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Video Surveillance Systems for Business: A Buyer's Guide

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 12:25 PM PDT

A good video surveillance system is important for almost any business. After all, it's difficult to be profitable if you can't protect your assets.

Video surveillance systems have come a long way from fixed security cameras. This technology now functions as miniature computers, offering features such as motion sensors and automatic mobile notifications or automatically contacting law enforcement. There are also newer, more efficient ways to manage and store recordings, allowing business owners easy access to past videos.

Small business owners now have access to immensely powerful video surveillance systems at relatively affordable prices. An average video surveillance system for a business will cost around $1,500, depending on what type of system you are using, the number of cameras, building size and other factors unique to your business.

When it comes to buying and implementing a new video surveillance system for business, most vendors allow a large degree of customizability, meaning you can tailor a system to your business's needs. Whether you need a widespread system that covers multiple locations or just a few cameras to watch your storefront, there's a solution for everyone.

Not sure where to start? Here's our 2019 video surveillance buyer's guide to break down the components of these systems.

Editor's note: Trying to find the video surveillance system that's right for you? Fill in the questionnaire below, and our vendor partners will contact you with free information.

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Benefits of a Surveillance System 

Before diving into the details, it's important to note the many benefits of a video surveillance system. Not only can surveillance cameras deter criminals and help law enforcement quickly catch any would-be thieves, but these systems can improve the accountability of your employees, help you monitor productivity and sometimes even reduce your insurance premiums. While the upfront costs of installing a video surveillance system can be a little steep, the long-term payoff and peace of mind may well be worth the expense.

Are you in the market for a video surveillance system? Check out Business News Daily's best picks for video surveillance systems.

IP Cameras vs. Analog Cameras 

There are two primary types of cameras that can be wired into a video surveillance system: internet protocol (IP) cameras and the traditional analog cameras. IP cameras are the modern iteration of analog cameras, and while the individual cameras tend to be a little more expensive, they offer several features that analog cameras do not. Here's a look at the differences between the two types of camera.

Resolution 

IP cameras are far more powerful than analog cameras, usually shooting footage of 1MP to 5MP (megapixels). That makes for incredibly clear image quality, especially compared to the grainy analog footage, which runs around one-half of a megapixel. IP cameras generally have a larger field of vision than analog cameras.

Video Analytics 

IP cameras have additional features that analog cameras don't offer, such as video analytics, which can trigger mobile notifications and automatic recording if there is movement within the camera's field of vision. This is particularly useful when your business is closed and you want to be alerted if someone is moving around inside the premises. You can configure the system to flag events like this and send notifications directly to your smartphone, along with recorded footage of the event. Some systems also offer a direct, one-touch connection to local law enforcement.

Wi-Fi Connectivity

Wireless IP cameras can connect to a Wi-Fi network with password protection to make sure your connection stays private. Digital transmission for Wi-Fi-connected cameras is less easily affected by neighboring devices than transmission for analog cameras, but cameras in network-complex areas may experience some interference. Image quality is dependent on the strength of the wireless connection, so make sure your Wi-Fi signal is consistently strong if you go this route.

Network Video Recorders 

IP cameras are compatible with network video recorders (NVRs), which offer several other benefits over the older digital video recorders (DVRs) that this guide will cover. In short, NVRs record higher-quality video and allow systems to scale up much more easily than with DVR. For more information on video recorders, see the section below.

PoE Switches 

IP cameras can also connect to a power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switch, which both sends data from the camera and provides power to it. Analog cameras, on the other hand, require a switch to run the signal from the camera as well as a separate power source, meaning a more complex setup and more wires. PoE switches are generally a more secure way to transmit data as well. 

Comparable System Cost

While IP cameras are generally more expensive than their analog counterparts, the total cost of a full IP system tends to be slightly lower than that of a comparable analog system. Since IP cameras have a wider field of vision, an IP system can often work with fewer cameras than an analog system.

Digital Video Recorders vs. Network Video Recorders

All the cameras in a given system require a central video recorder to transmit and archive the footage they capture. DVRs evolved from the older VCR models, while NVRs represent the next step in the evolution of video recording technology. Here's a look at how DVRs and NVRs compare. 

Resolution of Recordings

DVRs generally offer D1 resolution, which is the traditional video quality used in closed-circuit television systems. D1 equates to a resolution of 720 x 480 pixels, which is considered standard resolution. 

NVRs, on the other hand, can record in 1080p, which is high definition; it offers a significant improvement in video quality over the DVR system. For comparison purposes, 1080p equates to a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. This results in a much clearer image.

Camera Connections 

You connect analog cameras with a DVR system by directly plugging a BNC cable from the DVR into the camera. To connect more cameras to the DVR system, you need additional cables. DVR systems are difficult to scale up, because once every BNC connection is occupied by a camera, you need to purchase an entirely new DVR before adding another camera to the system. DVRs also require the connected cameras to be near the recorder; otherwise, the video quality begins to degrade.

The NVR eliminates these problems, because it connects directly to a network instead. IP cameras connected to the same network, usually by way of a PoE switch, are then able to transmit footage to the NVR. Systems based around an NVR are much easier to scale up than DVR systems, simply because they can accept a new camera once it is added to the network. In the worst case, all you would need is an additional PoE switch.

Some IP cameras are also wireless and can transmit footage to the NVR over Wi-Fi. There are no proximity limitations so long as a camera is connected to the same network as the NVR. The largest downside to an NVR system, however, is that not every IP camera will work with every NVR. You'll need to find out whether your cameras are compatible with a given video recorder before buying. 

Hybrid Video Recorders

Hybrid video recorders (HVR) are video surveillance systems that run both IP and analog cameras. The versatility of these systems is desirable: If you're upgrading an old system and don't want to do away with all of your old analog cameras, for example, an HVR can help you make the transition and prepare for a fully IP system in the future. 

What to Look for When Choosing a System

Your Cameras 

Resolution: This is one of the most important considerations in selecting a camera. For a sharp image, you'll want a camera that can shoot at least in 720p high definition, which means an IP camera. If you want to guarantee that your camera will have a clear, identifiable image, you don't want to cut corners here.

Frame rate: This is another key aspect of a camera – the higher the frame rate, the smoother the video. Video is simply a series of still images stitched together to create a motion picture. The lower the frame rate, the less frequently a still is taken, resulting in choppier footage. You'll want to consider the frame rate of the camera before deciding on a purchase. For reference, "real time" is typically measured as 30 frames per second (fps). 

Models: There are several types of security cameras out there. Some of the more common ones are bullet cameras, which are the rectangular boxes you might see protruding from a wall; dome cameras, which are often attached to a ceiling and housed in a tinted cover; and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, which offer remote-control capabilities to adjust the field of vision. You'll want to consider which types of cameras to use in outfitting your system based on your particular security needs.

Indoor/outdoor: Some security cameras are made specifically for the indoors and won't stand up to Mother Nature quite as well as their outdoor counterparts. If you plan to use cameras outside, make sure you purchase weatherproof models. Otherwise, water or dirt might interfere with the quality of your video feeds or, worse, break your camera. Some security cameras are minimally resistant to weather, while others are completely weatherproof. Be sure to understand what level of protection from natural conditions your security camera offers. 

Lighting: Many security cameras can shoot in what is known as "low-light infrared," enabling them to capture clear footage in dark conditions. These cameras rely on infrared LEDs, which cover the darkened area in infrared light. Unlike humans, the camera can see this infrared light, so when those wavelengths reflect, it's as if the camera is shooting footage in an illuminated room. The more IR LEDs a camera has, the better it can see at night. If capturing footage in the dark is a priority for you, make sure your camera has plenty of IR LEDs.

Audio: Whether audio recording is an option depends on the camera and the manufacturer. Some cameras don't pick up audio at all, while others can record and store it. Some even enable two-way audio, so a person watching the camera can communicate with a subject in the camera's field of vision. 

Your Video Recorder

Storage capacity: For video recorders, the first question you must ask yourself is how much storage you will need. The answer hinges on a couple of factors: the number of cameras in your system, each camera's resolution, the amount of archived footage you intend to store and how long you plan to keep recorded footage. If you have many cameras shooting in high resolution, the footage is going to eat up storage space quickly. You can set a video recorder to overwrite the oldest footage once you reach the system's capacity, but if you're not careful, the system might overwrite archived footage that you still need. 

If you're running a large system with high-quality cameras, you'll want to scale up your video recorder's storage capacity. There are several tools online that can help you calculate how much storage space you'll need based on the details of your system.

For example, a four-camera system that runs 24 hours a day using IP cameras, each with a 2MP resolution and a frame rate of 5 fps, with video compressed into MJPEG files on an NVR, would require 2.79TB of storage space for footage, according to the Supercircuits calculator. 

That's quite a bit of data for a moderately sized system, so it's important to plan accordingly and know what kind of capacity you'll really need. It's also wise to maintain a bit of a cushion beyond that calculated number, letting you store any particularly interesting footage you might need to refer to.

Cloud storage: You can store recorded video in the cloud in addition to on your video recorder. There are a few distinct advantages to doing this, including remote access to your videos and higher storage volume. It's important to upload large video files in a way that won't eat up all your bandwidth and slow down your network. This can be done by either scheduling video uploads to the cloud or uploading them after peak business hours.

Be aware that many cloud services charge a subscription fee, especially to store video files in perpetuity. On the plus side, storing videos in the cloud means that even if your hardware is damaged, stolen or tampered with, you'll still have access to your video archives. Make sure the company takes the appropriate cybersecurity measures to protect your data.

Camera compatibility: Not every video recorder works with every camera. Of course, DVRs require analog cameras, while NVRs use IP cameras, but the compatibility question extends well beyond that distinction. Some NVR systems, for example, are only compatible with IP cameras from certain manufacturers. When buying a video recorder, you must first make sure that the device will work with the cameras you've purchased. If you're working with a surveillance system integrator to configure your system, the cameras should be able to provide you with the necessary information.

Compression: Compression eliminates unnecessary data from the footage transmitted to your video recorder to save space. Two of the more common compression techniques for high-definition video are MJPEG and H.264. You can also use MPEG4, but the quality tends to be lower than that of MPEG4's aforementioned counterparts. Compression methods are relatively complex and vary in their applications depending on your needs and hardware. SecurityInfoWatch has created a handy primer on compression technology to help you delve into the details of video compression.

Your PoE Switches

Power-over-Ethernet switches apply only to NVR systems, but they cut out other components that would be necessary for a DVR system, like additional power sources and the BNC cables used to connect cameras to the DVR. Instead, when you connect a PoE switch to your network, you've got a power source and a means of transmitting data to your NVR all in one package. The biggest consideration in which type of PoE switch to buy is the number of cameras that will be on your system. The next consideration is how likely you are to scale up in the future.

Some NVRs have a handful of built-in PoE ports, while others have none. If you need to buy a PoE switch, the smaller ones start at around $40 to $50 and offer about five ports. Each port represents a data connection and a power source for one camera. However, if your plan is to scale up and implement a very large system, there are PoE switches that feature as many as 48 distinct ports. These solutions are vastly more expensive, like this one from Netgear, which is listed at $485 on Amazon.

There are also wireless IP cameras that require little more than mounting, but those might be less secure than wired connections. If you choose wireless, you'll need to make sure the signal can't be easily intercepted. It all comes back to your needs and the type of system you're trying to construct. 

Additional reporting by Kiely Kuligowski.

What Small Businesses Need to Know About Adobe Commerce Cloud

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT

The e-commerce market is growing fast, with Adobe recently jumping in more aggressively with a new offering, Commerce Cloud.

This service stands on the shoulders of the company's $1.68 billion acquisition of Magento last year. Commerce Cloud is the newest part of Adobe Experience Cloud, integrating with other core Adobe marketing and advertising products.

