Mobile Payments Committee Brings Together All U.S. Carriers, Companies Like Google, Intuit |  |
- Mobile Payments Committee Brings Together All U.S. Carriers, Companies Like Google, Intuit
- TeamWox Makes Group Collaboration Less Complicated
- Memorandum to President Barack Obama
- 5 Ways Analytics Can Help Grow Your Business
- Google+ Introduces Custom URLs
| Mobile Payments Committee Brings Together All U.S. Carriers, Companies Like Google, Intuit Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT The mobile payments industry has been the subject of a lot of buzz lately, especially after the recent deal between Square and Starbucks. But there's still a lot of uncertainty among consumers and businesses alike because the technology is relatively new and not widely used.
But now a team consisting of representatives from all four of the major U.S. cellular carriers, as well as others working on mobile payments solutions, has formed in order to give the mobile payments industry some guidance. The Mobile Payments Committee, which was recently announced by the trade group Electronic Transactions Association, will work on developing policies and business strategies related to the mobile payments industry. The Committee, which is chaired by Verizon's executive director of federal relations Jackie Moran, aims to help legislators understand the industry so they can make informed decisions regarding public policy, educate businesses as well as consumers about the benefits of using mobile payment systems, and figure out the best way for companies to work together to better the industry as a whole. Currently, many of the industry players have deals with wireless carriers so those mobile payment systems are only available on certain devices or with certain carriers. But can they all put their company hats aside while they attempt to work together for the best interests of the industry as a whole? Though many different mobile payment systems have popped up in recent years, they still have yet to be adopted by many mainstream companies and consumers, this week's deal between Square and Starbucks aside. So the Mobile Payments Committee has the potential to educate a lot of people about the benefits of mobile payments. Aside from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, the task force reportedly also has representatives from companies like Google, Paypal, ISIS, Verifone, and Intuit, all of which have a hand in the mobile payments market. The committee plans to meet for the first time later this month. From Small Business Trends |
| TeamWox Makes Group Collaboration Less Complicated Posted: 14 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT No matter the size, every business has a seemingly endless number of daily tasks that have to be managed, planned, organized, and implemented. For those business owners who have employees and different departments to manage, all of these daily tasks can sometimes feel overwhelming. That is why TeamWox, an online management system, aims to make all those daily tasks more attainable through its series of management tools.
TeamWox is, in essence, a complete management suite that can help small business owners manage their team, handle a variety of different tasks, and run a service desk and IP telephony system from anywhere. There are many different features and versions available for businesses with different needs, including the main TeamWox software, corporate instant messenger service TeamWox Communicator, accounting synchronization service TeamWox 1C Sync, software as a service provider TeamWox SaaS, and more. For small businesses with ten team members or fewer, each TeamWox system is provided free of charge. Users can simply download TeamWox and any relevant services right from the website and get started. Companies with larger teams can pay an annual fee for added employee accounts. Upon signing up for TeamWox, you're directed to a dashboard with a number of options, including team, tasks, telephony, documents, and organizations. Users can create messages for their team members, add contacts and pertinent information, assign tasks to different departments or employees, and more. With so many different options and abilities, the service might feel a bit overwhelming at first, but everything serves an important function and can be customized to fit different types of businesses. For entrepreneurs that run online-based businesses, particularly those with team members or assistants working remotely, the cloud-based system could prove to be a vital asset for easily keeping connected and on top of all tasks that need to be accomplished. For example, if a business owner receives an email about a customer service issue, they can easily create a new task for their customer service representative or assistant. This eliminates the need for lengthy email conversations and worries about which employees can handle which tasks. Managers can simply view all the tasks in the queue, make assignments accordingly, and then track progress from there. This simplified form of delegation can help companies improve productivity and cut back on communication error. And speaking of communication, TeamWox offers a secure live chat feature so that team members can directly communicate with customers using a chat box that's integrated right into the company's web page. All of the chats are stored in the TeamWox system so they can be reviewed later if need be. And employees and managers can also chat with each other to get help or clarification with issues. TeamWox also has a system for handling both internal and external phone calls. It's IP PBX telephony service allows companies to implement intelligent call forwarding, add an interactive voice menu, and even arrange secure audio conferences. In