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According to Science, Here's How to Get a Raise

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:40 PM PDT

  • 81% of the 1,000 workers polled succeeded in getting raises, with intermediate-level and salaried employees seeing the highest success rate.
  • Salaried employees reported receiving an average raise of $2,370, while hourly workers received an average increase of $1.60, which is equivalent to $3,328 per year.
  • The most common method of asking for a raise was by using seniority to justify a pay increase.

When it comes to compensation, it's not uncommon for people to feel like they deserve more from their employer. In fact, 4 in 10 U.S. workers told Gallup last year they felt they were underpaid, which makes sense given how much Americans' wages have stagnated in recent decades. Now that the job market favors employees, it might be a good time to ask for more money from your employer. A new study from Zoro polled nearly 1,000 American employees to learn how people asked for more pay.

There is no shortage of advice articles explaining how to ask for a pay increase, but researchers found that certain tactics worked while others didn't. While 81.2% of the 997 workers that participated in the survey said they'd been successful in getting a raise at their current job, certain groups fared better than others.

When asking for a raise, seniority matters

In the hierarchy of nearly every business, employees who have been with the company longer tend to enjoy better benefits. Longer vacation times, better work hours and, yes, even higher pay, are some of the perks that come with staying loyal to the company. Researchers in the Zoro study found that this principle also applies to employees who are seeking raises.

According to the survey, employees with intermediate-level positions were the most likely to receive more compensation at 29.1%, with middle-management (26.6%) and senior management or executives (25.6%) following close behind. Workers with entry-level positions had the hardest time getting additional money at 18.8%. Furthermore, salaried workers (84.7%) were more successful at getting additional money than their hourly (75.7%) counterparts.

When asked how people requested their raises, both men and women were likely to use seniority as their main selling point, at 36.9% and 36.6%, respectively. Seniority was also the most popular method for Gen Xers (38.6%), millennials (36.3%) and baby boomers (33.9%).

In addition to using their seniority to justify a raise request, researchers found that workers were likely to compare their performance to that of their co-workers and leverage another job offer. Other methods included using personal finances to justify a raise and threatening to quit.

How to start the conversation about a raise

Researchers said they wanted to know how people felt leading up to their raise request and how they asked for a pay increase. People reported asking for a raise at least 1.4 times per year and started planning their request almost eight days in advance. 

According to the study, nearly 28% said they were "somewhat comfortable" submitting a raise request, while less than 27% were "only slightly comfortable." Just 12% said they "were not at all comfortable" when trying to negotiate for a higher salary. Researchers also found that women were "twice as likely as men to report a total lack of comfort." Regardless, women were found to be just as likely to ask for a raise as their male colleagues but often didn't get the money they requested.

When broaching the topic, simply asking for an in-person meeting was the most popular method among men (48.5%) and women (48.1%). Leading up to the request, researchers found that women (38.6%) were more likely to research the salary range of similar positions than men were (31.3%) before starting the conversation. The third most popular method, according to the survey, was waiting for an annual or semiannual performance review. Other methods included highlighting a list of accomplishments, outlining responsibilities and asking via email or other digital means.

Researchers found that some respondents were comfortable using unethical means to get the conversation about raises started. Data suggests that 7.4% of women and 8.6% of men were willing to lie about a competing offer from a rival company, while 3.1% of women and 5.8% of men lied about their accomplishments.

Some respondents also opted to ask a boss for a raise while they were highly stressed, and others said they used emotions to "manipulate their boss or superior." Among respondents, officials said millennials were "the most likely to use some strategies further on the unethical side." 

What happens after the compensation conversation?

As previously mentioned, most people polled said they were able to negotiate a raise at work. After speaking with their bosses, 49.4% said they received the exact amount they asked for, while 33.5% said they got less. Just over 17% of respondents found themselves in the enviable position of receiving more of a pay increase from their employer than they requested. 

Researchers found that salaried employees received a $2,370 boost to their annual salary with their most recent raise. Similarly, hourly employees received an added $1.60 per hour, which added to approximately $3,328 per year.

On the other side of the coin, however, were the respondents who were denied more compensation. When the answer was no, researchers found that men (42%) were more likely to ask why they were turned down than women (39%). Meanwhile, 38.6% of men and 34% of women started looking for a job once they were denied the increases they felt they deserved. Some individuals (13.6% of men and 13% of women) attempted to get more "nonmonetary benefits" like flexible hours and more paid time off if they couldn't get more take-home pay.

Respondents said that the longest they would go without getting a raise before looking for another job was roughly 24.6 months, on average. The longest they had gone without a raise, officials said, was an average of 19.6 months. Only 29% of respondents said they'd left a job because of a pay raise denial.

