Monday, February 21, 2022

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StartupNation


WJR Business Beat: Tips To Drive More Sales And Create Customer Loyalty (Episode 365)

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 08:47 AM PST

wjr business beat

On today’s Business Beat, Jeff explains how transforming your employees into ambassadors will translate into customer loyalty and greater sales.

Turn in to the Business Beat, below, to learn more about this business growth hack:

 

Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE.

Are you an entrepreneur with a great story to share? If so, contact us at editor@startupnation.com and we'll feature you on an upcoming segment of the WJR Business Beat!

Good morning, Paul! We’ve got a tip that all business owners and operators need to be aware of given its proven power to drive more sales and increase customer loyalty. And that leads to repeat purchases. So what is it and how do you achieve it? Well, here it is: Transform your company’s employees into ambassadors for your business and to activate this transformation you first must transform the way your employees feel about your company and their opportunity to work on behalf of it. The goal is to ignite passion and loyalty. That leads to an enthusiasm in the way your employees do their jobs. Most importantly, in the way they interface you're your customers. So here are a few tips on how you make it happen. One, make sure your employees know that they are part of a team. And that on this team, every member matters and the way one employee goes about his or her role, well, that directly impacts the performance of your company as a whole. Two, create a culture of ownership so that your employees feel a sense of genuine pride about working for your company. You need to get them to feel like they’re working for themselves. Now, of course, some companies offer actual equity ownership opportunities, and certainly you could do that as incentive, but I’m talking more figuratively about conveying a sense of ownership and this can be achieved in various ways that are not limited to financial strategies. By way of example, simply giving your staff an opportunity to be heard and provide input that helps shape the business will go a long way toward giving them a sense of feeling that they have contributions to the business that go way beyond just holding a job. Provide ongoing education that makes your team members expert in what it is that you sell. You don’t want sales associates working for you. You want experts that know the category and the advantages that your specific products or services offer versus what the competition offers so that they can explain it with genuine expertise and enthusiasm and that leads to confidence, which leads to sales. Want our complete and comprehensive list of how to achieve this goal for your business and other growth hacks? Go to startupnation.com and check out our Business Growth Hacks newsletter. Sign up for it! You’ll get tips every week like this one on how to generate more sales and grow your business with easy and simple business hacks. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.

The post WJR Business Beat: Tips To Drive More Sales And Create Customer Loyalty (Episode 365) appeared first on StartupNation.

How AR and AI are Driving Innovation Amid Social Distancing

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 02:05 AM PST

AR and AI Dell

AR and AI tools are a goldmine for retailers that can gather customer data to improve marketing, product development and personalization. Read how AR and AI work together to drive trendy new innovations like touchless makeup trials that make distance shopping easier.

Theresa Novicky knows makeup.

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Novicky, a beautician, loves to help her clients, many of them brides-to-be, wear the right looks for their big day. While Novicky takes care of the rest of the makeup, she leaves the selection of the lipstick to the brides themselves. Typically, they visit many stores looking for just the right shade—it's a big day, after all, and everything has to be just so.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Novicky's clients could simply test lipstick shades in-person at beauty retailers. Touchless restrictions and rolling lockdowns, however, have thrown that routine for a loop. Today, instead of shopping in-person, a bride can use a makeup app to test-drive a variety of shades, leveraging the wonders of augmented reality (AR) to find just the right dazzle for the special occasion.


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A new makeup routine

Makeup apps, including ones from L'Oreal, Estée Lauder, Neutrogena, Madison Reed, Sally Beauty, among others, use Perfect Corp's technology as the underlying engine. The company's proprietary YouCam works using mostly a combination of AR and machine learning (ML) technologies.

Using a phone or desktop camera, YouCam recognizes the customer's facial features via ML programs. It locates 106 different points on the face to create and display a 3D, synthetic image. Once that YouCam has a model of the face, it can color relevant portions. The selected lipstick color is virtually overlaid on the model's lips, enabling the customer to visualize what the product will look like on them. YouCam also adjusts according to customer skin tone and lighting, making sure the virtual look is as close to the real-world one as possible.

YouCam leverages ML in two key ways. ML employs pattern recognition to help identify facial features, and ML algorithms suggest shades to customers based on products they've already chosen so far. The app can also upsell and suggest skincare products based on observed conditions. If YouCam identifies a dark spot, for example, a concealer pops up as a recommendation.



