Small business stories this week included news on new services offered by one of the largest independent hosting and registrar companies. But hey also included a story on a card reader from an unlikely source — a website known as a home for handmade and vintage products. Here’s a roundup of the stories that could be impacting your small business this week in our weekly Small Business News Trends weekly news and information roundup.
Business Tools
New GoDaddy Pro Service Targets Web Developers
Web hosting giant GoDaddy used to target mostly small online businesses with minimal technical needs. But the company is now trying to cater to a group that it admits hasn’t been much interested in its services before with a new GoDaddy Pro service offering.
New Etsy Credit Card Reader Targets Offline Merchants
Etsy wants its merchants to conduct sales on its popular ecommerce site. But the company also understands many of its clients need to be able to conduct business face-to-face too. That’s why the handmade and vintage ecommerce site has introduced the Sell on Etsy Reader. The device works like many other similar plug-in credit card scanners for the smartphone or tablet.
Signpost, Wix and OnDeck Team Up With Advice For Main Street Small Businesses
Signpost, Wix and OnDeck all serve large numbers of small businesses. And they recently joined together to release a free Small Business Toolkit. The Toolkit is an ebook with advice and resources for website creation, marketing and financing. The ebook can be downloaded at www.smbtoolkit2014.com.
IBM’s John Mason: Using Watson Analytics to Help SMBs Make Sense of Big Data
At last month’s Dreamforce conference held in San Francisco, it was said that 90% of the entire world’s collection of data has been generated over the past two years. And this has happened before wearable technology has hit the mainstream, and with device-to-device communication only being in its infancy.
Mobile Trends
Goodbye Nokia Phones, Hello Microsoft Lumia
We’ve seen the last of the Nokia Lumia line of smartphones, at least in terms of the brand name, it seems. The phones will still be available but under a new name. So it’s goodbye Nokia phones, hello Microsoft Lumia. Microsoft announced the brand name change recently for future Nokia mobile devices.
Going Mobile: Does Your Small Business Need an App?
Mobile is the new digital frontier for any business looking to succeed. With more smartphones than people in the United States, and a greater percentage of your customers searching for businesses like yours on mobile devices, you can’t afford not to have a presence that’s optimized for mobile.
Local Marketing
Mir Restaurant Asks Customers to Wash Dishes in Exchange for Food
Don’t have enough money to pay your restaurant bill? Well, you might have to stay and wash some dishes instead. For a few days last month, one restaurant in Paris put that idea into practice — literally. Of course, the whole thing was planned as a promotion for some dishwashing detergent.
Online Marketing
Is Author Marketing Club Worth It? Definitely
Author Marketing Club is an online community of over 20,000 authors, along with a collection of targeted tools and advice. If you want to increase your self-published book sales, check out Author Marketing Club. Whether you write fiction books or nonfiction, there’s something for every author.
Sales
17 Ways to Boost Online Sales This Season
For businesses, fall is one of the most important seasons of the year in terms of sales and profits. Shop.org predicts online sales in November and December of this year could grow between 8 and 11 percent over the last holiday season to as much as $105 billion.
Small Biz Spotlight
Spotlight: CellarPass Provides Online Guide for Wine Lovers
A visit to wine country is normally meant to be a relaxing getaway. But waiting in all those lines and scrambling for last minute reservations at the most popular wineries can ruin those plans. That’s where CellarPass comes in. The online platform and its accompanying iOS app allow visitors to book reservations and buy tickets to various wineries and tasting events.
Social Media
Top 25 Brands You Should Follow on Instagram
If you’re a small business seeking a better way to use Instagram, look for some good examples. Here are 25 brands you should follow on Instagram. They are brands that are using the platform effectively. Big or small, these brands can provide inspiration for your future campaigns.
Technology Trends
E Fun Windows Tablet with Keyboard Makes Chromebooks Look Pricey
The inexpensive Windows tablet market is heating up and E FUN is entering the fray with a new offering. The company has announced that it will introduce a new 10.1-inch Windows tablet in November, the Nextbook Windows 2-in-1. The most surprising thing about this Windows tablet won’t be any internal specs or a dazzling display.
Homeboy Security Camera: Watch Your Business Via Phone
A new security system features small cameras you can easily stick to your walls and a way to monitor surveillance footage from your phone. Homeboy is marketed as a simple security camera solution for your home but it could easily provide the same protection for your small business. The tiny spherical camera attaches to a wall or ceiling base with a strong magnet.
News you follow photo via Shutterstock
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