Dazzle Potential Clients with a Quick SEO Site Audit

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 11:00 AM PDT

Working on a website's on-page SEO can be tiresome and sometimes a never-ending daunting task, and business owners know this.  There are hundreds of different factors that Google uses to rank each site and the typical business owner may not even know what needs to be done. This is their chance to dazzle them with their thorough in-depth knowledge of what might be holding their site back from generating traffic in the search engines. All with an SEO site analysis that takes only a few minutes to complete.

An SEO site audit will get you started off right when talking to potential clients as business owners understand that to optimize their site to the fullest, you need to have a strong understanding of what's working and what's not. This is where you fly in and save the day. Rather than going through and running manual tests that take hours, sometimes days, you can run a complete website audit and see immediate results. Website audits will automatically tell you exactly what's wrong with a website, and sometimes even how to fix it, in a matter of minutes, not days. You just need the URL.

When you enter the URL into a website audit, you'll receive a report that breaks down the traffic, keywords, backlinks, critical site errors, SEO errors, site speed and more. These reports show you exactly where their website is doing well and more importantly, what things need some help. The best thing about the report is that it's generated in just a few minutes. Let's walk through typical audit sections to get a better understanding of what the report does and why their potential clients will be impressed, giving you the leg up

1. Audit overview

In the overview of their SEO site audit, you'll receive an overall score. This score combines all of their tactics and gives you a number out of 100 – the higher their number, the better their score. Some reports also show their search traffic per month, how many keywords their site is currently ranking for, and an overview of their current backlinks.

The great thing about an audit is that you can find out more details about everything. By clicking on each respective score/number, you'll find a full report that individually breaks down pages, changes over time, issues and even includes recommendations. You can see what their top performing pages are, and which pages need help.

If you want to gain more backlinks, do some digging to see what sites have linked to certain pages and aim to create similar content.

2. Health overview

Following the audit overview section, you'll notice something unique. You'll see their overall site health in terms of errors, broken or redirected links, warnings, and even recommendations for improvement. Using the site health analytics, you can suggest fixes for any errors or broken links which can lead to substantially increase their potential client's overall rankings.

Suggest fixing any and all critical errors that are shown. These will have the biggest impact on rankings and will give their users a better overall experience right from the start. Then you can move on to warnings, which are usually less impactful, but still important. If the SEO audit gives you any recommendations, consider taking them. They might not directly improve their rankings, but they are still important.

Using this section will help you find the individual pages that have errors and will then prompt you to fix them. This is much more streamlined than doing things manually, especially if their website has thousands of pages already indexed. Sometimes the problems are easily fixable and other times they'll be more time consuming. Regardless of what comes up, the best thing you can do is to take things one at a time and get everything in the best condition possible. Some auditing tools even tell you how to fix the problem, which is great if you're not an experienced web developer.

Start with the problems that have the highest impact and work their way down the list. An audit will prioritize the problems for you to make things easier.

3. Loading times

One of the most important SEO factors is loading times and overall site speed. The faster it is, the better you'll rank. An audit will tell you exactly how many seconds their website and respective pages take to load on both a desktop and mobile device.

While speed does tend to vary depending on user connection and device, you'll understand their average load speed and develop a good starting point. Remember, if a site takes longer than three seconds to load, you'll lose a little under half of their prospective visitors.

Luckily, the audit makes it easy to see what is slowing down their loading time. If you aren't sure how to fix it, check out the helpful audit resources that are included in their report. Site speed is an important factor in user experience and shouldn't be ignored.

4. General SEO issues

Finally, an audit will show you any destructive SEO problems their site is experiencing. It will primarily focus on the most important errors; the ones that will make the most impact on their ranking. Suggest starting with those and work their way down the list. Again, it's important to get everything fixed if you want to make the biggest impact on rankings. Some SEO issues are easy, such as title tag problems, while some may be more difficult. Remind potential clients that they don't have to fix everything in one day. As long as they continually improve, they'll see a noticeable rise in their overall rankings and thus, website traffic.

If you're in marketing or web development and want to dazzle potential clients, using an SEO audit is the best way to do it. In a matter of minutes, you'll have an overview of their site, what's working, and what needs help. Find a site audit tool that works for you and is easy to manage then start incorporating it when talking with potential clients. Suggest the changes and fixes and more importantly, let them know that you are able to help as well, should they end up hiring you.

How to Run a Business in Virginia

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 09:40 AM PDT

There are nearly 725,000 small businesses that call the state of Virginia home. Small businesses employ 1.5 million residents – or 47% of all private-sector employees – and make up 99.5% of all businesses statewide.   

Virginia's economy is relatively strong, boasting a gross domestic product (GDP) of $534 billion in 2018. That GDP grew at a healthy rate of 2.8% last year, closely tracking the national economy's growth rate of 2.9% in 2018. The state is experiencing a very low unemployment rate of 2.9% as a result, which reflects the strength of the economy but can also complicate small businesses' efforts to acquire the talent they need to fill open positions.

Overall, Virginia appears to be a business-friendly state that is doing well economically. CNBC selected Virginia as the top state in the nation for business in 2019; its first selection for the No. 1 spot since 2011.

High per-capita personal income

Virginia is a relatively wealthy state overall, with a per-capita personal income of nearly $57,000 per year, the 11th highest in the nation. That's about 6% higher than the national per-capita personal income of $53,712, meaning the average Virginian makes more money each year than the average American. With a relatively low cost of living, Virginia's higher per-capita personal income translates into a modest boost in spending power, which benefits small businesses by bolstering consumer spending.

The main challenge in competing for those consumer dollars comes from big businesses, such as Amazon, which has a headquarters based in Virginia. Tisha McCoy-Ntiamoah, CEO and owner of PrePOPsterous Gourmet Popcorn and Sodas, said while that growth is good and large businesses are welcome signs of Virginia's economic success, it can be tough for small businesses to compete.

"There are some very well-known national chains that are popular in major metropolitan areas moving in," she said. "The growth is good, and those kinds of companies come to your city or town because they see value in the market, which is fantastic. It's just about balancing it out and ensuring there is space for small businesses that invested here early on when larger corporations didn't see the value yet."

Niche opportunities based on geography

Virginia is a diverse state home to a wide range of businesses across several industries. In Hampton Roads and Reston's Innovation Center, for example, defense contractors thrive due to the U.S. military presence in the state. Throughout Alexandria, Staunton, Richmond, and Norfolk, restaurants and cafes can be found in significant numbers. There is also a thriving manufacturing and logistics industry in Loudon, Prince William, Henrico, Chesterfield, Wise, and Suffolk counties. Virginia also boasts many rural areas and small towns, where family farms and associated support businesses are commonplace. There is also a great deal of tourism and hospitality centered around scenic vacation spots like Virginia's Eastern Shore, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Northern Neck, the Greater Washington, D.C., area, and Colonial Williamsburg.

"We have a wide variety of businesses, with northern Virginia very urban, diverse, and tech-oriented," said Joyce Krech, director of the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center at James Madison University. "And then we have rich agriculture regions and small towns. No matter your niche there's a place to do it."

In each of these areas, Virginia's cost of living and doing business vary greatly. It's important for entrepreneurs to understand these differences when writing their business plan, as cities and counties often offer diverse conditions for doing business even when they are in the same region of Virginia, Krech told Business News Daily.

"Virginia is unique in that we have cities and we have counties," Krech said. "Sometimes the city sits in the middle of the county but is a separate jurisdiction. That can be confusing for some people."

Proximity to large markets

While Virginia itself offers a wide range of opportunities for entrepreneurs and established small businesses, it is also closely tied to nearby large markets, including Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Hunter Markle, co-founder and managing partner of BarTrack, told Business News Daily the connectedness with larger markets is central to the company's plan to expand its range of solutions to bars and restaurants throughout the region.

"It's super convenient for traveling," Markle said. "It's easy to get to D.C. or Baltimore really quickly, and Philly is also an easy drive."

Markle's business partner and co-founder, Brett Danielsen, added that basing the company in Virginia allowed them to take advantage of the relatively low cost of living while maintaining access to those bigger cities.

"Everything you do in Virginia is cheaper," Danielsen said. "It's a great spot to be positioned right now."

However, James Wilson, a business attorney and owner of Wilson Law Group, said the proximity to larger markets really depends on your specific location in Virginia. Even the furthest flung, though, can count on access to the necessary transportation infrastructure to obtain the goods they need and visit important nearby markets.

"Virginia is spread out as a state," Wilson said. "For example, northern Virginia is very accessible to D.C. and Baltimore … [but] central Virginia is not as close. Southwest Virginia is somewhat limited, and relies on rail and roads for the majority of its connectivity."

A series of ongoing projects to widen main highways, including I-81 and I-64, as well as a major port in Norfolk, ensures that the state is well connected to the surrounding area, though, he added.

Complex tax code

Virginia comes with its own inherent risks and obscure taxation laws for small businesses. For restaurants and cafes, taxation is generally set at around 5% (4% state tax and 1% local tax), but the tax rate on food that is purchased for home consumption is 2.5% (1.5% state tax and 1% local tax). For hybrid concepts, like delicatessens, butcher shops and carryout stores, business owners must extensively research each municipality's tax code.

Virginia's Retail Sales and Use Tax Code is the most comprehensive and complex in the country, covering a vast array of what is rendered as liable under the Virginia Department of Taxation.

For the adventurous agriculturalists wishing to hawk their wares at farmers markets and roadside stands, "sales of agricultural produce and eggs are exempt from tax when such items are raised and sold by an individual at retail in local farmer's markets and at roadside stands, provided that the annual income from such sales by the agricultural or egg producer does not exceed $1,000."