Touchless is timely and trendy

Facial recognition technology is not new. It first emerged in the 1960s with funding from the military.

"However, as technology and camera lenses improved, the utility of facial recognition (became more apparent),” Alice Chang, founder and CEO of Perfect Corp, said.

Today it is combined with AR and artificial intelligence (AI) effects for consumer use. Companies like Warby Parker for eyeglasses and Allbirds shoes are using similar technologies so customers can take their products for a test drive.

"Given consumers' demands to try before they buy, it was natural for virtual try-ons (in beauty to take off first) before paving the way for others," Chang said.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData's retail division, said that AR- and AI-driven beauty technology was slowly gaining momentum even before the pandemic.

"Very few people actually want to go to a store and try on makeup. They are often already made up and don't want to apply different ones," Saunders said. "For retailers, there's the problem of wastage of samples. Plus there's the issue of hygiene, with customers sharing products."

The hygiene part of the virtual try-on equation has become front and center during COVID-19. To adjust to the new pandemic landscape, Perfect Corp. has added new features so customers can go contactless when in the store. They can simply use voice and gesture controls to try on makeup virtually. The company's YouCam technology also recognizes face masks of an in-store customer when it recreates the 3D mesh model of the face.

Virtual makeup try-ons are cleaner with less waste. Retailers spend less on samples they can't sell and customers access a more hygienic way of trying on products.


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A wide palette of benefits

Apart from the immediate benefits of hygiene during the pandemic, AR- and AI-driven beauty tech helps retailers meet their customers where they are: on their devices.

"Consumers will continue to rely on technology as a means of connecting the dots between their physical and digital worlds," Chang said. "As we spend more time in front of screens than ever before, beauty tech invites an interactive, hyper-engaged experience that rivals that of a physical one."

Saunders doesn't expect in-person experiences to go away entirely. Rather, he envisions AR apps becoming a part of the beauty landscape after the pandemic.

"Most people want a mix of digital and in-person experiences, they swing back and forth," he explained.

AR-driven apps also drive customer engagement, Saunders said, which is valuable currency in the omnichannel e-commerce world. That customer engagement might even lead to bolder purchases: "These AR apps can be entertaining for the customer and very few people would want to try on a radical shade of lipstick or eyeshadow. The virtual experience, however, makes that easier."

A subsequent bonus for retailers? Increased sales. For instance, Madison Reed, which sells hair color, found that 38 percent of those who use the company's virtual try-on tool go on to buy products. In 2017, Perfect Corp. also found that users of the YouCam app are 1.6 times more likely to buy cosmetics compared to non-users.

Saunders also sees retailers using these digital footprints to their advantage: "There's a lot of very rich data you can get from these types of apps to help with marketing, personalization and product development efforts."

Retailers can analyze app usage patterns, track every click, and understand which products are proving to be more popular, and direct marketing and production resources accordingly.

Given that the global market for cosmetics is poised to reach almost $430 billion by 2022, AR and AI technologies also give retailers a chance at a greater slice of that pie. Makeup made easy, with just the right dab of drama, is here to stay. And that is the foundation of good news for retailers and customers alike.

Originally published Jan. 20, 2021. 

The post How AR and AI are Driving Innovation Amid Social Distancing appeared first on StartupNation.

HR Experts and Business Leaders Share Their #1 Tip for Hiring Top Talent

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST

hiring top talent

As you've probably encountered firsthand, hiring the right people can feel like an uphill battle. In fact, research from Glassdoor indicates that 76% of hiring decision makers say that attracting quality candidates is their number one challenge.

While sourcing top talent can be challenging, there are certain things you can do to increase your success rate. To learn more about how to boost your chances of hiring amazing talent, we asked five HR experts and business leaders to share their very top hiring tips. Keep reading to discover what they are.

1. Adopt a structured hiring process

"Structured interviews tend to be much more reliable and valid than unstructured interviews. Structured interviewing involves asking all candidates the same skill-based questions. The steps to a structured interview process are simple: 

  1. Determine three to five competencies necessary for a person to succeed in a role.
  2. Select behavior-based questions that will help you evaluate each of the competencies. 
  3. Ask all candidates those same questions. 
  4. Score all candidates on a rubric using the same scale. 