addition, the phone system works with any phone provider and the cost of external calls is minimal. The telephony module is available free of charge to users of any TeamWox system version. TeamWox offers a two-month free trial version of Groupware SaaS that includes unlimited access to all of TeamWox's management features, so small businesses can sign up to see for themselves how the program can benefit their company. In addition, TeamWox offers a help section and online assistance for troubleshooting or unanswered questions. Signing up is quick and easy. And once the free trial period is over, TeamWox has a variety of plans and pricing to fit businesses of different sizes, ranging from the free version for up to ten accounts to one that offers unlimited accounts for an annual subscription fee of $2,000 (in addition to the cost of purchasing the service). Overall, TeamWox, a current advertiser with Small Business Trends, provides a secure, efficient, and generally easy-to-use collaboration system that can help companies work together more efficiently and manage and organize tasks more easily and transparently all within one simple system. From Small Business Trends |
| Memorandum to President Barack Obama Posted: 14 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT
From: Dr. Dawn R. Rivers, Director, Malone Macroeconomic Policy Institute Subject: Evaluation of Policy Response to Economic Contraction of 2008-2009 Date: May 18, 2012 Beginning in the fall of 2008, the U.S. economy experienced the worst contraction since 1929. In the six-month period from September 2008 through March 2009, the Bush and Obama Administrations and the Federal Reserve pursued a variety of policy responses, including the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as well as the various actions of the Federal Reserve over that period. From 2007 to 2008, gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 1.8%, reflecting the slowing that prompted the National Bureau of Economic Research to declare the beginning of the recession as of December 2007. Ultimately, from peak to trough, the economy contracted by 2.8%, from $14.3 trillion to $13.9 trillion. It has since recovered; GDP for 2011 was 15.1 trillion, up by a seemingly robust 3.8% over 2010 growth. TARP and the activities of the Federal Reserve prevented the international and domestic capital markets from completely collapsing but neither has been able to restore sufficient confidence to secure a reasonable loosening of credit markets, leaving creditworthy consumers and small business owners without access to capital. Large corporations are able to borrow but they are hoarding cash, which does nothing to increase output. The ARRA was crafted to inject $800 billion into the economy, with $500 in direct government spending and $300 in tax expenditures. Multiplier effects should have transformed those investments into $3.7 trillion in additional output, accompanied by robust and ongoing GDP growth and reductions in the unemployment rate. Yet, the economic recovery that began in 2010 seems fragile and tentative. The housing market remains weak, the unemployment rate is still well above 5% total employment, and volatile energy costs place upward pressure on prices, sparking worries about inflation. If the policy responses of 2008-2009 had been uniformly effective, obviously these indicators would be much more positive. Unfortunately, the current recovery is largely built on a house of cards. The resumption of GDP growth is largely driven by surprisingly robust personal consumption expenditures and a consumer spending level of 71% of GDP is neither healthy nor sustainable. The only component of GDP that has not returned to its pre-recession level (or exceeded it) is gross private sector investment. In fact, annual private sector investment levels began falling from 2006 to 2007, well before the 2008 contraction, suggesting some structural weakness in place long before the events of September 2008. Gross domestic private investment fell by one-third (33.5%) from peak to trough (2006 to 2008) and has only recovered 82.3% of its 2006 levels as of 2011. In raw dollars, that translates into approximately $400 billion in missing investment. Taking multiplier effects into account, the result is roughly $2 trillion in potential output that has been lost to our economy. To address these issues, it is our recommendation that the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve take steps to encourage both confidence and optimism, particularly among the business community. A modest increase or two in the discount rate, for example, could persuade corporations to stop sitting on their cash if it conveys the message that the economy may be heating up and that the cost of money is about to increase. Such an increase in interest rates could also be expected to have a positive impact on lending, since it would improve profit margins for banks. Tax expenditures that reward investment have been of questionable value to date — and should be the subject of much-needed research — but credits such as the Research & Development credit should not be allowed to expire. Finally, we note that the Obama Administration has made its largest private sector investments in multi-billion dollar corporations, to little effect. In addition, a targeted small business fiscal policy that focuses on lending makes little objective sense in a climate in which 92% of small business owners report that their credit needs are being met or they are not interested in borrowing. Given the lack of results from these investments, it would behoove the Administration to discuss changing tactics in order to stabilize the recovery and increase GDP growth. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small business optimism is climbing but remains at recessionary levels. Yet growing numbers of small business owners also report improvements in earning trends and increased plans for making capital expenditures. Bearing in mind that the data over the last 15 years confirms that companies are trending smaller and that recent research by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has found that the primary source of job growth is young or new small firms, I recommend the Administration encourage new firm formation by minimizing burdensome regulations, devise ways to assist nonemployer firms in making the transition to employers, encourage investment in small businesses (the crowdfunding provision in the recently enacted JOBS Act was a good start), fully fund all business management training and technical assistance programs currently offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and make direct investments in small businesses wherever possible. Additionally, I recommend that the Administration convene another White House Conference on Small Business and that the suggestions and recommendations of real small business owners be implemented wherever politically feasible. Thank you for the opportunity to offer this analysis, Mr. President. If you have further questions or require clarification of any of the points herein, please do not hesitate to contact me. DISCLOSURE: Of course, I don’t have a doctorate yet and I don’t work for a non-existent think tank named after my macroeconomics professor. This exercise was an assignment from a course I took last semester, but I thought the ideas were worth sharing here. President Barack Obama Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| 5 Ways Analytics Can Help Grow Your Business Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT Small business owners know that their customers are headed online. That's why you're working hard to create a Web site that attracts customers, understands their problems, and sets your business up as the answer to that problem. But how do you know if your site is working? If it's meeting the objectives you originally set out and if you're connecting with your customers?
You could guess or you use Web Analytics to help you understand exactly what is happening on your Web site. If you're a site owner and you don't have an analytics platform running (Google Analytics is powerful and free), you're missing out on all the ways analytics can help grow your business. How can it do that? Below are just a few examples.
Studying your Web analytics allows you to see exactly what is happening on your site, allowing you to respond to it and your customers. Over time, these insights can help SMBs create stronger businesses that are more focused on the needs and wants of their customers. Analytics Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Google+ Introduces Custom URLs Posted: 14 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT The rapidly growing social media site Google+, built to compete with rival Facebook, is introducing a feature guaranteed to get business users excited. The social community will be offering custom URLs to business pages and profiles, giving them greater visibility with a shorter and hopefully more memorable Web address for their sites. And there are other surprises in store: Rolling OutWrite down that address! If you’ve ever tried to give someone your Google+ URL, you know it is a long and ponderous exercise in futility. But Google’s new plan has already made more intelligible URLs available to a select number of big brands and celebrities, with more users worldwide hopefully able to take advantage of them soon. TechCrunch Standby for re-branding. The new move by Google allowing verified business and profile accounts on Google+ to re-brand with custom Web addresses, or “vanity” URLs as they are sometimes called, will benefit more than just the businesses already flocking to the social site. It may also be the sign of something more significant in the wind. The Next Web Getting SocialHootSuite hookup. If the new URL change wasn’t enough, there’s more news from social media management platform HootSuite on a feature that will make Google+ an even bigger benefit for your business branding. HootSuite has now added Google+ to the list of social sites you can manage here. Watch this simple setup guide. Ileane Smith A pressing engagement. Google+ may be helping companies now flocking to the social site to increase brand awareness, but the same old question remains. Where’s the engagement? Without the social give and take found on sites like Facebook and Twitter, business owners must question the time they invest. Technorati Business ShiftsSearching for relevance. A look at recent news from Google reveals many changes to the company’s services and products, including innovations to tools relied upon by small businesses like yours. Here we take a comprehensive look at how these shifts in direction may impact business, now and long term. Small Business Trends Better than cable. Google introduces Fiber as a challenge to the cable industry, offering high-speed Internet to residents and businesses in selected test communities. But small businesses must also consider how the new offering may eventually change the landscape for marketing products in new and unexpected ways. Gigaom Google packs its bags. The tech giant makes its third venture into the travel sector with the purchase of Frommer’s print and digital products for around $23 million. The move should be a lesson to businesses of all sizes. If successful, the purchase shows how entering industries not originally considered as part of a company’s market can bring unexpected opportunities. Skift From Small Business Trends |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment