HD Trade Services: Use Photos to Track Shipments and Improve Logistics Management |  |
- HD Trade Services: Use Photos to Track Shipments and Improve Logistics Management
- Blogging Networks Can Expand Your Reach, Influence, and Income
- CorpNet: Behind the Scenes of a Business Filing
- Access to Credit and Business Survival
- Trans Pacific Partnership Concerns Many Critics
| HD Trade Services: Use Photos to Track Shipments and Improve Logistics Management Posted: 27 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT Dealing with overseas suppliers, inventory management, and tracking shipments can lead to headaches for any type of business. But for small companies with limited logistics resources, managing shipments can be an even bigger hassle.
HD Trade Services, a Y-Combinator Backed software provider, aims to make the whole process easier for small businesses by using photos and videos to prove that shipments actually are where the supplier says they are. The system works by using mobile phone and tablet apps to take photos and stream videos of the shipments or scan barcodes to supplement data entry. The purpose of this is to make business to business deals more efficient and to help improve liability for shipping companies and logistics service providers, instead of just relying on simple data entry to provide accurate information about the location and condition of a product. With the globalization of the economy, shipping and distributing items, especially ones that come from suppliers outside the country, can be a big risk for logistics companies. Small businesses can often fall victim to trade fraud due to lack of communication with suppliers. The HD Trade Services tracking apps make it possible for those companies to make sure that shipments arrive to the correct destinations on-time and in-tact, and that they actually are what they say they are. Large shipping companies like UPS and FedEx already have services like this available, but the HD Trade Services apps allow smaller logistics companies to offer the same liability as larger companies, by using devices like tablets that are widely available in the consumer market. The availability of these products, along with the wide array of innovative apps and the ease and affordability of cloud storage, has made some important and often overlooked functions much easier for small businesses. HD Trade Services has a variety of products available for different functions such as inventory management, product listings, and inspections. From Small Business Trends |
| Blogging Networks Can Expand Your Reach, Influence, and Income Posted: 27 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT Getting paid for a blog post may seem like a pretty good deal if you are a new blogger. Receiving free products in lieu of payment has its upsides, too. There are many ways to go about this, but one of the popular methods, although controversial, is to join an influencer network.
An influencer network is a new way of saying that you are a hired gun. You are a blogger or vlogger who agrees to publish reviews for money or free product and to disclose it within FTC guidelines. Many times, you'll do this work because a public relations or social media agency hires you on behalf of its client – thus, you are in their network. Let me restate that this can be a controversial way to build up your blogging business. Google recently gutted other companies like this because it considers these blog networks to be "content farms" designed to enhance a company's PageRank through "spammy" (read: paid for) links. I link to a story on this topic at the end as well as several other SEO-posts that can help the small business owner sort it all out. I don't believe that these programs are wrong or bad. I think they provide an opportunity for savvy and honest business people to monetize a blog. You have to exercise good judgment when deciding if a network fits with your overall plans and if you want to accept payment (cash or product) for a "sponsored post" versus regular online advertisements or Google's AdSense ads on your website. Here are four to take a look at: BlogFrog is one of the industry leaders in the influencer marketing space. They help advertisers (brands) identify and recruit topic-based social media influencers. Their platform includes a searchable database of more than 100,000 social media influencers, a knowledgeable community for quickly building successful campaigns, and tools to monitor and measure the effectiveness of social influencer programs. You have to apply to join the network and they base their decision on your topic and your web traffic. Clever Girls Collective is run by, well, four clever girls in the San Francisco area and you have to give them credit for a high energy, savvy, and somewhat cheeky approach to influencer marketing. I hope they create a Clever Guys one soon. You apply to join the network and while topic and traffic are important; they appear to look carefully at how you will fit in with their major brand partners (an all-star list found on the case studies page). SocialSpark is pretty organized. You sign up, then they provide you with offers or leads from advertisers. They call these "opportunities" which outline the advertiser details. You can then accept the terms or negotiate. You write your post and it is submitted to the advertiser for approval. Once published, you earn points, which can be redeemed for cash via PayPal. Simple application form. Klout is another form of network where you can earn rewards based on your influencer scores. It is called Klout Perks. Klout is pretty well known for their Klout score and many bloggers are addicted to seeing it go up or upset when it goes down. Their entire algorithm is controversial and causes a fairly regular stir in the blogosphere when mentioned. You don’t really apply — just by signing in via Twitter or Facebook you become eligible for “perks” based on your Klout score. To make this a practical post, I asked a friend and professional blogger, Jenny On The Spot, Jenny Ingram to share a few insights with our readers. Jenny is part of BlogFrog, BlogHer, and other well-known networks and has given me advice before on building a blogging-based business. She does product reviews occasionally for which she is paid in cash and/or product.
Jenny explained that each review, each brand's request, is something she considers carefully and on a case-by-case basis to make sure there is a match for her readership, her audience. The reader has to come first. She stated that product reviews, even ones that send you "free" product to review, "come with a real cost – your time and effort. As a blogger, you have to decide if this path really works for you and if you're running a hobby blog or a business." Adding revenue streams to your blog can be a good idea for some small businesses. Just be sure that you understand the FTC guidelines as well as the impact on your site via Google. More Resources for SEO and Linkbuilding Miranda Miller has an excellent post at Search Engine Watch that explains a fair amount about building links and sites that have been "de-indexed." The one site that is most often cited is BuildMyRank.com, which has reportedly been issuing refunds to subscribers after Google de-indexed them. You can also go through the Google Webmaster YouTube channel that shares lots of good ideas for optimizing your website through officially acceptable means. Three of my favorite SEO link building posts from Small Business Trends contributors: 1. Why SMBs Shouldn't Fear Link Building by Lisa Barone. 2. How to Choose the Right SEO Tactics for Your Small Business by Tom Demers. 3. 5 Tips For Being Naturally Good At SEO by Lisa Barone. What do you think? Are influencer networks a good way to build income and a reputation for your blog? From Small Business Trends |
| CorpNet: Behind the Scenes of a Business Filing Posted: 27 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT
How it Works The process begins with a customer submitting an order online. This might be to file a corporation, LLC, DBA, or a business license or permit. As soon as the order is received (or the next business day if the order comes in after hours) a CorpNet staffer calls the customer to confirm the information. The client relations specialist then performs a name clearance to make sure no one else has filed the same name. The information is then input onto state approved documents (CorpNet files for all the states), and it’s sent on to be approved. Because CorpNet has a good relationship with state agencies, the entire process takes 7-10 days (with expedited service available). Once the paperwork comes back approved by the agency, CorpNet puts the finishing touches on the packet and sends it to the client. And just like that, folks, you’ve become a corporation. Putting Her Money Where Her Mouth Is Nellie doesn’t make empty promises. She stands behind her company’s guarantees. When a big-time movie producer called, desperately needing to file a Nevada corporation asap, he was incredulous when she assured him CorpNet could file the paperwork in record time.
The Small Business Difference Not every company that files business documents is a small business, but that’s exactly what CorpNet is most proud of. Nellie proudly says that her company is a “small business helping other small businesses,” and it shows in the care each employee puts into each order.
An Influencer of Small Businesses Nellie was honored as one of the Top 100 Small Business Influencer Champions for 2012, proving to her that she’s on the right track with her mission to educate entrepreneurs:
This article is part of a series highlighting key players in the Small Business Influencer Awards. From Small Business Trends |
| Access to Credit and Business Survival Posted: 27 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT A paper published last year by Traci Mach of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and John Wolken, formerly of that organization, shows how important access to credit is for small business survival.
