Self-Funded Insurance Models Provide New Options for Small Businesses

self funded insurance

Many small businesses find themselves paying increased health insurance premiums year after year, eventually prompting them to consider dropping health benefits altogether. According to the 2013 Aflac WorkForces Report, 47 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees say offering robust benefits while staying within budget is a top challenge.

Although it could be tempting to send employees to state or federal health insurance exchanges, the fact is small businesses need to offer those benefits to help attract and retain top talent. The study found that 61 percent of workers would be at least somewhat likely to accept a job with a more robust benefits package, but lower compensation. In addition, 84 percent of workers say their overall benefits package has at least some influence over their job satisfaction.

Predictably, many businesses are looking for a way to maintain health insurance for their employees while cutting costs and increasingly expensive benefits. Enter the self-funded insurance model.

What is the self-funded insurance model?

In a self-funded insurance model, a business has the option of providing health benefits directly to employees. That means the employer, instead of the insurance companies, collects the premiums, assumes the risk and pays employee claims.

However, insurance companies can still be used to execute the administrative aspects.

How can a small business implement the self-funded model?

Employers calculate the total anticipated claims their employees will make over the course of the coming year.

Businesses can then use that figure to establish the maximum risk they are willing to assume, effectively capping the annual amount they plan to spend on benefits.

What if the company can’t afford to pay its employees’ claims?

It is possible for employers to underestimate their annual health care expenditure. To prevent these situations from sapping additional resources, companies can purchase stop-loss insurance. Stop-loss insurance kicks in when claims exceed the employer’s set maximum value to cover the remaining costs and can come in different forms.

With specific stop-loss insurance, any single employee’s claims that exceed a set amount will be covered by the insurer. With aggregate stop-loss insurance, coverage begins once total costs for all employees exceed the maximum claims projected by the self-funding plan.

Employers can purchase both types of coverage.

Does the self-funded model hurt small businesses that can’t afford to offer as many benefits as exchanges?

Business owners who cannot afford the level of coverage comparable to the benefits options that are available on exchanges or what they were offering previously should consider looking to voluntary insurance to help round out existing major medical plans. The benefit to voluntary is two-fold:

  1. It doesn’t add to an employer’s benefits costs because it is paid for by the employee.
  2. It satisfies employee demand. (60 percent of workers say they would purchase voluntary products if offered by their employer.)

What’s the advantage for businesses?

Although adopting the self-funded model and assuming more risk might sound overwhelming, it has proven to be an effective method for businesses to get their costs under control while still attracting and retaining top talent through health benefits.

Health Insurance Photo via Shutterstock




Self-Funded Insurance Models Provide New Options for Small Businesses

self funded insurance

Many small businesses find themselves paying increased health insurance premiums year after year, eventually prompting them to consider dropping health benefits altogether. According to the 2013 Aflac WorkForces Report, 47 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees say offering robust benefits while staying within budget is a top challenge.

Although it could be tempting to send employees to state or federal health insurance exchanges, the fact is small businesses need to offer those benefits to help attract and retain top talent. The study found that 61 percent of workers would be at least somewhat likely to accept a job with a more robust benefits package, but lower compensation. In addition, 84 percent of workers say their overall benefits package has at least some influence over their job satisfaction.

Predictably, many businesses are looking for a way to maintain health insurance for their employees while cutting costs and increasingly expensive benefits. Enter the self-funded insurance model.

What is the self-funded insurance model?

In a self-funded insurance model, a business has the option of providing health benefits directly to employees. That means the employer, instead of the insurance companies, collects the premiums, assumes the risk and pays employee claims.

However, insurance companies can still be used to execute the administrative aspects.

How can a small business implement the self-funded model?

Employers calculate the total anticipated claims their employees will make over the course of the coming year.

Businesses can then use that figure to establish the maximum risk they are willing to assume, effectively capping the annual amount they plan to spend on benefits.

What if the company can’t afford to pay its employees’ claims?

It is possible for employers to underestimate their annual health care expenditure. To prevent these situations from sapping additional resources, companies can purchase stop-loss insurance. Stop-loss insurance kicks in when claims exceed the employer’s set maximum value to cover the remaining costs and can come in different forms.

With specific stop-loss insurance, any single employee’s claims that exceed a set amount will be covered by the insurer. With aggregate stop-loss insurance, coverage begins once total costs for all employees exceed the maximum claims projected by the self-funding plan.

Employers can purchase both types of coverage.

Does the self-funded model hurt small businesses that can’t afford to offer as many benefits as exchanges?

Business owners who cannot afford the level of coverage comparable to the benefits options that are available on exchanges or what they were offering previously should consider looking to voluntary insurance to help round out existing major medical plans. The benefit to voluntary is two-fold:

  1. It doesn’t add to an employer’s benefits costs because it is paid for by the employee.
  2. It satisfies employee demand. (60 percent of workers say they would purchase voluntary products if offered by their employer.)

What’s the advantage for businesses?