Diversity, equity and inclusion experts encourage structured interviewing because the process reduces bias in hiring. Reducing bias is key to hiring top talent because it allows you to identify the actual best person for the role, and not be clouded by your assumptions and preconceived ideas of who the best person might be."


How to Create a Culture of Integrity with a Remote Team

2. Give test situations to see candidates' skills in action

"Some people interview well and some people interview really poorly. An interview alone is not the best indication that somebody will actually be able to do the job. 

For every role, we design a test situation that will let a candidate put their craft to work and show you what they are really capable of. It's important to create a test situation that mimics a real working environment as much as possible. 

For example, if you are hiring a telesales person, then get them to do a roleplay phone call. Whereas, if you are hiring a software engineer, get them to code something. Be considerate of your candidate's time and don't make your test too onerous or complex. The point here isn’t to trick someone into making a mistake; it's about getting a real sense of how a person would perform on the job."

  • Johanna Seton, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Doorsteps

3. Focus on inclusive hiring practices to attract diverse talent

“My one tip for hiring top talent is to have a robust recruiting plan with a real focus on inclusive and diverse talent. Today’s talent is becoming more diverse. The best way to bring in top talent is to have the widest possible pool of talent to recruit from. 

Inclusive recruiting tactics may include: focusing on language in job posts that appeal to the broadest range of diverse talent; using diverse people within your recruiting and interview process; training interviewing managers to recognize and mitigate unconscious bias; and seeking talent from underutilized sources.  

Some of these ‘hidden’ sources of top talent can include mature employees with lots of experience who want to continue working, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people needing a second chance, and veterans.”

4. Offer enticing employee rewards

"Compensation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and salaries have increased in most markets. Companies that are not willing nor able to take a hard look at their value proposition will continue to struggle with both counter offers and employees consistently being recruited away. 

However, those that take a holistic view towards compensation and the total rewards package they offer their employees will find that money isn't everything to today's candidates. 

Flexibility, benefits, and autonomy are much higher on the priority list for candidates these days, so be sure to keep that in mind if you want to start hiring top talent."


Must-read: How to Staff a Strong Culture on a Shoestring Budget

5. Remember how you treat your existing employees will impact the candidates you attract

"The best ambassadors of your company to future talent are your current employees. This is why your best move is to ensure their employee experience is positive by treating them with the utmost respect. By respecting them, you're showing them how much you value their hard work. 

Work on acknowledging not only their contributions, but also their individuality. Positivity within your organization will shine through, attracting top talent like a moth to a flame.

If you don't respect your employees, they may end up becoming unmotivated and unproductive. 

And what kind of future coworkers will they end up attracting? People with no 'love' for your business and are only looking to come to work, perform some tasks, and leave."

Final remarks

As the expert tips in this article highlight, it's vital to take a more considered approach if you want to start hiring top talent. It's simply not enough to offer job seekers what you believe is a good career opportunity. 

You need to be proactive about implementing hiring practices that attract and retain top talent. Start by implementing the tips above. Once you identify what works and what doesn't, you can tweak your recruitment process accordingly. Soon, you'll be attracting more talent than you can handle!


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The post HR Experts and Business Leaders Share Their #1 Tip for Hiring Top Talent appeared first on StartupNation.

27 Simple Tools to Run a Remote Team

Posted: 20 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST

tools for remote work

Remote work took over the world in 2020, and thanks to the benefits it provides, it's not going anywhere anytime soon. It's not just good for the employees (who can stay safer and commute less), but businesses as well. Employers are now saving up to $10,000 per employee on office overhead costs, and remote-first companies are 64% more likely to reach their business goals than traditional ones.

Managing a remote workforce doesn't mean you have to lose sight of how your team or business is performing. In fact, there are dozens of tools that can help you stay more informed and on track than ever before. Here are some of the best tools to help you run a remote team.

Employee productivity and time tracking

One of the most important metrics you'll need in your daily business is knowing where the time has gone. To effectively analyze, strategize and maintain profitability, it pays to know where most of the work is being done, how long it's taking and how employees are doing in terms of productivity. The bigger your business, the more a robust tool with strong automation will be important. 

When choosing time tracking software, consider the following things:

  • Your budget. As your business grows, you may need more features so don’t forget to look at the top-end pricing.
  • Think about what devices you use (Mac, Windows, Android, etc.) and look at the integration for each tool.
  • If you’re an individual freelancer, you probably just need a simple tracker for billable hours. If you’re a company, you’ll probably want an enterprise solution with more features.

