails from different channels into one platform. The marketing team saves time by making sure every important piece of information needed is in one place. The team enhances productivity which helps increase sales. 

    Sending automated emails

    Creating different content for each market segment and sending it to individual recipients takes more time. When the email lists are long, some of the customers may fail to receive their emails in time, or they may receive the wrong content. Automating email workflows ensures each recipient gets the right content at the right time. Email automation has several benefits for a company. 

    • The marketing team nurtures leads into customers, which increases sales.
    • Automation doesn’t need human intervention. All that the marketing team needs to do is to create the content and set up the lists according to recipients, time, and day. The system automatically sends the emails to the right recipients when needed. 
    • The marketing team can easily view email engagements. Some of the tools allow the marketing team to view who received emails and the action they took. That way, they can make product suggestions to the customer and increase sales opportunities.
    • Raises brand awareness. Email automation ensures a consistent marketing strategy. The company appears better organized to clients, which increases brand reputation. 

    Better return on investment

    The marketing team must generate a report on the performance of each marketing campaign. Syncing allows the team to see how each campaign performs, and they can use the information to improve marketing strategies for each market segment. Email syncing positively impacts a company’s return on investment. 

  • Who Needs M-Commerce Applications?

    Who Needs M-Commerce Applications?

    In a world where physical outlets are shrinking and apps are helping businesses drive sales growth, the smartphone is one of the most powerful tools to connect with your target audience. Almost every adult has it, and online giants are scaling their ecosystems by developing mobile shopping. In this article, we will discuss the viability of cooperation with mobile app developers for modern business.

    Does your business need an app?

    Almost all retailers are thinking about developing their own mobile solution for growth in m-commerce. Everyone wants to be in trend, but it can be difficult to decide and seriously change the entire sales system. Creating an m-commerce product requires research and understanding of new retail customer trajectories on the way to purchases, creating infrastructure in the company itself, including organizing logistics, working with CRM systems, and developing support and loyalty programs.

    However, there is definitely a business for which the creation of m-commerce applications is most relevant.

    1. Food delivery services.

    Trading networks. The application provides not only sales but also helps to build loyalty. This is especially true for local players, for whom it is important to keep regular customers in their area of ​​the city or their region. This also includes non-grocery chains – hardware stores, cosmetics, and electronics stores.

    1. Traditional online stores and product marketplaces.

    E-commerce is moving to mobile applications, as this allows you to build a trusting relationship with the buyer. The application gives more opportunities for interaction and helps to control the needs and desires of buyers.

    1. Advertising companies.

    Such a powerful advertising resource as social networks are increasingly adapting to smartphones and tablets.

    1. Medical, administrative, and social institutions.

    The use of m-commerce tools will reduce the burden on employees and simplify interaction with visitors.

    The main tasks mobile applications for retail solve

    The main questions that customers of m-commerce applications have are: “Why should I spend money on development? What can the application give me that the client cannot do on the site or live? Why would customers download my app, and what will the company get from downloading it?”

    A good mobile application should be useful enough for the buyer to install and keep it in the smartphone’s crammed memory between photos, videos, games, and instant messengers, and at the same time bring benefits to the seller. Only in this case, buyers will leave the application after the first session, and the company will recoup the costs of its creation. We noticed that all the functions of mobile applications that are important for retail solve 4 main tasks:

    1.  Increase sales.

    Setting up product selection, sales, and payment services is the most important thing in a mobile application. In addition to the list of goods directly and the ability to order them directly from a smartphone, the seller has the opportunity to offer customers the items that he is most often interested in, and offer discounts on popular goods via push. By the way, “smart” push notifications are one of the most requested features over the past year. It is worth adding detailed product descriptions and links to manufacturers or quality certificates to the m-commerce application. Integration with internal CRM systems is in high demand.

    1.  Direct communication with the buyer.

    It is always useful for the seller to know what the buyer thinks about the product and the company in order to optimize his work and resolve the inevitable conflicts. For the consumer, feedback is equally important. It’s good if the user has the opportunity to get answers to questions, solve a problem, and leave feedback in the application. For this, convenient and simple feedback forms are introduced or a chatbot is added.

    1.  Organization of work within the retail company.

    An in-house application can save a retailer both time and money. Using the application, company employees can quickly find the right product in the database, check availability in stock and upcoming deliveries, including batch sizes, control promotions, and price changes, and recognize information from price tags…

    1.  Increasing customer loyalty to the retailer.

    If the client installed and re-launched the application, it means that he already trusts you. The task of the company is not to lose, but to strengthen this sympathy. For this, special promotions are used, available only to users of the application.

    What do users expect to see in the app?

    Many believe that a company’s mobile application must be creative so that nothing like this has ever happened before. Of course, the uniqueness of a product is always important, but its user-friendliness is much more important. There are several “classic” features that can be used when developing a retail mobile application:

    Product catalog and prices

    It is very convenient for customers to see what is available and select products according to specified characteristics (for example, color, size, collection). In a word, all the benefits of shopping users get in a smartphone or tablet.

    Coupons and discounts

    It probably shouldn’t be repeated that everyone likes specials. Mobile applications allow users to immediately learn about the “hot” products of the seller – and have time to get the best at the lowest price. After all, not only sellers compete with each other, but also buyers.

    Customer support

    There can be a lot of things here: the opportunity to postpone the product you like before coming to the store, ask a consultant a question and leave feedback. By the way, many prefer communication with online consultants, not with real sellers.