Although adopting the self-funded model and assuming more risk might sound overwhelming, it has proven to be an effective method for businesses to get their costs under control while still attracting and retaining top talent through health benefits.

Health Insurance Photo via Shutterstock




Big Data Analytics For Small Businesses and Non-Profits: Increase Your ROI By Working Through the ‘Noise’

When you’re the head of a small business the bottom line is always the same: you always want to see a profitable return on investment (ROI). The easiest way to do this is to increase your flow of customers and many small businesses and non-profits are beginning to use big data analytics in order to create that larger flow.

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington has been able to increase their online ticket sales by seven hundred percent, with an additional increase of twenty-five percent by the end of the year. The History Colorado Center in Denver was able to deliver a better museum experience by tailoring to their audience, of which analytics revealed more than forty percent as families.

These are just some of the stories that IBM has helped to create with their big data analytics program, which is helping small businesses and non-profits with smaller budgets flourish by creating programs that focus on individuals. By sifting through all of the minute details of customers, such as gender, age, groupings, time of day, etc., IBM is able to report to what factors should be used to increase ROI. This allows businesses to create better advertising and programs, like promotions and discounts, that are more focused to better reach an audience that will use them.

Ed Abrams, the VP of IBM Midmarket Business, explains a bit about how big data analytics works. “IBM’s analytics help businesses understand what data they should be looking at, and what is ‘noise’. By working closely with them and listening to what specific challenges they are facing, we then go and architect the solution based on the business needs.” Using this data can be a bit daunting, but luckily if you’re a bit stumped on where to start, IBM and their business partner, Brightstar Partners, can “offer solutions for companies to help create guest segmentation strategies, creation of marketing materials, eCommerce strategy, social media strategy, etc.”

The earlier examples seem to be geared toward a specific “attraction” type of business, but Abrams assures me that it is not the case. Analytics can be used for “stadiums, ski resorts, small retailers, local food growers, etc,” and IBM is partnered with more than five hundred thousand small businesses, in one hundred and seventy different countries, providing tools to better help them grow and manage their businesses.

Using analytics solutions such as those offered by IBM, small businesses and non-profits can really hope to find marketing strategies to increase business. While it would be far fetched to hope for results like these for every business, especially in a recession, it is for that reason that every extra dollar your business can make counts.



Big Data Analytics For Small Businesses and Non-Profits: Increase Your ROI By Working Through the ‘Noise’

When you’re the head of a small business the bottom line is always the same: you always want to see a profitable return on investment (ROI). The easiest way to do this is to increase your flow of customers and many small businesses and non-profits are beginning to use big data analytics in order to create that larger flow.

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington has been able to increase their online ticket sales by seven hundred percent, with an additional increase of twenty-five percent by the end of the year. The History Colorado Center in Denver was able to deliver a better museum experience by tailoring to their audience, of which analytics revealed more than forty percent as families.

These are just some of the stories that IBM has helped to create with their big data analytics program, which is helping small businesses and non-profits with smaller budgets flourish by creating programs that focus on individuals. By sifting through all of the minute details of customers, such as gender, age, groupings, time of day, etc., IBM is able to report to what factors should be used to increase ROI. This allows businesses to create better advertising and programs, like promotions and discounts, that are more focused to better reach an audience that will use them.

Ed Abrams, the VP of IBM Midmarket Business, explains a bit about how big data analytics works. “IBM’s analytics help businesses understand what data they should be looking at, and what is ‘noise’. By working closely with them and listening to what specific challenges they are facing, we then go and architect the solution based on the business needs.” Using this data can be a bit daunting, but luckily if you’re a bit stumped on where to start, IBM and their business partner, Brightstar Partners, can “offer solutions for companies to help create guest segmentation strategies, creation of marketing materials, eCommerce strategy, social media strategy, etc.”

The earlier examples seem to be geared toward a specific “attraction” type of business, but Abrams assures me that it is not the case. Analytics can be used for “stadiums, ski resorts, small retailers, local food growers, etc,” and IBM is partnered with more than five hundred thousand small businesses, in one hundred and seventy different countries, providing tools to better help them grow and manage their businesses.

Using analytics solutions such as those offered by IBM, small businesses and non-profits can really hope to find marketing strategies to increase business. While it would be far fetched to hope for results like these for every business, especially in a recession, it is for that reason that every extra dollar your business can make counts.



What You Need to Know About Business Licenses and Permits

business licenses and permits

If you’re launching a business, you’ve probably already looked into the option of incorporating or forming an LLC for your new company. This act registers your business with the state, and you should be all set to legally operate your business, right?

Not so fast. Incorporating or forming an LLC creates a legal entity for your business, but there are most likely other permits and licenses that you’ll need to obtain.

These permits are given out by state and local (county/town) governments. As such, specific licensing requirements vary by state, as well as by business. For example, a tattoo artist, daycare center or restaurant will be more tightly regulated than a copywriting business.