Toggl Track 

Toggl Track helps you see exactly where your time is being spent. You can time yourself on each task and create calendars that help you stay focused and productive.

  • Pricing: Free for up to 5 users. Paid plans range from $9 to $18 a month, depending on features.
  • Key features: Expense management and tracking, employee database, file sharing, email and time tracking, billing and invoicing. 
  • Pros: Straightforward, simple interface, integrated desktop app, tagging to organize types of tasks. 
  • Cons: Limited features with calendar usability, no auto-tracking of time. 
  • G2 Rating: 4.8/5

The G2 rating is taken from https://www.g2.com/, one of the largest online review sites where users review different products. The highest rating is 5 stars, the lowest is 0 stars.

Proofhub

Proofhub combines some of the most popular project management tools (Kanban boards, comment threads, file sharing, project progress reports, etc.) into one platform.

  • Pricing: $45 monthly for up to 40 projects, $89 monthly for unlimited projects. No per-user fees.
  • Key features: Custom workflows, Kanban and Gantt chart features, in-app chat, calendar reminders and full project reports.
  • Pros: Diverse features for remote communication, easy to manage tasks and communication for large teams, excellent workflow features. 
  • Cons: No budgeting functions or options for recurring tasks, user interface can be clunky.
  • G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Time Doctor

TimeDoctor tracks how much time is spent on each task and which websites and apps employees are using the most, giving management more insight on who's spending time where.

  • Pricing: $7, $10, or $20 per user, depending on features and support level.
  • Key features: Time tracking with detailed reporting on employee performance, time use alerts, and web/app usage reports. 
  • Pros: Ideal for determining which employees could use improvement with time management or task completion. Can track granular details like mouse clicks and keyboard activity per second.
  • Cons: Some issues with Linux and MacOS bugs, outdated user interface, mediocre customer support.
  • G2 Rating:4.4/5

Paymo

Paymo is a task manager that not only lets you track your projects, but also sends invoices and payments directly through the platform.

  • Pricing: Free for up to 10 users. $9.95/user/month for small business features, $15.79/user/month for larger team features.
  • Key features: Time tracking, billable time management, project accounting, electronic payments, invoice creation and delivery. 
  • Pros: Built-in database for storing attachments, pre-built templates to simplify and speed up projects. Feature-rich, ideal for agencies or teams working with a large number of external organizations.
  • Cons: Filter and category interface can be confusing.
  • G2 Rating: 4.6/5

The Right Technologies Will Boost Your Startup's Productivity

Communication and collaboration

Whether your team members are located in the same time zone or across the globe, stronger communication tools are essential to a remote workforce. When choosing a communication and collaboration tool, consider not only the mode you'll most be working in (video, chat, audio) but also which will be the most friendly and accessible to everyone you need to work with, both inside and outside your business. 

When choosing a communication and collaboration tool, consider the following:

  • If you will be using it to conduct meetings, video conferencing capabilities are a must, and real-time collaboration and sharing tools are ideal.
  • Easy integration across platforms will be important, because you can’t count on your employees to all use the same devices.
  • The tool should be user-friendly and have basic functions that someone can use without being tech-savvy.

Nextiva Cloud Call Center

Nextiva is a cloud-based phone system that also provides a cloud contact center and virtual workspace. Who it's best for: Sales and customer service teams looking to track and automate their outreach from any place or device, as well as teams that are looking for a simple, accessible coworking platform.

  • Pricing: $18.95 to $57.95/user/month, depending on desired features.
  • Key features: Conference calling, call analytics, sales CRM, video meetings, internal messaging, and secure screen and document sharing. 
  • Pros: High-quality customer service. Call recording feature, easy to set up and use. 
  • Cons: Some problems with poor quality on call audio and dropped/missed calls.
  • G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Zoom

Zoom is virtual video conferencing software that allows users to create and schedule video meetings and special programming, like company town halls and webinars.