    Scan codes

    It is very convenient to find out prices and information about products by scanning barcodes. No need to waste time asking sellers or looking for help. In addition, in mobile development, you can provide the option to compare products.

    Search for the nearest outlet

    For retail chains, it is important to show the customer that the store or restaurant is nearby. If you help find the way to your establishment, be sure that customers will appreciate it.

    Instructions and useful materials

    This is especially important if you are selling a fairly complex or specific product. Then the mobile application can become a mini-reference book. In addition, an offline catalog can be very useful for company partners.

    Interactive elements

    Even if the main purpose of the application is to stimulate demand, and build a sales channel, it is quite possible to supplement the development with interactive content. What could it be? For example, the opportunity to evaluate the combination of different sets of clothes, create your own pizza toppings or play with another user of the application. This is where creativity comes into play!

    It turns out that the functions of the application can be assembled together, like a house made of bricks. First, the goals are determined, then the functions and the way they are implemented. If you find the right combination of them, you can be sure that your customers will appreciate your application.

    Wrapping up

    With the help of smartphones, users search for special offers, compare products, make purchases or choose services – the use is becoming more and more advanced. Such dependence is only beneficial for companies: in finding additional points of contact with the target audience, mobile applications can bring many benefits and opportunities for business growth. The main thing to remember is that m-commerce should solve specific problems and contribute to the development of the company. Therefore, contact a reliable software development company like Intellectsoft to create an application. The team of specialists will help you plan the work and make a list of necessary functions for future applications.

  • DDoS Perpetrators Are Clever, But DDoS Mitigation Services Are No Straggler

    DDoS Perpetrators Are Clever, But DDoS Mitigation Services Are No Straggler

    In June 2022, the world has reportedly witnessed the most powerful HTTPS Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack so far. A botnet called Mantis launched a brief but record-setting DDoS attack, which peaked at 26 million requests per second.

    This recent DDoS incident shows how cybercriminals continue to improve their methods and make their attacks more sophisticated to overcome existing defenses or overwhelm targets with unprecedented volumes of requests. DDoS solution providers, hence, must always be ready to step up in response.

    The Mantis attack

    Mantis is said to be behind the series of attacks that affected almost a thousand customers of the content delivery network firm Cloudflare. It targeted companies in different industries including gaming, finance, telecommunications, and shopping. The attack affected organizations based across the globe including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Ukraine, Poland, and Russia.

    Cloudflare describes Mantis as the next evolution of the 2018 Meris botnet attack, which infected MicroTik routers and compromised various popular websites. It operates a relatively small fleet of bots, at around 5,000. However, Cloudflare notes that this fleet is capable of generating a massive force. Cloudflare says it has been “responsible for the largest HTTPS DDoS attacks we have ever observed.”

    The attack yielded over 212 million HTTPS requests from over 1,500 networks. It was driven by a botnet that tech journalists characterize as “tiny,” but each node generated approximately 5,200 RPS. It also managed to hijack various virtual machine platforms and took over HTTP proxies to launch attacks.

    Effective DDoS mitigation

    The overwhelming surge of malicious web traffic lasted for only around 30 seconds. It’s still long enough to create an impact, considering that website users usually leave a site if it fails to load within three to five seconds. However, it is not bad that DDoS mitigation solutions are able to fend off new forms of attacks and prevent long durations of downtimes.

    Modern DDoS mitigation services can keep up with the evolving nature of attacks. They now have larger network and processing capacities, shorter latency, and faster time to mitigation. Of course, not all providers are the same, but the top-tier ones are generally enough to prevent serious DDoS consequences.

    Choosing a DDoS mitigation service based on their network and processing capacities can be tricky. Higher is always better but the capacities and costs are directly proportional, so organizations need to weigh their options carefully. DDoS, after all, is not the only cyber threat they have to worry about. They have to allocate resources efficiently and prepare for the unpredictable kinds of attacks they will encounter.

    It is also important to examine the “time to mitigation” for DDoS attacks. Top solutions can respond to attacks within seconds, and this is what organizations should be looking for. The average duration of DDoS attacks in 2021 was 6.1 minutes. This may sound brief or manageable, but a lot can happen within 6.1 minutes. For online businesses, these “few” minutes can already mean several missed sales or opportunities and reputational damage.

    Short-duration attacks are also rarely intended to be harmless. Even the 30-second Mantis attack cited earlier could have been just a part of a bigger cyber-attack. As VentureBeat explains, “organizations should watch out for these types of attacks as they can be a distraction tactic and part of a wider multi-vector attack.”

    Some DDoS mitigation solutions may be configured to ignore brief attacks and treat them as insignificant. This is inexpedient and potentially harmful. DDoS attacks can be in tandem with a malware installation, which can take place while an organization is still busy reestablishing its firewall and other security controls after a network disruption.

    Important features

    It is important for DDoS mitigation solutions to have network layer and application layer mitigation. They should also provide secondary asset protection. Additionally, the ability to protect individual IPs is necessary.

    Network layer mitigation is about addressing the volume of an attack, the massive surge of malicious traffic going to a server. Methods to do this include null routing (direction of traffic to a nonexistent IP address), sinkholing (the diversion of traffic away from its target), scrubbing (routing of ingress traffic through a security service), and IP masking (prevention of direct-to-IP DDoS attacks by hiding the origin server’s IP).