Adobe and similar suites of marketing platforms offer considerable benefits for businesses that want to make their customer experience more pleasant and glean necessary insights throughout that journey. Here are a few details that a small business needs to know about Adobe Commerce Cloud and what it offers.

What is Adobe Commerce Cloud?

It's a new part of Adobe Experience Cloud, a suite of marketing services for advertising, content management, email marketing and related services.

The portfolio is designed to bring content, email campaigns and other services together so that businesses can get the maximum insight from important metrics: Advertising Cloud, Marketo Engage, Experience Manager and Personalization.

What are some of the features?

In a blog post unveiling the new strategy, Jason Woosley, Adobe's vice president of commerce product and platform, describes the overarching feature goal: "Improve time to market and streamline operations to exceed customer and business expectations."

Customers can use the commerce dashboards to continually monitor and improve their merchandising, marketing and customer experience. The goal is to take as much ownership as possible of all the twists and turns on the digital customer journey.

Adobe says that this tool helps companies get useful insights into customer experiences as they morph and evolve so they can achieve a "customer-centric business transformation."

The bottom line is that the more information you can collect and turn into useful insights, the better positioned you will be for regular and happier customers.

Who is this for?

Adobe is targeting both B2B and B2C brands, particularly those that want to track commerce across different properties and brands. This is especially designed to trigger maximum insights across the different touchpoints of potential customers.

Businesses seeking to enhance their shopping experience and gain useful insights about their customer base may also find helpful tools in this newest offering.

What about integrations with other services?

Adobe specifically calls out its integration with commerce processes through Amazon Marketplace, the goal being for brands to synchronize their product catalogs and other key information across different channels. Commerce Cloud users will be able to sync up information with Amazon orders, which they can then use to build customer profiles based on sales. Adobe tools get support as well, with an integration for Adobe Experience Manager.

Woosley said in the blog post that the service will be agile and flexible. "Supported by advanced APIs, microservices, and enterprise system integrations, Adobe Commerce Cloud integrates with existing ecosystems and supports headless deployment models."

Adobe has a dedicated site for this suite that details the features. This site includes an omnipresent chatbot that will connect you with the sales team.

Casual Discrimination in American Workplaces

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 11:49 AM PDT

  • 65% of hiring managers felt it was important to know a candidate's stance on racial equality, while only 32% cared about political leanings.
  • 69% of hiring managers looked through a candidate's social media presence to learn some of their views.
  • If an employee is an avid Trump supporter, they will likely be joked about, as 28% said they witnessed someone at work ridiculing a fan of the president.

In our increasingly divided America, it's easy to place each other into "us" and "them" categories. Whether based on political views, sexual orientation, race or some other factor, discrimination is still a problem facing the country. To understand how such differences affect small businesses, a recent study examined how American workplaces are impacted by political and social turmoil.

Released earlier today by Airtasker, the study polled 204 hiring managers and 805 employees about whether they had witnessed any discrimination, gossip or layoffs at work.

Researchers found that not only was workplace discrimination alive and well in 2019, but having certain stances could result in someone becoming a social pariah or not getting the job at all.

Viewpoints and trying to find a job

Despite the current worker-friendly job market, potential candidates have many things to consider when trying to market themselves to a new employer. While your outward appearance and resume will always matter in the hiring process, researchers found that other factors could play a part in determining whether or not you're chosen for the job.

Among the hiring managers polled about the hiring process at work, 65% said it was important to know a candidate's stance on racial equality, and 59% said the same for gender equality. LGBTQ+ rights (54%), immigration (38%) and politics (32%) also placed highly.

Those five issues were so important to some respondents that they admitted to rejecting applicants based on those topics. Among this group, 29% said they turned someone down because of their stance on racial equality, 27% did so for gender equality, 22% did for LGBTQ+ rights, 18% for a candidate's political stance, and 16% for their thoughts on immigration.

Given how divisive some of those issues are in the current political conversation, they are certain to be discussed on social media. According to the data, 48% of respondents said they wouldn't hire a qualified candidate if they were prone to political rants on social media. To that end, researchers found that 69% of this hiring set of respondents said they look through a candidate's social media presence to learn more. Of the most popular platforms, Facebook was the most common at 91%, with Instagram (62%), Twitter (56%) and LinkedIn (55%) rounding out the list.

"I feel it is important to keep politics out of the office as much as possible," a 49-year-old male respondent told researchers. "We look through prospective employees' social media to see if they are overtly vocal and outlandish in their views, not to weed out the ones we don't agree with. We need everyone to get along and work as a team."

Consequences of political talk

Sometimes, a person's political views land them in personal and professional hot water, even though 78% of respondents said their workplace didn't have a policy on discussing politics. The most extreme case of this is when someone gets laid off as a result, which is legal in most of the United States.

According to the survey, 41% of employees felt they had been let go in the past because of their "identity, beliefs or physical appearance," rather than how they did on the job. While those feelings are hard to shake for those involved, researchers found that just 21% of managers said they fired someone based on their "strong, controversial opinions" on racial equality. Firings had also been made based on gender equality (18%), LGBTQ+ rights (16%), smoking and vaping habits (15%), and opinions on the current immigration issue (12%).

While getting fired is the most extreme result of sharing your thoughts on a matter, the more common response is usually being interpersonally or professionally ostracized. According to the survey, 44% of people witnessed their co-workers discussing another person's clothing choices, while another 42% said they chatted about someone's political views behind their back. Other people opted to talk about someone's sexual orientation, gender or race, though at much lower rates.

Among those who felt that their views negatively affected their experience at work, 14% said they felt like they were being treated differently because of their political views, while 13% said the same for their gender identity and 12% for their race or ethnicity.

Regardless, only 27% of people said they spoke up against something they witnessed that violated anti-discrimination laws.

The Trump factor at work

President Donald Trump evokes strong emotions along party lines. For Trump supporters, life at work has reportedly become more difficult. According to officials, 28% of respondents said they witnessed their co-workers joking about a Trump supporter in the office. Approximately 23% said they saw people being overly critical of their right-leaning co-workers, and the same percentage reported seeing people "making assumptions about [the Trump supporter's] character." Roughly 13% said they noticed their Trump-supporting colleagues were excluded from social situations.

When it came to hiring, 57% of managers who identified as politically right-leaning said they would hire a candidate who supported Trump. That's in stark contrast to left-leaning managers, of whom only 24% said they would hire that same candidate. It's important to note, however, that 56% of left-leaning managers said it didn't matter who a candidate supported, compared with the 35% of right-leaning managers who said the same.

It's Time to Embrace Full-Funnel Marketing, But Don't Make These Mistakes

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 09:00 AM PDT

 

As technology becomes ubiquitous in our working and personal lives, you might think that leaders would have confronted their fear of "The Google" by now. But many in the C-suite still don't feel like they have a firm grasp on digital principles and why they need a digital presence in order to be successful and stand out in today's world.

Just because you aren't digitally connected, though, doesn't mean your audience isn't. Avoiding this truth will have serious consequences for your brand – if it hasn't already. People have grown accustomed to having information at their fingertips, which means you have to be constantly accessible and available to tell the right story. It's a gift and a curse. But whether you're ready or not, the world is digital, and you'll soon have no choice but to be digital right alongside it in order to keep pace.

Why full-funnel marketing fluency is vital for leaders

Getting a strong grasp of digital concepts – especially those related to full-funnel marketing, which reaches audiences at every stage of the buyer journey – is crucial for leaders looking to grow their brands in a way that aligns with customer expectations and behaviors.

Full-funnel marketing makes your messaging relevant and targeted and turns leads into conversions. Because the digital life of your company extends in many directions, you want to connect with your audiences through the right touchpoints at the right times. This means growing your digital presence in every stage of the marketing funnel.

But leaders often harbor a misconception about full-funnel marketing. They think that if one stage of the buyer's journey is more influential than another, that's the only stage in which their limited budgets should be invested. The purpose of the funnel, though, is to outline and follow every moment of a prospect's journey to becoming a customer – not just the one with the most obvious benefits.

There is more than one way to go about getting started or succeeding with this approach, so use the funnel that works best for your needs. For example, you might begin with a smaller funnel that starts specifically with search, or you might open up the top of your funnel and experiment with different techniques to see how your particular customers respond before determining which tactic works best for you.

However you choose do it, it's the doing it that counts. Confusion over digital marketing concepts prevents too many leaders from growing their businesses. They underestimate the power of marketing, and it's often the first budget to be slashed when results aren't what they want to see. But embracing a full-funnel mindset can set a company apart as innovative and one that harnesses the power of emerging technologies and trends for the good of not only itself, but also its customers.

Finally, be careful not to take the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. You can convince yourself that if sales are good, marketing must be great, too. But that assumption will quickly set you back, and before you know it, you'll be limiting your reach to audiences and new customers and heading into the downward spiral of revenue loss.

4 mistakes brands make when implementing full-funnel strategies

Once you've decided to execute a full-funnel marketing plan, don't take the leap without context. Learn from common mistakes, and let the lessons from those guide you in crafting and employing your own full-funnel strategy.

1. Not establishing a clear goal: You can't go into things with a goal of just "brand awareness" and no way to measure it. As with any business objective, if you don't set a clear goal from the start, your chances of success will be muddied, too. Make sure your results hold value by spending time defining strong, measurable goals for your funnel strategy and then determining success based on those goals.

Start by asking critical questions that get at the heart of what you want to achieve. What effect do I want to have on my customer's behavior? What does success look like for this campaign? Identifying goals and what meeting them would look like for you will put you closer to creating a purposeful action plan. It can be hard to whittle down a tangible way to see whether or not you're seeing success, but you won't be sorry you did.

2. Not putting the customer first: Only paying attention to the numbers that come from full-funnel marketing can make brand teams lose sight of the customer experience. But losing sight of what customers want and need can make you more likely to lose them, which is a costly move – acquiring new customers can be up to 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones.

In everything you do, don't forget the bigger picture. The trigger points in the customer journey that affect customer decisions aren't just price point and quality. Sentiment surrounding the brand and what it sparks in consumers matters more than anything. What does your company stand for, and why do consumers love it? The answers to these questions should be at the heart of everything you do, because they're what will turn numbers into real, lifetime loyalists to your brand.

3. Stopping the relationship at conversion: The final – but arguably most important – stage of the funnel is advocacy. If you stop at conversion, you miss the chance to develop cheerleaders for your brand. Neglecting to carry on relationships with customers after the initial transaction will inevitably make them feel unvalued and lead them to cut ties with you and find a different option. All of a sudden you find yourself without repeat customer visits and no way to measure the lifetime value of customer relationships.

Paying attention to the advocacy stage means maintaining a communication cadence that delivers repeated and rising value. Think of Dollar Shave Club, which send razors monthly but frequently includes something extra, new, and personalized to go with it, too. A little bit of tailoring can go a long way.

4. Failing to measure cross-channel performance: Attribution – knowing where to spend more, spend less, and stop spending – is a key marker to use when determining where to focus your efforts.

This can be complex, and it's never an exact science. In a full-funnel approach, you'll notice that there are many ways customers engage with you and take action. Keep in mind, too, that a lot of these ways are softer and less directly tied to the bottom line – but still hugely influential. But by forming an attribution model, whether it's a simplified "last click" record or a machine learning solution, you ensure you commit to the best tactics for you and your customers.

Bottom line

Ultimately, don't fall prey to the idea that the customer journey is linear. If you do, it'll keep you from noticing the intricacy and personality each customer brings to the table. So be bold and forget any fears that are holding you back from going digital. Embracing a full-funnel marketing plan is a chance that will pay off in the end.

How to Negotiate With Freelancers

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 08:00 AM PDT

  • Business owners need to set a clear budget and work scope when negotiating with freelancers.
  • You should always strive to pay freelancers what they're worth.
  • Paying a freelancer at or above market value can ensure a good working relationship.
  • Freelancers should stand firm on their value during the negotiation process.

Small businesses don't always have the budget to bring on additional employees. In many cases, however, SMBs could use more help. This conundrum leaves small business owners looking for ways to add talent without bringing on a full-time employee. Some business turn to interns and volunteers, while others look to freelancers.

According to Upwork, nearly 57 million Americans freelanced in 2018 – up nearly 4 million from 2014. As freelancing continues to gain popularity, small businesses need to consider using freelance labor to help their businesses. Whether it's with logo design, copywriting, website design or anything else, freelancers bring a vast array of skills to the table without requiring an annual salary or company benefits. Using a freelancer can reduce your costs, while also helping the freelancer build their portfolio and make money from helping you.

If your business decides to utilize freelance help, it's important to provide fair pay rates for the freelancers without being overcharged. This requires an understanding of how to negotiate with freelancers and how to offer fair rates in the first place.

1. Set your ideal budget.

Before looking for freelancers, determine what projects you want to complete with freelance help. Upon finding your project, come up with a budget. What are you willing to pay for someone to help complete this project? By setting internal expectations prior to seeking out freelancers, you'll be better prepared to negotiate a fair rate with a freelancer.

"I usually have a set budget range in mind based on the average going rate for the type of work I'm freelancing out," said Nicole Fallon, CEO and editorial director of Lightning Media Partners. "We're still a relatively new business and definitely not in a position to pay top dollar yet, so I usually frame the discussion that way. I'll let the freelancer know upfront that we don't have a huge budget but we are growing, and if the work feels like a good mutual fit, we can discuss a raise in the future."

The process of setting a budget also means creating a job description for the freelance position. While it doesn't need to be the same type of job description you might see for a full-time employee opening, there should be a set scope of work for the freelancer. Clearly defining the scope of work makes it easier for you and a freelancer to agree on a fair price.

For a freelancer to accurately know what their time and effort on a project is worth, they need to know what their potential client wants. Don't determine what you want from a freelancer after speaking to them. Create a budget and scope of work beforehand to ensure the negotiation process goes smoothly.

2. Search for freelancers using reputable sources.

Once you're ready to seek out external help, you want to look for help from reputable freelancers. You can look at online sources or ask people in your network who might know experienced and talented freelancers.

"I have been hiring freelancers, from all over the world, for nearly 10 years," said Lior Krolewicz, founder and CEO of Yael Consulting. "The best way I found was to use a third-party website (like Upwork) so you can filter out for freelancers who have proven experience and good reviews."

In discussions with experts and through our research, we found that the following sites tend to be some of the best for hiring quality freelancers. 

  • LinkedIn – Asking your LinkedIn connections for freelance recommendations is one way to use this social media platform to reach freelancers. You can also try searching specific titles like "freelance graphic designer" or "freelance writer" to find freelance workers on the platform, though this can be a more difficult method than tapping into your current LinkedIn network.
  • Fiverr – A popular service, Fiverr offers "gigs" starting at $5 and going up to much higher prices. It's a good spot to find freelance help for various tasks.
  • Upwork – Similar to Fiverr, Upwork is a popular freelancing platform that helps connect qualified freelancers with businesses in need of their services. It's a good place for small businesses to look.
  • Toptal – This company looks to connect people with the top 3% of freelancers. If you're looking for elite freelancers, as determined by Toptal, this is a good place to look. It's an especially great resource for tech help.

Perusing those four sites should yield plenty of interested, talented freelancers. If you're wary of using a freelancing site, as some businesses are, you can never go wrong with speaking to people in your network. Spending money on poor freelancers is avoidable – it just takes some effort during the phase when you're searching for freelancers.

"It's always better to find someone you know directly or through a mutual connection, so you or your contact can vouch for the quality of their work," Fallon said.

Once you find interested freelancers, you can start determining a fair rate for the project. While it isn't normally considered part of the negotiation process, finding reputable freelancers will make the negotiation process much easier.

3. Let the freelancer suggest a rate.

"I will always ask a freelancer what their current rate is before I mention our budget," Fallon said. "We never want a freelancer to feel like we are trying to lowball them, so I put the power in their hands to ask for the rate they feel is fair."

As Fallon mentions, allowing a freelancer to share their rate first starts the negotiation process off fairly. Unfortunately, some freelancers don't know their hourly rate or what they should be paid per project in relation to market standards, and the freelancer might ask for a low price. While that seems like it would be beneficial to the business, that's not always the case.

"Newer freelancers can often under-price themselves, which is bad for them and bad for us," said Penni Pickering, website design, WordPress support and SEO specialist at Kabo Creative. "A freelancer who under-prices won't stay in business for the long term. When we come across this situation, we'll often push their rate up a little, test them on a project, and if they are good, then we'll be with them for the long term and are happy to pay a little more as they gain confidence and experience."

For small businesses, it often makes sense to use the same freelancers on a regular basis. If you find a trustworthy freelancer, you may want to use them multiple times. Paying them below market value will only decrease the chances of them wanting to work for you in the future. If you offer them their market value or above, they'll feel more comfortable working on future projects for you.

Letting a freelancer suggest the pay rate is a good starting point, but you still need to know what a fair price is for both them and your business. Treating freelancers fairly is the best way to negotiate. Don't try to save a few extra dollars when it could burn a bridge with a qualified freelancer who enjoys helping your business.

"If you have a specific budget and freelancer you want to work with, share that upfront," said Andres Lares, managing partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute. "Otherwise, don't try to save an extra 5% only to get less than 95% of the freelancer's effort."

Once a freelancer suggests a rate, be honest about your budget. Again, it's about treating the freelancer fairly. Don't go into the negotiation looking to belittle the freelancer's ability by offering them less than they're worth.

4. Be willing to pay what a freelancer is worth.

This is one of the most important aspects of negotiating with freelancers. Don't negotiate with freelancers with the only goal being to reduce the amount you have to pay them. A freelance negotiation should aim to reach a fair agreement for both sides. You'd rather pay a quality freelancer slightly higher than you'd like than use a subpar freelancer for less money.

"I always live by one mantra, and it's the same for hiring freelancers and being a freelancer: Pay the freelancer what they want," said Drew DuBoff, growth strategist and outsourcing expert. "If it's a quality freelancer, you're paying for years of experience and won't be disappointed."

Sometimes freelance negotiations don't even have to be negotiations. If a freelancer suggests a fair price within your budget, accept the offer. There's no need to haggle for a cheaper price when it may offend the freelancer or limit their motivation. Try to be an ideal client for freelancers by offering a competitive wage and treating them with respect. This will help you get the most out of the freelancer-client relationship.

Tips for freelancers

On the other side of the equation, there are a few negotiation tactics freelancers should use to ensure they get a fair rate.

One tip is to educate yourself about the market rate. Go into freelance negotiations knowing what your services deserve. If you're inexperienced, your hourly rate will probably be lower than someone with decades of experience in the industry. As you gain experience, be willing to raise your rate.

"Freelancers should always position themselves in the best possible light," said Kyle Kroeger, founder of Financial Wolves. "You should have a range of value for your scope of work. Do your research for job responsibilities and duties. For me, when I built my freelancing business, I used my base salary rate and calculated an hourly rate based on this. I had no trouble landing work, and my rate was within market standards."

Knowing your worth is critical. By being aware of what other freelancers are making for similar services, you can ensure you're earning a competitive rate.

"Talk to other freelancers and find out what they charge," said Fallon. "Consider your experience in the field and set your rate accordingly. Stand firm on your price, and don't let a client bully or guilt you into a lower rate than you're comfortable with. You can negotiate the work scope if a client is locked into a budget, but don't offer to do the same amount of work for less money."

The bottom line

Whether you're a business owner or freelancer, if you enter a freelance negotiation with the goal of agreeing to a price that's fair for both sides, things should go smoothly. It's when businesses and freelancers try to shortchange the other side that negotiations can get rocky.

"Negotiating is not an opportunity to get a bargain-basement deal, but rather it's for you and the candidate you're considering to come to a mutual agreement based on the value of the project and the freelancer's skills," said Leala Dueno, SMB inbound sales team lead at Toptal.

As a business, you need to set a clear work scope and be clear about your budget during the negotiation process. As a freelancer, you need to know the value of your services going into the discussion, and you should stand firm on your value. If both sides are fair, it's likely you will come to an agreement or decision quickly.

Smart Hiring: Useful Tech Tools for Recruiting

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 06:48 AM PDT

You would think that hiring in the digital age would be easier, right? Post the job on a website, collect some resumes, put resumes through an automated system that looks for certain keywords, interview, hire, done. But it's actually more in-depth than that. Posting a job and hiring new employees is an opportunity for employers to showcase who the company really is and what it stands for. If you want the best talent, you have to put your best self out there. Keep reading for detailed insight on useful tech tools for smart hiring.

The importance of company branding

If you want to recruit the best talent, people need to know who your company is. If you don't put time and effort into creating an attractive and interesting brand, people won't want to apply, no matter how good the salary or benefits are.

Company branding is "an increasingly important part of the recruitment process, as the modern job seeker wants to know as much as possible about the company they're going to work for," said Zoe Morris, president of Frank Recruitment Group. "As a recruitment firm, having a strong brand presence both online and offline is vital to building trust."

Morris said looking for the right employer has become a personal investment. "Workers want to contribute to a culture and ethos that matches their beliefs and outlook. Paying the most money is no longer enough to ensure that you can attract the best candidates."

Zach Gale, director of special projects for Aegis HCCP, said the current job market favors the candidate, which means workers are only switching jobs when given the opportunity to join a company they really want to work for.

Having a solid brand will help your company break through to those candidates who aren't necessarily active job seekers but would make the switch for the right job at the right company.

The impact of your logo

Branding starts with your logo. It's the thing that potential employees will see and immediately know what your company is. If it's a good logo, it will even draw in people who have never heard of your company, making them want to know more.

"Having a good logo will help resonate your brand with your target recruit," said Kelly Andersen, marketing director at Wealth Continuum Group. "It should speak to them and have them be excited about the opportunity to join your team. Your logo is one of the first things people see, and it should make a strong first impression that mimics the rest of your messaging."

People respond to images more than text these days, even when job hunting. "However, having just any logo isn't enough to create a brand identity," said Pete Sosnowski, co-founder and head of HR at ResumeLab. "Only a carefully designed logo can adequately communicate with people and convey the company value."

What your website says about your company

A company website is a crucial part of employer branding. Candidates will see your logo there, which will reinforce the thought of your company is their minds. But when is the right time for a small business to launch a website?

"A small business should have a website as soon as possible," said Yvonne Cowser Yancy, HR professional and CEO of YSquare Advisors. "A website in 2019 is what a phone number was in 1984 – a basic expectation."

The good news is that creating a website is not nearly as difficult as it used to be.

"There are many inexpensive and free tools available to assist you with registering a website and creating a user-friendly vehicle that facilitates your brand development," Cowser Yancy said.

Sosnowski said that if a candidate can't find your company online, it doesn't exist to them.

"If you are just starting up and have not much success on your side, present the idea, company mission, and describe the company culture and company values on your webpage," he added.

Recruitment website vs. your normal website

These don't have to be separate websites, and usually aren't. Experts say you should create a page under your main domain for job seekers to review open positions and learn more about your company.

"This page, if designed well and packed with correct information, should instantly make a visitor want to apply and join your team," Sosnowski said. "Make the best of it."

You could also make a landing page for external job ads that directs visitors back to your main company page for more information, he said.

The difference between niche and broad recruitment sites

Your job openings should be posted on recruitment boards as well as your own website's employment page. You can post on industry-specific recruitment sites or try to reach the masses by posting on broader job sites.

"Niche recruitment sites very specifically target key skill sets," Cowser Yancy said. "The advantage of these sites is that they provide the capability to present an open role to people who are interested in your specific functional work."

On the other hand, she said, broad recruitment sites cast a wider net to introduce your company to more potential candidates. "They often aggregate other career sites, which gives you a broader audience to recruit from."

For example, Cowser Yancy said, if you post a position on Indeed.com, it will share your post across 100 or more smaller sites.

"With a wider net will come a significantly higher number of candidates," she said. "[But] high volume does not always equate to filling [the position] or quality matches for the role."

How to post on a recruitment website

Whether you go niche or broad, you will need a job description that draws in candidates. How you write and post the job description can be the difference between finding the best, most interested candidates and finding only lackluster applicants.

"A job description should describe the job concisely and accurately," Cowser Yancy said. "It should outline all the required expectations and qualifications."

You should also think about the person you want to hire and tailor the job description to attract that person.

"The biggest mistake I see is when companies fail to take market demands into account," Morris said. "Making a conscious effort to ensure your wording is gender-neutral is an easy way to try and draw a more diverse range of backgrounds."

Include these elements to write a job post with the best chance of success: 

  1. A brief description of your company. This can include an overview of any work benefits or vacation time you offer.
  2. The complete job description. Make sure it's engaging!
  3. The primary contact for your recruitment website. This person will be able to log in, view resumes, and address any questions or concerns from the recruitment provider.

"The most successful job posts are engaging and written with the ideal job candidate in mind," Cowser Yancy said. "For ideas, surf a few recruitment websites and search for similar jobs. Identify what separates the good posts from the great posts."

Here are some recruitment websites for small businesses: 

What it comes down to is getting the best and most qualified talent to work at your company. But you also want that talent to be genuinely interested in your company and feel connected to it on a deep level. Knowing how to utilize tech tools for smart hiring will greatly increase your chances.

How to Become a Mobile App Developer

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 06:45 AM PDT

If there's one evergreen job title for software developers that just keeps getting greener, it's mobile app developer. This IT role usually refers to somebody who can design, build and/or maintain mobile applications for either Apple's iOS or the Android platform. There are other mobile OS choices – including Mobile Windows and BlackBerry – but they are increasingly dubious and irrelevant.

Essential background training and skills

To be a mobile developer, one must possess software development skills and knowledge. You could develop these skills by earning an associate's or bachelor's degree in computer science or a similar discipline (management information systems, for example). You can further your efforts to master mobile app development by attending one or more of the many coding bootcamp programs springing up to train aspiring developers.

If you plan to bootstrap into software development, these are some of the basic qualifications you'll need: 

  • Understanding of principles of secure, stable software design
  • Understanding of the software development process and lifecycle, including the design-develop-test-release-maintain cycle, and long-term lifecycle support and maintenance
  • Exposure to and understanding of some development methodology (Agile, Scrum and so forth) and development platforms or environments
  • Knowledge of two or more programming languages, preferably in-demand ones such as SQL, Java, JavaScript, C# or C++, Python, PHP, Ruby on Rails, or iOS, according to Coding Dojo

This framework establishes the basis for working as a software developer in general. Next comes the topics, tools and technologies that are specific to mobile development.

Climbing on the mobile bandwagon

Mobile app development is a little different from general software development. Because resources such as memory, compute cycles, storage and bandwidth are both scarce and precious on mobile platforms, most significant mobile app development occurs within the context of one mobile development platform or another.

Depending on what platform (Android or iOS, essentially) you prefer, what kind of development work interests you, and where you'd like to work (or rather, for whom you'd like to work), your choices will be likewise constrained. According to Techworld, the most popular mobile app development platforms in 2019 include those listed in the following table.

32 leading mobile app dev platforms

 Appery.io  Buildbox  Kalipso  Shoutem
 Appcelerator  BuildFire  Kony  TheAppBuilder
 AppInstitute  Como  LiveBlox  Unity
 AppMachine  GameSalad  Mobile Roadie  Verivo Software
 AppMakr  GoodBarber  NativeScript  ViziApps
 AppYourself  iBuildApp  OutSystems  Xamarin (Microsoft)
 Appy Pie  Ionic  PhoneGap  Xojo
 BiznessApps  jQuery Mobile  RhoMobile  Zoho Creator

Learning a platform takes time, effort and dedication. That said, most solution providers make evaluation or limited-use versions of their platforms available at low or no cost so aspiring developers can learn them. Many also offer low-cost or free self-study materials to help novice developers learn what they're doing and how to make the best use of such tools. (Look around for massive open online courses on some of these tool sets, such as jQuery/jQuery Mobile.) [Read related article: App Maker Software Buying Guide]

Doing the work, learning the trade

Specialized training and bootcamps are also available for mobile app development, as well as for the broader audience of software developers of all kinds. More experienced developers looking for a quick leg up in this game might be well served by a local bootcamp that specializes in mobile development topics, tools and languages.

There's no better way to build skills and knowledge as a developer than by doing development work. The next best thing to finding a job and getting paid to learn mobile development, these short and intense learning programs can get developers up to speed in as little as eight to 12 weeks. But they require constant effort, long hours and lots of hard work. The really motivated may be able to bootcamp themselves, so to speak; others may find the structure and access to knowledgeable practitioners worth the price of admission.

These learning programs also help developers understand a platform's inner workings and give them a chance to explore development resources in and around that platform. This includes not just help files, examples and training materials, but also developer forums and other online communities that spring up around popular tools and languages. Look for open source and other repositories of shared and freely available sample code. Not only will such material shorten the learning curve, it will provide ample opportunities to learn by example (and avoid reinventing the wheel).