Failing to obtain the right permits and licenses can carry some pretty hefty consequences. In some cases, you’ll be required to pay fines and penalties. Worst case scenarios can involve criminal penalties, seizure of assets, and shutting down your business altogether.

Obtaining a permit is relatively easy to do once you know what you need. Navigating local licensing requirements and bureaucracies isn’t always straightforward. There’s no single website you can visit to give you all the answers.

To that end, below are a couple of tips to help you.

1. Start with your state and work down to the local level.

Your first step is to make sure you are compliant with the state where you’ll be operating your business. You can start your research at the SBA website where you can see which licenses and permits might apply to your business type and state.

In addition, visit your state’s website as many do publish a licensing/permit guide for starting a business.

2. At the local level, you’ll need to work with your town and/or county government to determine what you’ll need.

Some of the more common local permits include:

  • Local business licenses or tax permits (from your city/county clerk or revenue department).
  • Building permit (from your city/county planning department). You’ll most likely need this type of permit if you’ll be building or modifying a location for your business.
  • Zoning permit (from your city/county planning department). This permit is often needed when developing land for commercial use.
  • Health permit (from your city or county health department). Businesses that usually need a health permit include: restaurants, street vendors, catering trucks, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, nail salons, etc.
  • Home occupational permit (from your city/county planning department). In some jurisdictions, you’ll need a permit for a home-based business.
  • Signage permit (from your city/county zoning department). Some places require a permit (and compliance with zoning laws) before you can erect a sign for your business.
  • Fire permit (city/county fire department). You’ll most likely need to get a permit from the fire department if your premises will be open to the public or if you’re going to be using any flammable materials.
  • Alarm permit (city/county police or fire department). Your business will probably need to get an alarm permit if you install a burglar or fire alarm.

Most importantly, once you’ve obtained all the proper licenses and permits, your work is not over. You’ve got to make sure these licenses and permits stay in compliance and up to date. And that means two things:

  • First, you’ll need to renew each permit on time. Keep a master list of all your permits and their respective renewal dates.
  • Second, you’ll need to update any permits if you make any major changes to your business. For example, if you incorporate a sole proprietorship or change your business name.

Bottom line: Take some time to research your local licensing requirements and get the required paperwork in before you open your doors (or, as quickly as possible if your business is already in existence).

Getting your permits in order is a relatively easy in task and the fees are far less painful than having to fork over penalties or deal with more severe consequences.

Building Permit Concept Photo via Shutterstock




Why Getting Away Releases Your Creative Juices and Helps Spawn Your Best Ideas

Have you ever taken a soothing shower and some idea just popped into your head? It probably was a good one, wasn’t it? Some of the best ideas come up when people are relaxed and, most importantly, happy. But how does unloading in a sauna-like environment help people achieve this kind of mantra? Is it the atmosphere?

There’s actually a science behind this, and it not only explains how showers lead to better and more inspiring ideas, but especially how things like taking vacations can help significantly boost this process.

Let’s talk about the facts behind this weird phenomenon and, most importantly, how taking a vacation can help you gain insights into new frontiers of thought:

  • Dopamine is a natural drug released by the brain in the proper environment. If you find yourself sitting in a beautiful house nestled in a faraway place, the amount of dopamine in your brain can surge, leading you to be omnipotently creative. Basically, chilling out gives you superpowers. Dr. Alice Flaherty, a neurologist who wrote a book called the Midnight Disease, concluded that dopamine goes hand-in-hand with creativity, saying that “people vary in terms of their level of creative drive according to the activity of the dopamine pathways of the limbic system.”

  • Moving out of your bubble, away from the daily grind, can help you significantly boost your creative energies.

  • Being in a foreign environment makes you more alert. Because you’re no longer home, you’re more aware of your surroundings. You may have moments in which you channel this awareness towards your creative processes. While brainstorming, you might even realize that you come up with cooler ideas!

  • During vacations, you get some “me” time that you may be missing at home. Because of this, your sense of insight sharpens.

Of course, it always helps to have someone to brainstorm with and that’s where The Ignition Lab comes in.  The Ignition Lab is a 5-Day, all-inclusive, international immersion for 6 unique individuals looking to transform their side hustle from something they’re trying to do, into something that works.  It’s a place to enact change in your business, you and in others while pushing the limits of your comfort zone. The Ignition Lab is a workshop-ish kind of vacation where you get to spend time with other entrepreneurs and two individuals who have helped many businesses get on their feet - Antonio Neves and Bassam Tarazi. Both men have helped sow the seeds of creativity in the minds of several entrepreneurs in a series of very pampering vacations where you get to chill out and get in a different zone.

The method behind the madness is simple: If you spend some time away from the daily hustle and bustle of chores, projects, and life in general, you get a front-row seat into your own mind. Remember the dopamine I spoke about in the first point? This is your chance to flood yourself with it as you take a relaxing vacation and throw ideas at some of the best minds in entrepreneurship.