    Application layer mitigation entails the profiling of incoming traffic to sort out DDoS bots from legitimate requests. This can be done through multiple inspection methods to detect legitimate traffic including the checking of the IP and Autonomous System Number, examination of behavioral patterns, and cross-inspection of HTTP(S) header content. Application layer mitigation can also be undertaken by posing multiple challenges such as CAPTCHAs to make it difficult for automated requests to move ahead.

    As mentioned, DDoS attacks may come with other cyberattacks. These other attacks can target various IT assets including DNS servers, web servers, email servers, FTP servers, as well as ERP and CRM platforms. It is important for a DDoS mitigation solution to likewise provide protection for these assets through features such as DNS name server protection and app protection.

    Moreover, it is crucial to examine the ability of a DDoS defense system to provide individual IP protection. DDoS solutions are traditionally limited to shielding IP ranges, not specific IPs representing specific cloud environments and assets. In modern use cases, the ability to protect individual IPs is essential to enabling immediate DDoS security for specific IPs or IT assets.

    Continuous protection improvement

    This post is not saying that DDoS mitigation services at present are already in their optimum form. As long as threats continue to evolve and threat actors ceaselessly find new ways to get around defenses, mitigation solutions should likewise improve. It is reassuring to know that security firms persistently enhance and advance the technologies or solutions they offer against DDoS.

    Still, the intended users of these solutions should be mindful of the options they pick. Different providers offer varying DDoS protection performance. Not everyone stays abreast with the latest threat methods. Not all security providers are mindful of the attack combinations that use DDoS as a smoke bomb or deception to conceal more sinister cyberattack schemes.

  • Improving Infection Control in Nursing Homes

    Improving Infection Control in Nursing Homes

    Nursing homes shouldered the brunt of the damage during the pandemic, revealing long-standing issues with infection control in skilled nursing facilities.  COVID-19 killed over 135,000 nursing home residents and more than 2,000 workers, yet nursing home residents make up less than 1% of the United States population.  In total, nursing home residents accounted for 1 in 5 COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S.  In addition to older residents disproportionately dying due to COVID-19, there were economic disparities among this population; low-income seniors eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid were hospitalized for COVID-19 at more than four times the rate of any other Medicare beneficiaries.

    The Pandemic Impact on Nursing Homes 

    Not only did COVID-19 impact nursing homes by death rate, but it also contributed to staffing shortages.  In the healthcare field since January 200, over 235,000 caregivers have left the field; that number is 15% of the total nursing home workforce.  More than one-quarter of nurses have experienced increased incivility or bullying from administrators, managers, supervisors, and other nursing staff, and more than half of nurses have considered or intend to leave their position in the next 6 months.  Two years into the pandemic, nurses in the United States report feeling a range of negative emotions about their work environments.  Namely, 71% of nurses report feeling stressed and 69% report feeling frustrated.  Over half of nurses reported feeling undervalued as well. 

    Nurses are essential to infection control, and less favorable work environments heavily impact these practices.  Before the pandemic, 380,000 nursing home residents died due to infection annually.  Nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities are where 1 to 3 million serious infections occur every year.  Infection control was the most commonly cited deficiency on state surveys for care facilities; almost half of the nursing homes were cited for poor infection control practices.  After the pandemic, these numbers have gotten worse. 

    Hope for a Recovery?

    Nursing homes are on the brink following the pandemic.  More than 300 nursing homes have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, more than 400 certified U.S. nursing homes are on the verge of shutting down.  This is double the closure rate pre-pandemic, illustrating the impact the pandemic had on these facilities.  On top of this, most facilities are losing money – on average operating at a margin of almost -5% annually.  In the future, 25% of skilled nursing facilities are likely to close within 24 to 36 months if they don’t receive financial relief. 

    Little was done to support caregivers in a meaningful way during the pandemic, affecting sanitation practices.  During the first two years of the pandemic, 80% of nurses experienced PPE shortages and nearly 2 in 3 felt unsafe when reusing PPE as recommended.  In 2021, only 30% of the nursing homes had alcohol-based hand rub outside of the resident’s room while 45% had it only inside the room.  Additionally, shared equipment was disinfected between residents only 42% of the time. 

    In Conclusion

    Throughout the pandemic, nursing leaders have found communicating and implementing new policies among the top challenges they faced.  Simple changes can make a significant difference, and distributing new practices and guidelines with on-the-ground in-person support is the best way to facilitate these changes.  Through an in-person program, strategists can see what’s working and what isn’t and provide practical training instead of general guidelines.  It’s important to have a a personalized and hands-on approach to learning more about the problems and solutions facing your nursing home system. 

    Infection Control: The Future of Skilled Nursing
    Source: IPCWell.com



  • How the Supply Chain Can Get its Resiliency Back

    How the Supply Chain Can Get its Resiliency Back

    The pandemic put an unprecedented strain on the supply chain, revealing the need for new technologies and strategies to overcome bottlenecks.

    Shipping delays and material shortages continue making headlines as manufacturers worldwide struggle to meet consumer demand for everything from auto parts to pharmaceuticals.

    COVID-19 exposed a glaring lack of agility in supply chains which, if left unchecked, will both sabotage the economic recovery and put lives in danger.

    Before 2020, many people would have described US supply chains as resilient. However, the past 18 months added a less desirable set of adjectives to the list, such as brittle, inelastic, fragile, and vulnerable. While the need for critical care medications surge, manufacturers lack the necessary insights to respond to site closures and impaired transportation routes that immobilize supply chains.

    Business Intelligence: Better Supply Chain Resiliency is Found in The Data Story

    Historically, data initiatives falter because of the massive number of spreadsheets and reports data scientists must read through and decipher before presenting actionable takeaways. Without access to real-time, actionable intelligence, decision-makers are stuck waiting for analysts to explain their findings.

    Bottlenecks like this hinder agility, making it impossible to adapt to unforeseen events in a timely manner, sacrificing productivity and efficiency.

    In hybrid work environments, stakeholders in disparate locations need self-service access to analytics to facilitate the kind of quick problem-solving customers demand, especially when they’re waiting for life-saving medications and other high-priority shipments. Business intelligence (BI) dashboards, accessible as-a-service, are quickly becoming the go-to tools for enterprises that count on real-time data intelligence for survival.

    Pharma manufacturers, logistics and distribution companies are fortifying their supply chains by augmenting BI dashboards with artificial intelligence like natural language generation (NLG). NLG technology augments data visualizations by “narrating” all underlying data in BI dashboards.

    Companies like Arria NLG embed no-code NLG plug-ins into BI dashboards, accelerating data understanding and informed decision-making.

    According to Gartner, 90% of the world’s top 500 companies will have converged analytics governance into broader data and analytics governance initiatives by 2023. Likewise, by 2025, data stories will be the most widespread way of consuming analytics, and 75 percent of stories will be automatically generated using augmented analytics techniques.

    Analytics presented in everyday vernacular extend data understanding across all lines of business. This not only gives supply chain and logistics companies a better understanding of their data, but it also makes actionable insights available more quickly to a broader range of decision-makers, not just the data scientists.

    Data storytelling communicates real-time insights in plain English to distribution and fulfillment managers into daily loads against capacity commitments, for example, exposing areas in which demand consistently outpace the committed capacity. In addition, the democratization of data enables companies to make faster, better-informed decisions and know what’s happening, what may be coming, and what to do next.

    Cloud-based, self-service analytics also represent an important milestone in AI adoption, with data-driven solutions at the center.

    As we saw in the early stages of COVID-19 vaccinations, manufacturers and treatment centers were ill-prepared to manage the flood of people seeking vaccinations. Leadership teams need real-time visibility of operations to align production sites, distribution centers and material flows.

    Transparency is the key to accounting for unexpected events that could affect supply and demand and lead to drug shortages. To move quickly from insight to action, pharma supply chains – from manufacturer to distributors and delivery – must have ready-access to the same real-time, actionable intelligence.

    Augmented analytics provide the answers to pivot without sacrificing productivity. Such adaptability and flexibility are the cornerstones of agility and supply chain resilience.

    According to Bain, Pharma companies that integrate flexibility and redundancy into the entire value chain, and that improve visibility, will be best positioned to predict chain disruptions and respond to them rapidly. Resilient supply chains bolster problem-solving capabilities throughout their organization and at manufacturing sites, empowering local organizations to make decisions that prevent disruptions in business continuity.

    Simply put, the sooner they can alert carriers to their need for more capacity, the better they can fill the gap.

    Closing Thoughts

    Supply chain resilience will be vital to navigating an increasingly turbulent market over the coming decade. Augmented analytics, which combines business intelligence and natural language AI, empower supply chains with data-driven, actionable intelligence to prevent manufacturing and shipping delays, which can have life and death implications.

    Supply chain and logistics companies don’t need to collect any more data to achieve better resiliency. They just need a way to more quickly extract, process and communicate the insights from their data so they can respond faster.

    Business intelligence and augmented analytics can make that goal a reality.

  • How eCommerce Brands can Expedite the Checkout Process to Increase Conversions

    How eCommerce Brands can Expedite the Checkout Process to Increase Conversions

    With over 263 million Americans shopping online yearly, it is no surprise that shoppers are constantly looking for the most efficient eCommerce sites to make their shopping experience seamless. Having the ability to buy your favorite items from the comfort of your own home is a great feeling and shouldn’t be ruined by an inconvenient checkout process. In fact, approximately 50 percent of US shoppers are less likely to buy something online if the entire checkout process takes more than 30 seconds. Having a rapid checkout can make or break a shopper’s experience; by streamlining the checkout process, merchants have the potential to increase their conversion rates up to 35 percent. However, while some merchants are unsure of how to go about this, others are not using mobile app developers that support these capabilities adequately.

    The setback for some merchants is their failure to find the right mobile app developer when they initially launched. As their brands grow, their mobile stores’ needs become more specific. Retail brands with apps that directly fulfill the experience that shoppers desire are on a solid path to success; this is why finding the right app developer is imperative.

    Find the right mobile app developer for brand needs

    Third-party developers like Tapcart, the no-code app developer for Shopify, allow merchants to customize their checkout settings to create a frictionless checkout experience while enabling tools to help increase conversions. With the aid of these third-party developers, merchants can implement features like single-page checkouts and pre-filled shipping forms that allow for a quick checkout experience. Conversion features including checkout navigation, which automatically navigates customers to checkout when they add products to their cart, have contributed to Tapcart’s popularity amongst retail giants like Fashion Nova and Pier 1 Imports. 

    Reduce the number of form fields

    Over 18 percent of shoppers will abandon their cart if the checkout process is too long or complicated. In order to combat this, merchants should reduce the number of form fields so that shoppers have less to fill out. Fewer form fields ensure a frictionless checkout experience that increases conversion rates up to 160 percent. 