Within the hospitality industry, a fee is imposed on the "in-room rental or purchase of digital media offered in guest rooms rented out for continuous occupancy for fewer than 90 days, such as hotels and motels," which is especially relevant for bed-and-breakfast arrangements.

Virginia's taxation renders all companies that garner revenue from the state as liable ‒ it does not give home-rule privilege to companies that receive federal contracts to operate in other states but that retain Virginian ownership.

Virginia designates a business as a "pass-through entity" if that company is doing business in Virginia or has income from Virginia sources; consequently, that business is therefore required to file an income tax return with the Department of Taxation for each taxable year. Pass-through entities include Subchapter S corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), electing large partnerships and business trusts.

Highly competitive labor market

Throughout the past year, Virginia's unemployment rate has been hovering around 2.9%, which is one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and almost a full percentage point lower than the national average.

While a low unemployment rate signals a humming economy, it also creates a highly competitive labor market, especially when it comes to finding top talent. Small businesses find themselves competing ferociously to fill open positions with qualified candidates, often needing to court prospects with attractive compensation packages and perks.

"There's definitely a scarcity of high-quality labor compared with other states," said Brett Danielson, co-founder and managing partner of BarTrack. "That doesn't mean it's not there; you just have to do some more digging. But it is hard to find full-time people, for sure."

To address the demand for skilled labor, Krech said joint efforts between community colleges, universities and industrial businesses have been essential. These partnerships seek to extend the education and training required by state-based employers, so the local workforce will be prepared for the jobs available within Virginia.

"Everybody is working together to bring to the workforce the skills and trades they need for open positions," she said. "And these are high-level skills [that are taught] in these programs that lead to good wages."

Frequently asked questions

Starting a business anywhere can be a difficult process. Navigating regulations and obtaining the right licenses can seem confusing and overwhelming. Luckily, Business News Daily is here to help. If you're looking to start a business in Virginia, check out these frequently asked questions, or take a look at these resources to help you launch your company.

How do you register a business in Virginia?

Whether you intend to headquarter your operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia or simply conduct some business within the state, you must first register your business with the Virginia Department of Taxation.

And if you plan to hire employees, you must also register your business with the Virginia Employment Commission. The registration can be done online at the Virginia Department of Taxation's website, or you can fill out a physical copy of the Business Registration Form R-1 and submit the form via mail.

Do you need a business license in Virginia?

Unlike many other states, Virginia does not require sole proprietors to maintain a business license. For other businesses, the type of license required depends on the nature of the business itself.

Licensing boards governed by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) apply to some businesses to ensure all relevant certifications are obtained before launching the business.

How much does a business license cost in Virginia?

The cost of business licenses varies by municipality, but, generally, could be estimated to cost around $100. Prior to applying for a license, consider consulting with local officials to find out more about your specific circumstances, as the rules vary throughout the state.

Where do you go to get a business license in Virginia?

To apply for licensure or certification with the DPOR, visit the agency's website. However, Virginia's licensing rules vary on a case-by-case basis, so check with government officials about your business's precise obligations.

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Virginia?

To form an LLC in Virginia, you must first complete and file the Articles of Organization with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The fee to file the Articles of Organization is $100.

What is the processing time to form your Virginia LLC?

You can file your Articles of Organization with the Virginia State Corporation Commission online, which immediately establishes your business. Otherwise, you can submit your filing by mail along with the filing fee. If you do so, the processing time is generally one to three weeks before your LLC is officially established.

What are the Virginia LLC taxes?

In Virginia, LLCs are required to pay an annual registration fee of $50 to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. That fee is due each year before the last day of the month in which your LLC was formed.

Under Virginia law, LLCs are considered pass-through entities, which means they are not required to pay a business income tax. Instead, the individual members of the LLC must include profits in their personal income tax filings. Some LLCs can choose to be taxed like corporations in Virginia by filing Form 2553 with the IRS. In Virginia, there is a corporate flat tax of 6%, which would apply to LLCs filing the IRS Form 2553.

Who can be a registered agent in Virginia?

In Virginia, a registered agent is responsible for receiving all government communications sent to a business. Registered agents can be another business based in Virginia or an individual named on your filing paperwork. All registered agents must have a Virginia address and be present at that location during normal business hours.

How do you register a DBA in Virginia?

The process of registering a DBA in Virginia is similar to the process in many other states. First, you must confirm that your desired DBA name is available by searching the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission's website. DBAs must also be accurate about the business's geographical location, as well as distinct from other DBA's already registered to avoid confusion. Once you've confirmed your chosen DBA name meets these standards and is indeed available, you must obtain an "Assumed/Fictitious Name Filing" from a Virginia Circuit Court. That document must then be filed with the Clerk's Office of the Commission, as well as every county clerk's office in the state where you plan to operate your business.

Note that operating with an unregistered DBA is illegal and could result in fines up to $2,500 and/or imprisonment for one year. Once a DBA is registered, company's can use the alternative name for bank accounts and other legal documents.

What is the Virginia SWaM program?

The Virginia SWaM program refers to the "Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business Certification Program." The SWaM program intends to expand opportunities for these businesses in participating in state-funded projects.

To participate in the state SWaM program, you must apply on the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity's website. If you have already been accepted into the program, you must recertify annually.

To learn more about the SWaM program, visit the Virginia Department of SBSD's website.

Resources for small businesses in Virginia

Here are a few organizations for small business owners in Virginia who are looking for resources to help them move forward:

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

The SBA offers financing and grants as well as consultations and counseling services. Small business owners are encouraged to use the SBA's Office of Advocacy profile on Virginia for more information.

SBA District Office - Virginia

SCORE

SCORE's volunteer business professionals and expert mentors give counsel and guidance to entrepreneurs who are looking to start or expand their businesses. The services are entirely free and volunteer-driven. There are nine regional SCORE chapters in Virginia, which can be found via the link below.

Virginia SCORE chapters

Virginia Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Virginia's SBDC is a statewide network that supports entrepreneurs and business owners. Each center offers no-cost, confidential business consulting and targeted educational programs to help improve and grow small and emerging companies in the state. You can find your region's small business development center via the link below.

Virginia SBDC network

Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD)

The state's proprietary SBSD assists with the process of business certifications, provides business development advice and outreach services, and includes the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority.

Virginia SBSD

Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA)

The VSBFA is the Commonwealth of Virginia's economic development organization governed by the state SBSD. The agency offers loans directly to businesses and nonprofits as well as credit enhancements to banks lending to small businesses. The VSBFA also works with small businesses to attract and locate potential equity investments.

Virginia SBFA

Ryan Fallon also contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

Postage Meters Can Save Your Business Time and Money

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 08:45 AM PDT

  • Postage meters help businesses save time and money by printing postage directly onto letters and parcels.
  • Pitney Bowes and NeoPost offer some of the top postage meter solutions in the industry.
  • Most postage meters today are digital meters, and some have detailed touchscreens.
  • Digital meters connect to the postal service and find the correct postage rates.

For small businesses, convenience matters. When it comes to direct mail, convenience isn't always the easiest to come by. Whether you're mailing a letter to an important customer or sending hundreds of direct mail marketing campaigns, it's time-consuming to go to the post office and work through all the minor items needed to send a piece of mail.

That's where direct mail solutions can help. If your business relies on direct mail frequently, it's worth considering purchasing a postage meter.

Editor's note: Looking for information on postage meters for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to connect with vendors that can help.

 

What is a postage meter?

According to the U.S. Postal Service, "postal meters are postage printing machines or systems leased by authorized for use in your home or office. Meters print postage directly onto your mail pieces or on to meter tape, which you affix to your mail."

The USPS goes on to explain that postage meters can only be used if you obtain a permit to do so in the city of mailing. This process isn't that hard, but it is important.

In simplest terms, a postage meter prints postage onto your mail. Many meters print company logos onto mail and other tasks of that nature. This is beneficial. Instead of buying stamps or stickers of your logo, the postage meter prints a strip of ink as postage.  

How does a postage meter work?

Most postage meters today are digital. A digital postage meter normally includes a touchscreen and some sort of scale. Put your letter or parcel on the postage scale, and it tells you how much postage costs. Put your envelope into the manual or automatic feeder and wait for your mail to get its postage added. For parcels, many meters print the postage onto a sticker that you then affix to the box.

It's a simple process that doesn't require much effort and goes smoothly. It doesn't take long to learn, and nearly every small business employee should be able to quickly learn how to use their postage meter.

Why get a postage meter?

Postage meters save time and money. Your business won't have to visit the post office for postage stamps, and the machine ensures postage is accurate. This ensures reliability and convenience.

It's also helpful to be able to work around your business's schedule. Small business owners may find themselves working at 10 p.m. on a Friday night and want to prepare mail. They can't run to the post office to buy postage, but their postage meter works whenever it's needed. That's an added convenience.

Using a postage meter might result in massive savings in time or money, but you can save valuable amounts of both. The meter adds convenience to the life of a small business owner, which can often be tough to come by.

What are the best postage meters?

A few companies jump out when looking at the best postage meters available. Neopost and Pitney Bowes are two of the biggest companies in the direct mail industry. They offer quality options for postage meters that might be worth considering.

Pitney Bowes mailstation 2

The mailstation 2 is designed specifically for small businesses and home offices. The machine is small, offers tracking features and is reliable. The machine only weighs 8.7 pounds, and the scale is an additional two pounds. At just over 10 pounds, the machine is easy to move around and put in different places throughout the office if needed. It fits easily on a desk as well.

This Pitney Bowes model comes with a free USPS basic subscription for online connection. This ensures that the postage printed is accurate according to postal service guidelines. Following postal service guidelines can be one of the trickiest parts of utilizing direct mail, and this postage meter eliminates that concern quickly.

It comes with USPS carrier access, but can be upgraded to include FedEx and UPS. There's also the option to upgrade to a 5-pound scale. The machine costs $19.99 per month after a 60-day free trial.

NeoPost IS-280

This postage meter is an ideal option for small businesses. The IS-280 is similar to the mailstation 2 from Pitney Bowes, as both cater to small businesses. The IS-280 also features a 2-pound scale with the ability to obtain a 5-pound scale if desired.

Visuals act as a nice feature of this postage meter. There are about 100 stock images the postage meter can print onto your mail. This introduces an element of creativity to the direct mailing process.

In terms of speed, the IS-280 holds its own. It processes 18 pieces of mail per minute. That's not lightning fast, but it's plenty fast enough for small businesses using direct mail sparingly. The machine is best used for things like letters and tiny packages.

Other companies to consider

ARC Document Solutions

ARC has been providing print services and document management solutions since 1988, specializing in construction. It offers a managed print services calculator to help you keep a handle on printing and shipping costs.

Avery Dennison

Established in 1935, Avery Dennison creates products that include pressure-sensitive materials, bonding solutions, RFID solutions, postage meter labels and much more. Their labels are specifically designed to work well with Pitney Bowes machines.

Temando

Founded in 2009 with retailers' shipping needs in mind, Temando hopes to help you lower costs, increase sales and grow your business. It offers shipping help internationally.

Do I need a postage meter?

NeoPost and Pitney Bowes both offer a few tremendous postage meter solutions for small businesses, but that doesn't mean your business definitely needs a postage meter. During the decision-making process, take a count of how frequently your business uses direct mail. Can your business benefit from using a postage meter, or will it be an unnecessary purchase?

For businesses that use direct mail a few times a month, buying a postage meter can be a good way to save time and money. The direct connection to postal service rates is beneficial and helps make the postage process more convenient. On the other hand, if you don't use direct mail more than once every few months, a postage meter seems like an unnecessary purchase.

Make the buying decision based on your business's needs. Every business differs, and there are numerous postage solutions for different types of businesses. Find the solution that makes sense for you. 

How MarTech Can Take your Marketing Team to the Next Level

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

No longer a trend, data generated from MarTech deployments reveal quantitative shifts in consumer engagement (mobile first, for instance) and have opened the possibility for marketing teams to integrate with sales and customer relationship management teams. 

By breaking these silos, strategies to move B2B clients through the sales funnel with higher rates of efficiency and familiarity have been created and adopted. For example, the kind of personalization that existed strictly in B2C sales has been adopted by many B2B organizations thanks to improved granularity in metrics and higher quality client-provider relationships. 

Leading your organization from a traditional marketing strategy to a MarTech-driven strategy requires a thorough understanding of revenue marketing, an organizational assessment of your current marketing strategy and goals, an inventory of your SaaS resources and a clear strategic vision.

1. Assess your organization's marketing strategy

Since MarTech has not been deployed equally across all organizations, there isn't an established gold standard for B2B digital marketing. However, the rise of revenue marketing strategies indicates that an industry standard is solidifying. 

If you are wondering how your organization's digital marketing strategies rate in relation to this standard, then consider the following. 

Traditional marketing and lead generation marketing

It is highly unlikely that any contemporary organization is 100% dedicated to a traditional marketing strategy. Traditional strategies include educating consumers about your product or service, actively promoting it, placing it in a position of high visibility and assessing your organization's return on marketing investment. At this stage, analytics are centered around impressions and campaign costs. 

While traditional marketing is the core of many existing marketing strategies, sophisticated marketing technology tools allow marketers to get a better look at the outcomes of their campaigns. 

Metrics like email open rates, ad click-through rates, form submits and costs per lead allow marketers to determine the limitations of their campaigns as well as to improve upon existing success.

The role of marketing technology

The ability to track consumer engagement and analyze points of interest has contributed to an increase in lead generation strategies. These strategies are highly effective and would not be achievable without the continuing development of marketing technology. 

The rise of software-as-a-service and integrated CRM tools capable of linking sales and marketing data allow even small companies to track sales, collect lead information, determine lead quality, follow up on leads and learn where to find more.

Lead generation strategy moves beyond traditional marketing by ensuring that new clients or consumers are continuously making their way to the sales funnel. However, this might not be occurring in a repeatable or predictable way. Worse, your organization might be experiencing flat growth. To reach the next level, your organization has to break through the lead generation plateau.

2. Break the plateau

At this point, you can probably figure out what kind of hybrid marketing strategy your organization uses and likely has been using for a while. But if your organization is starting to develop a MarTech stack, then it is entering the revenue phase of digital marketing. 

Reports show that only 10,000 organizations have achieved this level of marketing operations. If your organization is one of the 10,000, then take a moment to congratulate yourself and your team.  Your organization is prepared to move into robust revenue marketing. Inventory your MarTech stack and get ready to lead your team to their next challenge.

MarTech stack inventory

Your organization may have started its platform collection slowly as a way to better organize data or improve customer service. Over time, several of the following platforms have made their way into your organization:

  • Customer relationship management
  • Account based marketing systems
  • Data management platforms
  • Content management platforms

Some of these platforms might live in the HR department while others reside in sales, but each of these platforms holds a marketing component. Moving to the final stage in the revenue marketing journey requires a strategic vision that integrates these platforms in a way that directly increases revenue. 

3. Adopt a revenue marketing strategy and vision

Your organization's vision guides its revenue marketing strategy. For instance, if your company has adopted a cost mindset, then marketing is considered a necessary expense to build growth. Within that framework, a good marketing strategy is to reduce marketing costs while achieving higher marketing yields. While this model has been effective for centuries, new consumer behaviors have disrupted the model.

Marketing technology exists across the enterprise and the data it gathers, analyzes and disseminates generated revenue across the enterprise. A reduction in marketing budgets limits revenue growth across the company. When start-up B2C companies began breaking down silos, a new marketing strategy emerged. Revenue marketing is integrated throughout the sales funnel and touches on every interaction between client and provider.

What B2B can learn from B2C

Business-to-consumer sales are increasingly reliant on customer engagement and interaction. Positive reviews, excellent reputation and personalized services and interactions have become more important as digital services increase. Studies show that consumers are more likely to trust a company and purchase a product when a third-party review recommends it. When applied strategically, revenue marketing spawns its own advertising without any direct spend

In addition to organic forms of brand visibility, B2C organizations have experienced revenue-generation by shortening the sales funnel. By leveraging detailed consumer data, marketers and sales personnel are able to generate a predictable campaign outcome. 

At the same time, campaigns are agile. When reports show unpredicted outcomes, teams can quickly assess and course correct. Using this process, marketers, sales teams and potential customers are in lock-step. While the internal pieces of revenue marketing are in motion, the end result meets predictions. When the process is repeated, it regularly yields the desired outcome. Whether the number of consumers increases, decreases or remains the same, sales funnel accommodates to scale thanks to integrated cloud-based platforms.

While automated marketing platforms are necessary to achieve revenue marketing visions, your marketing strategy will not adopt a true revenue marketing strategy unless clients and consumers are engaged in personalized and interactive ways. Revenue marketing strategies that are effective on the B2C side of the equation are now necessary, efficient and effective on the B2B side.

Apply the 80/20 Rule to Optimize Your Email Marketing

Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:55 AM PDT

Email marketing has been a form of marketing for years. Over the years, tools like Mailchimp, Constant Contact and iContact have become an email marketer's best friend with their ease of campaign creation and reporting. 

As email marketers worked to improve their efforts, testing different strategies and seeking out new email marketing tips to make their campaigns successful, they started applying the 80/20 rule.

But what exactly is the 80/20 rule, why should care about it, and how can you apply it?

Editor's note: Need to revamp your digital marketing strategy? Fill out the below questionnaire to be connected with vendors that can help.

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What is the 80/20 rule?

The 80/20 rule is a simplified naming convention for the Pareto principle, or the principle of factor scarcity. 

This convention is a hyped concept based on an economics principle. The way it's used in marketing is to denote the idea that 80% of sales come from 20% of clients, or 80% of work is accomplished with 20% effort. 

So what does this mean for email marketing optimization? Simply put, instead of growing a list with the wrong strategies, focusing intently on the right strategies can create more effective email marketing. [Are in you looking for an email marketing service to use for your small business? Check out our reviews and best picks.]

How to use the 80/20 rule in your email marketing strategy

1. Forget mass readership; build a highly engaged niche audience

Instead of writing to a broad audience who (for now) simply puts up with your generic emails, as an email marketing best practice, write to a specific audience who's thrilled every time your email arrives in their inbox. This requires purposing your newsletters and promotions with a distinct personality and talking about subjects only your truest fans are excited about. Inspired fans are better than bored followers any day.

While this may reduce your subscriber retention rate, it can do wonders for your open and click-through rates. When people are so excited to read your content that they jump to open an email like they would from one sent from a friend, you know you're doing something right.

Furthermore, a highly engaged niche audience will seek out your products and services and be more likely to buy from you over and over.

Austin Rief, COO of the daily business newsletter Morning Brew agrees.

"At Morning Brew, we think it's more important to build a highly engaged niche audience than achieve mass readership. Our goal is to be the first thing our readers look at when they wake up in the morning, and the only way to hold their interest is to deliver news on a more personal level. Obviously, content is most important, but the way in which that content is presented is a close second," he said. 