“Being away from the normal and connecting with others who have completely different backgrounds and interests seemed to push me and my company into an entire new realm. I would do the Ignition Lab again in a heartbeat-seriously.” , said Lindsay Amerault, Founder of Radworks Studios and former Ignition Lab participant.

Check out this video on The Ignition Lab:

Applications for the next Ignition Lab excursion, which will take place in Nicaragua, are open until August 18, 2013 and you can apply here.

Whether you’re just getting started in the business world or want new ideas that will take an already-established business in a new and better direction, your best chance to do this would be to take some time off in a happy place full of people who can help you hone in on your best ideas!



Why Getting Away Releases Your Creative Juices and Helps Spawn Your Best Ideas

Have you ever taken a soothing shower and some idea just popped into your head? It probably was a good one, wasn’t it? Some of the best ideas come up when people are relaxed and, most importantly, happy. But how does unloading in a sauna-like environment help people achieve this kind of mantra? Is it the atmosphere?

There’s actually a science behind this, and it not only explains how showers lead to better and more inspiring ideas, but especially how things like taking vacations can help significantly boost this process.

Let’s talk about the facts behind this weird phenomenon and, most importantly, how taking a vacation can help you gain insights into new frontiers of thought:

  • Dopamine is a natural drug released by the brain in the proper environment. If you find yourself sitting in a beautiful house nestled in a faraway place, the amount of dopamine in your brain can surge, leading you to be omnipotently creative. Basically, chilling out gives you superpowers. Dr. Alice Flaherty, a neurologist who wrote a book called the Midnight Disease, concluded that dopamine goes hand-in-hand with creativity, saying that “people vary in terms of their level of creative drive according to the activity of the dopamine pathways of the limbic system.”

  • Moving out of your bubble, away from the daily grind, can help you significantly boost your creative energies.

  • Being in a foreign environment makes you more alert. Because you’re no longer home, you’re more aware of your surroundings. You may have moments in which you channel this awareness towards your creative processes. While brainstorming, you might even realize that you come up with cooler ideas!

  • During vacations, you get some “me” time that you may be missing at home. Because of this, your sense of insight sharpens.

Of course, it always helps to have someone to brainstorm with and that’s where The Ignition Lab comes in.  The Ignition Lab is a 5-Day, all-inclusive, international immersion for 6 unique individuals looking to transform their side hustle from something they’re trying to do, into something that works.  It’s a place to enact change in your business, you and in others while pushing the limits of your comfort zone. The Ignition Lab is a workshop-ish kind of vacation where you get to spend time with other entrepreneurs and two individuals who have helped many businesses get on their feet - Antonio Neves and Bassam Tarazi. Both men have helped sow the seeds of creativity in the minds of several entrepreneurs in a series of very pampering vacations where you get to chill out and get in a different zone.

The method behind the madness is simple: If you spend some time away from the daily hustle and bustle of chores, projects, and life in general, you get a front-row seat into your own mind. Remember the dopamine I spoke about in the first point? This is your chance to flood yourself with it as you take a relaxing vacation and throw ideas at some of the best minds in entrepreneurship.

“Being away from the normal and connecting with others who have completely different backgrounds and interests seemed to push me and my company into an entire new realm. I would do the Ignition Lab again in a heartbeat-seriously.” , said Lindsay Amerault, Founder of Radworks Studios and former Ignition Lab participant.

Check out this video on The Ignition Lab:

Applications for the next Ignition Lab excursion, which will take place in Nicaragua, are open until August 18, 2013 and you can apply here.

Whether you’re just getting started in the business world or want new ideas that will take an already-established business in a new and better direction, your best chance to do this would be to take some time off in a happy place full of people who can help you hone in on your best ideas!



FortiGuard Labs sees fast rise of mobile malware in 2013

During the past six months, FortiGuard Labs has seen a 30% uptick in mobile malware and is now tracking more than 300 unique Android malware families and at least 250,000 unique malicious Android samples.

New to mobile phones this year: ransomware. Ransomware is a favorite scam of fraudsters because it's proven to be a huge financial success for them.

In a new report, FortiGuard pointed out that while bring your own device is a fast-growing trend, the obvious downside is that when mobile malware infects an employee's device, it can wind up infecting an enterprise's network.

Even a few years ago, "mobile malware wasn't much of a concern for users or businesses," said Axelle Apvrille, senior mobile antivirus researcher for Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs. "Most malware at the time targeting smartphones and tablets was nothing more than annoyware like the Cabir virus or scam software used to commit SMS fraud or replace icons."

Back in 2009, the majority of mobile malware came from programmers in Russia and China targeting Nokia's Symbian OS because it commanded a large percentage of the user base. Now, the mobile threat landscape is expanding at a rapid rate, and FortiGuard Labs emphasized that Google's Android devices are becoming an attractive target for attackers.

Mobile ransomware

New to mobile phones this year: ransomware. Ransomware is a favorite scam of fraudsters because it's proven to be a huge financial success for them.