    On average, merchants include 2 times more form fields than necessary. With these large amounts of forms, it can be tedious for a shopper to complete them for just one or two items. Reducing the typical number of checkout form fields can result in fewer abandoned cart rates, a checkout process that takes just  5 seconds to complete, and ultimately a significant jump in sales.

    Accept various payment methods

    With the rise of alternative payment methods, shoppers are no longer solely opting for credit and debit cards. In fact, 31 percent of shoppers say that they are more likely to use alternative payment methods (APMs) since the start of the pandemic. Providing APMs, like buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), which can be implemented through companies such as Affirm and Quadpay, allow eCommerce customers the freedom to choose their preferred payment method, ultimately resulting in a more streamlined checkout experience that caters directly to consumers.

    Adding various payment methods is a simple way to attract new customers who, on other eCommerce apps, might not be able to use their preferred payment method. As a result, customers will flock to merchants’ mobile apps with the knowledge that they don’t have to change their choice of payment and instead can focus on their excellent shopping experience. 

    Allow customers to shop as guests or create accounts

    Having a customer account on an eCommerce website can provide prefilled shipping info, order history, and real-time order tracking, making a customer’s shopping experience optimal for quick and simple transactions. However, some customers prefer the guest checkout experience, as it requires less commitment and leads to faster first-time purchases. With a guest checkout feature, a shopper doesn’t have to fill out forms and create an account to purchase on a website, allowing a swift shopping experience without all of the extra steps involved.

    Implementing an expedited checkout will increase customer loyalty to eCommerce mobile apps  and further success by decreasing cart abandonment rates. If the conversions aren’t meeting the quota initially intended, effectuating one or more of these tips is a great way to begin boosting numbers and meeting eCommerce goals.
    To ensure your eCommerce store is having all of its needs met for maximum success, it is imperative that merchants find the right mobile app builder. Launching a high-converting mobile app can be easy with the right mobile app builder that offers features to ensure the most frictionless checkout experience.

  • 4 Common Merger and Acquisition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are an excellent way to increase your market share, access industry-leading talent, explore new markets, reduce costs and increase profits, get favorable taxes, diversify your investment, corner future value, and more. However, studies suggest that their failure rate ranges between 70% and 90%. Knowing how to choose targets, if and how to integrate them, and how much to pay for them can drastically help increase your success odds.

    Familiarizing yourself with the common M&A errors, how they can impact your business, and what you can do to evade them can boost success chances. This article outlines four common M&A mistakes and how to avoid them.

    Not performing detailed due diligence

    Detailed due diligence is a vital, comprehensive inquiry or investigation into the affairs of the target company you intend to acquire or merge. The due diligence investigation helps you identify, measure, and mitigate the liabilities and risks of acquisitions and mergers while assessing the target company’s value.

    Due diligence depends on the transaction nature and can be legal, financial, property, information technology, or environmental. Inadequate due diligence may result in legal consequences like inheriting litigation proceedings against the target company or financial issues, including high debts and significant liability amounts.

    Failing to plan your M&A

    As a seller or buyer, your ultimate goal is selling or buying a business. Successfully achieving this goal can be difficult and may fail without a proper plan. A comprehensive and easy-to-execute strategy is a must-have to attain your objective successfully. In your M&A plan, explain why you’re considering a merger or acquisition, how you intend to finance it, who your advisory team will be, your ROI model, and the deal size you’re looking for.

    Valuation mistakes

    Business valuation involves determining the target company’s actual worth or fair value. Some common challenges in valuing a merger or acquisition include miscalculating the target company’s financial data, missing critical details during due diligence, misreading the target’s buy-side competition, and failing to evaluate the management team’s quality properly.

    Lack of proper financial analysis means it’ll be challenging to quantify the deal’s prospective shareholder value. To overcome this issue, invest in an independent valuation by third-party valuation professionals because they don’t have a conflict of interests.

    Not involving the right experts

    Mergers and acquisitions aren’t DIY projects. Failure to involve the right professionals in the process sets you up for failure. Business valuation experts will help determine your company’s worth or target to ensure you don’t settle for too little or overpay. Accountants with M&A experience will help you with financial due diligence to ensure you’re appropriately positioned for the deal and advise you on transaction structuring to get the most out of it.

    M&A legal experts will handle the negotiation’s legal aspects while guiding you through the legal due diligence process. Your M&A team should include investment bankers, business brokers, and financial advisors. This will help streamline the merger and acquisition process while enhancing your success rate.

    Endnote

    When mergers and acquisitions aren’t done right, they will fail. Consider avoiding these common M&A mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.

  • What Can Marketing Firms Learn From Real Estate Advertising?

    What Can Marketing Firms Learn From Real Estate Advertising?

    Selling real estate is a very different endeavor than just about any other sales. You are trying to market a major asset that is both an investment and a basic necessity. People may be buying a home for very different reasons, and may have extremely different sources of capital to do so.

    Real estate is also unique in that there is never a fixed price. Prices fluctuate based on factors that have little to do with the seller or the property itself. Potential buyers may negotiate to get a better price, based on nothing more than their own instincts or ability to afford the home.

    In addition, buying a home comes with a lot of associated costs. As such, the agents marketing the home need to know about everything from insurance coverage for new homeowners to the legal ins-and-outs of property transfers. There is no bluffing your way through a sale.

    For people in the marketing industry, there is therefore a lot to learn from real estate advertising. Real estate agencies have found ways to manage a whole host of issues most marketers don’t need to think about. These strategies can come in handy no matter what you’re selling.

    Here are some of the most important lessons marketing firms can learn from real estate advertising.

    Consider how customers pay for goods

    A realtor needs to take into account how potential buyers are going to pay for a home, as some will buy cash while others will get decades-long loans. Most marketing does not require such a consideration, but it is definitely worthwhile. This is because you are far better positioned to sell to someone if you know how they can afford the product.

    Think about the most simple form of marketing: hawking wares on the street. Traditionally, a vendor would hape that the passersby are able to pay for their product in cash. Few people carry cash any more, and those vendors that recognize this are able to find alternatives, whether using portable PoS machines or smartphone apps.

    This knowledge does not only make it possible for vendors to receive payment, but also puts them in a good position to make the sale. A passerby who uses their lack of cash as an excuse not to buy the product is suddenly in a sticky position when the vendor pulls out a card machine.

    Knowing the potential ways people pay for the specific goods you are selling allows you to push through with the sale. In more typical scenarios to that of the street vendor, this may mean offering payment plans or using a buy-now-pay-later system.

    Get on board with the associated admin

    When it comes to selling property, agents need to know a lot about how the sale will work and what the new homeowner requires from the start. Most products are far more simple. A sale requires nothing more than an exchange of goods and cash.

    However, there are many products and services that do require some more insight, at least on the customer’s part. Marketing a fancy new fridge as having instant-freezing capabilities sounds great, but customers may be intimidated by the thought of having to figure out how to use the feature.

    With more knowledge of the associated admin, you can make it clear in your marketing that customers have nothing to worry about. You give them the basic information they need to know so that they embrace the complexities.

    Understand what customers need

    Finally, there is a common mistake marketers make that would never fly in the real estate market. They forget to consider what the customers need. When selling a fancy new product, they list all of the exciting features. But this is basically asking the product to sell itself. Certain features may be technologically incredible, but won’t make much difference to the customer experience.

    Realtors need to understand why potential buyers are looking at the home. This way they can sell it based on a family’s needs, the earnings potential for an investor, or the potential for design projects for DIY-lovers.

    You should have a similar understanding when selling anything else. By pinpointing what it is the customers truly need, you can focus on selling that aspect of it. Your marketing is relevant to your customers’ lives, and you are more likely to get them to buy the product.

    Real estate agencies have to deal with factors that most marketers don’t need to consider. However, by learning some lessons from the realty market, you can improve your marketing prowess.

  • How to Find a Perfect Audience

    How to Find a Perfect Audience

    Focusing on your target market when trying to build your online presence can save you from wasting lots of time and money. With over 250 million Americans using social media, the internet is the best place to start when trying to build an audience, but there are strategies you can use to make this process easier. 

    Many People use Social Media in the Wrong Way

    This is especially true when they are trying to build an online presence. Oftentimes people will post the same content across every social media platform and this can prevent from gaining new followers. Every social media platform has a different audience, and this means that content needs to be uniquely crafted for that audience in order to gain traction. Sticking to only a few platforms and creating unique content for each channel can help you reach a wider audience and gain more followers.

    Once you decide the kind of content you want to create and the platforms you want to use, there are different phases that contribute to finding your perfect audience.

    Phases of Finding Your Perfect Audience

    Phase 1 is all about the environment of your content. If your content aligns with a specific trend that is happening, it’s a great time to start putting it out. Getting your foot in the door with trendy content can help to build a foundation, and then you can continue improving your content based on data. Useful data is collected over about 2 months, and this information can help you determine the demographics of the people watching your content. Demographics can help you determine certain likes and dislikes of your audience, which can help you tweak content even more to make sure you are marketing the best way to the audience you want to reach.

    Phase 2 is all about how you deliver content. Tone is very important when distributing your content. How you communicate with the content can help to build new audiences, and how audiences interpret your tone can be a deciding factor in how your content is perceived overall. The other important aspect of content delivery is the timing. Similar to releasing related content to trends, content can be more popular at certain times. You have the control when to reach a new audience based on trends or other important events. 

    The last phase of building your perfect audience involves emotions. It is important to not make knee jerk decisions based on audience responses  because this can do more damage in the long run. Use audience responses to make small improvements within your space so it is not as drastic but is still making your content better. If you are able to navigate the first two phases, it will provide some consistency within social media algorithms so that the third phase is less complicated!

    In Conclusion

    The social media landscape is integral in finding a perfect audience today. If you follow the three phases, it can be easier to learn the functionality of online habits and make reaching your perfect audience much easier. If you want to learn more about finding your perfect online audience, take a look at the infographic below:

    Finding A Perfect Audience
    Source: Bang Productions
  • How To Make The Instagram Algorithm Work For You

    How To Make The Instagram Algorithm Work For You

    The Instagram Algorithm is a mysterious and complex concept for many business leaders. It’s something companies know they need to master to thrive online, but like many social media rulesets, the algorithm isn’t always the easiest concept to grasp.

    Instagram’s algorithm dictates how content should be displayed on the platform, and which users are served which posts. This means if you want to connect with the 1 billion monthly users on Instagram, you need to know how to navigate the algorithm.

    In 2022, Instagram requires every user to think carefully about their use of captions, hashtags, and even certain content types for the best chance of ranking. Here’s what you need to know about the Instagram algorithm, and how you can master it.

