Why Social Media Works For Small Businesses

If you don’t think your company needs a presence on social media outlets you are far behind the curve. Research firm, BIA/Kelsey, surveys to find that social media is the number 1 in usage and spending.

Survey results that 74.5% of small and medium businesses use social media outlets to promote and advertise their business, which is 71.7% higher than social media usage last year.

Since five years ago when social media boom first really started to get notice, businesses have noticed positive results using this marketing tactic. Small businesses with a company holding less than 100 employees now spend an average of 21.4% of their total media budgets on social reports Ad Age.

Social media usage allows companies the opportunity to brand themselves further and gain more easy exposure. Reach to customers has increased in volume greatly. Knowing when to post is key. Social media also cuts back on the costs a company spends on advertising. It is a lot more affordable for companies to boost a post than pay to print materials and have them mailed out or put their money into visuals such as billboards and magazine or newspaper layouts. We won’t even talk about a commercial budget.

Let other people do the work for you. Sharing also makes social media a preferred method of advertising your brand, image and company. Sharing is like the virtual word-of-mouth and the word-of-mouth marketing tactic is traditional and affecting.

Choosing a channel for social media will assist in defining who you want your customers to be. Use Google Analytics to track where your business is achieving the most exposure. If you were selling mittens for kittens, Pinterest would probably be your best outlet as females browse Pinterest for this genre of item. As stated, when you post has an affect on your frequency of conversion rates and reach, as this customer type will be on Pinterest primarily on the weekends.

More well established companies will still see better ROI results than the small to medium sized companies, but the larger companies would dominate in traditional forms of advertising anyways. Social media gives businesses the chance to grow and make a name for themselves.

Do You Understand The “Cloud’?

There are so many questions we have about the “cloud” and it has almost become comical even that today’s youthful, technology-savvy individuals cannot get a handle on this concept. Maybe the reason why Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz’s new movie Sex Tape drew so much attention was due to the famous line in the movie’s preview “nobody understands the cloud”. Let’s change that shall we?

Cloud computing is a service that allows you to share resources on multiple devices. IBM, Google, and Apple, along with other companies all have cloud services. The cloud makes it possible to share photos, documents, videos, music, and other data on multiple devices such as your phone, computer, and tablet. It can be quite annoying to download a song three separate times just so you can have that song on all devices. The same goes for photos or videos that take up a lot of memory space. Cloud computing solves this problem!

When using Apple’s iCloud, for instance, there is a safety feature that if you happen to misplace or lose your device you can lock the device preventing another user from getting to your personal information. The iCloud can also back up data daily over Wi-Fi from any location (with Internet access). The iCloud is soon to feature an editing feature where you can work on any file from anywhere, and share to all devices.

There is not a huge differentiation between the Cloud brands as of now.  This might change in the near future, like most of the technology-wars do, as users require new features. A lot of people are hoping cloud computing will replace external hard drives when it comes to storage in general. The problem with this is that there is only so much available space on each individual’s cloud. This means that when the space available is used up, each user must purchase more space, and depending on how much memory is needed could add up quite a few pennies.

Cloud Computing is the future of technology, evolving so no data is lost and we can keep photos, videos, and songs for many years to come.  

Uber What?!

This modern taxi-like form of transportation has locals grinning with excitement at the news of this cashless convenience. Uber is the new thing in remote transportation; request a ride from the Uber application and pay with your mobile as well!

The Uber app connects you to the Uber driver nearest to your location from your phone’s GPS. This way, the Uber driver can see your exact location for pickup, even if you don’t know where you are! As the customer requesting the ride, you can also see where your driver is in relation to you on the location map. And don’t worry about watching for your ride to arrive, the driver will text or call when has arrived!

Uber drivers have to live up to a certain standard, as Uber wants every customer’s ride to be of the utmost enjoyable experience. Uber highly recommends users leave feedback! Rate your experience after your trip by leaving commentary on your driver, the car itself, and any other positive or poor experiences on Uber’s atmosphere.

Uber offers stylish rides too! Check out Uber’s uberX, an everyday car for everyday use; The Uber Taxi will make for no whistling needed as this yellow ride will be spotted very easily, the Uber Black is a private ride in a black, high-end sedan, the Uber SUV is a great option for large groups seating up to six people comfortably, and the Uber Lux is the luxury line for a more sophisticated outing.

No surprise charges with Uber. Let the Uber app know your pickup and drop-off location for a fare quote estimate prior to ordering a Uber. Just in case you don’t work in a restaurant, there is no need to worry about cash on hand. Once you have arrived at your destination, Uber charges your credit card on file.

There is also the option to split your fares with your friends! If all participating riders are signed up to the Uber app all person’s credit cards will be charged separately. No more pay-me-backs with this ride!

Uber has global locations. Download the Uber app today and let Uber be your new local pickup!