Richard Henderson, security strategist for FortiGuard Labs, isn't surprised to see them turn their attention to Android devices. "The Fakedefender malware for Android has the same method of operation as PC fake antivirus software -- it pretends to be altruistic but is really waiting to launch its true form. This malware then locks the victim's phone and demands payment before unlocking the device. Once the phone is locked, the victim can either pay the ransom or completely erase their device," he said.

Malware delivery

Which weaknesses do attackers love to exploit to serve up malware? They show a special affinity for targeting old holes after new patches are released for Ruby on Rails, Java, Adobe Acrobat and Apache, according to FortiGuard Labs.

Ruby on Rails

Earlier this year, for example, it was made public that a critical vulnerability in the Ruby on Rails framework could enable attackers to execute code on the underlying Web server. A Metasploit module was also made available to scan for the vulnerability, making it extremely easy to find a Web server to exploit.

In this case, the "exploit involved a flaw in the XML processor deserialization routine, which is used to create Ruby objects on the fly," Henderson noted. "Ruby on Rails was patched to correct this flaw, but four months later, it was discovered an attacker was searching for and exploiting unpatched Web servers to infect them with malware."

Java

With Java, a zero-day exploit earlier this year enabled attackers to bypass the sandbox and run arbitrary Java code -- providing full access to the vulnerable computer. A Metasploit module was also created for this vulnerability to make it easy to find victims, FortiGuard Labs' report pointed out.

"This exploit involved a flaw in the Java management extensions component that allowed the malicious applet to elevate its privileges and run any Java code it wished," Henderson said.

Acrobat/Acrobat Reader

A fake PDF travel visa form from Turkey was used earlier this year to exploit Adobe's Reader software, according to FortiGuard Labs, which works with all recent versions of Adobe Reader (9.5.X, 10.1.X, and 11.0.X) and on most versions of Microsoft Windows and most Mac OS X systems.

Fraudsters used this exploit to install malware on their targets' computers, and the exploit continues to be used as a malware delivery method -- long after Adobe released a patch for the Reader flaws.

Apache

The Apache Web server was attacked in late April with CDorked, malware that compromises Web servers and redirects visitor traffic to other servers that deliver malware using the BlackHole exploit kit.

"CDorked had a built-in quota," Henderson explained. "In other words, CDorked didn't attempt to redirect every visitor to a BlackHole site. It also hid from users attempting to access administrative pages on the compromised Web server in an attempt to keep users who may have been more likely to notice a redirect to a crimeware delivery site from discovering the compromise."

CDorked isn't alone in its stealth, he added, because other malicious types of malware have built-in intelligence to watch for malware analysts and other white-hat hackers.




What Social Network Should I Advertise On? A Quick Guide To Advertising On Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

For many small businesses around the world, social media advertising can be a bit frustrating. Each social network has its own culture, personality, and everything revolves around the kinds of people they appeal to. You have your all-around networks, like Facebook and Twitter; and then you have your professional buttoned-up networks, like LinkedIn. Each one also functions differently, meaning that you have to work on making your advertising blend in to the particular way they display it.

This is a lot to take in, especially for someone just getting started in advertising. That’s why I’m presenting a quick guide that compares the pro’s and con’s of advertising on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

Facebook

 

Facebook has a special place on the internet. It has a well-established place in the market, with over two billion connections between people and their local businesses. According to Gwendolyn Belomy from The Outcast Agency, Facebook pages cumulatively get an average of 645 million views and 13 million comments each week. In the United States and Canada, around 70 percent of active Facebook users clicked the “Like” button on at least one local business. This is an enormous market and a great potential for you to attract consumers.

The big price is hard to gauge on Facebook, since it all depends on a complex algorithm. Basically, the more you target your ads, the cheaper your cost-per-click bids will be. When it comes to putting Facebook head-to-head against Twitter, 80 percent of Facebook users use the social network to connect to brands, compared to 6 percent of Twitter users, according to an article by HubSpot. So, the main points of using Facebook for advertising are:

  • Facebook is an enormous market with over 1.11 billion active users each month.
  • Most of its users prefer to use this particular social network to connect to brands (80%).
  • You get easy targeting options, which allow you to get local likes on your page. Targeting also may lower the bid prices.
  • There’s a ton of flexibility in your ads. Ads can be rotated from time to time to “freshen up.”

Facebook is a great place for you if you want to get started with advertising and there are a plenty of books out there that can help, including Ramon Ray’s ‘The Facebook Guide To Small Business Marketing, which has a chapter solely dedicated to explaining the in’s and out’s of advertising on Facebook.

Twitter

Twitter’s been a very speedy and rapidly changing social tool for several years now. In short, it’s amazing. Twitter has been ahead of viral trends for a very long time and has been a great predictor for what is going to be news. It really gets into the mind of the crowd!

Twitter’s outreach may not be as big as Facebook, but still takes on a considerable chunk of the internet - about 550 million users, according to these statistics from Statistic Brain. The same site tells us that 135,000 users sign up every day, making 2.1 billion search queries within the same amount of time. Nearly half of its users are mobile (something to keep in mind if you plan to make a campaign linking to your site).

This astoundingly active community boasts an innovative advertising system. Basically, you pay for your tweets to be promoted (moved up the list) in relevant search results. If you use American Express, they’ll give you $100 of free advertising to boot. Because of its relevance to search results, it has higher value than Facebook. But don’t expect many users to follow you. They’re not necessarily looking for local brands. Earlier, I mentioned how only 6 percent of Twitter users actually use this network as their preferred method of connecting with local businesses. That’s quite the downer! Let’s recap, shall we?

  • 550 million users gives you a hefty market to work with.
  • The Twitter community is stunningly active with search requests (although they could be searching for things that are “hot,” not necessarily anything related to your business).
  • Only 6 percent of Tweeters consider the social network to be preferable for connecting with brands.
  • If you use American Express, you can get $100 of free ads!
  • Oh, and I almost forgot about Twitter Cards. This will show a preview of your site when someone links to you in a Twitter post. You just have to add some HTML to your site.

All things considered, this is a great social network for businesses looking to go viral. Don’t advertise a product. Post something that will make the crowd go wild. It’s the nightclub of the Internet.

LinkedIn

If you’re looking for something a little more classy with professional attire, LinkedIn is the black-and-white gala of the web. It contains the largest collection of professionals gathered up in one single place in history. If you’re a business-to-business (B2B) provider, you will definitely benefit from it. As of March 2011, LinkedIn had 100 million registered users. Although we don’t know how many of them are active (the earlier link mentions that few of them still use the service on an occasional basis), it is still a thriving community with several entrepreneurs, job-seekers, and CEOs alike.

Its advertising system is simple: You pay, they advertise. It’s similar to Facebook. You can target based on seniority, company, job title, school, skills, networks, and many other variables. The average click-through rate on LinkedIn tends to be higher, according to some advertisers’ reports. However, your bids will end up being more expensive, at a minimum of $2 per click. Let’s recap:

  • 100 million professionals and growing. It’s not that bad at all!
  • However… The amount of users who are still active is still unknown. It’s a little bit of a risk, unless you want to make a recruiting effort or offer a stellar B2B product
  • If you sell something that other businesses will buy (essentially, B2B), you’ll sell better here, presumably, than on any other network.
  • Targeting is flexible and similar to Facebook.

Keep in mind that you will probably not attract anyone with consumer products. This is only a proper place to advertise if you’re looking to hire or you’re selling a B2B product.

The Sky’s The Limit!

When it comes to advertising, there’s perhaps only one social network that you’ll really fall in love with. As I mentioned before, each one has a unique way of approaching things. Only one of them (maybe two) will really match up to what you want and deliver the reach and response you are hoping to acquire.



What Social Network Should I Advertise On? A Quick Guide To Advertising On Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

For many small businesses around the world, social media advertising can be a bit frustrating. Each social network has its own culture, personality, and everything revolves around the kinds of people they appeal to. You have your all-around networks, like Facebook and Twitter; and then you have your professional buttoned-up networks, like LinkedIn. Each one also functions differently, meaning that you have to work on making your advertising blend in to the particular way they display it.

This is a lot to take in, especially for someone just getting started in advertising. That’s why I’m presenting a quick guide that compares the pro’s and con’s of advertising on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

Facebook

 

Facebook has a special place on the internet. It has a well-established place in the market, with over two billion connections between people and their local businesses. According to Gwendolyn Belomy from The Outcast Agency, Facebook pages cumulatively get an average of 645 million views and 13 million comments each week. In the United States and Canada, around 70 percent of active Facebook users clicked the “Like” button on at least one local business. This is an enormous market and a great potential for you to attract consumers.

The big price is hard to gauge on Facebook, since it all depends on a complex algorithm. Basically, the more you target your ads, the cheaper your cost-per-click bids will be. When it comes to putting Facebook head-to-head against Twitter, 80 percent of Facebook users use the social network to connect to brands, compared to 6 percent of Twitter users, according to an article by HubSpot. So, the main points of using Facebook for advertising are:

  • Facebook is an enormous market with over 1.11 billion active users each month.
  • Most of its users prefer to use this particular social network to connect to brands (80%).
  • You get easy targeting options, which allow you to get local likes on your page. Targeting also may lower the bid prices.
  • There’s a ton of flexibility in your ads. Ads can be rotated from time to time to “freshen up.”

Facebook is a great place for you if you want to get started with advertising and there are a plenty of books out there that can help, including Ramon Ray’s ‘The Facebook Guide To Small Business Marketing, which has a chapter solely dedicated to explaining the in’s and out’s of advertising on Facebook.

Twitter

Twitter’s been a very speedy and rapidly changing social tool for several years now. In short, it’s amazing. Twitter has been ahead of viral trends for a very long time and has been a great predictor for what is going to be news. It really gets into the mind of the crowd!

Twitter’s outreach may not be as big as Facebook, but still takes on a considerable chunk of the internet - about 550 million users, according to these statistics from Statistic Brain. The same site tells us that 135,000 users sign up every day, making 2.1 billion search queries within the same amount of time. Nearly half of its users are mobile (something to keep in mind if you plan to make a campaign linking to your site).

This astoundingly active community boasts an innovative advertising system. Basically, you pay for your tweets to be promoted (moved up the list) in relevant search results. If you use American Express, they’ll give you $100 of free advertising to boot. Because of its relevance to search results, it has higher value than Facebook. But don’t expect many users to follow you. They’re not necessarily looking for local brands. Earlier, I mentioned how only 6 percent of Twitter users actually use this network as their preferred method of connecting with local businesses. That’s quite the downer! Let’s recap, shall we?

  • 550 million users gives you a hefty market to work with.
  • The Twitter community is stunningly active with search requests (although they could be searching for things that are “hot,” not necessarily anything related to your business).
  • Only 6 percent of Tweeters consider the social network to be preferable for connecting with brands.
  • If you use American Express, you can get $100 of free ads!
  • Oh, and I almost forgot about Twitter Cards. This will show a preview of your site when someone links to you in a Twitter post. You just have to add some HTML to your site.

All things considered, this is a great social network for businesses looking to go viral. Don’t advertise a product. Post something that will make the crowd go wild. It’s the nightclub of the Internet.

LinkedIn

If you’re looking for something a little more classy with professional attire, LinkedIn is the black-and-white gala of the web. It contains the largest collection of professionals gathered up in one single place in history. If you’re a business-to-business (B2B) provider, you will definitely benefit from it. As of March 2011, LinkedIn had 100 million registered users. Although we don’t know how many of them are active (the earlier link mentions that few of them still use the service on an occasional basis), it is still a thriving community with several entrepreneurs, job-seekers, and CEOs alike.

Its advertising system is simple: You pay, they advertise. It’s similar to Facebook. You can target based on seniority, company, job title, school, skills, networks, and many other variables. The average click-through rate on LinkedIn tends to be higher, according to some advertisers’ reports. However, your bids will end up being more expensive, at a minimum of $2 per click. Let’s recap:

  • 100 million professionals and growing. It’s not that bad at all!
  • However… The amount of users who are still active is still unknown. It’s a little bit of a risk, unless you want to make a recruiting effort or offer a stellar B2B product
  • If you sell something that other businesses will buy (essentially, B2B), you’ll sell better here, presumably, than on any other network.
  • Targeting is flexible and similar to Facebook.

Keep in mind that you will probably not attract anyone with consumer products. This is only a proper place to advertise if you’re looking to hire or you’re selling a B2B product.

The Sky’s The Limit!

When it comes to advertising, there’s perhaps only one social network that you’ll really fall in love with. As I mentioned before, each one has a unique way of approaching things. Only one of them (maybe two) will really match up to what you want and deliver the reach and response you are hoping to acquire.



6 Ways to Grab Your Share of Back to School Shoppers

back to school shoppers

Back-to-school season is on the horizonâ€"or already here, depending on what part of the country you’re in. How can your retail store or eCommerce business target back-to-school shoppers?

Shop.org’s Back to School 2013 Online Consumer Shopping Outlook has some insights.

Overall, parents with school-age children will spend a projected $26.7 billion on back-to-school this yearâ€"down slightly from 2012. Online shoppers will spend more; an average of $896 on clothing, shoes, school supplies, and electronics or computer-related goods. That’s a whopping 41 percent more than the average amount all shoppers will spend.

Get Online Shoppers In-Store

More than half of parents say they will do more comparison shopping online this year. That means even if your business doesn’t sell online, you have a chance to grab online shoppers’ attention.

Place Google Ads that get served up when shoppers search for what you sell. Get your SEO up to par so your site comes up high in search results. Make sure your store is listed on local search directories like Local.com. Emphasize the “get it now!” factor and that if customers shop in your store, they can have the item in hand immediately without waiting for shipping.

Start Early

Twenty-three percent of all back-to-school shoppers start shopping two months before school starts and over one-third of online back-to-school shoppers do so.

That means they’re shopping nowâ€"so get your marketing messages out there, especially online.

Go Late

A parallel trend to the early shopping: More kids are waiting until after school starts to buy school supplies, clothing and accessories.

For kids, the goal is to see what other kids are actually wearing (and what supplies teachers require) before they buy. For parents, the goal is to nab those last-minute markdowns. Keep up on what products are hot sellers in your area and make sure you’re stocked up until, and even after, school starts.

Plan to keep your back-to-school marketing messages going until mid-September or even later.

Keep it Simple

If you sell online, make sure your search, comparison and checkout processes are as streamlined as possible. Parents are busy, so they want to get in, find what they need and get out.