  • Pricing: Free for meetings of up to 40 minutes; unlimited meeting times and additional features at $149, $199 or $240 for a one-year license.
  • Key features: File sharing, live preview, password protection, browser application, instant messaging features.
  • Pros: Can accommodate any size of team. Built-in screen sharing, the ability to record meetings, breakout room capability for dividing larger meetings into smaller discussion groups.
  • Cons: May require additional licenses depending on team needs, HD video not the default, problems with being able to delete inappropriate comments in the chat.
  • G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Slack

Slack is an online messaging app designed for workplaces of all sizes. Team members can send messages, create important reminders, take audio or video calls, and integrate dozens of other popular workplace tools into their messaging platform.

  • Pricing: Free with limited features; $6 to $12 a month for additional capabilities and custom pricing available for enterprise-level needs.
  • Key features: Channels for creating groups around specific topics, teams, projects, or interests, Slack Connect for collaborating with other workplaces that use Slack, Workflow Builder for automating tasks, like sending daily status updates or recurring reminders.
  • Pros: Easy to use, cuts down dramatically on email, search features, ability to closely manage communications. 
  • Cons: Notifications can sometimes be overwhelming, messaging is limited on the free version. Can be resource intensive.
  • G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Help Scout Helpdesk Software

Help Scout provides customer service software that lets your customer support team tackle requests and questions in a more organized, streamlined way.

  • Pricing: $20, $35 or $60/user/month, depending on needed features.
  • Key features: Ticket creation and automated response, ticket collaboration, live chat support, knowledge base with searchable articles. 
  • Pros: Ideal for customer-facing teams that need a centralized platform to better manage inbound requests and answer customer inquiries quickly and efficiently. Shared inbox to view who's working on which tickets and when. Robust reporting to view how the company is performing at any given time.
  • Cons: Limited flexibility with customer satisfaction ratings, some reported glitches with Android version.
  • G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Notion

Notion is a versatile app that lets you create and organize important notes and documents, either individually or collaboratively. You can use Notion to brainstorm and casually track your thoughts and ideas, or file and maintain documents for your entire team or company.

  • Pricing: Free for personal use, $4 a month for a Pro plan, ranging up to custom pricing for large enterprise needs.
  • Key features: Project planning and templates, wiki with in-content feedback and comments, to-do lists and scheduling. 
  • Pros: Good for remote teams looking for an easy-to-use but powerful and highly customizable virtual workspace with project management. Often referred to as a “box of Legos” with all the various and modular features it offers.
  • Cons: Long setup time with a lot of required configuration, search and navigation could use some improvement, interface can be overwhelming.
  • G2 Rating: 4.8/5

Calendar.com

Calendar.com is exactly what it sounds like—the ultimate calendar app for scheduling meetings and events. Calendar is AI-powered, so the more you use it, the more it learns how to make your day go even more smoothly.

  • Pricing: Three plans: Free, Standard ($6/month), and Pro ($8/month). Premium tiers add more features aimed at business users.
  • Key features: Personalized scheduling links, automatic time conflict management, built-in calendar analytics.
  • Pros: Notification and alert system, ease of use, orderly and easy-to-understand layout.
  • Cons: Can take some time to learn the interface; integration with other apps could use some improvement.
  • G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Quick tip on choosing calendar/scheduling software: If a specific tool does not work well with your workflow, there are a ton of other calendar alternatives available for you to check out.

Woorise

Woorise is an all-in-one lead generation and marketing platform that allows you to create a wide range of interactive campaigns such as viral giveaways and contests, landing pages, forms, surveys and quizzes, as well as accept payments and more to collect leads and engage your audience.

  • Pricing: Free, $29/month, $49/month and $99/month depending on the features.
  • Key features: 100+ templates, modern drag & drop campaign and form builder, multipage forms, email notifications, multi-language support, integrations.
  • Pros: Allows you to create multiple campaign types in one place such as landing pages, quizzes, surveys, forms and polls as well as accept payments and subscriptions.
  • Cons: Advanced features are available on premium plans.
  • G2 Rating: 4.7/5

ZenDesk

ZenDesk offers lead generation software that helps business owners focus on prospective clients who are the most likely to buy their product or service. With content creation and lead nurturing tools, Zendesk can save time and money by helping business owners land more clients, faster.

  • Pricing: $19, $49, or $99/user/month, depending on features.
  • Key features: Email integration, wide array of tools for lead generation, sales pipeline, advanced analytics.
  • Pros: Wide variety of features in one app, ability to assign tickets to specific users, good integration with other apps.
  • Cons: Reports of some difficulty contacting customer support, automation features may be lacking, admin may require some training to get started.
  • G2 Rating: 4.3 / 5

Project management

The ability to monitor, track, collaborate and communicate effectively about your projects will only grow more challenging as your business grows. Good project management software can help with decision-making, prioritizing, and keeping your budget under control. When choosing the right project management tool for you, make sure you choose one that can grow as you grow — switching software later can be time-consuming and costly. 

Here are some other  things to keep in mind when picking the right project management software:

  • Don’t confuse “best-rated” with “best for you.” Not every project management suite is created equal, and you should look at the features that will be the best fit for your team, while preferably staying as simple as possible.
  • Lean toward tools with easy integration and a trial period, so you can “try before you buy” and avoid any potential snags with your team using it.

Asana

Asana is a task management platform that lets teams stay in communication and on track with every deliverable. Create projects and tasks and assign due dates and stakeholders to each to-do so that things get done more quickly and smoothly.

  • Pricing: Free for up to 15 users, $11 to $25/user/month for premium plans, custom pricing for enterprise.
  • Key features: Kanban boards, Gantt charts, forms, shared calendar, workload tracker and goal-setting features. 
  • Pros: Ideal for projects that need to be broken down into smaller tasks. Clean and simple interface, easy to transfer tasks to different team members, free version is fully functional. 
  • Cons: Some feature bloat, requires experience with project management software to use effectively, only one user can be assigned to a task at a time.
  • G2 Rating: 4.⅗

Preceden

Preceden is an online project time line maker that helps you quickly create, customize, and share impressive timeline visualizations to stay organized and align your team.

  • Pricing: Free up to 10 events in the time line, $29/month after or $149/year if you choose to pay annually..
  • Key features: Templates, layers to organize events, collaboration, custom branding, presentation mode, drag and drop, and bulk editing.
  • Pros: Time line interface very clean and neat, templates for pre-building time lines, fast and efficient to use.
  • Cons: Fewer functions than some competitors, pricing can be relatively steep, some learning curve.
  • G2 Rating: 4.3/5 

Trello

Trello is Kanban board software that lets you create, organize and track projects through your own custom board. You can also view project time lines, calendars and board statistics without leaving Trello.

  • Pricing: Free for individual use; $5, $10, or $17.50/user/month for additional features and storage.
  • Key features: Custom Kanban boards, integrations with Slack, Drive and Microsoft Teams, time line view, built-in calendar.
  • Pros: Very simple interface, easily customizable, appealing visual system of organization. 
  • Cons: Limited storage space (more available with upgrades), best suited to smaller projects, commenting system could use improvement.
  • G2 Rating: 4.4/5

BaseCamp

Basecamp is a project management tool that aims to be your company's Wiki and workflow hub. You can use it to oversee projects from beginning to end, or to post important company updates and announcements.

  • Pricing: $99/month flat fee. 30-day trial.
  • Key features: To-do list, automated check-ins, group chats, doc and file storage.
  • Pros: Simple workflow, ability to leave notes and attach images to entries, tagging system makes organization easy. 
  • Cons: Limited customization, no time tracking, limited chat features.
  • G2 Rating: 4.1/5

Hive

Hive is a different kind of a project management platform, many customers call it "first democratic project management tool" – it is built by users, for users. Hive brings all project management functions into one central dashboard, including task management, time tracking, email, note taking and chat messaging.

  • Pricing: Hive Solo is free for up to two users. Hive Teams plans start at $12/month per user. Enterprise pricing is available upon request.
  • Key features: Flexible project layouts including Kanban, Gantt and Calendar views. Time-tracking, resourcing, proofing and approvals, note-taking, and meeting integrations.
  • Pros: New features are released weekly based on feedback from users on the Hive Forum. Add-on apps let you customize your workspace and pricing model based on what you actually need in your productivity platform. 
  • Cons: Free plan is limited to two users. Limited risk management capabilities.
  • G2 rating: 4.5/5 

Clickup

With a slogan of "one app to replace them all," Clickup is a project management tool that aims to do just that. Plan your day, manage projects, create content and track time without any other integrations.

  • Pricing: Free for personal use; $5, $9, $19 and custom enterprise plans available with richer features.
  • Key features: Workflow and task customization, in-house document creation, project management analytics, time tracking, and goal setting.
  • Pros: Excellent customization, high level of flexibility and control. Same task can be assigned to multiple lists, with the ability to know if another user has picked it up. Most features available in free version. 
  • Cons: Comment system needs improvements, some reports of bugs going unfixed by developers.
  • G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Monday

Monday is a project management software that can be customized and automated to fit your team or company's specific workflow.