Surveying mobile app development opportunities

Part of zeroing in on a development platform is learning who's using which platforms, and what other developers have to say about their work and their employers. This suggests that spending some time on job boards to see what's available in your area will help guide your choices. It will also give you an excellent idea of what kinds of opportunities are available and how much they pay. Developer forums and online communities can also be valuable sources of intelligence about what various employers are like, what kind of work-life balance they offer, and what sorts of bennies and perks come along with those jobs.

You can bounce back and forth between the job boards and online developer communities as you start to understand what you're getting yourself into. Over time, you should be able to lay out your various choices and use various trade-offs or selection criteria (salary vs. stock options, long hours vs. interesting work, in-office free lunch and break rooms vs. telecommuting) to whittle your options down to a short list. Only then should you start applying for jobs, casting about for interviews and taking actual steps toward employment as a mobile developer. Don't forget to use the online network of acquaintances, mentors and friends you'll build online to help you get those interviews – and hopefully also the job you want to land.

3 Steps to a Successful SMB Partnership

Posted: 19 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT

America has more than 30 million small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration. That's a lot of organizations with wide degrees of solvency. With so many options, it can be daunting to decide which companies to partner with. 

If a partner company ceases its operations, your cash flow is at risk of being disrupted or stopped suddenly. Even worse, if a partner is involved in fraud or misconduct, your reputation could be severely damaged.

You can try to avoid these pitfalls with diligent research into an existing or potential partner's financial issues, late payments, or conflicts of interest. Checking their credit profile before entering into an agreement with the company and monitoring operations after you've formed a relationship can help keep you educated and informed.

A cash-strapped company without established business credit can be a much greater risk to your business than one on solid footing. However, it is important to remember that it's impossible to predict the future. CEOs, employees, trends, and markets can all change dramatically and impact your partner's solvency for better or worse. 

Factors that are out of the company's control might also influence your decision to form a partnership. A business's location could make the company and its resources more susceptible to natural disasters. Market or political changes can cause shockwaves as well. And for many small businesses, there is little cushion to absorb the shock when these problems arise.

But all this is not to say that partnerships should be avoided. Many small and midsize businesses can bring great value to your company through a strong relationship. Here are three steps you can take to make sure that relationship begins on firm footing.

1. Check the company's — and your own — payment history and credit profile.

When a business is just starting out, it's often focused on making ends meet and the short-term needs of the company. Making and sustaining a profit are the primary goals. But once the dust has settled, there is time to think about the long term. Loans and partnerships are two common ways to expand one's business widely and rapidly. 

Many small businesses are conservative, but nearly half of them have financial support coming to them from external sources, according to an analysis from Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine University. Because of this, many businesses you consider for partnerships will have credit profiles for you to check. Using their business credit profile, you can see whether they have had any difficulties making payments on time and ultimately assess the risk of a partnership.

Of course, many of the companies you partner with will perform the same analysis on your business. It can be wise to make sure you have a solid business credit profile before you begin a partnership to ensure you're putting your best foot forward. A strong credit profile will not only reflect your credibility to future partners, but it will also demonstrate the good financial health of your company, which indicates that you are ready for expansion. It can also reflect strong management and organization within your company's internal operations, which is another way to improve your appearance in front of potential partners. This can, in turn, enhance your business's attractiveness and increase your leverage when negotiating the terms of a partnership. 

2. Ensure the business has a solid supply chain.

A partnership involves more than just CEOs and employees. In addition to the customers they'll share, two companies in a partnership also share the same supply chain. 

In some ways, a partnership can alleviate some of the problems that arise within a supply chain. Sharing the same data and metrics accelerates the process of due diligence. More eyes on the links in the chain also mean more opportunity to iron out disruptions and inefficiencies.  

But supply chains are complex. And with more complexity can come more risk. These days, customers are more demanding about how companies source their goods, and they want to buy from companies with responsible and sustainable supply chains. Maybe your company has taken steps to ensure a green, ethical supply chain. But if your partner's supply chain does not reflect your values, this can result in a major step backward for your business.

One bad link in the chain could lead to legal action and noncompliance fines, which is why it's important to be diligent and thorough when evaluating this aspect of a potential partner's business. Not doing so could irreparably damage your company's reputation. Before entering a partnership, consider looking into where your new partner is getting its materials and supplies. 

3. Consider the effects of potential disasters.

Anyone who has spent enough time in business has weathered a few disasters. Some can be learning experiences, which helps us avoid them moving forward. Others are inescapable, and you just have to do your best to mitigate their effects and move forward. 

Natural disasters are unfortunately unavoidable. Mother Nature doesn't look at your financial statements before conjuring a storm, and for small businesses, the effects can be especially brutal. The majority of small businesses that are located in areas affected by natural disasters lose revenue. 

For example, if you're considering a partnership with a supplier in an area that's susceptible to hurricanes — like Miami — and it's hurricane season, you might want to proceed with caution. Of course, you shouldn't rule out all SMBs in areas prone to natural disasters, but you shouldn't ignore those factors either. That company in Miami might have its warehouses in a secure location, or it could have enough cash flow to cover its losses. But partnering with a business without those types of safeguards could open your company up to severe risk. Do your due diligence, and don't be afraid to ask your potential partners about their safeguards.

You can also be proactive in safeguarding your business by developing a plan of action in case a small business partnership goes south. What will you do if one of your business partners faces a natural disaster and is unable to continue operating? What will you do if one of your suppliers violates regulations and you are no longer able to continue working with them? Accidents are bound to happen, and due diligence is not a perfect process. You can help secure your business by planning how you will continue to monitor your small business partnerships, how much cash or inventory you will need on hand, and how you will interact with your clients should one of these scenarios occur. 

Despite the risks, a partnership with another small business is a great strategy for small business growth and expansion. Working in partnership, two small businesses have a stronger cash flow, more resources, and a wider network than one. Finding the right business to partner with can be tricky, but there is plenty of data available for you to make the right decision and plan for potential crises ahead of time.

 
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