Create quick links to back-to-school items and spotlight popular products. The same principle applies offline, so make sure your store is adequately staffed and stocked. Set up prominent back-to-school displays and create “packages,” such as discounts on a week’s worth of uniform shirts, to speed shopping and encourage more spending.

Help Them Out

Online, make information like shipping charges, return policies and sales tax easy to find so parents know what to expect at checkout. Provide a variety of ways for parents to get help fast, such as a toll-free phone number, email and online chat. Display them prominently on every page of your website.

Make a Deal

A survey by BIGinsight found almost 77 percent of parents of school-aged children say the economy is affecting their back-to-school purchasing plans. More than one-third say they’ll use coupons and more than one-fourth will ask children to re-use items from last school year to save money.

Whether you’re selling online or off, discounts, deals and special offers are the way to a parent’s heart at back-to-school time.

Back to School Photo via Shutterstock




Multiple certifications ensure need for accrediting bodies to work together

There is a need for certification companies to work together to enable security professionals to better understand the benefits of them, and gain the most from them.

Speaking to SC Magazine, Amar Singh, chair of the London Chapter security group of ISACA, said that the organisers of certification companies should find a balance.

He said: “The problem with any certification is who does them, maybe there should be a CISSP course and a CISSP premium. I know someone with no knowledge of programming who got a CISSP for software development so how did they get it? There is a case of a grandfathering programme and that is where the change needs to be.

“A certification doesn't demonstrate your passion, as with no passion you're a robot. (ISC)2 and ISACA need to get together and say 'let's try to bring real value to certifications' and more value so there is a premium level of certification to demonstrate a level of passion.”

He predicted that in a few years, there will be more software security developer certifications and while he saw it as a huge opportunity to see people do a security software course, he said that certifications need to evolve to show that a person has a passion for what they are learning, as this is important to employers when they are hiring new staff.

“(ISC)2, ISACA and Sans Institute should combine as they need to work out a better way to add value, as it is a constant battle,” he said.

Commenting, Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)2, agreed that there is plenty of scope for the different bodies to work together to help overcome that confusion, to explain the role of certification itself and its value in the developing international information security workplace.

He said: “These bodies need to work together to support the development of official standards for skills that set the framework for public policy and formal education. It is important to recognise that certifications themselves are not the standards; they have a different, more direct role to play in the workplace, but the quality, currency and depth of internationally recognised knowledge that goes into maintaining existing certifications have a value to the varied standards effort that are required at a national or regional level.”

Tipton also said that it was important to understand the critical role that professional certification plays in the development of individuals and the profession itself, as in just 25 years, information security requirements have developed at a rapid pace, with vendor-neutral professional certifications and the support from the membership bodies that uphold them developing alongside these requirements.

“Contrary to calls for consolidation in the market, I believe we are going to see the market support more, rather than fewer, certifications, as businesses and government alike continue to recognise the breadth of the professionalisation requirement,” he said.

“It is incumbent on the certification bodies to communicate the quality of their process and content, how they remain relevant. In our case, this happens through frequent job task analyses of our membership, and how they ensure those who hold their certifications are empowered to live up to the quality that is communicated by their credential through the activities and support of the membership and the broader professional community.”

Speaking to SC Magazine, James Lyne, SANS Institute certified instructor, said that there are pros and cons to standardisation, especially as SANS is providing training modules for CISSP. “It can be a good thing, as there can be a danger of price fixing with too many standards, while cross-pollination is a good place,” he said.

“The government is providing standardisation schemes for the definition of penetration testing for example, and I really like the industry and government defining the need to find one and we need to have that, but there has got to be a competitive edge to place the best content. Some people are better suited to one style and having multiple routes is no bad thing.”



(ISC)2 introduces online training for CISSP, CSSLP and SSCP

(ISC)2 has introduced an online version of its training seminars to cover the CISSP, CSSLP and SSCP certifications.

According to the company, Live OnLine offers candidates a self-paced e-Learning course and also a virtual course. Candidates receive up-to-date course materials, including (ISC)2 official text books, contributions from subject matter experts, an overview of the scope of the information security field and post-seminar self-assessment tests.

The courses are delivered in two and a half hour sessions, twice a week over eight weeks, and during the virtual sessions, candidates can pose questions to the instructor for immediate response and feedback. Archived Live OnLine sessions can also be accessed by candidates for up to 60 days following the course, with the ability to directly email the instructor with questions.

Faisal Malik, head of business development at (ISC)2 EMEA, said: “Our aim is to offer professionals a variety of options for quality learning via an educational model of their choosing to help them improve and maintain their skill levels in tune with evolving requirements.

“Given the demanding work routines of security professionals, Live OnLine will take away the issues of cost and travel, offering candidates the convenience of virtual classroom sessions in local time, along with that all-important one-to-one interaction with the instructor.”

Registrations are now open for the autumn schedule for CISSP, CSSLP and SSCP certifications, to run from 8th October to 28th November 2013. Registration is available here.