  • Pricing: Free for individual plans; $8, $10, $16 and custom user/month plans for more features and capacity.
  • Key features: Kanban boards, Gantt charts, custom automations, collaborative documents and integrations to other popular tools. Advanced automation features and high visibility on how projects are progressing.
  • Pros: User-friendly and flexible, privacy controls to manage visibility of project data, dashboard for easy access to information. 
  • Cons: Short trial period, potentially expensive for larger teams.
  • G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Security technology

With remote work on the rise, it's more important now than ever to have strong security measures in place in case an employee's device is stolen or hacked. Security technology can be used to secure personal and company passwords, monitor credit reporting and unusual activity, and provide VPN features to ensure better privacy.

When looking into security technology for your business, you should consider how much visibility you need into your employees' online activity, and what kinds of safeguards you need in place in case a worst-case-scenario comes true. Though it might be tempting to go for the cheapest option, you should definitely not skimp when it comes to the security of your business. 

Aura 

Aura provides digital security services to find out if your identity was stolen and protect your identity, finances and other sensitive information from being stolen. Good for companies who want to protect their employees from being victims of fraud and theft, as well as prevent their sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands.

  • Pricing: $12 monthly for one individual; $22 for couples, $37/month for larger groups.
  • Key features: Identity theft monitoring, secure password management, VPN for browsing the web more securely and privately.
  • Pros: Retirement/investment tracking, credit tracker, malware protection.
  • Cons: Can be pricey at the top end, no sex offender monitoring or Mac OS virus protection.
  • G2 Rating: n/a

Cisco AnyConnect

AnyConnect is a secure VPN and security management software designed for hybrid and remote workforces to browse safely away from online threats. Best for IT teams that need to provide employees with VPN access as well as closely monitor incoming threats, alerts, and network traffic.

  • Pricing: Quote-based plans only.
  • Key features: Secure VPN, attack blocking, security analytics, threat detection and access management.
  • Pros: Beginner-friendly and easy to use, compatibility with other VPN software, host scan feature, good resource management.
  • Cons: Network connection sometimes drops; no free trial or available pricing without contacting a vendor.
  • G2 Rating: 4.4/5

1Password

1Password is a password management tool that securely stores passwords and login info for your team or organization's online accounts.

  • Pricing: $19/month for up to 10 members, $7.99 user/month and up for businesses.
  • Key features: Integrations with other popular security tools like Okta and OneLogin, data encryption, brute force protection and customizable administration capabilities.
  • Pros: Simple and easy to use, ability to add notes and fields to password entries for passphrase or security question information.
  • Cons: No free trial or free/freemium version, no premium consultation or integrating service, some reported issues with browser integration. 
  • G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Okta

Okta is access management software that lets your employees sign on to company devices and platforms more securely. Ideal for IT teams looking to let their workforces access sensitive data safely and securely from anywhere.

  • Pricing: $2 to $5 monthly for single sign-on, $3 to $6 monthly for multifactor authentication.
  • Key features: Single sign-on (SSO), multifactor authentication enablement, and lifecycle management. 
  • Pros: Good price point compared to competitors. Ability to sign in with one password across all devices, useful search function. 
  • Cons: Initial setup can be challenging, some issues with mobile app, not very customizable compared to competitors. 
  • G2 Rating: 4.4/5

How to Create a Culture of Integrity with a Remote Team

 Experience management

While it's true that being remote can never fully replace the human connection that comes with an office, there are still a number of tools you can use to engage your employees meaningfully and impactfully. Experience management software can help you generate leads, manage customers, improve the customer service experience, and otherwise help keep your customer base happy. 

Choosing the right experience management tool for your business may depend on how often you want to engage your team and in what ways. Some tools, for example, let you gamify engagement, whereas others let you be more buttoned-up with your approach. Look for tools that you can try before you buy, and ones that can help both customers and service agents get the best experience possible. 

HubSpot Lead Capture

HubSpot lead generation software uses a simple drag-and-drop editor for creating forms, integrated with HubSpot’s CRM to organize all lead information. Entries can then be broken into lists for targeted newsletters and prioritized. Ideal for remote or hybrid sales, marketing, or customer service teams looking to streamline lead generation, lead tracking, and customer relationship management efforts.

  • Pricing: Starts at $45 a month, up to $3,200 a month flat. 
  • Key features: Company database, email tracking and notifications, deal forecasting, lead attribution reporting, and sales and customer service rep performance dashboards.
  • Pros: Email integration, logging and tracking of tasks, notifications for specific initiatives and tasks.
  • Cons: User interface can be complicated, no ability to export prospects, mobile app could use improvement.
  • G2 Rating: 4.4 / 5

SurveySparrow

SurveySparrow is a survey creation tool that lets you better engage your employees in a remote work environment. Who it's best for: HR and People Operations teams looking to create and manage employee onboarding, performance reviews, and exit interviews.

  • Pricing: Free, $19 monthly, and $29 monthly for individuals, depending on features, $99 to $499 monthly for business. Custom pricing available.
  • Key features: 360 feedback reports, analytic dashboards to track survey completions, customize your surveys to match your company's branding. 
  • Pros: Visualization tools for understanding analytics, easy integration with other apps, stock templates for easier survey setup.
  • Cons: No free trial, pricing may be out of reach for smaller organizations.
  • G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Gusto

Gusto is a payroll and employee benefits management platform. HR and accounting teams can manage payroll and benefits for employees in all 50 states as well as for international contractors in more than 80 countries. Good for HR teams with a widely distributed workforce or a mix of employee types (full-time, contractor, freelance).

  • Pricing: $39/month to $149/month, depending on how complex your needs are. Custom pricing available for large enterprise needs.
  • Key features: Direct deposit payments for all employee types, time-off tracking tools, and customized employee onboarding checklists.
  • Pros: Easy-to-use onboarding process, paperless documentation, automatic tax reporting.
  • Cons: Higher pricing compared to some of its competitors.
  • G2 Rating: 4.3/5

Vantage Circle

Vantage Circle is a company culture and engagement tool that lets you give your employees special awards, exclusive discounts and track their feedback. Good for companies looking for a way to show gratitude toward and foster connections with remote employees to keep them engaged and fulfilled.

  • Pricing: Flexible. Custom pricing available from the vendor. 
  • Key features: Employee reward system and management, employee discount program, engagement surveys and tracking.
  • Pros: Good customer support, easy-to-use interface, support of other applications.
  • Cons: Quote-based pricing only. Some reported issues with the tracking system.
  • G2 Rating: 4.8/5

Whether your team is remote or hybrid, chances are you’ll benefit from having better tools to collaborate and stay connected. Take the time to consider what your team needs and what your company values, and you'll be well on your way to picking the right tools and setting your remote team up for success.


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WJR Business Beat: Media Ad Spending Surges (Episode 364)

Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:00 PM PST

wjr business beat

On today’s Business Beat, Jeff has good news about media ad spending with updated data from the U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

Turn in to the Business Beat, below, for details on what’s driving the growth:

    Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE.   Are you an entrepreneur with a great story to share? If so, contact us at editor@startupnation.com and we'll feature you on an upcoming segment of the WJR Business Beat!
Good morning, Paul! To wrap up our week, today we’re featuring news that's certainly welcome to those of us at WJR. But beyond that, for anyone in a media-oriented business dependent on ad spend as a revenue driver, the news? Ad spending is surging. Now we kicked off the year with ad spend in January increasing 19.2% over January of 2021. And that’s the 11th consecutive month of post-COVID gains for the U.S. ad marketplace, according to just updated data from the U.S. Ad Market Tracker. Now January's increase is the best since August of 2021. What’s driving the increase? Well, digital continues to be the biggest growth driver in terms of volume. But out of home media had the greatest year-over-year growth, rising as much as 133% in January this year versus January 2021. How about radio ad spend? Up 21% over January of last year. And while all the major media showed gains in January, TV’s growth was the worst relative to other media channels contributing to the overall growth. Now among major media suppliers, Google continues to dominate in terms of market share, but Comcast had the greatest growth up 32% due to big gains from technology, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods spending. Interestingly, Disney was the only one of the major media suppliers to experience a decline in January of this year. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat brought to you by Dell Technologies on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.

StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here

The post WJR Business Beat: Media Ad Spending Surges (Episode 364) appeared first on StartupNation.

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