As part of building a highly engaged niche audience, you need to build and manage winning email lists.

Morgan Lathaen, marketing and brand coordinator of the marketing company Thumbprint, suggests managing email lists by making subscribers feel welcomed and sending automated welcome emails when a consumer opts in to receive your emails.

"When their experience with your brand is fresh in their mind, their excitement about you is at an all-time high. In this welcome email, thank them for joining your brand, let them know how you will contact them in the future – how many emails they will receive, what type of content to expect, etc., and make it clear how they can contact you," said Lathaen.

Thanking your customers for their time is more than just an email marketing best practice – it's an age-old best business practice.

2. Make a unique promotion that's exclusive to your subscribers

When you are developing a promotion to gain new subscribers, think carefully about the type of subscribers the promotion will bring in.

If you want people who are eager to engage with you, offer them exclusive content. If you want people who need a certain resource, offer them a free download. Make sure that what you offer them aligns with your goals for that niche audience. Your goals should specify what you want email subscribers to do and how you want them to engage with your business going forward.

"All good marketing starts with setting goals, and email marketing is no different. You need to think about what you want to achieve with your email marketing. Do you want to welcome new subscribers, boost engagement, nurture existing subscribers or something else?" said Lathaen. 

If you don't feel you know your subscribers well, take a step back before running your campaigns. Not understanding your niche audience can result in failed marketing campaigns. The more you know about your subscribers and target audience, the better. 

Surveys are a helpful tool in getting to know your target audience. There are survey tools where you could survey a random group of people based on what you think your target audience is. There is also the old-fashioned way of running in-person interest groups, but based on my success with online surveys, I recommend them over interest groups. Some marketers recommend collecting data from Google Analytics and social media. Facebook interest groups are a great place to gather data.

For an example of a promotion that's a hit, check out Marie Forleo's newsletter MF Insider. Unlike other newsletter opt-ins, she isn't offering a download to get new email addresses. The newsletter is the opt-in. She offers exclusive resources and information only to those who have signed up to be an MF Insider. These goodies aren't available to people who watch her Marie TV episodes, listen to her podcast or follow her on social media. The content is only available to her email subscribers, and that is genius.

 If you're running e-commerce email marketing campaigns, take advantage of abandoned shopping cart emails. You've likely seen them before ‒ you shop at your favorite e-commerce store, put something in your cart but don't make a purchase. Within a day or so, you get an email reminding you that you still have an item in your cart. Some companies send multiple emails with the second or third one offering a discount on the item if you complete your purchase within a specified amount of time.

3. Build engaging email sequences by capturing the process

As a business owner, you probably create valuable content every day. Whether you are generating home design ideas on Pinterest, giving product demonstrations on Facebook Live, or writing articles for trade publications, the work you do daily has the potential to transform into engaging email content for your subscribers.

Let's say you're planning to spend the entire week working on a new pottery collection for your Etsy shop. Instead of doing that in isolation, record the process or take photos. You can then turn this into a teaser sequence that gives subscribers an interesting behind-the-scenes peek at the creative process while also giving them a preview of what will soon be available.

Taking the time to document the process doesn't substantially increase the effort of the work itself, but it greatly increases the dividends your work will produce.

This type of repurposing is accessible to almost every industry in some form. No matter what you're working on, think about how you can share the process and offer your subscribers valuable content.

Anne Fairfield-Sonn, director of corporate communications at CiBO Technologies, a science-driven software startup, elaborates on building email sequences for both new leads and existing customers. 

"A targeted campaign leads contacts through email on an automated schedule, coaxing them along the sales funnel from lead to prospect to client," she said. "The content is built to carefully hook the customer, prove the ROI of your product, and then make it easy to stay top of mind and get in touch."

"These types of campaigns are particularly impactful for B2B organizations that have a long sales cycle. Once the customer signs up for a trial or is in talks with internal stakeholders around the buying decision, drip emails help keep the product top of mind," said Fairfield-Sonn. "For example, this type of audience can receive emails every other week that includes a tip, best practice, reference to a blog post, webinar or white paper."

Email Marketing Tools

Now that you know how to use the 80/20 rule, next you need email marketing tools. The following are my favorite.

  1. iContact: This is an email marketing software company that has great service, an easy-to-use campaign editor, in-depth reporting and competitive pricing.
  2. Facebook Ads Manager: Use Facebook ads to build your email list.
  3. Co-Schedule: Test your email subject lines. Co-Schedule scores subject lines and offers suggestions to increase your open rate. In addition, it scores your character count, word count and emoji count. 

Bottom line

You don't need to spend hours on end in front of a keyboard optimizing your email marketing strategy. What you do need to do is think outside of the box. Evaluate what you are already doing ‒ really think about who you are trying to reach when you write an email.

You'll be amazed at how quickly and easily your email marketing transforms.
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