Using data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Small Business Finances, Mach and Wolken found that businesses that had less access to credit in 2003 were more likely to go out of business between 2004 and 2008. In addition, they found that measures of the businesses' access to credit were more predictive of company survival than were attributes of the business, owner, and market. When this paper first came out, I thought the findings were self-evident. If lenders are any good at their jobs, then they should provide more credit to better companies run by more talented founders. Therefore, businesses that had better access to credit in 2003 should have been more likely to survive over the next five years than other companies. Presumably, they were the better companies. But upon further reflection, I think this paper illustrates an important problem that central bankers, like Ben Bernanke, face. If the fraction of talented small business owners with good business ideas is roughly the same whether its 2008 or 2012, then this paper shows the importance of the getting public policy toward credit tightness correct. When bank lending standards are looser, then the average business has more access to credit than when bank lending standards are tighter. That means that the average small company is more likely to survive in years when small business credit is easier to get. That point highlights a key issue for the Fed chairman: Should the central bank encourage lenders to have easy or tough credit standards? If standards are low, then more businesses have access to credit and will survive over time. But if the businesses themselves are no better than when standards are high, then low standards means that the banks are propping up weak businesses with loose credit. Because we don't know how tight lending standards should be, the Fed risks making one of two mistakes in creating incentives for banks to lend money to small businesses. If it makes the banks maintain high lending standards that are too high, then it will cause many small businesses to fail, including some that should remain in operation. But if the Fed lets the banks maintain lending standards that are too low, then it is leading banks to keep alive small businesses that aren't viable. I'm glad I am not trying to get the job of Federal Reserve Bank Chairman. Tug Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Trans Pacific Partnership Concerns Many Critics Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT The list of recent regulations and trade agreements endangering businesses of all sizes in the name of big business is long. But few have been negotiated in as much secrecy as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). For a look at this and other issues that may impact your freedom to run your business as you see fit, check out the latest news below. TPP Troubles ManySon of ACTA. Critics compare the new Trans Pacific Partnership to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and many are opposing the clandestinely negotiated agreement for a number of reasons. Most important, however, is its apparent elimination of due process and free speech in the name of protecting intellectual property rights. Boing Boing Let the sun shine. Those concerned about the secretive treaty, which many worry may favor big business at the expense of the little guy, are working hard to gain access to as much information on the agreement as they can. So determined are the opponents of TPP, that one opposition group claims to have raised a $17,000 bounty for leaked documents from the negotiations. TechDirt Keeping Your Business FreeDon’t be a copycat. Do we really need to mention this again? Copying someone else’s content without permission has always been a dangerous game. Besides the obvious ethical issues of stealing someone’s work and passing it off as your own, the offense is now likely to have ramifications in your search ranking as well. But some worry Google has gone too far. SiteProNews Solve your Penguin problems. Bad linking is causing problems for many online businesses in the wake of Google’s latest algorithm adjustment. SEO blogger Eric Enge explains some of the biggest issues that may be ruining your search engine ranking and your business, and will give you advice on how to get on the road to redemption. Search Engine Watch Making Your Business StrongGet your voice heard. These days it can be harder than ever before to get your voice out there to those interested in hearing your message and doing business with you. Your best strategy for building a business with the freedom you need is to take a page from the recording industry and make guest appearances on the blogs of others. Right Hat SEO Look at ad options. Sometimes relying on search engines isn’t enough. Marketing through Pay Per Click and other advertising helps you get the search results you want more immediately, compliments your SEO, and provides you with valuable marketing data. Here are more suggestions. 3 Bug Media Make time for mentors. Entrepreneurs are renowned for trying to do things there own way. That’s fine, but in this post we look at the benefits of seeking out masters in your field. Knowledge is power, and working with a knowledgeable “master” in your field is one way to free your business of the hurtles and errors that you might face without expert advice. My Note Taking Nerd Blog From Small Business Trends |
When you digitally file to incorporate your business or become an LLC, the process is purely digital, right? Not so, says Nellie Akalp, CEO of 
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