    How The Instagram Algorithm Works

    Like most social media channels, Instagram regularly updates its algorithm to suit new customer trends, and industry expectations. This means if you want to boost your following, you may need to regularly change your strategy, based on the new rules.

    One point to note is Instagram introduced a new option for users to arrange their feed chronologically in 2022. This means if your customers choose the chronological ranking option, or do most of their browsing through the “curated” lists of posts from their favorite accounts, your algorithmic efforts might not have an impact on their newsfeed.

    The vast majority of Instagram users still view the default feed, however. This feed is organized according to the algorithm set by Instagram to boost the quality of the content users see on the sight. According to Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, the algorithm provides an “engaging” browsing experience by determining:

    ·         Which posts appear first on the news feed

    ·         Which Reels, Stories, and Live videos appear at the top of the feed

    ·         Which posts appear in the Instagram “Explore” section.

    The Instagram Algorithm & Feed Posts

    When it comes to using Instagram for small business growth, one of the first environments you’ll explore is the “Feed.”  This is the space where people in your target audience search for new content.

    The feed algorithm sorts through the content of accounts users already follow, to determine their likelihood of interacting with posts based on:

    ·         Relationship data: Instagram tracks the number of times a user interacts with another poster through comments, views, and likes to predict a potential relationship.

    ·         Post details: The more likes a post gets, whether it’s been tagged with a specific location, and how long it is (in terms of video content) all matter to the Instagram algorithm. The rules also organize content based on recency, so newer posts appear first.

    ·         Activity: Instagram tries to predict what customers will want to see by looking at the kind of content they usually interact with on the platform.

    To ensure users always get a quality experience, Instagram also allows authenticators to mark content as “false” or misleading and place it further down on the news feed.

    The Instagram Algorithm & Stories

    70% of all Instagram users view Stories on a daily basis.

    For brands, Stories offer a quick and convenient way to share information about their company, upcoming promotions, and events. For customers, these snippets of content are an excellent way to get a behind-the-scenes look at a business.

    The Instagram Algorithm for Stories works similarly to the standard news feed. This means the accounts users interact with most appear at the top of their feed.

    Notably, the short-lived nature of Stories posts also means timeliness can be more important to ranking here. The more recent the story when your user appears online, the more likely it is to grab their attention and boost your engagement.

    The Instagram Algorithm & Reels

    Reels are among the more recent additions to Instagram, ideal for fast-paced entertainment common in the TikTok landscape. Reels are prioritized by the Instagram algorithm based on what it thinks a user wants to watch. The algorithm will track things like engagement rates, saves, taps on a user’s profile, view completion rate, and re-watches.

    To boost your impact on the “Reels” page, Instagram recommends using inspirational content brimming with creative effects like filters and text.

    For the most part, however, the algorithm takes the popularity of the poster and the data of the post (including any added music) into account, alongside the history of the user.

    The Instagram Algorithm & The “Explore” Tab

    The Explore tab on Instagram is where users find content from users they haven’t encountered before. It’s a great way to connect with users who are using the Chronological feed for their main browsing efforts. On the Explore page, previous relationships with a user don’t apply.

    Instead, Instagram looks at the posts users have interacted with in the past to determine what they might want to see. The popularity of a post (its comments and likes), the kind of content a user has saved or liked in the past, and even the poster information can all make a difference.

    The algorithm also looks at things like keywords, locations, and hashtags in each post, and how they connect to the content other viewers have interacted with in the past.

    How To Make The Instagram Algorithm Work For You

    1.  Post More Instagram Stories

    Instagram Stories are some of the most valuable tools on Instagram. 500 million users interact with Stories every day, and many appreciate the authentic and raw content these posts provide.

    However, because Instagram Stories are only available for a short period of time, you’ll need to make sure you’re posting them frequently if you want to connect with your audience. Posting regular Stories will allow you to carve a space for yourself in the Stories tab, and boost engagement through various filters and features.

    When posting Instagram Stories, remember to:

    ·         Experiment with features: Stickers, polls, and sliders are all excellent ways to make your Stories more engaging and interactive. They can also be a good way to collect information about your target audience and their preferences.

    ·         Know your posting times: Know when your customers are most likely to be online so you can post your Stories and reach as many people as possible before they disappear.

    ·         Save highlights: You can save highlights from your Story to your Instagram profile to enhance your page. Highlights are a great way to make your profile appear more complete, and they give customers a reason to stick around and check out more of your posts.

    2.  Post Reels More Often

    Reels are gaining a lot of attention on Instagram today, particularly among younger users who already love fast-paced videos on TikTok. Instagram Reels can generate more engagement than your standard Instagram video, and they’re easier to consume for most customers.

    What’s more, because Reels are expected to be a little less polished and a lot shorter than standard feed videos, they’re much easier to create. Posting regular Reels gives you a chance to stand out on a dedicated portion of the Instagram app, which boosts your brand reach.

    You can experiment with different music and hashtags to reach your audience and use your Reels to provide users with valuable information or collect insights from your audience. For instance, @MeUndies and @LivBolish used Reels to ask users to pick their favorite product from a lineup.

    3.  Post At The Right Times

    While timing is particularly important for your Instagram Stories, it’s also crucial throughout the rest of the platform, too. You need to make sure you’re connecting with your audience when they’re most likely to be online, because the Instagram algorithm prioritizes “recency.”

    Finding out the right time for posting on Instagram can be complex. Different reports online offer different suggestions. For instance, Sprout Social say the best time for engagement is between 11am and 2pm on a Tuesday.

    While you can use online reports as a launching point for your brand, you’ll get more accurate insights by diving into your Instagram analytics. The “Insights” page on your business account will tell you when your followers are most active.

    Once you know when your customers are around, it’s worth using a scheduling tool to ensure you’re publishing your content at the right time, even if your social media team isn’t available.

    4.  Go Hashtag Heavy

    Hashtags are one of the most valuable tools in any Instagram strategy. If you want to master the Instagram algorithm, learning how to boost your content’s visibility with hashtags is a good start. Not only do these tools give more context to your post, but they’re fantastic for helping people to find your content when searching for relevant terms.

  • 3 Digital Marketing Methods Every Business Needs

    3 Digital Marketing Methods Every Business Needs

    As a business owner in the 21st century, it’s important to take advantage of the tools and technology available when engaging with your customer base. Not only will this help you reach wider audiences and maximize your revenue,  but it will also help you to stay competitive and current.

    One of the great things about digital marketing is it can be done from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and a laptop. Check out these options for travel laptops.

    As marketing methods such as print advertising and direct mail have begun to be phased out and a greater number of people consume content online a traditional approach alone will no longer cut it. If you are reluctant to embrace the digital age, or don’t know where to begin, this article has outlined three digital marketing strategies to help you connect with your customers and capture the attention of new ones.

    Content Marketing

    Content marketing is a type of marketing strategy that focuses on creating and sharing valuable, relevant  and consistent material in order to stimulate interest and attract and retain customers. By distributing high-quality material such as blogs, emails, videos, podcasts, articles and eBooks, a business can engage with its customer base while indirectly generating interest for its brand.

    Well-written content which is relevant and informative can reveal more to your customers about your business, its values and ethos as well as the products and services you offer. Content marketing can even help you present yourself as an authority in your field.

    Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign is a good example of content marketing that used personalization to increase customer engagement. By establishing stronger relationships with your potential customer base you can also help build brand awareness and loyalty.

    SEO

    Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process of improving your website to increase the quality and quantity of traffic to it. As a result, it will rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). As your business becomes more visible online, you will improve your chances of attracting more customers and increasing your revenue. 

    As well as more potential clicks to your webpage, SEO is also beneficial when it comes to establishing the credibility of your business, as sites that rank more highly on SERPs are considered to be of higher quality and seen as more trustworthy than those that rank lower. Strategies to boost SEO include keyword optimization, building backlinks and removal of zombie pages. 

    Email Marketing 

    By building a relationship with your email subscribers through relevant and personalized content, you have a low cost way to deliver targeted messages to an already engaged audience. This is also advantageous for gauging feedback on ways to improve your service, better meet customer needs and develop new products.

    Email marketing can also help you to nurture leads by sending personalized messages in set intervals designed to convert readers into paying customers.

    By implementing the digital marketing methods mentioned in this article you can help your business reach a wider audience while retaining and nurturing the valuable customer base you already have.

  • What’s Driving Colleges Out of Business

    What’s Driving Colleges Out of Business

    More than 100 colleges have shut down or merged with other schools in the past 5 years. Undergraduate enrollment has fallen 8% in the past 2 years, leading to over a million fewer students enrolled. The pandemic is an easy culprit to blame, seeing as half a million undergraduates dropped out of school in fall 2021, but the truth is that colleges were closing before COVID-19 ever existed.

    Why is Enrollment Falling?

    Rising college costs have outpaced family income growth for years, making college unaffordable to millions of Americans. At the same time, people see a lower return on investment than they did in years past; 73% of college graduates have a job unrelated to their field of study, causing them to question why they went to college in the first place. Take these facts together, and it’s easy to see why fewer high school students are interested in college. Just 48% want to attend a 4-year college today, down from 71% in 2019. It doesn’t help that there are simply fewer college-age Americans in the country going forward. Simple demographics are going to shrink enrollment further by the end of the decade.

    These factors put colleges in a tough position. Many already lost a great deal due to the pandemic. The University of Arizona alone lost $250 million in tuition revenue thanks to COVID-19. 74% of higher education professionals say their institution is facing significant financial constraints. Most aren’t likely to improve in the near future. Not every college is affected in the same way; smaller candidate pools mean colleges compete for students. Smaller schools (defined as having fewer than 5,000 students) are 27% more likely to struggle than their larger peers. 

    Selectivity is Also a Factor

    From 2019 to 2021, community college enrollment fell by 15%, but highly selective colleges equaled pre-pandemic levels. Sought-after degrees are considered higher value than public and community colleges. Moreover, highly selective schools have large endowments that allow them to offer generous financial aid to attract desirable students. Endowments are permanent pools of investments colleges can use to fund service missions, student aid programs, and more.

    Schools that spend 5% or less of their endowment each year assume less risk for the future market value of their investments. 106 universities have endowments over $1 billion, giving them a competitive advantage over schools with smaller endowments.

    In Conclusion

    Higher education is a big investment. Potential students need to make sure their institution is financially viable before enrolling. Look for news reports showing frequent changes in leadership or accreditation issues. Ask for the college’s discount rate; if it’s above the national average of 52.2%, there may be trouble brewing. Endowment reports tend to be public information, so potential students can see if the college is spending over 5% of their endowment to stay afloat.

    Another useful place to check is the US Department of Education. All schools accepting federal aid have a Financial Responsibility Composite Score released every few years laying out their financial health.

    Why Colleges Go Out of Business